Issue concerns imposition of penalty for failure to reply to...

Issue concerns imposition of penalty for failure to reply to assessment notices and the scope of the statutory discretion in the word "may" under penalty law. The article explains that discretion permits the assessing officer to consider reasons offered by the assessee - here a school that did not check email due to admission work - and that where the AO accepted the return and there was no escapement of income, imposition of penalty was inappropriate. Reliance on coordinate decisions deleting penalty where assessment proceeded on the return supports allowing the appeal and negating wilful default in these circumstances.

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