Court issues summons to production house for delay in TDS submission

Mumbai: A special magistrate court in the city issued a summons to the production house Eros International Pvt Ltd against whom the Income Tax (I-T) department has initiated a criminal prosecution for alleged delay in depositing an amount of ₹18

Mumbai: A special magistrate court in the city issued a summons to the production house Eros International Pvt Ltd against whom the Income Tax (I-T) department has initiated a criminal prosecution for alleged delay in depositing an amount of ₹18.28 crore collected as TDS (tax deducted at source) in financial years 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Court issues summons to production house for delay in TDS submission

The special magistrate court has ordered the company and its representatives to appear before it on November 7.

The I-T department had approached the magistrate court in 2019 by filing separate complaints through their special counsel, advocate Amit Munde, for the delay in depositing the TDS amount. The court in July accepted the complaint and subsequently issued a summons to Eros International and its directors.

In its complaint, the I-T department claimed that, M/s Eros International Pvt. Ltd had deducted an amount of ₹10.61 crore in 2016-17, but delayed depositing the same in the government treasury.

Similarly, it is alleged that the company deducted an amount of ₹7.77 crore in 2017-18, but again failed to deposit the same in the government treasury within the prescribed time limit.

Hence, the agency claimed that, after the deduction of TDS, instead of depositing the amount to the government treasury within the due date, the assessee retained the amount of money and therefore, committed a default under the Income Tax Rules 1962, an offence punishable under section 276B (person responsible for paying) of the Income Tax Act 1961.