ITO's Personal Opinion In Prior Assessment Not A Valid “Reason To Believe” For Reopening Assessment: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court while quashing the reopening proceedings initiated under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act stated that merely on account of there being an error found based on a personal opinion of the Income Tax Officer in relation to the earlier assessment, cannot be a reason to believe for initiating reassessment. The Bench consists of Justices Sanjeev Prakash...

Ruling Of Apex Court In Ashish Agarwal Case Is Not Applicable To Taxpayers Who Didn't Assail Original Reopening Notice U/s 148, Clarifies Delhi HC

While examining the ratio laid down by the Apex Court in landmark judgment of Union of India and Ors. vs Ashish Agarwal [(2023) 1 SCC 617], the Delhi High Court clarified that the said decision was principally concerned with the correctness of judgments rendered by various High Courts on challenges raised by Assessees to the initiation of reassessment in accordance with...

Panchnama Not To Be Treated As Certificate Required For Admitting Printouts From Personal Computer As Evidence: CESTAT

The New Delhi Bench of Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has stated that a panchnama cannot be treated as a certificate required under Section 36B(4) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 for admitting printouts from a personal computer as evidence. The Bench of Justice Dilip Gupta (President) and Hemambika R. Priya (Technical Member) has observed that “the CPU...

Local Sales Assessment Does Not Exempt Assessee From Inter-State Sales Tax Claims, Rules Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that local sales assessment does not exempt assessee from inter-State Sales tax claims. The Bench consists of Justices Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Sanjay Vashisth observed that “merely because the concerned respective States has assessed the assessee/petitioner for the local sales, it cannot absolve itself from the claim...

AO Was Not Intimated About Removal Of Company's Name From ROC, Draft Assessment Can't Be Said To Have Passed In Name Of Non-existent Entity: Delhi ITAT

While finding that the AO/DRP was not informed about striking off the name of non-resident assessee from the ROC, the Delhi ITAT held that assessee cannot take a plea that draft assessment order was against the non-existing entity or the company whose name is struck off. Further, pointing that the objections of non-existence of company were filed only on the day on which the...

GST Council Recommends Amendments In Rules Relating To IGST Refunds On Exports & Pilot B2C E-Invoicing

Considering the difficulty being faced by the exporters due to restriction in respect of refund on exports, the 54th GST Council Meeting as a trade facilitation measure, recommended omission of Rule 96(10), rule 89(4A) & rule 89(4B) from CGST Rules, 2017 prospectively, where benefit of the specified concessional/ exemption notifications is availed on the inputs.The Council further...

54th GST Council Meet Exempts Grants For Research & Reduced Rates On Specific Items

Out of the several indispensable decisions taken at the 54th GST Council meeting, some of the major items related to rate reduction on several items and formation of two new Group of Ministers (GoMs) to holistically look into the issues pertaining to GST on the life insurance and health insurance, as well as a committee to study Compensation Cess issue.The Union Finance Minister Mrs....

Provision For Leave Encashment Not Debited To P&L A/c, Can't Be Added As Employer's Income: Ahmedabad ITAT

The Ahmedabad ITAT held that provision for leave encashment which was inherited by the assessee on account of restructuring exercise of the GEB, by virtue of which, huge number of employees had been onboarded by the assessee-company, cannot be added to assessee's income. The Division Bench of Annapurna Gupta (Accountant Member) and T.R. Senthil Kumar (Judicial Member) observed that...

“Assessee Entitled To Hearing If Pre-Deposit Is Made”: Gauhati High Court Grants Fresh Hearing

The Gauhati High Court while granting a fresh hearing to the assessee stated that the benefit of hearing has to be given to the assessee as the statutory deposit has already been made by the assessee. The Bench of Justice Arun Dev Choudhury observed that “This court though cannot find fault with the appellate authority in non-entertaining the appeal due to non-compliance of...

Agriculturalist Is Not Supposed To Maintain Books Of Account U/s 44AA For Claiming Exemption U/s 10(1): Delhi ITAT

While granting exemption on agricultural income u/s 10(1), the Delhi ITAT held that assessee being an agriculturalist, is not supposed to maintain books of account as per Sec 44AA. Section 44AA of Income tax Act deals with the maintenance of books of accounts by certain persons carrying on business or profession. Finding regularity and consistency of declared agricultural income...

Suspicious Suppliers Being From Different States Is No Ground To Transfer Proceedings from State to Centre: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court stated that merely having information that suspicious suppliers are not located in the same state would not be ground to transfer proceedings from the state to the centre. The Bench consists of Justices Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Sanjay Vashisth stated that “merely because the DGGI has information relating to similar fraudulent availment of ITC...

External Development Charges Collected In Advance By Builder From Prospective Flat Owners, Can't Be Brought To Tax: Delhi ITAT

The Delhi ITAT held that when the project under consideration is not yet completed, the advance collected by infrastructure companies from the buyers cannot be charged to profit and loss account. The Division Bench of S. Rifaur Rahman (Accountant Member) and Anubhav Sharma (Judicial Member) observed that “the assessee has collected the same for providing the common services...