Income Tax – Reassessment under Section 147/148 of Income Tax Act – Report of District Valuation Officer (DVO) not sufficient basis for reopening assessment – Held: Sole reliance on DVO report without proper application of mind by the Assessing Officer (AO) invalidates reassessment proceedings – No proper analysis of petitioner’s declared property values under "F...
Tax Law – Penalty for Undervaluation of Goods – Punjab VAT Act, 2005 – Appeals challenging the imposition of penalties under Section 51(7)(b) of the Punjab VAT Act for undervaluation of medicines imported into Chandigarh from Himachal Pradesh. The Checking Officer detained the goods, observing that the prices mentioned on the invoice were disproportionately lower than the Maximum...
Customs Law – Service of Show Cause Notice (SCN) – Petitioner argued that SCN was improperly served via a non-government email service (Gmail), violating the E-mail Policy of India. High Court held that the SCN was validly served under Section 153 of the Customs Act, 1962, as there is no statutory requirement to use only government email services. The court noted that the petitioner...
Taxation Law – Detention of Goods – E-Way Bill Compliance – Petition challenging penalty imposed under Section 129 of the CGST/SGST Act, 2017 – Goods detained due to incomplete Part-B of the E-Way bill – Intention to evade tax immaterial for imposing penalty under Section 129 – Authorities empowered to detain goods and demand tax and penalty if documents are not...
Sales Tax – Refund of Excess Tax – Unjust Enrichment – Appeal against the refusal of refund based on the principle of unjust enrichment. Held: The officer determining the refund amount cannot review or revise the assessment order but must respect it and only quantify the refund. The appeal was allowed, and the appellant was entitled to a refund as per the assessment order. [Paras...
Value Added Tax - Deductions in Works Contracts - Section 36 of Haryana Value Added Tax Act - Appeal by revenue against Tribunal's order allowing deductions for depreciation on plant and machinery, financial expenses, and other related expenses - Tribunal upheld deductions allowed by assessing officer for expenses including depreciation, bank interest, postage, telephone, fuel, and lubricants ...
Central Excise – Determination of Valuation – Issue concerning the applicability of Section 4 or Section 4A of the Central Excise Act for the goods sold by the respondent – Tribunal’s decision set aside by the Supreme Court – Section 4A applies when there is a statutory requirement to declare retail sale price on the package – HDPE bags sold by the respondent to...
Octroi Duty – Valuation Methodology – Petitioner challenges the levy of octroi based on MRP less ad hoc deductions as per Rule 2(7)(b) of Octroi Rules, 1965 – Argument that determination should be based on invoice value under Rule 2(7)(a) – Court finds Petitioner's protest against levy from 2001 and subsequent Small Causes Court appeals favoring Petitioner’s conte...
Taxation Law - Imposition of Higher Tax Rate - Judicial Review - The petitioners challenged the demand for higher tax by the State of Punjab after an initial reduction in the tax rate per draw. The court held that the State can lawfully collect tax only at the rate notified under the Act, and any tax collected beyond the notified amount is without legislative authority and illegal. The demand for ...
Customs Duty – Redemption of Confiscated Goods – Whether customs duty is payable when confiscated goods are redeemed after payment of fine under Section 125 of the Customs Act – Held, duty liability arises upon exercise of option to pay fine for redemption – Duty must be assessed under Section 28 – Interest on delayed payment under Section 28AB applicable – [Par...
