Form 67 filing deadline is procedural, not fatal, for foreign tax credit claims under treaty relief rules.

Form 67 filing by the due date is treated as a procedural requirement for claiming foreign tax credit under the Income-tax Act and the India-South Africa DTAA. The analysis relies on the principle that treaty benefits prevail where the assessee is otherwise substantively entitled to relief, and on the view that late filing of Form 67 does not by itself defeat the credit claim. On the stated facts, the form was filed before the revised return, so the delayed filing was not treated as a bar to foreign tax credit.

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Issues: Whether the requirement of filing Form 67 by the due date of return under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is mandatory or directory for claiming foreign tax credit under the India-South Africa DTAA.

Analysis: The assessee had claimed foreign tax credit under section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, but the claim was denied only because Form 67 was filed after the due date of filing the return. The Tribunal accepted the view that the treaty's beneficial provisions must prevail where the assessee is otherwise entitled to relief, and relied on the persuasive force of the Madras High Court's interpretation that the filing requirement for Form 67 is procedural. On the facts, the form was filed before the revised return, so the condition could not be treated as a bar to the substantive claim.

Conclusion: The requirement to file Form 67 by the due date was held to be directory, not mandatory, and the assessee was entitled to foreign tax credit.

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