CA CS in Job
675 Points
Posted on 10 March 2011
Hi everyone,
First of I would like to say that it is well known ,the TDS is liability of Disbursing Officer(employer) and he cannot escape it since starting months.
But in case of Advance tax being paid by employee at initial months suppose in month of MAY or JUNE for the upcoming all months during that F.Y(i.e not on quarterly format as prescribed but adhoc in starting)and produce the satisfactory documentry evidence to DO, TDS on that income against which equivalent tax already has been deposited could be skipped.
Because as per my opinion, in this connection the decision of Supreme Court in Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Ltd 2007 AIR 2930 may be of use, which confirms that –
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The department could not recover once again the tax from the deductor where the tax has already been paid by the recipient.
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However, this will not alter the liability to charge interest under Section 201 (1A) of the Act till the date of payment of taxes(if it proves to be wrong) or the liability for penalty under Section 271C of the Income-tax Act.
Considering above, it may herculean task for employer to collect details of tax payments by employee without which the liability of TDS can not be avoided, & in spite of doing this penal consequences may still become unavoidable. So the best option is to deduct tax in the first instance itself.
So one has to borne in mind that TDS comes first if there is no such documentry evidence to substanciate the tax already deposited to department.
Thank you.