Costly mistake: Rs 9.91L tax refund for senior citizen

Mr. Ajay Kumar Bakaya, a senior citizen resident of Sushant Lok 1, Gurugram, had invested Rs 3 crore in purchasing two government tax-free bonds in 2013. Each year, the interest from these bonds was reported under the exempt income column in his income tax return (ITR). However, for the assessment year 2022-23, Bakaya mistakenly reported the interest amount of Rs 25.42 lakh (16.96 lakh from IFCL bonds and 8.46 lakh from REC bonds) under income from other sources, resulting in an excess income tax payment of Rs 9.91 lakh.

Unfortunately, by the time he realized his error, the deadline for filing a revised ITR had passed. Bakaya then filed a rectification application under Section 154 before the jurisdictional assessing officer (JAO) on January 19, 2024. Unfortunately, the JAO rejected his application based on the Supreme Court decision in Goetze (India) Ltd. v.

CIT. Bakaya had to file an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Delhi, where he was represented by Chartered Accountant Tanpreet Kholi. The case was heard by ITAT Delhi's bench, consisting of S. Rifaur Rahman and Raj Kumar Chauhan. Winning the case, Bakaya was granted a tax refund of Rs 9.91 lakh.