Tax
Gujarat High Court Seeks Report After Tax Portal Issues Three Hearing Notices To Same Taxpayer Within Two Minutes
The Gujarat High Court has directed the Chief Commissioner of State Tax to explain how the department's portal allowed an officer to issue three personal hearing notices on the same day. Each notice fixed a different date and time for the hearing.The court warned that failure to file the report by the next hearing would invite strictures against the authorities. The notices were digitally signed within an interval of one minute and 40 seconds.“In view of the aforesaid facts, we direct the Chief...
Karnataka High Court Upholds Reitzel India Relief, Says Export Incentives Count As Operating Income
The Karnataka High Court on 8 October dismissed the Income Tax Department's appeal against an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order directing it to include export incentives received by Reitzel India Pvt. Ltd. in its operating income while determining the arm's length price (ALP) of international transactions. A Division Bench comprising Justices S.G. Pandit and Chillakur Sumalatha held that export incentives directly linked to a taxpayer's export business must be included in operating...
Platinum Jewellery Import Restrictions Cannot Apply To Goods Arriving Before Gazette Publication: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court on Monday ruled that new import restrictions cannot apply to platinum jewellery that had already arrived in India before the restrictions were officially published, even if the importer files customs documents later. Relying on apex court's ruling in Viraj Impex Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India ,a Division Bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and Sandesh D. Patil held., “The Notification acquired the force of law only on 2nd April 2026 at 20:52:58 hours, and it can be validly...
Can Shipping Lines Without Physical Cargo Custody Be Regulated Under Customs Rules? Bombay HC To Examine
The Bombay High Court will examine whether shipping lines, shipping agents, and carriers that neither hold physical custody of cargo nor operate cargo within customs premises can be classified as 'Customs Cargo Service Providers' under the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009.A Division Bench of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Farhan P. Dubash framed this question while admitting an appeal filed by Aegon Shipping India Pvt. Ltd. against an order passed by the Customs, Excise...
Karnataka High Court Directs Refund Of ₹15.41 Lakh Deducted From Iron Ore Auction Proceeds, Awards 8% Interest
The Karnataka High Court has directed the State government to refund ₹15.41 lakh deducted from the refund due to an iron ore auction purchaser after the auction failed because the ore was not available at the site. The Court also awarded interest at 8% per annum on the amount of ₹2.89 crore deposited by the purchaser, holding that the State cannot retain money without providing the corresponding consideration.A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha held...
Income Tax Law Doesn't Prescribe ₹50,000 Salary Ceiling For Trustees Of Charitable Trusts: ITAT Chennai
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Chennai, has ruled that a charitable trust does not automatically violate tax provisions merely because its founder or trustee receives a salary in excess of ₹50,000.The law restricts payments to certain persons connected with a trust when the remuneration exceeds what may reasonably be paid for the services rendered. The tax authorities must establish whether the payment was actually made and, if so, whether it was excessive.“Section 13(3) does not...
Karnataka High Court Quashes Reassessment Over ₹13.39 Crore Turnover Without Supporting Computation
The Karnataka High Court on 7 October set aside an income tax reassessment order against Kunjalu Venkatesh Kini over alleged non-disclosure of business turnover of Rs. 13.39 crore, holding that the Income Tax Department must disclose the computation and supporting material before proceeding with reassessment. Justice B.M. Shyam Prasad partly allowed Kini's petition and quashed the order passed under Section 148A(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the related approval and the consequential...
CA Certificate Cannot Be Rejected Merely Because It Was Issued After Transactions: GSTAT Lucknow
The Lucknow Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) on 6 October held that a Chartered Accountant's (CA) certificate supporting an Input Tax Credit (ITC) claim cannot be rejected solely because it was issued after the transactions in question, provided its contents can be verified against contemporaneous records. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Narendra Kumar and Technical Member Alok Chopra allowed Rameshwar Gupta's appeal against the rejection of his ITC claim for...
Telangana High Court Sets Aside GAAR Order Against EKGE Retail, Allows ₹49.32 Cr. Capital Loss Set-Off
The Telangana High Court on 13 October set aside the Income Tax Department's directions invoking the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) against EKGE Retail LLP, allowing it to set off a short-term capital loss of Rs. 49.32 crore against long-term capital gains from a business sale. A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda allowed EKGE Retail's writ petition challenging the GAAR directions dated 23 February 2022. It held: “...the Revenue...
ITAT Chennai Deletes 75% Additions Against IG3 Infra Over Unverified Cash Entries In Seized Excel Sheet
On 16 October, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Chennai, dismissed the Revenue's appeals against IG3 Infra Limited, holding that cash transactions recorded in a seized Excel sheet could not be attributed entirely to the company without reliable verification and entity-wise segregation. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Manu Kumar Giri and Accountant Member S.R. Raghunatha dismissed the Revenue's appeals for Assessment Years (AYs) 2019-20 and 2020-21. It observed: “In these...
GST | Provisional Freezing Of Bank Accounts Cannot Be Justified Solely Through Affidavit-In-Reply: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has observed that GST authorities cannot justify provisional attachment of bank accounts through affidavits-in-reply when the attachment orders themselves do not record the required opinion or establish any GST liability of the company.“Further, the orders of provisional attachment cannot be justified through affidavits-in-reply. Neither the impugned orders nor the affidavit-in-reply contain any 'opinion'. The same is indicative of only official inquiry. There is no...
Rajasthan High Court Upholds Hindustan Zinc's ₹18.87 Crore Additional Depreciation Claim On Power Plant Machinery
The Rajasthan High Court has upheld Hindustan Zinc Ltd.'s claim for additional depreciation of ₹18.87 crore on new plant and machinery installed at its captive power plant and wind power plant. The court held that electricity generation falls within the scope of “production”, which has a wider connotation than “manufacture”. It also held that an assessee engaged in manufacturing or producing an article or thing can claim additional depreciation on qualifying power-generation machinery,...