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An ex-parte order passed by an appellate authority was set aside by the court due to the assessee’s demonstrated genuine hardship, which prevented their participation in the hearing. Issue Should an ex-parte order, passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) for non-appearance, be set aside if the taxpayer can demonstrate that their failure to appear was due… Read More »

The new, stricter rule for utilizing a charitable trust’s accumulated income applies only prospectively to fresh accumulations and does not apply retrospectively to past accumulations. Issue Does the amendment made by the Finance Act, 2022, which restricted the time period for utilizing accumulated income under Section 11(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, apply retrospectively to… Read More »

A final opportunity was granted to an assessee to submit evidence for cash deposits. Issue Should a taxpayer who has failed at both the assessment and the first appellate stages to provide any documentary evidence to explain the source of large cash deposits be given a final opportunity by a higher appellate authority in the… Read More »

An addition under Section 68 is invalid if based on mere unsubstantiated doubt. Issue Can an Assessing Officer make an addition under Section 68 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, by treating the sale proceeds of a share transaction as an unexplained cash credit, based on mere doubt and without bringing any adverse material on record,… Read More »

The condition to invest corpus donations in specified modes is not retrospective. Issue Can the tax exemption for a corpus donation under Section 11(1)(d) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the Assessment Year 2017-18 be denied on the ground that the donation was not invested in the specific modes prescribed under Section 11(5) of the… Read More »

A Section 54 exemption is valid if the investment is made, despite a CGAS lapse. Issue Can a taxpayer be denied the capital gains exemption under Section 54 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for the procedural failure of not depositing the unutilized sale proceeds into the Capital Gains Account Scheme (CGAS) before the due date… Read More »

An ex-parte assessment order is invalid if the notice was sent to a wrong email address and was never properly served on the taxpayer. Issue Is an ex-parte assessment order, passed under Section 144 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, legally valid if the notice that initiated the proceeding was sent to an incorrect or unused… Read More »

A company that owns its own Intellectual Property (IP) and conducts high-end Research and Development (R&D) is not functionally comparable to a routine software development service provider. Issue Can a diversified company that is engaged in engineering services, conducts its own R&D, and owns valuable intellectual property be considered a valid comparable in a transfer… Read More »

An 80G application cannot be rejected without considering all relevant evidence and rules. Issue Can an application for approval under Section 80G(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, be rejected on the ground that a trust’s objects appear to be religious or community-specific, without the authority properly considering the trust’s actual expenditure records and the specific… Read More »

An order is invalid if the AO fails to properly examine the evidence submitted. Issue Is an assessment order that makes an addition under Section 68 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, legally valid if the Assessing Officer has failed to properly examine or has arbitrarily disregarded the documentary evidence that was submitted by the taxpayer… Read More »