Tax
Supreme Court Leaves Open Question Whether Customs Can Seize Goods Which Left Port
The Supreme Court recently refused to entertain an appeal against the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (“CESTAT”) view that once goods are cleared from the port, customs authorities lose their power to confiscate them for violations such as non-compliance with license requirements. However, the bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan left open the question whether the Customs Authorities would have a right to confiscate the goods after they had left the PortThe...
Delhi High Court Imposes ₹1 Lakh Cost On Senior Citizen Who Failed To Attend Personal Hearing Over ₹1.95 Crore GST Demand
The Delhi High Court has directed the Customs Department to grant one more opportunity to a septuagenarian woman, who failed to appear for personal hearing in connection with ₹1,95,11,160 demand raised against her firm.The Petitioner is the sole proprietor of the firm, who has a dealership agreement with M/s. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited in respect of domestic & commercial Liquified Petroleum Gas for a period of 10 years. A notice was issued to the Petitioner's firm relating to...
UPGST Act | Confiscation Notice U/S 130 Cannot Be Issued For Mere Violation Of Record-Maintenance Requirements U/S 35: Allahabad HC
Recently, the Allahabad High Court reiterated that notices under Section 130 of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Service Tax Act 2017 for confiscation and levy of penalty, could not be issued for alleged violation of maintenance of accounts and records as required under Section 35 of the Act. It was held that such notices under Section 130 could only be issued once the department had determined the liability of tax under Sections 73 or 74 of the Act. The Court relied on the judgement of...
Not Reasonable To Expect Taxpayer To Check Every Tab On GST Portal: Calcutta High Court Orders Appeal To Be Heard Despite Delay
The Calcutta High Court has held that where an adjudication order under the GST regime is uploaded on the GST Portal only under the “View Additional Notices and Orders” tab rather than the primary “View Notices and Orders” tab the resulting delay in filing appeal is to be condoned, considering that taxpayers cannot reasonably be expected to check multiple tabs for final orders. A Single Bench of Justice Om Narayan Rai, while hearing a writ petition filed under the WBGST/CGST Act,...
IT Act | Reassessment Cannot Be Used To Review Assessment When All Documents Were Earlier Disclosed: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that reassessment proceedings under Sections 148 & 148A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 cannot be initiated to re-open issues that were already scrutinized and accepted during the original assessment, observing that a mere change of mind on the part of the Assessing Officer does not constitute reason to believe nor permit reassessment. A Division Bench of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Amit S. Jamsandekar, while deciding a writ petition filed by the...
'Infraction Of Natural Justice': Delhi High Court On One-Day Notice Given For Personal Hearing Against GST Demand
The Delhi High Court has said that granting mere one-day notice to an assessee for attending personal hearing with respect to proposed GST demands amounts of 'infraction' of natural justice.The observation was made by a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Saurabh Banerjee while hearing Petitioner-firm's challenge to dismissal of its appeal against demand on the ground of it being barred by delay.The demand was raised in respect of certain short payments and difference in Input Tax...
Peanut Butter Similar To Margarine; Not Exempt From Excise Duty: CESTAT
The Hyderabad Bench of Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that the Peanut Butter is similar to Margarine in terms of usage, origin, fat content, etc. and therefore not eligible for excise duty exemption. Angad Prasad (Judicial Member) and A.K. Jyotishi (Technical Member) examined whether Peanut Butter could be considered similar to Margarine. If found similar, then it would not be exempt from excise duty; and if not similar, the exemption would...
Can Customs Issue SCN For IGST Recovery? Delhi High Court Issues Notice To Customs & GST Dept; Seeks Joint Affidavit
The Delhi High Court has issued notice in a writ petition against the Show Cause Notice by the Customs Department, instead of the GST Department, for recovery of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) amounting to about Rs. 5 lakhs from the exporter. The Division Bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Shail Jain has listed the matter for February 24, 2026 while observing that “However, insofar as the question as the inter-play between the provisions of the Customs...
Assessee Not Required To Prove “Source Of Source” Of Funds Credited Prior To Finance Act 2022: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that once the initial onus cast upon an assessee to show the genuineness of its creditors is duly discharged, the question as to whether the funds of the creditor were obtained through genuine purchases or not cannot be gone into by the Revenue.A division bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar observed,“Once the assessee discharges its initial onus of proving the identity and creditworthiness of the creditor and also the genuineness of the transaction, it...
Madras High Court Orders New PAN For Assessee After Dept-Issued Duplicate PAN Ruins CIBIL Score
The Madras High Court has directed the department to issue a fresh PAN (Permanent Account Number) to the assessee, who suffered adverse consequences because the defaulter holding the same PAN had a bad CIBIL. The bench held that the assessee cannot be made to bear serious CIBIL consequences arising from the Income Tax Department's duplicate PAN allotment. Justice C. Saravanan stated that the PAN that was allotted to the assessee on 18.05.2007 was also erroneously allotted to the said...
Tax Weekly Round-Up: November 17 - November 23, 2025
SUPREME COURTIncome Tax Act | Rejection Of Settlement Application Does Not Affect Assessee's Right To Contest Assessment Order On Merits : Supreme CourtCause Title: THE PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX-1 SURAT VERSUS M. D. INDUSTRIES PVT LTD.Rejection of an assessee's settlement application by the Income Tax Settlement Commission without offering settlement terms does not bar the assessee's right to challenge the assessment order on merits under the Income Tax Act, observed the Supreme...
Central Sales Tax | Cross-Border Trademark Transfers Are Export Of Goods, Not Taxable As Local Sale: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that the assignment of the well-known trademark “Crocin” by Duphar Interfran Ltd. to SKB Plc (UK) amounted to a sale “in the course of export” of intangible goods, and therefore could not be taxed as a local sale within the State of Maharashtra under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. A Division Bench of Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Advait M. Sethna, while hearing a Sales Tax Reference overturned the view of the Sales Tax Tribunal and held that the situs...