Calcutta University has decided to appeal to the income tax department to exempt it from paying a fine of ₹73 crore.
The department slapped the amount on the university for not filing IT returns for two financial years — 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectively.
The decision was taken at a meeting held on Thursday which was chaired by the vice-chancellor.
A CU official said that the university has also decided to request the department not to impose any fine for the financial years spanning from 2015-16 to 2019-20 as the university did not file any tax returns during those periods as well.
The IT department has yet to slap any fines for missing out on tax returns during those periods.
Educational institutions are required to file income tax returns every year under a provision introduced in 2015 by the Union government.
“In our appeal, we will mention that the income of a university or any educational institution, which exists solely for educational purposes and not for profit and which is wholly or substantially financed by the government, is fully exempt from income tax under Section 10(23C)(iiiab) of the Income Tax Act and therefore, the university should resume the exemption. It will be also mentioned that the university will soon file all the pending tax returns,” said a member of the committee which was constituted after the IT department imposed a fine.
CU registrar Debaish Das, who is a member of the committee, told The Telegraph: “We will appeal to the IT department so the university is granted an exemption under the necessary provisions. The pending tax returns will be filed at the earliest”.
CU vice-chancellor Santa Datta told this newspaper on July 17 that the committee has also been constituted to find out why the tax returns had not been filed.
She said the period during which the university defaulted in filing the returns preceded the start of her tenure as interim VC in June last year.
Datta earlier said the university had filed the tax return for the 2022-23 financial year and was in the process of filing the return for 2023-24.
When asked whether those concerned had been asked why the university failed to file the returns, the registrar said: “Our immediate task is to obtain the exemption from the department”.
A CU official said the instance of default exposes a systematic failure in the university administration.
“When the other state-aided universities are regular in filing the returns, why the largest affiliating university in the state could not do something, which is basic? The incident earned the university a bad name,” he said.
