CPC Wrongly Levies Section 234B Interest Demand on ITR-U Filers, Causing Unjust Taxpayer Harassment:

CPC Wrongly Levies Section 234B Interest Demand on ITR-U Filers, Causing Unjust Taxpayer Harassment The Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) of the Income Tax Department has once again created unnecessary trouble for the genuine taxpayers by erroneously charging interest under Section 234B while processing updated returns, commonly known as ITR-U. Usually, on the updated returns (ITR-U) filed by taxpayers, interest is imposed under Section 234B up to the date of processing instead of restricting it to the date of filing of the updated return, which is clearly unjust as per the law.

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According to the provisions of Section 234B, interest is payable only from April 01 of the relevant assessment year up to the date on which the assessed tax is paid prior to filing an updated return. Once the taxpayer has filed ITR-U and paid the entire tax liability, then the tax department is not allowed to charge any further interest. Despite this clear clarification, CPC is mechanically extending the interest calculation till the date of processing, leading to arbitrary and unjustified demands. The section clearly mentions that interest under this section is not applicable to the additional income tax paid while filing ITR-U; however, CPC has ignored this fact. The key concern here is whether this harassment will ever be stopped, or taxpayers will need to go to Appeals in every case. The Finance Ministry and CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) should voluntarily issue instructions to CPC to immediately correct these defective intimations and prevent continued harassment of taxpayers.

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There is a Chartered Accountant (CA) named Himank Singla, who has also highlighted this concern at platform 'X', saying, "For ITR-U filed by taxpayers, Interest u/s 234B is being levied till date of processing, instead of date of filing! When will the harassment end for taxpayers in this country? Should the taxpayer go on Appeal in every case? Why don't you issue suo-moto instructions to CPC to rectify these Intimations!!"

Dear @IncomeTaxIndia @nsitharaman @nsitharamanoffc @FinMinIndia

Yet another unwarranted harassment by CPC. For ITR-U filed by taxpayers, Interest u/s 234B is being levied till date of processing, instead of date of filing! This is a clear misinterpretation of Section 234B law… pic.twitter.com/9d6n4czNM0 — CA Himank Singla (@CAHimankSingla) December 25, 2025