Income Tax Act | Supreme Court Refuses To Give Retrospective Application To 2022 Amendment To S.80DD Regarding 'Jeevan Adhar' Policies

In a recent case, the Supreme Court refused to give the retrospective operation to the amended Section 80DD of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (“IT Act”) which provided an option to the subscriber the Jeevan Adhar Policy (“Policy”) upon attaining the age of 60 years to discontinue the deposit made under the policy and make use of the money accumulated for the benefit of the disabled person for whom the policy was purchased. It is worthwhile to mention that before amended Section 80DD of the IT Act,...

Interest-Free/Concessional Loans To Bank Employees Taxable As Perquisite : Supreme Court Upholds Rule 3(7)(I) Of Income Tax Rules

The employer's grant of interest-free loans or loans at a concessional rate will certainly qualify as a 'fringe benefit' and 'perquisite", the Court said.

TDS Under S.194-H Income Tax Act Won't Apply To Business Transactions Where Assessee Is Not Responsible For Paying Income : Supreme Court

In a significant development, the Supreme Court recently held that under Section 194-H of the Income Tax Act, 1961, cellular mobile service providers are not liable to deduct tax at source on income/profit component in payments received by their franchisees/distributors from third parties/customers. “…we hold that the assessees would not be under a legal obligation to deduct tax at source on the income/profit component in the payments received by the distributors/franchisees from the...

Reopening Of Income Tax Assessments : Supreme Court Refuses To Interfere With Delhi High Court's Guidelines To Tax Dept

The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with a 2017 Delhi High Court judgment which issued a set of guidelines to the Income Tax Department regarding the reopening of assessments.A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Aravind Kumar dismissed a Special Leave Petition filed by the Income Tax Department in 2018 against the 2017 High Court verdict.The Delhi High Court bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Prathiba M. Singh issued the guidelines to ensure that the...

Tax Return Filed Without Regular Books Of Account Not Invalid, Burden To Call For Curing Of Defects On Assessing Officer: Supreme Court

While deciding the question as to whether reopening of a concluded assessment under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act (“Act”) was legally sustainable or not, the Supreme Court recently held that for the purposes of tax assessment, an assessee's obligation is limited to making a "full and true" disclosure of all "material" or primary facts, and thereafter, the burden shifts on the assessing officer. If a return is defective, it is upto the officer that he intimate the assessee in order that...

Taxpayer Entitled To Hearing On Merits If Appeals Were Dismissed By HC For Delay In Filing Paper-Book: Supreme Court

While setting aside the Rajasthan High Court orders, the Supreme Court restored the assessee's appeals by condoning the delay in filing the paper-book before High Court and observed that the assessee is entitled to have his appeals heard on merits.The Division Bench comprising of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Aravind Kumar, observed that “As Appeal No. 817 of 2008 stood dismissed for noncompliance, the High Court was of the opinion that inconsistent orders cannot be passed and proceeded to...

Indian Tax Authorities Favoured: Supreme Court Rules On The 'Most Favoured Nation' Controversy

In a ground-breaking judgment in the case of Assessing Officer Circle (International Taxation) 2(2)(2) New Delhi v. Nestle SA, the Supreme Court of India (“SC”) has definitively addressed the contentious issues surrounding the Most Favoured Nation (“MFN”) clause in Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (“DTAA”). Background of the Controversy A DTAA is an agreement between two or more countries designed to prevent the double taxation of income by establishing rules for...

Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement Cannot Be Enforced Unless Notified By Centre Under Section 90 Income Tax Act : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) cannot be given effect to by a court, authority or a tribunal unless it has been notified by the Central Government under Section 90 of the Income Tax Act.The Court held that until the Government of India issues a notification as per Section 90, the DTAA treaty is not enforceable per se in Indian courts.A bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta held so while allowing a batch of appeals filed by the...

S.153C Income Tax Act | Preceding 6 Years Period As Regards 3rd Party To Be Calculated From Date When Documents Are Assigned To Concerned AO : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has rejected the argument of the Income Tax department that Section 153C of the Income Tax Act 1961 empowers the assessing officer to seek information from a third party regarding income tax returns of the period of six years preceding the date of the search of the assessee whose premises was originally searched.A Bench comprising Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Aravind Kumar held that under Section 153C, a third party would only have to furnish income tax returns of...

Material Disclosed To Income Tax Settlement Commission Needn't Be Something Which Wasn't Discovered By Assessing Officer : Supreme Court

The Court also explained that the scope of judicial interference with Settlement Board's decision is narrow.

Income Tax Act | Completed/Unabated Assessments Cannot Be Reopened by AO If No Incriminating Material Is Found During Search: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has reiterated that in view of the judgment of the Supreme court in Principal Commissioner of Income Tax vs. Abhisar Buildwell Pvt. Ltd.,2023 LiveLaw (SC) 346, an Assessing Officer (AO) cannot make additions to assessee’s income in respect of completed/unabated assessments if no incriminating material has been found during the course of search under Section 132 or requisition under Section 132A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. However, the bench comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar...

Income Tax Act - Carrier of Goods Not An ‘Owner’; Bitumen Not A ‘Valuable Article’ Under S. 69A : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that bitumen cannot be treated as a ‘valuable article’ under Section 69A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The bench comprising Justices K.M. Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy made the observation while dealing with an appeal filed against the decision of the Patna High Court, who had upheld the additions made by the Assessing Officer (AO) towards the bitumen lifted by the assessee as a carriage contractor, which was allegedly not delivered by it to the consignee- the Road...