Section 153A Assessment is Invalid Without a Search Warrant or Panchnama in the Assessee’s Name Issue Whether the Assessing Officer is legally justified in assuming jurisdiction and framing an assessment under Section 153A against an individual when the underlying search action under Section 132 was not validly initiated in that specific individual’s name. Facts The… Read More »
Hiring Receipts Are Commercial Business Income, but Publication and Staff Costs Qualify as Valid Charitable Accumulation Application Issue Whether the receipts from commercially hiring out conference and auditorium facilities constitute business income under section 11(4A) due to active property exploitation, and whether expenses on publications, printing, and administrative salaries qualify as the application of accumulated… Read More »
Assessing Officer Cannot Reject Registered Valuer’s Improvement Cost Report Without Referencing Valuation Officer Issue Whether the Assessing Officer is legally justified in completely rejecting a registered valuer’s report and treating the cost of property improvement as nil due to a lack of decades-old documentary evidence, without making a statutory reference to the Departmental Valuation Officer… Read More »
Unsecured Loan Addition Confirmed Excluding Opening Balance, and Business Loss Set-Off Allowed Prior to 2017 Issue Whether an addition under Section 68 can be sustained for an unsecured loan when the transaction is conducted via banking channels but cross-verification reveals that the lender did not reflect the receivable in his audited accounts, denied the loan… Read More »
Condonation of delay is justified when non-service of orders prevents timely filing of appeals. Issue Whether the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] was legally justified in dismissing the assessee’s quantum and penalty appeals in limine (at the threshold) due to delays of 1,486 and 1,181 days, without evaluating the merits or providing an opportunity to… Read More »
Rental income constitutes house property income, while unverified interest claims require fresh adjudication remand. Issue Whether rental income from letting out fully furnished office premises is taxable under the head ‘Income from House Property’ or ‘Profits and gains of business or profession’ when GST is collected but no systematic business operations are undertaken. Whether interest… Read More »
Trust registration cannot be cancelled for financial irregularities without deviation from core charitable objects. Issue Whether the PCIT can legally cancel a trust’s tax registration under Section 12AB(4) by invoking clauses (a) and (e) of the Explanation for financial irregularities/related-party benefits under Section 13(3), when the trust continues its genuine charitable activity of imparting education… Read More »
Reassessment notice is quashed where reasons fail to establish a rational nexus with income escapement. Reassessment notice is quashed where reasons fail to establish a rational nexus with income escapement. Issue Whether a reassessment notice issued under Section 148 is legally sustainable when the Assessing Officer relies entirely on general penny-stock information from the Investigation… Read More »
Disallowance stands upheld for unverified TDS components, but crystallized expenses and legitimate business write-offs are allowable. Issue Whether tax disallowance under Section 40(a)(ia) applies to unverified or unsupported consultancy components and interest payments where corresponding payees have not proved tax compliance. Whether business expenses that crystallized in the relevant year, expenses invoiced to group concerns,… Read More »
Reassessment notice issued beyond three years is void if sanctioned by the incorrect tax authority. Issue Whether a reassessment notice issued under Section 148 after the expiry of three years from the end of the relevant assessment year is legally valid when the mandatory administrative sanction under Section 151 was granted by the Principal Commissioner… Read More »