ITAT Mumbai Deletes ₹572.83 Crore Brand Royalty Transfer Pricing Adjustment Against Vodafone Idea

The Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has deleted a ₹572.83 crore transfer pricing adjustment on Vodafone Idea Ltd.'s payment of brand royalty. It held that the controlled transaction relied on by the tax department could not be used as a comparable under the Comparable Uncontrolled Price (CUP) method. A bench of Accountant Member Om Prakash Kant and Judicial Member Anikesh Banerjee observed: "The Coordinate Benches of the Tribunal, while dealing with identical transfer...

ITAT Mumbai Holds Tax Appeals Infructuous After Company's Liquidation And Sale As Going Concern

The Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that no effective adjudication survives in income tax appeals filed by EMI Transmission Limited after the company underwent liquidation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). It noted that the company had been sold as a going concern and the liquidation proceedings had been closed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). A bench of Judicial Member Amit Shukla and Accountant Member Girish Agrawal was hearing EMI...

ITAT Jaipur Upholds CA Student's Claim For Section 87A Rebate On Short-Term Capital Gains Tax

The Jaipur Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 25 June held that a resident individual who opts for the new tax regime under Section 115BAC of the Income Tax Act and whose total income falls within the prescribed threshold is entitled to claim rebate under Section 87A even against tax payable on short-term capital gains under Section 111A. Accountant Member Annapurna Gupta allowed an appeal filed by Priyamvada Singhal, a CA student and directed the Revenue to grant the...

Holding Company Cannot Issue Shares On Behalf Of subsidiary To Claim Demerger Tax Benefit: ITAT Mumbai

A holding company cannot issue shares on behalf of its subsidiary to satisfy the conditions for claiming tax benefits arising from a demerger, the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held. "The Holding company cannot issue shares on behalf of the subsidiary and its obligations are restricted to its own legal liabilities and obligations under the law," the tribunal observed. A bench of Vice President Saktijit Dey and Accountant Member Prabhash Shankar partly allowed...

ITAT Mumbai Rules Barclays Bank's Interest From Overseas Branches Not Taxable In India

The Mumbai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that interest earned by the Indian branches of Barclays Bank PLC from its Head Office, overseas branches and other overseas banks is not taxable in India. It ruled that transactions between the Indian branch and its Head Office amount to payments to self and cannot give rise to taxable income under domestic tax law. A bench of Vice President Saktijit Dey and Accountant Member Prabhash Shankar observed that, while a...

ITAT Mumbai Quashes Reassessment Against Global Cricket Corporation Over Failure To Issue Mandatory Notice

The Mumbai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has quashed reassessment proceedings against Global Cricket Corporation Pte. Ltd.. The tribunal did so after finding that the Income Tax Department failed to establish that it had issued the mandatory notice before completing the reassessment.Global Cricket Corporation Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based sports rights and sports event management company involved in the management and promotion of sporting events.The tribunal also held that...

ITAT Jodhpur Deletes Business Expense Disallowance For Lack Of Adverse Findings

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Jodhpur, has allowed a batch of appeals filed by four companies, holding that business expenditure cannot be disallowed merely because the tax authorities considered the assessees to have minimal business activity. The tribunal found no adverse evidence questioning the genuineness of the expenditure and held that the disallowances sustained by the first appellate authority could not be justified on mere suspicion. A bench of Judicial Member Sudhir...

ITAT Ahmedabad Allows Former BSNL Employee's Claim For Tax Exemption On VRS Compensation

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Ahmedabad Bench, has recently allowed a former BSNL employee's claim for exemption on compensation received under the BSNL Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). The tribunal held that he was entitled to the benefit under Section 10(10B) of the Income Tax Act by following earlier coordinate Bench decisions on the issue.Section 10(10B) of the Income Tax Act provides a tax exemption for eligible retrenchment compensation received by an employee, subject to...

ITAT Delhi Quashes Search Assessment Over Defective Consolidated Satisfaction Note

The Delhi Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has quashed a search assessment against Sunwhite Realty Private Limited over a defective satisfaction note recorded for multiple assessment years.A bench of Judicial Member Anubhav Sharma and Accountant Member M. Balaganesh allowed the company's appeal against the assessment for the assessment year 2016–17. The assessment arose from a search conducted in the Ashish Begwani group cases. Sunwhite Realty challenged the Assessing Officer's...

Earlier Reassessment Regime Applies To Non-Searched Taxpayers In 2021-24 Searches: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has held that the earlier reassessment regime can apply even where the assessee was not the person searched, provided the reassessment is founded on incriminating material recovered during a search conducted within the statutory transition period. Applying that principle, the court quashed reassessment proceedings against a transporter after holding that the reopening notice had been issued beyond the applicable limitation period. A division bench of Justice A.S....

ITAT Hyderabad Quashes Penalty U/S 271DA Income Tax Act, Finds No Proof Of Section 269ST Violation

On 24 June, the Hyderabad Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) set aside penalties imposed on Shreemukh Realtors under Section 271DA of the Income Tax Act, holding that the Revenue failed to prove, with cogent evidence, any contravention of Section 269ST relating to alleged cash receipts exceeding Rs. 2 lakh. Vice President Vijay Pal Rao and Accountant Member Manjunatha G allowed the appeals against orders of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), which had upheld penalties for...

Bombay High Court Sets Aside ITAT Order For Failing To Decide Challenge To Faceless Assessment Procedure

The Bombay High Court has recently set aside an order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), holding that the tribunal failed to adjudicate a taxpayer's jurisdictional objection alleging non-compliance with the mandatory assessment procedure. The court ruled that the issue went to the root of the matter and required adjudication by the tribunal. A division bench of Justice G.S. Kulkarni and Justice Aarti Sathe observed,"Even otherwise, on merits, the ITAT was required to consider and...