ITAT Ahmedabad Upholds Rejection Of Tax Deduction Claim On ₹12 Lakh Donation To Political Party

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has upheld the denial of a tax deduction claimed by a salaried taxpayer on a ₹12 lakh donation made to a political party, holding that he failed to establish that the contribution was genuine and eligible for deduction. A division bench of Vice-President Dr. B.R.R. Kumar and Judicial Member Rahul Chaudhary observed, "the assessee has failed to establish that the impugned contribution represented a genuine donation eligible for...

Revenue 'Officially But Illegally' Usurped Income: CESTAT Kolkata Orders Interest On Wrongly Collected Service Tax

Observing that the revenue had "officially but illegally" usurped more than half of an employee's annual income, the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Kolkata, directed the department to pay 6% annual interest on the amount collected from her. The tribunal held that the interest would run from the date the amount was collected until the date it was refunded.A coram of Judicial Member R. Muralidhar observed, "The severity of such a demand is beyond imagination when it...

Hyderabad CESTAT Holds Unutilised Education Cess Credit Cannot Be Refunded, Rejects ₹22.11 Lakh Claim

The Hyderabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 8 July held that unutilised Education Cess, Secondary and Higher Education (SHE) Cess and Krishi Kalyan Cess (KKC) lying in the CENVAT credit account as on 30 June 2017 cannot be refunded under Section 142 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. Judicial Member Angad Prasad and Technical Member P. Anjani Kumar dismissed the appeal filed by Hexagon Capability Centre India Private Limited...

AO Cannot Grant Fresh Opportunity To Extend Reassessment Notice Deadline: ITAT Ahmedabad

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 7 July held that a reassessment notice issued after the expiry of the prescribed “surviving period” under the Income Tax Act, 1961 is barred by limitation. Vice President Dr. B.R.R. Kumar and Judicial Member Rahul Chaudhary allowed the appeal filed by Scarlet Tradelink Private Limited against the order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre for Assessment Year 2016-17 and quashed the reassessment proceedings. The Bench observed:...

Adjudicating Authorities Cannot Modify Final Orders After Appeal Period Expires: CESTAT Kolkata

On 8 July, the Kolkata Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that an adjudicating authority cannot modify a rebate sanction order after the time limit to challenge the order in appeal has expired as the authority becomes functus officio after passing the order. A Bench comprising Judicial Member R. Muralidhar dismissed the appeal filed by Wacker Metroark Chemical Pvt. Ltd. against the order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals), which had rejected the...

Non-Recourse Sale Of Future Rent Receivables Not Borrowing Or Interest For TDS Purposes: ITAT Chennai

The Chennai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on 6 July held that discounting charges arising from the assignment of future rent receivables on a non-recourse basis cannot be treated as interest under the Income-tax Act, 1961, and therefore do not attract tax deduction at source (TDS) under Section 194A (which requires deduction of tax on interest other than interest on securities). A Single Member Bench comprising Judicial Member R. Muralidhar allowed seven appeals filed by OPC...

Gujarat High Court Quashes Income Tax Reassessment Over Pre-2012 Property Valuation Rule

The Gujarat High Court has quashed an income tax reassessment notice issued over the valuation of land sold in 2009. It held that the reassessment in the case was unsustainable because the assessing officer sought to adopt a lower fair market value despite the unamended law governing the assessment. A division bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati held that the amendment made to Section 55A through the Finance Act, 2012 applied only prospectively. It therefore could not...

CESTAT Ahmedabad Says Director's Position Alone Cannot Attract Customs Penalty Quashes ₹1 Cr Levy

On 9 July, the Ahmedabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that a company director cannot be penalised under the Customs Act, 1962 merely because of his position in the company unless the Department proves his active involvement in the alleged offence. Judicial Member Dr. Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha and Technical Member Satendra Vikram Singh allowed the appeal filed by Global Enterprises' director Altaf Ahmed and set aside the Rs. 1 crore penalty imposed...

Pre-Search Material Cannot Be Basis For Additions In Completed Search Assessments: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has recently reiterated that the Income Tax Department cannot make additions in a completed assessment under the search assessment provisions on the basis of material that was already in its possession before the search. Dismissing two appeals filed by the Revenue, the court also held that the Department had failed to establish that the assessee owned the foreign bank accounts sought to be taxed. A division bench of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh P....

CESTAT Bangalore Sets Aside Service Tax Demand Against Hindustan Newsprint Employees Co-operative Bank

The Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Bangalore, has granted relief to Hindustan Newsprint Employees Co-operative Bank Ltd. in a service tax matter.It observed that reimbursed employee wages and other employment-related benefits cannot be included in the taxable value for service tax under Manpower Recruitment or Supply Agency Service for the period prior to 14 May 2015.The bench comprising Judicial Member P.A. Augustian and Technical Member R....

CESTAT Mumbai Awards ₹50,000 Costs After Holding Department Harassed Taxpayer Over ₹33,373 Pre-Deposit Refund

The Mumbai bench of the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has imposed ₹50,000 as compensatory litigation costs on the Department after observing that proceedings over the refund of a mandatory pre-deposit of ₹33,373 appeared to have been unnecessarily initiated and were meant to harass a genuine taxpayer. The tribunal directed the Department to refund the pre-deposit along with statutory interest. A single-member tribunal of Judicial Member Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pati...

GSTAT Mumbai Rejects Dow Chemical's ₹13.41 Crore IGST Refund Claim, Holds Procurement Services Are Imports

The Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai, has held that procurement services received by Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd. from its Switzerland-based group entity were imports of services and not intermediary services, making them liable to Goods and Services Tax in India. A division bench of President Justice (Retd.) Dr. Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Technical Member Anil Kumar Gupta dismissed the company's appeals against the rejection of refund claims exceeding ₹13.41 crore of...