The Hindu Business Line : Illegible seal on tax challan

One of my clients paid Rs 45,000 as advance tax. The bank that accepted the payment did not put the date of receipt and serial number of the challan legibly. The assessee filed photocopy of the challan along with the return of income. The assessing officer who processed the return under Section 143(1) did not give credit for the advance tax, as the photocopy of the challan did not provide clearly the date of payment of tax. A demand was raised, which upset the assessee who thought that there was some mistake committed by his auditor, but was relieved on knowing that the cause was the tax-collecting bank.

The original challan was produced before the assessing officer along with a petition under Section 154 seeking rectification of the mistake in the intimation given earlier. It required close follow-up for the next few days to reduce the demand raised by the tax department by means of rectification order.

The Finance Ministry may instruct all the banks collecting tax payments to put a stamping distinct from the other regular ones in the tax challans. Also, it may be mandated that the BSR code, the serial number of the challan and the date of receipt be indicated clearly to avoid inconveniences to the taxpayers. After all, the collecting bankers earn commission on such tax collections and the taxpayers and the Finance Ministry have every right to efficient service.

Based on tales of real-life tax hassles.

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