No filing or late filing of TDS return or TDS statement shall invite two penal consequence as the Finance Bill 2012-13 has inserted two new provisions fee for late filing section 234E and penalty for late filing or non filing of TDS statement as per section 271H.
Fee u/s 234E for Late Filing of TDS Statement
Till now, if you file late income tax return, there is consequential penalty in form of interest u/s 234A if there was tax due as per return. Similar in line, in the same chapter, a new section 234E has been proposed to be effective from 1st July 2012, with heading Levy of fee in certain case to provide that if TDS statement (return) as per time prescribed, deductor will be liable to pay by way of fee of Rs 200 per day till the failure of TDS filing continues. However, the total fee cannot exceed the amount of TDS deductible from which statement was required to be filed.
(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the Act, where a person fails to deliver or cause to be delivered a statement within the time prescribed in subsection (3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 206C, he shall be liable to pay, by way of fee, a sum of two hundred rupees for every day during which the failure continues.
(2) The amount of fee referred to in sub-section (1) shall not exceed the amount of tax deductible or collectible, as the case may be.
Penalty for late filing or non- filing TDS statement
Similarly a new penalty provision has been inserted as section 271 H which provides that a deductor shall pay penalty of minimum Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh for not filing the TDS statement within one year from the specified date within which he was supposed to file the statement. This amendment is also effective from 1st July 2012.
Thus , if the present due time for filing TDS statement is taken , the time upto which the penalty u/s 271H cannot be imposed are explained for any tax deduction for FY 2012-13.
| Sl No | TDS Statement | Due date | Date up to which no penalty u/s 271H can be imposed |
| 1 | 30th June | 15th July 2012 | 15th July 2013 |
| 30th September | 15th October 2012 | 15th October 2013 | |
| 31st December | 15th January 2013 | 15th January 2014 | |
| 31st March | 15th May 2013 | 15th May 2014 |
Read the exact wordings of section 271H
(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the Act, a person shall be liable to pay penalty, if, he
(a) fails to deliver or cause to be delivered a statement within the time prescribed in subsection (3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 206C;
or
(b) furnishes incorrect information in the statement which is required to be delivered or cause to be delivered under sub-section (3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 206C.
(2) The penalty referred to in sub-section (1) shall be a sum which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to one lakh rupees.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, no penalty shall be levied for the failure referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1), if the person proves that after paying tax deducted or collected along with the fee and interest, if any, to the credit of the Central Government, he had delivered or cause to be delivered the statement referred to in subsection (3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 206C before the expiry of a period of one year from the time prescribed for delivering or causing to be delivered such statement.
(4) The provisions of this section shall apply to a statement referred to in subsection(3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 206C which is to be delivered or caused to be delivered for tax deducted at source or tax collected at source, as the case may be, on or after the 1st day of July, 2012.