TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (1) TMI 613
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....ndamus for the grant of refund with interest thereon in respect of the Assessment Year 2021-22. After the writ petition was filed, the refund was made on 05.10.2023. Consequently, the petitioner sought an amendment of the prayer by confining it to payment of interest. 2. The petitioner is a Limited Liability Company (LLC) incorporated in the United States of America (USA). During the financial year 2020-21, the petitioner sold equity shares in India to a buyer in the USA. The buyer deducted income tax at 20% of the sale consideration. The petitioner filed its income tax return declaring a total income of Rs. 20,10,16,940/- and claimed a refund of Rs. 2,19,51,010/-. Upon examining the return, an intimation was issued under Section 143(1) of....
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....T code, learned counsel submits that the same could have been requested for at that juncture. Even otherwise, he submits that the respondents could have enabled the petitioner to input the SWIFT code in the portal. Since the delay in making the refund is entirely attributable to the respondents, learned counsel submits that the petitioner is entitled to interest not only in terms of Section 244A of the Income Tax Act but also by way of compensation. 4. In support of these submissions, learned counsel for the petitioner referred to and relied upon the following judgments: 1. Sandvik Asia Ltd. v. CIT (2006) 150 Taxman 591 (SC), particularly paragraph 36 thereof. 2. Sanjeev Kumar v. UOI [2022] 140 taxmann.com. 598 (Bombay), particularly p....
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....butable to the assessee, he submits that the statute provides for the exclusion of the the period of delay by the assessee. Even with regard to the foreign bank account indicated in the return of income, learned counsel submits that the SWIFT code was not provided. Without the SWIFT code, learned counsel submits that no refund can be made to a foreign bank account. 7. Based on the submissions made, the issue that falls for consideration is whether the petitioner is entitled to interest on refund. Section 244A of the Income Tax Act governs payment of interest on refund. The said provision, in relevant part, is as under: Section 244A "[Interest on refunds 244A.(1)[Where refund of any amount becomes due to the assessee under this Act], h....
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....of return of income or payment of tax, whichever is later, to the date on which the refund is granted: Provided that no interest under clause (a) or clause (aa) shall be payable, if the amount of refund is less than ten per cent of the tax as determined under sub-section (1) section 43 or on regular assessment;] (b)in any other case, such interest shall be calculated at the rate of [one-half per cent] for every month or part of a month comprised in the period or periods from the date or, as the case may be, dates of payment of the tax or penalty to the date on which the refund is granted. Explanation:- For the purposes of this clause, "date of payment of tax or penalty" means the date on and from which the amount of tax or penalty spe....
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....code. After the assessment order was issued, since the refund was not made, the petitioner raised grievances through the CPC. The grievance raised on 22.04.2022 is of particular relevance. The petitioner specifically called upon the respondents to enable the petitioner to update the bank account details of its foreign bank account by inputting the SWIFT code and IBAN. In response, the respondents called upon the petitioner to retry. Significantly, the respondent did not inform the petitioner that only a bank account with an Indian bank is eligible for receipt of refund. In any event, the press release dated 24.07.2017 of the CBDT enables a non-resident to provide a foreign bank account for purposes of refund. Therefore, after the petitioner....