Section 115BAA option held timely where Form 10-IC was filed within the applicable return due date, defeating MAT computation.

A valid exercise of the section 115BAA option depends on filing Form 10-IC within the applicable due date under section 139(1). The Tribunal noted that the due date could not be shortened merely because the assessee had not earlier furnished Form 3CEB or had marked an incorrect audit status in the return. Where the assessee fell within the class entitled to the later due date, Form 10-IC filed on 30.11.2022 for assessment year 2022-23 was treated as timely. The concessional tax regime under section 115BAA was therefore available, and computation under section 115JB was held not sustainable.

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Issues: Whether the assessee validly exercised the option under section 115BAA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 by filing Form 10-IC within the prescribed time so as to exclude computation of tax under section 115JB of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The assessee had filed Form 10-IC on 30.11.2022 for assessment year 2022-23 and claimed the concessional regime under section 115BAA. The dispute turned on whether the applicable due date under section 139(1) was 30.11.2022, as claimed by the assessee, or 07.11.2022, as applied by the revenue authorities on the footing that the assessee was not a section 92E case. The Tribunal held that the due date for filing the return could not be altered merely because the assessee had not furnished Form 3CEB earlier or had selected an incorrect audit status in the return. It further held that once the assessee fell within the class of assessees entitled to the later due date, the filing of Form 10-IC on 30.11.2022 was within time, and the benefit of section 115BAA could not be denied on the basis of alleged procedural lapse or clerical error. In that view, computation under section 115JB was not sustainable.

Conclusion: The option under section 115BAA was validly exercised, the MAT computation under section 115JB was not applicable, and the assessee's claim for concessional taxation was accepted.

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