ITAT allowed the appeal of the taxpayer and set aside the...

ITAT allowed the appeal of the taxpayer and set aside the penalty under s.271B for belated filing of the tax audit report, holding that reasonable cause existed. The Tribunal found the delay resulted from the statutory report being awaited from the State government and that the belated filing on 20.03.2017 was not a deliberate contravention. In light of prevailing precedent and absence of distinguishing facts or law urged by the Revenue, the Tribunal concluded that imposition of penalty was unwarranted and ordered deletion of the penalty. The appeal by the assessee was therefore allowed.

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