TDS - Mis-match in Form 26AS - Assessee not responsible - IT Department asked to refund excess tax and cost of Rs. 25,000
WHAT will you do if your TDS details do not match with the figures shown in the Form 26AS? The Income Tax Department will not give you credit for the TDS.
In this case, the deductor was Indian Railways - a Government Department and the Income Tax Department refused to give refund to the assessee because the TDS certificates did not match with the Form 26AS. If they did not match, either the deductor or the Income Tax Department is responsible and certainly not the assessee.
But the Government is fond of punishing the assessee for the fault of any Government department.
The frustrated assessee had to approach the High Court for relief.
The High Court observed,
The petitioner has suffered a tax deduction at source, but has not been given due credit inspite of the fact that he has been issued a TDS certificate by a government department. There is a presumption that the deductor has deposited TDS amount in the government account especially when the deductor is a government department. By denying the benefit of TDS to the petitioner because of the fault of the deductor causes not only harassment and inconvenience, but also makes the assessee feel cheated. There is no fault on the part of the petitioner. The fault, if any, lay with the deductor. In the instant case, nothing had been indicated that the fault lay with the petitioner in furnishing false details.
The High Court directed refund of the amount claimed, with interest and also ordered payment of cost of Rs. 25,000 to the petitioner.
This is yet another kind of tax terrorism that Modi has promised to put an end to.