Society’s Activities Promoting Pharma-Doctor Networking Not a Charitable Purpose. Issue Can a society, whose primary activities involve organizing conferences for doctors funded by donations from pharmaceutical companies, be considered as having a “charitable purpose” of “medical relief” under Section 2(15), or are its activities promotional and contrary to public policy? Facts An assessee-society applied for… Read More »

AO Must Refer Disputed Stamp Duty Value to DVO Before Making Section 50C Addition. Issue When a taxpayer objects to the stamp duty valuation of a property being higher than its fair market value, is it mandatory for the Assessing Officer (AO) to refer the matter to a Departmental Valuation Officer (DVO) before making an… Read More »

Reassessment Quashed as it Was Based on a Change of Opinion on Old Information. Issue Can an Assessing Officer (AO) validly initiate reassessment proceedings based on information that was not only available but was also specifically examined during both the original scrutiny assessment and a subsequent search assessment under Section 153A? Facts The assessee’s original… Read More »

Reassessment Notice Issued After Five Years Held Time-Barred and Quashed. Issue Is a reassessment notice issued under Section 148 for the Assessment Year 2016-17 legally valid if it is issued after the expiry of the statutory limitation period prescribed under Section 149 of the Income-tax Act? Facts The assessee, a trust, filed its income tax… Read More »

AO Must Refer Valuation to DVO When Registered Valuer’s Report is Disputed. Issue Can an Assessing Officer (AO), who is not a technical expert, reject a registered valuer’s report for determining Fair Market Value (FMV) and substitute their own valuation without making a mandatory reference to the Departmental Valuation Officer (DVO) as envisaged under Section… Read More »

Settlement of Foreign Patent Dispute is a Deductible Business Expense, Not a Penalty. Issue Whether a settlement payment made to a private party to amicably resolve a civil litigation for patent infringement in a foreign country is an allowable business expenditure under Section 37(1), or is it a non-deductible penalty for an “offense prohibited by… Read More »

Reopening an assessment after four years is invalid without new material or proof of the assessee’s failure to disclose. Issue Can an assessment be reopened under Section 147 after four years from the end of the assessment year based on information that was already disclosed by the assessee during the original assessment proceedings? Facts The… Read More »

Rejection of Suo Motu 14A Disallowance on Mere Presumptions is Invalid. Issue Can an Assessing Officer (AO) disregard an assessee’s scientifically calculated suo motu disallowance under Section 14A and substitute it with the formula prescribed in Rule 8D, without first recording a specific and objective dissatisfaction with the assessee’s method? Facts For the assessment years… Read More »