Reopening an assessment based on vague, unverified information from a portal is invalid. Issue Is a notice for reassessment legally valid if it is based on general information from a third-party investigation, without the Assessing Officer specifying the exact transaction and independently verifying the information’s relevance to the assessee? Facts The Assessing Officer (AO) issued… Read More »
A search assessment requires incriminating material, not just regular business documents. Issue Can a search assessment be sustained under Section 153A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, based on the discovery of normal business documents related to a corporate restructuring, and separately, can the conversion of a firm into a company be taxed as a transfer… Read More »
A revision of an assessment isn’t valid without specific adverse material against the assessee. Issue Can a completed assessment, where a deduction was allowed after verification, be revised under Section 263 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, based on general adverse findings against a third party, without any specific incriminating material that links the assessee’s own… Read More »
A voluntary ex-gratia payment is not taxable as profits in lieu of salary. Issue Is a voluntary, one-time ex-gratia payment received by an employee from an employer upon the closure of a business unit taxable as “profits in lieu of salary” under Section 17(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1961? Facts An assessee, who was a… Read More »
Section 13 is not applicable at the trust registration stage. Issue Can a charitable trust’s application for registration under Section 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, be rejected by invoking the provisions of Section 13, which deals with the denial of tax exemption for benefiting a particular community? Facts An assessee-trust filed an application for… Read More »
Serving a notice on the GST portal after the taxpayer’s registration has been cancelled is not sufficient service if no response is received. Issue Is the service of a show-cause notice (SCN) by simply uploading it to the GST portal considered valid and sufficient if the taxpayer’s registration has already been cancelled, making it unlikely… Read More »
Mere uploading of an order to the GST portal is not a valid communication. Issue Does the mere act of uploading an adjudication order onto the GST portal constitute a valid “communication” of that order to the taxpayer, thereby starting the clock on the limitation period for filing an appeal? Facts The GST department passed… Read More »
An order passed after denying a requested adjournment is a natural justice violation. Issue Is an adjudication order legally valid if it is passed without considering the taxpayer’s request for an adjournment, thereby depriving them of an opportunity to file a reply and be properly heard? Facts The GST department issued a show-cause notice (SCN)… Read More »
A late fee for not filing GST returns is mandatory, even if the department does not issue a preliminary reminder notice in Form GSTR-3A. Issue Can the imposition of a mandatory late fee under Section 47 of the CGST Act, 2017, for the non-filing of an annual return be challenged on the procedural ground that… Read More »
Retrospective cancellation of a GST registration is invalid if it was not proposed in the show-cause notice. Issue Can a GST authority cancel a taxpayer’s registration with retrospective effect if the show-cause notice (SCN) that initiated the proceeding did not specifically state or propose that the cancellation would be from a past date? Facts The… Read More »