Gujarat High Court
Gujarat High Court Sets Aside Move For Income Tax Reassessment In Land Sale, Bars Differing Stand On Evidence
The Gujarat High Court has set aside a tax reassessment notice issued in a land sale case, holding that the Income Tax Department cannot rely on the same evidence to take opposite positions against the buyer and the seller.The Division Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi was dealing with a writ petition challenging a notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act for Assessment Year 2020–21.The case arose from a search conducted under Section 132 of the Income...
Gujarat High Court Quashes Move To Reopen Income Tax Assessment Over Vague Third-Party Material
The Gujarat High Court has quashed reassessment notices against a taxpayer, ruling that the Income Tax Department cannot reopen completed assessments based on vague third-party documents that have no clear link to the person concerned.The ruling was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice A. S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi in a batch of petitions led by Bhavnaben Darshanbhai Patel, challenging reassessment proceedings for Assessment Year 2020–21.The case arose after a search under...
Pre-2002 Transfer Of Self-Generated Trademarks With No Cost Of Acquisition Not Taxable: Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court on 12 March, held that consideration of Rs.29.10 crore received by Zydus Lifesciences Limited on assignment of self-generated trademarks prior to 1 April 2002 is not chargeable to tax either as capital gains or as business income under the Income Tax Act, 1961. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed the Revenue's appeal and affirmed the Tribunal's view that, in the absence of an ascertainable cost of acquisition, the charging...
Gujarat High Court Seeks Affidavit From Centre Over Failure To Make ITR Utilities Available By April 1
The Gujarat High Court recently directed the Union government to file an affidavit in a writ petition filed by the Chartered Accountants Association, Surat, and others, alleging continued non-compliance with its 2015 directions on the timely availability of income tax return e-filing utilities. A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi noted that despite its earlier ruling in All Gujarat Federation of Tax Consultants v. CBDT, the respondent Department had not followed...
Gujarat High Court Set Aside ₹25 Crore Arbitral Award As Tribunal Rewrote Contract, Ignored Reciprocal Obligations
The Gujarat High Court has upheld the setting aside of a Rs 25 crore arbitral award in a dispute over a failed industrial project, holding that the tribunal had effectively rewritten the contract by imposing an obligation to provide an approach road that was never agreed upon, while fastening liability despite the claimant not having set up the factory, which was a prerequisite for triggering the respondent's obligations. Dismissing the appeal, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal...
Cross-State ITC Transfer Cannot Be Denied on Amalgamation: Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court has held that Input Tax Credit (ITC) cannot be denied on the ground that the transferor and transferee companies are located in different States in a case of amalgamation. A Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi held, "The transfer of the ITC on amalgamation of the company is permissible as per the provision of Section 18(3) of the CGST Act read with Rule 41 of the CGST Rules. Neither of the provision prohibits or debars transfer of the ITC on the...
Search Year Included In Extended 10-Year Limit For Reopening Income Tax Assessments: Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court has recently held that while computing the extended ten-year period for reopening income tax assessments following a search, the assessment year in which the search was conducted must be included in the reckoning.The bench stated that "..... the assessment year relevant to the previous year of search becomes the reference year and the ten-year period is counted from the end of that assessment year. This necessarily includes the search assessment year within the ten-year...
Gujarat High Court Grants Bail To Accused In ₹42 Crore GST ITC Fraud Case
The Gujarat High Court has granted regular bail to Keyur Dipakkumar Shah, accused of allegedly availing and passing on fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) of around Rs 42 crore under GST laws, noting that he has no criminal antecedents and faces a maximum sentence of five years. “Without discussing the evidence in detail, prima facie, this Court is of the opinion that this is a fit case to exercise the discretion and enlarge the applicant on regular bail,” Justice Nikhil S. Kariel said while...
Gujarat High Court Quashes Reassessment Based On GST Proceedings Set Aside, Finds No Independent Material
The Gujarat High Court has quashed reassessment proceedings initiated against an individual taxpayer, holding that reopening of assessment was uncalled for where it was based on GST proceedings that had already been set aside by the appellate authority and where no independent material existed to indicate escapement of income. “Apart from this, there is no other material which is in possession of the respondent No.1, which could prove that there has been an escapement of income and hence the...
Gujarat High Court Condones Delay In Filing Income Tax Return, Finds Accountant's Error Caused Genuine Hardship
The Gujarat High Court has held that a taxpayer's delay in filing its income tax return due to a bona fide misunderstanding of audit requirements under Section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, resulting in denial of a tax deduction under Section 80-IAB for Special Economic Zone developers, constitutes “genuine hardship” warranting condonation.The case arose from the petitioner firm's failure to file its return of income for Assessment Year 2023–24 within the prescribed due date of 31 July 2023. The...
Bona Fide Delay Justifies Tax Benefit, “Genuine Hardship” Must Be Liberally Applied: Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court on 16 March, held that a bona fide delay of 53 days in filing Form 10-IC cannot deprive an eligible taxpayer of concessional tax benefits. The expression “genuine hardship” under the Income Tax Act must be given a liberal, justice-oriented interpretation. Form 10-IC is a declaration filed by a company to opt for the concessional corporate tax rate under Section 115BAA of the Income Tax Act.A Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi allowed...