TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (9) TMI 1347
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....assessment year 2020-21, the last date for filing of income tax returns was 31.07.2020 which, on account of the spread of COVID-19, was extended by the respondent-authorities to 15.02.2021. Since the petitioner had not filed its ITR on or before 15.02.2021, on 09.03.2021, the petitioner filed an application before the respondent-authorities seeking therein condonation of delay in filing of its ITR on the ground that such delay had occurred on account of spread of COVID-19 and late receipt of audit reports which statutorily were required to be routed through the State department. On 17.03.2021, the respondent-authorities informed the petitioner that a belated ITR could be filed under Section 139(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (for short - the Act). Accordingly, on 20.03.2021, the petitioner filed its ITR through which it claimed deduction under Section 80P of the Act. The petitioner's ITR was processed and through assessment order dated 19.09.2022, passed under Section 143(3) read with Section 144B of the Act, the petitioner was denied deduction under Section 80P of the Act. Such denial was based on Section 80AC(ii) of the Act because the petitioner had not filed its ITR for the ass....
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.... 80P of the Act, its case was fully covered under the CBDT's circular No.13/2023 dated 26.07.2023 and that through the impugned order dated 15.06.2026, the CCIT did not even refer to the CBDT's circular No.13/2023 dated 26.07.2023 and wrongly relied on CBDT's circular No.09/2015 dated 09.06.2015, which circular, being general in nature, did not apply to delayed filing of ITRs by cooperative societies like the petitioner. (4) In support of her submissions, learned senior counsel placed reliance on a judgment of the Madras High Court in T943 Vickrapandiyam Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Society Ltd. Vs. Chief Commissioner of Income-tax, (2026) 187 taxmann.com 97 (Madras). (5) Per contra, Mr. Saurabh Kapoor, who appeared for the revenue, sought to justify the impugned order and submitted that the petitioner received its audit report on 22.02.2021 but filed its ITR for the relevant assessment year only on 20.03.2021 i.e. after 26 days which delay remains unexplained by the petitioner and therefore, on this ground alone the present petition deserves dismissal. (6) In rebuttal, Mrs. Suri submitted that the alleged delay of 26 days, on which Mr. Kapoor relies, stands fu....
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....ted 19.03.2026, granted liberty to the petitioner to pursue its application dated 12.01.2026 already filed by the petitioner before the CCIT seeking therein condonation of delay of 34 days in the filing of its ITR for the assessment year 2020-21 by relying on CBDT's circular No.13/2023 dated 26.07.2023 and that (viii) In terms of the liberty granted by the ITAT, the petitioner pursued its application dated 12.01.2026 which was dismissed by the CCIT through order dated 15.06.2026 inter alia relying on CBDT's circular No.9/2015 dated 09.06.2015. (8) The order of the CCIT dated 15.06.2026 is the subject matter of challenge through the instant petition. (9) At this stage, it would be apposite to refer to Section 80AC (ii) of the Act as also CBDT's circulars No.09/2015 dated 09.06.2015 and No.13/2023 dated 26.07.2023. Section 80AC(ii) and both the said circulars are reproduced below for ready reference :- "Deduction not to be allowed unless return furnished. 80AC. Where in computing the total income of an assessee of any previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on or after- (i) xx xx xx xx xx (ii) the 1st day of April, 2....
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....nsequent to a Court order, the period for which any such proceedings were pending before any Court of Law shall be ignored while calculating the said period of six years, provided such condonation application is filed within six months from the end of the month in which the Court order was issued or the end of financial year whichever is later. 5. The powers of acceptance/rejection of the application within the monetary limits delegated to the Pr.CCsIT/CCsIT/Pr.CsIT/CsIT in case of such claims will be subject to Following conditions: i. At the time of considering the case under Section 119(2)(b), it shall be ensured that the income/loss declared and/or refund claimed is correct and genuine and also that the case is of genuine hardship on merits. ii. The Pr.CCIT/CCIT/Pr.CIT/CIT dealing with the case shall be empowered to direct the jurisdictional assessing officer to make necessary inquiries or scrutinize the case in accordance with the provisions of the Act to ascertain the correctness of the claim. 6. A belated application for supplementary claim of refund (claim of additional amount of refund after completion of assessment for the same year) ca....
