New tax regime choice and Form 10IE filing delay: concessional rates u/s115BAC allowed despite late submission

Denial of concessional tax under s.115BAC solely because Form 10IE was not filed by the due date u/s 139(1) was held unsustainable where the assessee had opted for the new regime, filed Form 10IE with the revised return, and the form was available to the AO during assessment. Relying on coordinate bench decisions treating the timing requirement for Form 10IE as directory (substantial compliance being that the form is on record at assessment), the Tribunal held the benefit under s.115BAC could not be refused on a mere technical lapse. The AO was directed to grant the new-regime rates after considering the filed Form 10IE, and the appeal was allowed.

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1. ISSUES PRESENTED AND CONSIDERED

(i) Whether the benefit of taxation under section 115BAC (new regime) could be denied solely because Form 10-IE was not filed within the due date under section 139(1), where Form 10-IE was filed with a revised return and was available with the processing authority at the time of processing.

(ii) Whether, on the facts found (including a short delay attributed to technical glitches), the requirement of filing Form 10-IE within the due date was to be treated as directory rather than mandatory, so that the option under section 115BAC must be given effect.

2. ISSUE-WISE DETAILED ANALYSIS

Issue (i) & (ii): Denial of section 115BAC benefit due to belated Form 10-IE despite filing with revised return

Legal framework (as discussed by the Tribunal): The Court examined the assessee's exercise of option for the new tax regime under section 115BAC through Form 10-IE, and the filing of a revised return under section 139(5). The processing was done under section 143(1). The decisive factual aspect considered was that Form 10-IE and the revised return opting for section 115BAC were on record before the processing authority when the return was processed.

Interpretation and reasoning: The Tribunal recorded that the original return was filed under the old regime, and later a revised return was filed opting into section 115BAC along with Form 10-IE. Although the due date for Form 10-IE was 15.03.2022, the Form and revised return were filed on 24.03.2022, i.e., with a short delay of nine days, asserted to be due to technical glitches. The Tribunal found no dispute that Form 10-IE was actually filed and was available to the processing authority at the time of processing. It further found that denial was made only on the ground of late filing of Form 10-IE, and accepted the reasoning applied in coordinate bench decisions noted in the order that the filing requirement was directory in nature and compliance was sufficient if the Form was before the authority at the time of assessment/processing.

Conclusions: The Tribunal conclusively held that the benefit of the new tax rates under section 115BAC could not be denied merely because Form 10-IE was filed after the due date, where it was filed with the revised return and was available with the authority at the time of processing. The Assessing Officer/processing authority was directed to take cognizance of Form 10-IE and allow taxation under section 115BAC.

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