Consolidated, Generic Approval for Search Assessments is Invalid and Voids the Order. Issue Whether a single, consolidated approval letter from a competent authority, which gives a generic direction to pass assessment orders for multiple assessees (in a search case) without any reference to the specific facts or seized material, constitutes a valid prior approval under… Read More »
148A(b) Notice Cannot Be Used for General Inquiry; SC Upholds Quashing. Issue Whether a Show Cause Notice issued under Section 148A(b) of the Income-tax Act is legally valid if it is issued not on the basis of specific “information suggesting escapement,” but as a tool to conduct a general inquiry or “verification” regarding the assessee’s… Read More »
AO’s Final Order Quashed as Assessee’s Failure to Inform AO of DRP Filing is a Curable Defect. Issue Is a final assessment order passed by an Assessing Officer (AO) under Section 144C(3) legally valid if the AO was unaware that the assessee had filed timely objections with the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP), due to the… Read More »
Uncorroborated Third-Party WhatsApp Chat is Not “Concrete Evidence,” Cannot Justify Section 69A Addition. Issue Whether an Assessing Officer (AO) can make an addition under Section 69A (Unexplained Moneys) based on a WhatsApp chat and Excel screenshot found on a third party’s phone, without any independent corroborative evidence and without establishing the chat’s legal admissibility under… Read More »
Revision Justified as AO Failed to Examine Competing Provisions in Slump Sale Assessment. Issue Whether a Principal Commissioner (PCIT) can invoke revisionary jurisdiction under Section 263 to set aside a scrutiny assessment order as “erroneous,” on the grounds that the Assessing Officer (AO) accepted the assessee’s “slump sale” (Section 50B) treatment without conducting any inquiry… Read More »
HC Condones 1,290-Day Form 10B Delay, Citing CA’s Inadvertent Error as Sufficient Cause. Issue Whether an extraordinary delay of 1,290 days in filing the mandatory audit report (Form 10B) can be condoned on the grounds of “sufficient cause,” when the delay is attributed to an inadvertent error and oversight by the assessee’s Chartered Accountant. Facts… Read More »
Late Filing of Form 10B is a Curable Defect; Exemption Cannot Be Denied if Filed Before Assessment Ends. Issue Whether the tax exemption under Section 11 of the Income-tax Act can be denied to a charitable trust on the sole ground that the mandatory audit report in Form No. 10B was filed after the due… Read More »
Unregistered JDA Does Not Trigger “Transfer”; Capital Gains Not Taxable in Year of Signing. Issue Whether the mere signing of a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) and granting a developer “limited access” to a property in one assessment year (AY 2013-14) constitutes a “transfer” under Section 2(47)(v) of the Income-tax Act, even if the JDA is… Read More »
Failure to Prove Source of Consideration Confirms Transactions as Benami; Attachment Upheld. Issue Whether property transactions can be classified as “benami transactions” under Section 2(9)(D) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, when the appellant, in whose name the properties are held, fails to provide any evidence to explain who provided the consideration… Read More »
TDS Credit Allowable on Proof of Deduction Despite 26AS Mismatch; Consequential Interest Deleted. Issue Whether an Assessing Officer (AO) can deny credit for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) to an assessee—and consequently charge interest under Sections 234B and 234C—solely on the ground that the credit is not appearing in Form No. 26AS, even if the… Read More »