Tax
'Industrial Building' Not Limited To Manufacturing Units, Can Include IT & Software Offices For Purposes Of Property Tax: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that the scope of an 'Industrial Building' cannot be restricted merely to traditional notions of manufacturing involving tangible and physical goods.Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav rather held that an 'Industrial Building' encompasses IT sector businesses where non-material inputs such as data, digital content, or intellectual capital are subjected to systematic transformation or reconstitution into new intellectual property outputs, such as software, algorithms,...
Disallowance U/S 143(1)(a) Of Income Tax Act Inapplicable When Issue Involved Is Pending Before Supreme Court: Chhattisgarh High Court
The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that an Assessing Officer (AO) cannot apply Section 143(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the 1961 Act), to disallow a claim where the issue involved, such as the deductibility of employees' contributions to EPF/ESI under Section 36(1)(va), was pending consideration before the Supreme Court in Checkmate Services Pvt. Ltd. v. CIT [(2023) 6 SCC 451].In this regard, a Division Bench of Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal and Justice Deepak Kumar Tiwari held,“…we are of...
Indo-Swiss DTAA | Period Of Reference Can't Be Excluded From Limitation U/S 153B Income Tax Act If Reference Is Invalid: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has made it clear that Clause (ix) of the Explanation to Section 153B of the Income Tax Act 1961 cannot be invoked to exclude the period of reference under the Indo-Swiss DTAA, if the reference itself is invalid.A division bench of Justices Vibhu Bakhru and Tejas Karia observed,“On a plain reading of Clause (ix) of the Explanation to Section 153B of the Act, the exclusion of time taken for obtaining the information (or one year) for completion of the assessment under Section...
Income Tax Act Doesn't Contemplate Hiatus Between Handing Over & Receipt Of Documents By AO Of Non-Searched Entity: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court made it clear that Section 153C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 “does not contemplate a hiatus” between handing over and receipt of information or documents pertaining to a non-searched entity.For context, Section 153C allows the Revenue department to proceed against a party other than the person who is being searched, if incriminating articles belonging to the other person are found during the search.In terms of proviso to Section 153C, the date of search for non-searched...
Supreme Court Upholds Dual Taxation On Broadcasting, Says States Can Levy Entertainment Tax Alongside Centre's Service Tax
While upholding the State's authority to impose entertainment tax on broadcasting services like cable TV, digital streaming, and OTT platforms, the Supreme Court held that both the Centre and the State are empowered to levy service tax and entertainment tax, respectively, on assessees such as cable operators and entertainment service providers.The bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh held that broadcasting constitutes a form of communication, while entertainment falls under the...
Supreme Court Upholds Kerala's Luxury Tax On Cable TV As Constitutionally Valid
The Supreme Court today (May 22) upheld the constitutional validity of the Kerala luxury tax and allowed Kerala's appeal, affirming the state's power to tax cable TV services under Entry 62 of List II (State List) as “luxury.” The Court clarified that the service tax imposed by the Finance Act on broadcasting services under Entry 97 of List I (Union List) does not conflict with state taxes on entertainment, and therefore, no constitutional overlap exists between central and state levies. “in...
Income Tax Act | Supreme Court Clarifies Restriction Under S.80-IA(9) On Claiming Cumulative Deductions Under S.80IA & 80-HHC
Answering a reference, the Supreme Court held that deductions under Sections 80-IA/80-IB of the Income Tax Act need not reduce the gross total income before computing deductions under other provisions like Section 80-HH for export profits.The bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and AG Masih delivered the verdict while answering a reference after a matter was referred to the larger bench due to split verdict in Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax v. Micro Labs Limited...
Admissibility Of Printouts From Seized Electronic Evidence Requires Certificate U/S 36B Of Central Excise Act: CESTAT
The New Delhi Bench of Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has stated that admissibility of printouts from seized electronic evidence requires certificate under Section 36B of the Central Excise Act. The Bench of Justice Dilip Gupta (President) and P.V. Subba Rao (Technical) has observed that, “that a printout generated from a secondary electronic evidence that has been seized, cannot be admitted in evidence unless the statutory conditions laid down in section...
Tax Weekly Round-Up: May 12 - May 18, 2025
SUPREME COURTSupreme Court Upholds Constitutional Validity Of S.5A, Kerala General Sales Tax Act and S.7A, Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax ActCase Title: C.T. KOCHOUSEPH VERSUS STATE OF KERALA AND ANOTHER ETC., CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 941 – 945 OF 2004 (and connected cases)Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 554The Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutional validity of Section 5A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and Section 7A of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959. "The challenge to the...
Issuance Of Show Cause Notice U/s 74 Of CGST Act Does Not Imply Violation Of Natural Justice: Himachal Pradesh High Court
Section 74: Determination of tax not paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised by reason of fraud or any wilful-misstatement or suppression of facts.Himachal Pradesh High Court held that when a show cause notice is issued under Section 74 Of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, the matter is still at a preliminary stage, and objections can't be raised on the ground that it was issued with a preconceived notion or that it violates the principles of natural...
Excise Duty Under Sugar Cess Act Can Be Claimed As CENVAT Credit: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court stated that excise duty under sugar tax act can be claimed as CENVAT credit. The Bench consists of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) was addressing the issue of whether payment of duty under Sugar Cess Act, 1982 can be claimed as Cenvat Credit when the Cenvat Credit Rules does not provide payment of cess under the Sugar Cess Act, 1982 as not being eligible under Rule 3 of the said Rules. In this case, the adjudicating...
Sale Of Goods At Concessional Rates Alone Does Not Constitute A Sham Transaction: Jharkhand High Court Quashes SCN
The Jharkhand High Court stated that sale of goods at concessional rates alone does not constitute a sham transaction. The Division Bench of Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Deepak Roshan observed that “notices under Section 61 have been issued to assessees and instead of pointing out discrepancies in the returns filed by assessees, the competent officer has embarked upon an exercise of comparing the price at which assessees have sold their stone-boulders/stone-chips with...