Income Tax

All about Condonation of Delay under Section 119(2)(b)

Introduction

In India, under section 139 of the Income Tax Act, each assessee is expected to file his or her income tax return within the time frame specified. However, there are situations when the assessee is unable to file his return by the due date set forth in section 139 of the Act. The assessee will not be able to claim a refund if the return is not filed on time, and in addition, he will not be able to carry forward his losses if the return is not filed on time.

Even the late return must be filed by the end of the assessment year in consideration. For example, the income tax return for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, must be filed no later than March 31, 2022. Now, when an assessee is unable to file his return by the close of the relevant assessment year, the question of applying for condonation of delay arises. In general, NRIs and senior citizens whose TDS is deducted and are unaware of the deduction are the most noticeable scenarios in which the issue of filing a condonation of delay arises. Further, tax may be collected at source on a variety of transactions, such as the acquisition of a motor vehicle, and also TDS may be deducted on cash withdrawals.

What is Condonation of Delay?

The term “condonation of delay” refers to a legal provision that enables individuals or companies to ask for leniency after missing particular deadlines or time restrictions set out by the law. Section 119 (2) (b) of the Income Tax Act specifically governs the condonation of delay in the context of taxation. When petitions or cases are filed late in Indian courts, the delay can often be forgiven. It also applies to situations where taxpayers want to file past-due income tax returns after the filing deadline has passed. The procedure by which the courts excuse the late submission of an appeal or application is known as condonation of delay.

To help taxpayers who have good grounds for missing the deadlines, the condonation of delay was created. It acknowledges that genuine challenges or unanticipated circumstances might occasionally make it difficult to fulfill tax-related duties on schedule.

The Remedy under Section 119(2)(B)

In genuine circumstances of delay, the assessee has a remedy under section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, along with circular no 09/2015 issued on 09-06-2015, is a statutory provision for condonation of late filing of returns in circumstances when the assessee could not file their Income Tax returns on time due to genuine hardship.

The CBDT has the authority under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act 1961 to authorize any income-tax authority, by way of a general or special order, to acknowledge an application, request, or claim for an exemption, deduction, refund, or other relief under the Income Tax Act after the period specified under the Act for making such an application, request, or claim has expired, and to negotiate with the application or claim on the merits in accordance with the law.

Through its circular no 09/2015, under section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, the CBDT had issued orders to its subordinate authorities to excuse delays in filing of “refund claims” and “claims of carrying forward of losses”. This circular offers detailed instructions on the grounds for condonation and the procedures to be adopted by such subordinate authorities for making such decisions.

Provisions of Section 119(2)(B) and Related Circular

According to the CBDT circular¹, no authority will consider a request for a refund or claim for carrying forward of loss that is more than six years old from the end of the assessment year. For example, Mr. Shyam wishes to seek a refund of Rs. 2 lakh that he missed out on due to his failure to file a return on account of health problems in FY 2017-18 (AY 2018-19) and has decided to file an application with the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax for permission to file his income tax return for the relevant assessment year. He will be able to submit this application at any point between now and March 31, 2025.

To the extent that it appears feasible, a condonation application shall be decided within six months after the end of the month in which it is received by the competent authorities. For example, if Mr. Shyam files a relief application on June 21, 2019, the relevant authorities must accept, close, or reject the application by December 31, 2019.

In the event that a refund claim has arisen as a result of a Court order, the period for which such cases were pending before any Court of Law shall be excluded when evaluating the said period of six years, subject to a condition that such condonation application is submitted within six months of the end of the month in which the Court order was declared or the end of the fiscal year, whichever is later.

The authorities will consider a condonation application for a refund/loss claim if certain conditions are met. First, the authorities must verify that the income/loss disclosed or the refund claimed is accurate, as well as that the situation is one of genuine hardship on the merits. In addition, authorities have the ability to guide the jurisdictional assessing officer to conduct appropriate investigations or evaluate the case in line with the Act’s provisions in order to determine the validity of the claim.

Further, any relief or claim will be granted only if the following conditions are met in addition to the ones listed above:

• Under income tax laws, a person’s income is not taxable in the hands of another person.
• There will be no interest paid on refund claims.
• There must be no other justification for the refund claim than an excess of TDS, self-assessment tax, or advance tax. After receiving the application, the authorities conduct a thorough examination to determine whether the claim is real and reasonable. Only as a result of this do they decide to accept your claim.

Who Can Accept Applications?

The CBDT’s circular establishes the monetary limits under which various levels of income tax authorities are authorized to handle these applications.

• If the monetary limit of the claim made is not more than Rs. 10 lacs, the income tax authority that is empowered to deal with it is the Principal Commissioners of Income Tax/ Commissioners of Income Tax.
• If the monetary limit of the claim made is more than Rs. 10 lacs but less than Rs. 50 lacs, the income tax authority that is empowered to deal with it is Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax/ Chief Commissioners of Income Tax.
• If the monetary limit of the claim made is more than Rs. 50 lacs, the income tax authority that is empowered to deal with it is CBDT.

Conclusion

The Central Board of Taxes (CBDT) has the authority to issue directions to lower-level authorities under Section 119. Furthermore, section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act authorizes the CBDT to direct income tax authorities to grant any claim for exemption, deduction, refund, or other relief under the Income Tax Act, even if the time limit for making such a claim has passed. However, the income tax authority will only allow such claims if the taxpayer’s failure to file a claim by the required deadline was due to circumstances beyond his or her control.

FAQ

Read our article:Assessing Officer cannot ignore the Valuation Report and adopt a new method of valuation

1. https://incometaxindia.gov.in/pages/communications/circulars.aspx