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.....2018 which provides as under- Deduction not to be allowed unless return furnished. 80AC. Where in computing the total income of an assessee of any previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on or after- (i) the 1st day of April, 2006 but before the 1st day of April, 2018, any deduction is admissible under section 80-IA or section 80-IAB or section 80IB or section 80-IC or section 80-ID or section 80-1E; (ii) the 1st day of April, 2018, any deduction is admissible under any provision of this Chapter under the heading "C.-Deductions in respect of certain incomes", no such deduction shall be allowed to him unless he furnishes a return of his income for such assessment year on or before the due date specified under sub-section (1) of section 139. 3. Applications have been received in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (hereafter referred to as 'the Board') from co-operative societies claiming deduction u/s 80P of the Act for various assessment years from AY 2018-19 to AY 2022-23, regarding condonation of delay in furnishing return of income and to treat such returns as 'returns furnished within the due date under sub-s....
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.... 6.1 The cases falling under para 6(iii) above, would require further necessary action as per law. 7. The CCsIT/DGsIT shall preferably dispose the application within three months from the end of the month in which such application is received from the applicant or transferred by the Board. No order rejecting the application under section 119(2)(b) of the Act shall be passed without providing the applicant an opportunity of being heard. 8. Hindi version to follow. -sd- Director (ITA-I)" (emphasis supplied) (10) Section 80AC(ii) of the Act provides that deductions admissible under any provision of the Chapter C.- "Deductions in respect of certain incomes" shall not be allowed if the assessee does not furnish his ITR for the relevant assessment year on or before the due date specified under Section 139(1) of the Act. However, after making a specific reference to Section 80AC, under Section 119(2)(b) of the Act, the CBDT has issued circular No.13/2023 dated 26.07.2023 as per which circular, applications filed by cooperative societies for condonation of delay in the filing of ITRs, seeking therein deduction under Section 80P of the Act, ....
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....1.2026, filed by the petitioner seeking therein condonation of delay in the filing of its ITR for the assessment year 2020-21 in the terms of CBDT's circular No.13/2023 dated 26.07.2023. Relevant portion of the order of the ITAT dated 19.03.2026 is reproduced below for ready reference :- "4. Learned counsel next submits that assessee has filed its condonation petition before the prescribed authority seeking to treat its return in issue as filed for the purpose of claiming the impugned deduction, in light of the CBDT's Circular No. 13/2023 which is stated to be pending till date. This tribunal is of the considered view that although no interference is made out at this stage, the assessee shall be at liberty to take recourse to appropriate proceedings in case its forgoing condonation petition stands accepted; if so advised." (14) In view of the liberty granted to the petitioner by the ITAT, the CCIT should have considered and decided the petitioner's application for condonation of delay dated 12.01.2026 uninfluenced by the decision of CIT(A) dated 12.12.2025, which he did not. (15) In view of the afore observations of ours, with regard to passing of the impugned order ....
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....essees. (16) The afore view of ours finds support from the following observations of the Madras High Court in T943 Vickrapandiyam Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Society Ltd.'s case (supra) :- 5.5. In fact, when there is no tax evasion and only a procedural error in not filing the Income Tax returns in time is involved, then, as rightly contended by the learned counsel for the petitioners, this Court in R. Seshammal case (cited supra) held that such a plea would be technical. As rightly contended by the Cooperative Societies, the hardship appears genuine. The various Judgments cited supra on the alleviation of genuine hardship would apply to the facts in the instant cases. 5.6. Considering the genuine hardship, the CBDT has exercised its power under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The CBDT is always entitled to issue circulars granting administrative relief to assessees, such as extensions of time, to alleviate genuine hardships. In this context, the circular was issued on 26.07.2023. It is essential to extract paragraph No. 6 of the Circular, which reads as follows:- "6. In the context of para-5 above, the CCsIT/DGsIT while dec....