"Shocking": Delhi HC Pulls Up IT Dept For 8-Year Delay In Processing ₹5.37 Crore Microsoft Refund

The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Income Tax Department over “shocking” eight years delay in processing Rs 5.37 crore tax refund to Microsoft Corporation India.A Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar allowed the writ petition filed by Microsoft India seeking refund of amounts arising from Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT), which had been acknowledged as payable as far back as in June 2017.The court noted that while the Assessing Officer had determined refundable amounts of Rs 6.94 crore and Rs 5.37 crore in favour of the company, only the former amount was released while the latter sum remained unpaid for more than eight years without justification.Rejecting the explanation offered by the Revenue, the Court observed that the authorities had failed to perform even “ministerial work” despite repeated representations and that such prolonged delay should have “pricked the conscience of the officers at the helm of affairs”.“The officers of the Income Tax Department have been callous towards the petitioner's grievance. Not paying the refundable amount to an assessee for eight years is shocking,” it remarked.The bench also expressed displeasure at the Department's request for a further 12 weeks time to process the refund, noting that it showed the authorities were taking “not only the citizen but even the High Court for granted”.Accordingly, it directed the Department to refund "₹5,37,77,310" along with applicable statutory interest by February 15, 2026.Any failure shall result in personal costs of Rs 1 lakh being imposed on the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, it warned.Case Title: Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd v. Deputy Commissioner Of Income Tax & OrsCitation: 2026 LLBiz HC (DEL) 21Case Number: W.P.(C) 5608/2025For Petitioner: Advocates Nageswar Rao, Parth and Pratik Rath. For Respondents: Advocates Shlok Chandra (senior standing counsel), Madhavi Shukla, Naincy Jain and Udit Dad; and for the Union of India, advocates P.S. Singh, Ashutosh Bharti, Minakshi Singh and Rajeesh Kumar Sharma.Click here to read order

"Shocking": Delhi HC Pulls Up IT Dept For 8-Year Delay In Processing ₹5.37 Crore Microsoft Refund

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