Service Tax – Exemption for Legal Practitioners – Demand Raised Based on Third-Party Disclosure – Notice Quashed - Petitioner, an individual practicing advocate, was issued a service tax demand notice and recovery order based on third-party income disclosure – Court reiterated settled law that legal services provided by individual lawyers are exempt under the negative list ...
Customs Law – Section 14(1), 14(2), 27, 142 of the Customs Act - Refund of Duty – Encashment of Bank Guarantee Not ‘Payment’ – Refund Allowed – Appellant furnished bank guarantees for differential customs duty under High Court orders—Upon High Court’s dismissal, department encashed guarantees—Supreme Court held: Bank guarantee encashment ...
Taxation Law - Customs – Duty Drawback – Circular No. 35/2010-Cus. – Clarificatory Nature – Retrospective Application – Dispute over denial of 1% AIR duty drawback to exporters of Soyabean Meal who availed Central Excise rebate – Supreme Court held that CBEC Circular No. 35/2010-Cus. was clarificatory in nature and must apply retrospectively – Circular did...
Taxation Law - Income Tax – Reassessment Proceedings – Section 148A and 149 of Income Tax Act – Reassessment Proceedings Quashed - Initiation of reassessment based on incorrect premise that the petitioner was a non-filer despite evidence of filing Income Tax Return for A.Y. 2015-16 – Issuance of notice under Section 148A(b) without furnishing material supporting allegations...
Taxation Law - Sales Tax – Purchase from Exempt Dealers – Liability of Purchaser – Upheld – The appellants contended that purchase tax under Section 5A of the Kerala Act and Section 7A of the Tamil Nadu Act was not payable when the seller was exempt from sales tax – The Court held that these sections are independent charging provisions and purchase tax is leviable on ...
Taxation Law - Income Tax Settlement – Grant of Immunity – Scope under Section 245H – Immunity Upheld – The Revenue assailed the Settlement Commission’s order only to the extent it granted immunity from prosecution and penalty to the assessee company and its directors – Held: The Settlement Commission’s satisfaction on full and true disclosure, manner of d...
Taxation Law - Income Escaping Assessment – Validity of Reopening – Prima Facie Material Justifying Reassessment – Reopening of assessment for AY 2012-13 challenged on grounds that original assessment under Section 143(3) was already concluded and that reassessment notice was issued based solely on third-party information – Held: Department acted on tangible material receiv...
Income Tax Law - Business Loss and Commercial Expediency – Deduction for Expenditure on Group Company – Permitted – Appellant incurred Rs.200.47 lakh in deposits and interest and Rs.49.18 lakh as expenses in connection with its group company MMC – Court held that these were for commercial expediency to protect reputation and business continuity – Following earlier dec...
Criminal Law - Possession of Muddamal – Income Tax Proceedings vs. Criminal Jurisdiction – I-T Department Authorized to Retain Seized Cash – The department sought custody of ₹35,28,000 seized in a theft case, invoking Section 132A(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act – Trial court initially directed fixed deposit in complainant’s name, but later denied department’s app...
Taxation Law - Wealth Tax – Urban Land – Building Under Construction – Taxability Upheld - ITAT excluded respondent’s land under construction from wealth tax by relying on Rohini Hotels case – High Court held this reliance misplaced in light of Supreme Court’s later decision in Giridhar G. Yadalam v. CWT which reversed Rohini Hotels – Held: Land with parti...