Gujarat High Court refuses to extend due date for filing TAR and waive late fees

CA Association, Surat has filed a writ petition through Mr. Avinash Poddar which was heard by Court Today. The Writ petition seek no penalty, interest or late fees until New Income Tax Portal becomes glitch-free.

On this the Honorable Gujarat High Court said:

We have heard Mr. Poddar and Mr. Nipun learned counsel of the CA Association. We have been able to understand to some extent the difficulties which are being experienced by the assesses in uploading the Audit Report [AR] for the purpose of filing Income Tax Return [ITR]. Our attention has also been drawn to circular no. 17/2021, issued by CBDT dated 9th Sep 2021, w.r.t to the extension of the time limit of filing ITR and other Audit reports for AY 2021-22.

Mr. Avinash Poddar “Pointed out that for the purpose of uploading the Audit Report, the assessee has to generate UDIN. This has been made mandatory from 1st July 2019 for all Audits. On Account of technical glitches of the portal, the CA are finding it difficult to upload UDIN. Even after the generation of UDIN, the Audit Report is not uploaded.”

He further added, “If AR is not uploaded and ITR is not filed on time, the same will entail interest, late fees, and penalties.”

Mr. Bhatt [Oppotion Counsel] submitted that his apprehension is not well-formed. He would like to file a detailed reply explaining the correct position.

The court said that at this stage, we may only say that if there are any technical problems, the same should be looked into by the concerned Authority.

Mr. Poddar requested that the deadline of 15th Jan 2022, for purpose of filing Tax Audit may be extended to 15th Feb 2022. The Court declined to comment on the same.

Court Added that “In case the assessee is not able to file TAR due to technical glitches, he may always point out the same at the time he is given Show Cause Notice [SCN] for late Filing or non Filing of TAR.”

However, the court said that the technical glitches should be resolved on time. The matter will be again hosted after 2 weeks.