INCOME TAX
Prosecution Can Be Initiated Without Waiting For ITAT Penalty Confirmation In High-Value Cases: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has made it clear that approval of collegium of two CCIT/DGIT rank officers is only required in cases where tax evaded is less than the threshold limit of ₹25 Lakh.A division bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar held, “the appropriate authority for initiating the prosecution proceedings would be the sanctioning authority i.e., the PCIT and not the collegium of two CCIT/DGIT rank officers since the tax to be evaded exceeds Rs. 25 lacs.”The observation was made...
Income Tax Act | S.54 Relief Cannot Be Denied Merely Due To Delay In Registration If Sale Proceeds Invested Within Time: ITAT Chennai
The Chennai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) held that deduction under Section 54 of the Income Tax Act cannot be denied merely due to delay in registration if investment in new residential property is made within the prescribed time. Section 54 of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961 offers individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) an exemption from long-term capital gains tax. This exemption applies when they sell a residential house property and use the proceeds...
Income Tax Act | Reassessment U/S 147 Valid If Original Order Did Not Consider S. 80HHC Claim Earlier: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court held that reassessment under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act is valid if the original order is completely silent on the assessee's claim for deduction under Section 80HHC of the Income Tax Act. Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, empowers the Assessing Officer (AO) to assess or reassess income that has escaped assessment. Justices Anita Sumanth and Mummineni Sudheer Kumar stated that the original order of assessment is wholly silent in regard to the ...
Income Tax Act | Sikkim High Court Allows S.80P(2)(d) Deduction On Interest Earned From Co-operative Banks By Non-Bank Co-operative Society
The Sikkim High Court has held that a non-bank co-operative society is entitled to claim deduction under Section 80P(2)(d) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, on interest income earned from investments made with co-operative banks, and that Section 80P(4) does not bar such deduction. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder and Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai allowed the tax appeal filed by the Sikkim State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (SIMFED) and set aside the...
Income Tax Act | Upkeep & Maintenance Expenses For Rubber Replantation Are Revenue Expenditure, Deductible U/S 37: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court held that expenditure incurred on the upkeep and maintenance of rubber trees, including expenses relating to replantation and replacement, is revenue in nature and therefore allowable as a deduction under Section 37 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Section 37 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, provides that expenses incurred by businesses for raising loans are eligible for deduction. Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Harisankar V. Menon were examining the issue regarding...
Income Tax | ITAT Mumbai Allows Section 80P Deduction On Interest Earned From Co-operative Banks
The Mumbai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has allowed a co-operative housing society to claim deduction under Section 80P(2)(d) of the Income Tax Act on interest income earned from deposits placed with co-operative banks. A Bench comprising Vikram Singh Yadav (Accountant Member) and Rahul Chaudhary (Judicial Member) allowed the appeal filed by the assessee, Clover Everest World Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. and set aside the denial of deduction by the tax...
Income Tax | Foreign Companies' Head Office Expenses For Indian Business Subject To Deduction Limit Under S. 44C : Supreme Court
In a set-back to foreign companies doing business operations in India, the Supreme Court on Monday (December 15) held that all head office expenditure incurred by them outside India, whether common or exclusively for their Indian business operations, must be subjected to the statutory ceiling prescribed under Section 44C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, thereby ruling out any claim for full deduction.A Bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan allowed the Revenue's appeal and...
Income Tax Act | Mechanical Approval U/S 153D Vitiates Proceedings; Bombay High Court Dismisses Revenue's Appeal
The Bombay High Court has dismissed an income tax appeal filed by the Revenue, holding that an approval granted under Section 153D of the Act, which does not reflect even minimal application of mind, is vitiated in law and renders the consequential proceedings invalid. A Division Bench of Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Advait M. Sethna, while deciding an appeal, answered the substantial question of law against the Revenue i.e. Whether an approval granted under Section 153D of the Income...
Income Tax Act | GST Would Not Form Part Of Gross Receipts Under Section 44BB: ITAT Mumbai
The Mumbai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collected by a non-resident assessee cannot be included in gross receipts for computing presumptive income under Section 44BB of the Income Tax Act, 1961. A Bench comprising Vikram Singh Yadav (Accountant Member) and Sandeep Singh Karhail (Judicial Member) allowed the appeal filed by the assessee, Oceaneering International GmbH for Assessment Year 2023–24 and directed the Assessing...
Bank Not 'Assessee In Default' For Not Deducting TDS On Interest After Accepting Form 15H From Senior Citizens: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court held that once a bank accepts valid Form 15H declarations from senior citizen depositors under Section 197A(1C) of the Income Tax Act, it cannot be treated as an “assessee in default” for non-deductions of TDS (deduct tax at source) on interest income. Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Harisankar V. Menon examined whether the bank (appellant) has to be treated as an assessee in default for failure to deduct TDS on interest income paid to senior citizens who have ...
Income Tax Act | Gross Receipts Cannot Be Taxed As Income Without Deducting Expenses: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has stayed the entire income tax demand raised against a state-funded educational trust, holding that the tax authorities erred in bringing gross receipts to tax without accounting for expenditure. A Division Bench of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Amit S. Jamsandekar, while allowing a writ petition filed by the assessee, Godavari Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Sindhi, set aside an order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Pune, which had directed the...
ITAT Mumbai Deletes Additions Based On HSBC Geneva 'Base Note' Against Anil Ambani
The Mumbai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has dismissed a batch of appeals filed by the Revenue against businessman Anil Dhirajlal Ambani, holding that additions made on the basis of alleged undisclosed foreign bank accounts with HSBC Bank, Geneva were unsustainable in law. A Bench comprising Anikesh Banerjee (Judicial Member) and Girish Agrawal (Accountant Member) upheld the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), which had deleted both substantive and ...