AO can NOT insist to pay tax before expiry of statutory period for filing appeal

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd vs. Ministry of Finance (Bombay High Court)

February 7th, 2014

Action to recover tax before expiry of statutory period for filing appeal is high-handed

The AO’s insistence that the assessee should pay the amount is contrary to the provisions of theFinance Act which provides for a period of 3 months to file an appeal to the Tribunal. It is also contrary to the circular dated 01.01.2013 issued by the CBEC. The impugned communications, to say the least, is high handed. The statute has advisedly provided a period of three months to an assessee to file an appeal before the appellate authority and also obtain a stay. This is with a view to enable the assessee to seek proper advice and considered opinion on the adjudication order before taking a decision and then challenging the adjudication order in appeal proceedings