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Informist, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Income Tax Department and expressed shock over its failure to pay a tax refund to Microsoft Corp. Pvt. Ltd. even after eight years. The court said the department's officers have been "callous" in handling Microsoft's grievance, noting that they did not pay heed to the petitioner's refund claim.

 

"Not paying the refundable amount to an assessee for eight years is shocking and is an issue which should have pricked the conscience of the officers at the helm of affairs," said a bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Vinod Kumar. The bench said the tax department's "utterly negligent attitude" has led Microsoft Corp. to approach the high court for a refund of the amount arising from the orders passed by the authorities.

 

The bench said it was painful to learn that in spite of the writ petition being filed, even till today, Microsoft Corp. has not been paid the amount. The Income Tax Department's prayer to grant 12 weeks' time to pay the refund is an "unreasonable prayer" and shows that "they take not only the citizen but even the high court for granted," it added.

 

The court directed the Income Tax Department to pay the entire amount of INR 53.78 million, along with applicable interest, including interest given under Section 244A(1A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, to Microsoft Corp. latest by Feb. 15. In case the requisite amount, along with the indicated interest, is not paid by the above date, the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, New Delhi, shall pay INR 100,000 to Microsoft Corp. "personally from his own pocket," the court said.

 

The petitioner had sought direction from the court to the Income Tax Department to refund INR 53.78 million, along with applicable interest thereupon, in relation to the refund claim arising from fringe benefit tax that has been pending since June 2017. The petitioner said the department was simply awaiting a refund adjustment challan and had taken more than eight years to carry out the ministerial work, with the amount yet to be paid.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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