INCOME TAX
Extending Spouse' Tax Benefit Under IT Act For Same-Sex Couple Would Indirectly Recognise Same-Sex Marriage: Centre Tells Karnataka HC
The Centre on Saturday told the Karnataka High Court that interpreting “spouse” to include same-sex partners under a provision of the Income Tax Act would indirectly recognise a same-sex matrimonial relationship, which is not recognised under Indian law.“Same-sex marriage is not a recognised marriage in the Indian context. So, if we understand spouse to mean same sex people, we indirectly recognise their matrimonial relationship. Therefore, spouse necessarily means husband and wife,” Solicitor...
CBDT Circulars Reflect Executive's Understanding Of Law, Not Binding On Courts: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Friday held that CBDT circulars merely represent the Executive's understanding of a statutory provision and are not binding on the High Courts or the Supreme Court. The observation came while the court rejected an assessee's reliance on a CBDT Office Memorandum to claim a deduction under Section 80HHC of the Income Tax Act on premium received from the sale of export quotasA bench of Justice S.V.N. Bhatti and Justice N.V. Anjaria held that such circulars merely reflect the...
India-Netherlands DTAA | AO Can't Use Reassessment To Cure Own Failure To Record On PE: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that an Assessing Officer (AO) cannot invoke reassessment proceedings under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act merely to make up for his own failure to record a finding on the existence of a Permanent Establishment (PE) in India, after having conducted an inquiry into the issue during the original assessment.The division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta made the observation while allowing a petition filed by Elsevier BV, a company incorporated...
Venture Capital Funds Need No Separate SEBI Registration For Each Scheme For Income Tax Exemption: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court on Thursday held that a Venture Capital Fund (VCF) registered with SEBI does not need separate registration for each scheme it operates to claim exemption under Section 10(23FB) of the Income Tax Act.A Division Bench comprising Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Farhan P. Dubash dismissed the Revenue's appeal against Milestone Real Estate Fund. The court upheld the Fund's eligibility for the exemption.Section 10(23FB) provides that income earned by a qualifying VCF from...
Income Tax Penalty On Reduced Expenditure Claim Under APA Contrary To Act, Unsustainable: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that imposing an income tax penalty on account of a reduction in an expenditure claim pursuant to a position settled under an Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) is contrary to the scheme of the Income-tax Act and cannot be sustained.A division bench of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Farhan P. Dubash observed that the APA framework, introduced to reduce tax litigation, would be rendered ineffective if consequential penalties could be imposed after an expenditure...
Supreme Court Stays Punjab and Haryana HC Order Declaring Section 147A Income Tax Act Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment declaring Section 147A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, unconstitutional. A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran stayed the High Court judgment until the final disposal of the Special Leave Petition filed by the Union Government challenging the ruling. “The impugned order shall remain stayed on the condition that assessment as well as reassessment proceedings shall not proceed...
Income-Tax Authorities Should Take Liberal Approach To Condoning Filing Delays: Punjab & Haryana HC
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently observed that income-tax authorities should take a liberal approach while considering requests to condone delays in filing income-tax returns where genuine hardship is shown.A Division Bench of Justice Deepak Sibal and Justice Sunish Bindlish made the observation while setting aside an order of the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Panchkula, which rejected a cooperative society's request to condone a 34-day delay in filing its return for assessment...
Bombay High Court Quashes Fresh Scrutiny Of Thomson Reuters Over Modified Return Filed After Merger
The Bombay High Court on 8 September quashed the fresh scrutiny and transfer pricing proceedings initiated against Thomson Reuters International Services Private Limited for Assessment Year 2022-23. A Division Bench of Justices B.P. Colabawalla and Farhan P. Dubash held that filing a modified return after a business reorganisation does not require a fresh assessment when proceedings for the same year are already pending. Under Section 170A(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, the modified return must...
Gujarat High Court Upholds Tax Disallowance To J.K. Paper On Expenses For Supervising Farmer-Grown Trees
The Gujarat High Court has upheld an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal finding that expenditure incurred by J K Paper Limited on supervising trees grown by farmers could not be treated as agricultural expenditure. The tribunal had also excluded expenditure on producing coppice shoots through a process that did not involve primary operations on land.A bench of Justice Bhargav D. Karia and Justice Pranav Trivedi upheld the tribunal's decision to restrict the disallowance of agricultural loss to ₹9.43...
Assessing Officer Cannot Reopen Income Tax Settlement Through Reassessment: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that once a taxpayer's case has been finally settled by the Income Tax Settlement Commission, the Assessing Officer cannot reopen matters covered by the settlement through the ordinary reassessment route under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act.The Court said the Revenue can seek to reopen a settlement on the ground of fraud or misrepresentation by moving the Settlement Commission under Section 245D(6). The Assessing Officer, however, cannot independently...
Mere Payment By Indian Resident To Non-Resident Not Income Accruing In India: Delhi High Court
Holding so, the court directed the Revenue to refund about ₹783 crore in TDS to Teva Israel, along with applicable interest, within two months
Foreign Award Interest Becomes Judgment Debt After HC Deems Award A Decree, Not Taxable In India: ITAT Delhi
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi, has held that interest awarded under a foreign arbitral award loses its separate character as “interest” once the award is enforced and deemed to be a decree by the Delhi High Court. The tribunal ruled that the interest received as part of the decree was not taxable in India.“To our mind therefore, the damages, including the interest has assumed the character of a 'judgement debt' and is beyond the purview of Indian Income Tax Act,” the tribunal...