Saturday, April 30, 2016

No penalty on ‘Aishwarya Rai’ for TDS default if she relied on her CA’s advice

Facts:
a) Assessee (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) made payment of US $ 77,500 to a non-resident for development of website without deducting TDS under Section 195.
b) The Assessing Officer (AO) observed that payment made for development of website would fall within the meaning of 'fees for technical services' as per Explanation 2 to Section 9(1)(vii). Therefore, payment so made was taxable in India in hands of non-resident and, hence, assessee had made default for not deducting TDS while making such payment. Consequently, the AO imposed penalty under section 271C for not deducting the TDS.
c) Assessee submitted that she had not deducted TDS by relying upon advice of her CA. Therefore, penalty shouldn’t be imposed as there was no mala fide intension on her part.
d) CIT(A) confirmed the order of AO. Aggrieved by the order of CIT(A), assessee filed the instant appeal before the tribunal.
The tribunal held in favour of assessee as under-