Telangana High Court Quashes IT Reassessment On Issue Already Examined, Calls It Change of Opinion

The Telangana High Court has set aside income tax reassessment proceedings against Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, holding that the tax department cannot reopen an issue it had already examined and accepted during the original assessment. “once the assessment proceedings are completed and assessment order is passed, the 1st respondent cannot reopen the assessment proceedings by issuing the impugned show-cause notice, dt.27.02.2023, alleging that Form 10 had not been...

Delhi High Court Says 100% Shareholding Not Enough To Tax Shareholders For Company's Income

The Delhi High Court has held that shareholders, even if holding all the shares of a company, are only owners of the shares and not of the company's assets, and therefore the company's income cannot be taxed in their hands. “Legally speaking, the respondents being shareholders of the company, even if holding all the shares (100%), are only owners of the shares of the company and not the owners of the property as such and similarly the income which that company has earned cannot ipso-facto be...

Telangana High Court Upholds 1% Royalty Cap On Export Sales, Dismisses Gulf Oil Appeals

The Telangana High Court on 26 March, upheld the restriction of royalty on export sales to 1% for Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd., holding that regulatory approvals permitting higher royalty rates do not determine arm's length price under transfer pricing provisions, which operate as a self-contained code under Sections 92 to 92F of the Income Tax Act. The Division Bench comprising Justices P. Sam Koshy and Suddala Chalapathi Rao held that no substantial question of law arose in the matter and...

Mumbai ITAT Allows ₹13.59 Cr Write-Off On Overseas Subsidiary Investment As Business Loss

The Mumbai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 17 April held that losses from investments and loans to a wholly owned foreign subsidiary, made for business expansion and commercial expediency, are deductible as business losses even if irrecoverable. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Narender Kumar Choudhry and Accountant Member Prabhash Shankar further held that no proof of recovery efforts is required once the amount is written off in the books. It held: “The investment was...

ITAT Delhi Upholds Deletion Of ₹18.63 Crore, Says Direct Payment To Developer Not Unexplained Cash

The New Delhi Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 24 April upheld the deletion of an addition of Rs. 18.63 crore made against Sachin Gaur, an individual taxpayer, and held that payments made directly by subsequent buyers to a developer cannot be treated as unexplained money of the seller under Section 69A of the Income Tax Act. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Yogesh Kumar U.S. and Accountant Member Manish Agarwal held: “It is observed that while making the said addition...

Cash Receipt In Agricultural Land Sale Not 'Unexplained' Where Duly Explained: ITAT New Delhi

The New Delhi Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 17 April, held that cash receipts arising from a duly evidenced agricultural land sale could not be treated as unexplained cash credit under Section 68 where the identity of the payer, genuineness of the transaction, and supporting documentation were established. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Vimal Kumar and Accountant Member S Rifaur Rahman allowed the appeal filed by Angad Developers Pvt Ltd against the order of the Commissioner of...

Approval By Additional Commissioner Valid As “Joint Commissioner” Under Income Tax Act: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court, on 8 April, held that approval granted by an Additional Commissioner of Income Tax satisfies the statutory requirement under Section 274(2) of the Income Tax Act for imposing penalties. It clarified that the term “Joint Commissioner” includes an Additional Commissioner under Section 2(28C) of the Act. Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. dismissed a batch of writ petitions filed by Service Cooperative Bank Limited, holding that the challenge failed on the limited question of the...

Depreciation Cannot Be Combined With Revival Of Original Cost For Indexation Benefit: ITAT Ahmedabad

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 21 April held that a taxpayer cannot claim depreciation on an asset in earlier years and thereafter seek to revive its original cost of acquisition to claim higher indexation benefits while computing capital gains on its sale. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Siddhartha Nautiyal and Accountant Member Narendra Prasad Sinha dismissed an appeal filed by Shree Vaidehi Impex Pvt Ltd for assessment year 2016–17 against an order of...

Delhi High Court Cuts ₹80.42 Lakh Addition To ₹68.47 Lakh, Says Taxpayers' Claim Was Relied On Despite Rejection

The Delhi High Court has reduced the addition to the taxpayers' income from Rs.80.42 lakh to Rs.68.47 lakh in a cash seizure case, holding that the Assessing Officer could not rely on the assessee's claim of having “borrowed/collected” Rs.80.42 lakh from 17 persons after rejecting that very explanation, terming such an approach “perverse” in the absence of any independent material.A Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar partly allowed an appeal under Section 260A of the Income...

ITAT Delhi Upholds Revision Order Against Amazon Retail Over Lack of Inquiry Into Expenses, Related Party Payments

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) at Delhi has dismissed an appeal filed by Amazon Retail India Private Limited challenging a revision order under Section 263 of the Income Tax Act, holding that the assessing officer failed to conduct necessary enquiries in a case selected for complete scrutiny before accepting the return declaring a loss of Rs. 639.73 crore.A coram comprising Judicial Member Satbeer Singh Godara and Accountant Member Amitabh Shukla held that the assessment order suffered...

ITAT Delhi Deletes ₹1.05 Crore Addition On Dissolved Firm, Says Income Taxed In Surviving Partner's Hands

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi Bench, directed deletion of a Rs. 1.05 crore addition on a partnership firm, holding that no addition could be made in the hands of a dissolved firm when the same receipts had already been offered to tax in the hands of the successor proprietorship. Judicial Member Sudhir Kumar and Accountant Member Manish Agarwal observed, "no addition could be made in the hands of the assessee firm which has already been dissolved in preceding year for the...

Bombay High Court Sets Aside Cap On Export Unit Tax Deduction Based On Sister Concern Profits

The Bombay High Court has held that deduction under Section 10B of the Income Tax Act, which grants tax relief to export-oriented units on profits derived from exports, cannot be restricted merely by comparing the assessee's profit margins with those of a sister concern, in the absence of any material establishing an arrangement to inflate profits. “The capping of the profit share of the Assessee on which deduction under Section 10B could be claimed at 19% solely on the basis of the sister...