Late IT return lands Shimla man in jail

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 14

Filing income tax return late has cost a Shimla resident dear as he was sent to three months in jail for the offence. Sanjay Kumar Sood paid Rs 13.81 lakh tax over six months late and a complaint was filed against him by the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Laganpreet Sandhu. Sood has also been directed to pay a fine of Rs 8,000.

The court order stated that the complainant had succeeded in establishing that the accused had wilfully failed to furnish the return of his income in due time. According to the complaint, the due date of filing the return of income for the assessment year 2012-13 was September 30, 2012. However, the accused, without any reasonable cause, failed to furnish his return by the due date and paid it on April 2, 2013.

Accordingly, a show-cause notice was issued to the accused on February 5, 2014, and in reply, Sood submitted that the tax of Rs 13.81 lakh was deposited voluntarily by him on April 2, 2013, as March 31, 2013, was a Sunday and April 1 was a bank holiday. He thus argued that there was no intent to evade tax, which was deposited voluntarily way back before any notice was issued.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court found Sood guilty and sentenced him to three months imprisonment.