ITAT allowed the appeal of the assessee, holding that advance...

ITAT allowed the appeal of the assessee, holding that advance tax paid but not earlier claimed must be given full credit along with interest under s.244A. ITAT ruled that once refund becomes due, interest on such refund arising from advance tax is a statutory entitlement and cannot be denied on the ground that delay in claiming refund is attributable to the assessee. The rectification order u/s 154, whereby the AO withdrew interest u/s 244A and levied interest u/s 234D, was held to be bad in law and beyond the permissible scope of s.154. ITAT set aside the order of the CIT(A) and directed the AO to grant credit of advance tax together with corresponding interest as per the Act.

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