2017 (5) TMI 710

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....after referred to as "the Act"). All the impugned orders are dated April 24, 2015. 2. The brief facts of the case as emanating from records are : The assessee- company is a subsidiary of Vodafone India Limited (formerly known as Vodafone Essar Cellular Ltd.). The assessee-company is engaged in the business of providing cellular mobile telephone services in the telecom circles of Maharashtra and Goa (excluding Mumbai). The assessee- company provides pre-paid and post-paid telephony services to its subscribers. Under the pre-paid services the subscribers pay upfront for purchase of recharge coupons and SIM cards. In the case of post-paid services the SIM card is given free of cost and the subscribers pay as per the bill generated after use o....

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....dings under section 271C of the Act were initiated in all the impugned assessment years. The Assessing Officer vide separate order of even date i.e. March 28, 2015 levied penalty under section 271C of the Act for non-deduction of tax at source under the provisions of section 194H of the Act. The penalty levied during the assessment years under appeal are as under : Sl. No. Assessment year Penalty under 1. 2007-08 68,81,311 2. 2008-09 2,71,24,546 3. 2009-10 5,74,61,489 4. 2010-11 6,35,89,628 5. 2011-12 5,81,69,952 6. 2012-13 6,61,20,451 Aggrieved by the order levying penalty under section 271C, the assessee filed appeals for the respective assessment years before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals). The Commissi....

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.... the sale price and sale discount is treated in the books and whether the sale discount is reflected in the books, but in principle the Tribunal after following the order of the hon'ble Karnataka High Court in the case of Bharti Airtel Ltd. v. Deputy CIT reported as [2015] 372 ITR 33 (Karn) has concluded that the provisions of section 194H are not attracted in respect of sale of SIM cards/recharge coupons at discount rates to the distributors. The learned authorised representative submitted that the Patna Bench of the Tribunal in the assessee's own case in I. T. A. Nos. 76-77/Pat/2012 for the assessment years 2009-10 and 2010-11 decided on November 30, 2016 has taken a similar view by following the ratio laid down by the hon'ble....

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....wever, the learned Departmental representative fairly admitted that the co-ordinate Bench of the Tribunal has deleted the quantum addition in the case of the assessee for the assessment years under appeal. 5. We have heard the submissions made by the representatives of rival sides and have perused the orders of the authorities below. We have also considered the various decisions on which the learned authorised representative of the assessee has placed reliance. The penalty under section271C has been levied in respect of violation of the provisions of section 194H of the Act. Additions were made in the hands of the assessee under section 201(1) and 201(1A) of the Act on account of the alleged non- deduction of tax at source on the payment o....