TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (1) TMI 757
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....orted opinions, rejected the request for waiver by declining to accept petitioner/assessee's submission of unpredicted or unanticipated income during the year due to which Advance Tax paid was less by observing further that:-petitioner had not brought out any other reason for its inability to forecast its sales in the said year in contrast to the other years where advance tax was paid correctly; the non anticipation of the income is not proved by the assessee; the assessee being a leading manufacturer of automobile parts had always made "good profit" year after year; and, there was no financial hardship in considering the grant of relief as observed by various Courts in their decisions for invoking provisions for waiver. Hence this petition. 3. At the outset, learned Senior Counsel for petitioner places on record the year wise sales and total income (as returned) for the financial year 1999-2000 to 2010-2011 which is taken on record, since learned counsel for the revenue has no objection. 4. Few facts necessary for decision making are: (i) Petitioner/assessee filed return of income for the assessment year 2010-11 declaring income of Rs. 913,82,50,403/- which when....
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....f advance tax; thrust of the case of the assessee was brought out on "macro economic factors" responsible for global economic crisis in the financial year 2008-09 which continued upto 2009-10 as indicated in the economic survey of 2009-10 presented in the parliament and statistics of periodical review conducted by centre for monitoring Indian Economy on the outlook of Indian economy, industrial/automotive sector. 6. The Chief Commissioner held that macro economic parameters and the state of the global economy cannot be considered as the basis for the estimation to pay advance tax. According to the Chief Commissioner, each assessee has to make its own estimation of income for payment of advance tax based on production, sales and income and not based on global economic factors. 7. At paragraph 5 of the order, it is observed that though it is for the Board of Revenue to notify the classes of cases for waiver of interest in exercise of power vested in it based on economic conditions in the country or worldwide, nevertheless, no such classes of income have been notified so far and as a result, no individual case is eligible for waiver of interest in terms of the notification, dise....
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....s mentioned therein, although Courts have held that the Circular speaks of class of incomes or class of cases, nevertheless, opined that individual cases can be considered for the purpose of relieving an assessee of genuine hardship. 11. Yet again in paragraph IV.9, it was further observed that there is no separate unanticipated income in the form of a windfall but only the increase in business turnover resulting in increase in profits at the end of the year and that the net profits of the business at the end of the year will be forecasted in the first quarter by the assessee himself who is in possession of the information regarding the affairs of the business and how business is performing. The authority having examined the advance tax paid for the assessment year 2007-08 onwards till 2014-15 (till December) though observed that on a comparison in the previous years, the advance payment remained the same, nevertheless recorded a finding that it was factually incorrect to submit that substantial increase in the business income during the last quarter of the financial year 2009-10 was neither anticipated nor contemplated by the assessee. 12. It was further observed that advanc....
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....tisfactory of acceptance for the benefit of waiver of interest charged under Section 234C of the 'Act' by invoking clause 2(b) of the notification dated 26.06.2006, Annexure-B?" 17. Having examined the order impugned of the Chief Commissioner and perused the pleadings, there is no more doubt that the authority meandered into aspects both in law and on facts unnecessary for decision making, more appropriately, over whether Section 234 A, B and C of the 'Act' was penal or compensatory and as to whether the said provisions were mandatory, since the order impugned extensively is devoted to extraction of reported opinions of the Apex Court and that of this Court. Having extracted the observations in M/s Union Land and Building Society Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India, in the considered opinion of the Court, the Chief Commissioner misdirected himself to negative the claim of the petitioner on the premise that possible hardship pleaded was set-at-rest and the challenge to the constitutionality of Section 234C on that ground was unavailable. The aforesaid reason assigned is a meek response to the claim for waiver of interest by invoking the notification, Annexure-B, since it....
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....y industry, particularly where manufacturing process is involved, and more appropriately, an automotive spare part industry, having serious challenges in the wake of technology outburst and global slow down, with reduction in current income for three consecutive previous financial years, it is reasonable to predict that on account of external factors/global, and not merely internal relating to manufacture, sale, affairs of business, and how it is performing there would be a reduction in the current income for the financial year 2009-10, atleast during the 1st quarter of the said year. 21. It is a matter of fact that it is only in the last quarter of the financial year 2009-10, petitioner saw rise in income but that by itself and nothing more, it cannot be said that petitioner anticipation of less current income for that year was not justified. Looking to the circumstances and in particular the complexities of business both global, internal, in the country, and myriad possibilities, in the absence of mathematical precision it cannot be said that an automotive spare part industry could predict high profits in the financial years. Needless to state that, in the absence of a straigh....