2023 (5) TMI 160 - AT - Income Tax

Rectification proceedings u/s 154 - raising interest demand u/s 234A - Whether defective return filled by assessee? - HELD THAT:- This tribunal’s recent coordinate bench’s order in assessee’s co-owner Mrs. Sawari Sameer Shinde, Pune vs. ITO [2023 (3) TMI 922 - ITAT PUNE] rejected the Revenue’s very contentions assessee’s above as former return could not have been treated as a defective one so as to trigger applicability of sec.234A interest herein levied in sec.154 rectification proceedings in issue. Both the learned lower authorities action to this effect stands reversed therefore. The assessee’s arguments stands accepted in very terms.

Applicability of sec.139(9) Explanation (c) (i) still gets attracted in the instant case since the taxpayer before us namely Shri Siddhant Machindra Mhaske had nowhere claimed to have paid self-assessment tax at the time of his earlier return. We thus reject Revenue’s arguments supporting both the learned lower authorities identical action raising sec.234A interest demand - Decided in favour of assessee.