2003 (12) TMI 19

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....he assessee under section 260A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (for short "the Act"), is directed against the order, dated June 23, 2003, passed by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi Bench, New Delhi (for short "the Tribunal"), in W.T.A. No. 1144/Delhi of 1997, pertaining to the assessment year 1981-82. By the impugned order, the Tribunal has upheld the levy of penalty on the assessee under sect....

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.... after 19 years of the filing of the return. In a nutshell, the submission is that once the assessee had failed to deposit the self-assessment tax on account of non-availability of funds, the default, if any, stands concluded there and then and non-payment thereafter is of no consequence. It is, thus, urged that the appeal deserves to be admitted. We are unable to persuade ourselves to agree wi....

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....he tax or any part thereof in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1), the Income-tax Officer may direct that a sum equal to two per cent, of such tax or part thereof, as the case may be, shall be recovered from him by way of penalty for every month during which the default continues: Provided that before levying any such penalty, the assessee shall be given a reasonable opportunity o....

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....re he decides to impose a penalty. It is at this stage that the assessee can show cause for the non-payment of the tax. Thus, on a plain reading of the provision, the ingenious argument of learned counsel for the assessee that once the assessee had failed to deposit the self-assessment tax on account of financial constraints this default was complete and non-payment thereafter was of no consequenc....