What happened
ITAT Mumbai ordered interest on a 5.39 crore rupee refund for AY 2012-13, ruling a filing mistake alone cannot justify denying Section 244A interest.
Why it matters
Filing a wrong return does not forfeit Section 244A interest on refunds; only periods caused by the assessee can be excluded.
Remember this
A wrong return does not equal zero interest on your refund.
More context & who is affected
ITAT Mumbai rejected the department's stance in the Voltas case: an error in an original income tax return does not strip Section 244A interest on a refund.
For AY 2012-13 apartment-sale gains were booked short-term then re-worked as long-term under Section 112; the bench ordered interest on the 5.39 crore rupee refund.
A separate 90.94 lakh rupee refund was directed to earn 3% additional interest under Section 244A(1A), confirming a mistake alone is not delay.
- Delay-driven refund
- 90.94 lakh rupees + 3% Additional interest under Section 244A(1A).Mint
- Assessment Year
- AY 2012-13 Capital gains reworked from short-term to long-term under Section 112.Mint
- Section
- Section 244A Interest cannot be denied for periods not attributable to the taxpayer.TaxGuru
How the ruling unfolded
- AY 2012-13 return - apartment gains reported short-term.
- Later rework - gains reclassified long-term under Section 112.
- ITAT Mumbai - ordered interest on the 5.39 crore rupee refund.
Taxpayers
Taxpayers are not stripped of Section 244A interest just because their original return had errors.
Taxpayers
Filing mistakes no longer need to be self-corrected to preserve statutory interest.
Sources & verification2 sources · 4 claims
These are the records behind this briefing. Linked reporting is not the same as independent confirmation.
- MintReportingPublished Oct 1, 2026 · Accessed Oct 2, 2026
- TaxGuruReporting
Refund interest cannot be denied for wrong original return ↗
Published Oct 1, 2026 · Accessed Oct 2, 2026
Claims and linked sources
ITAT Mumbai held a wrong income tax return does not extinguish Section 244A interest.
Case arose from AY 2012-13 capital gains reworked from short-term to long-term under Section 112.
ITAT ordered interest on the 5.39 crore rupee Voltas refund.
Section 244A(2) withholds interest only for taxpayer-caused delay, not filing mistakes.
