Interest on home loan: unclaimed pre construction interest may be capitalised, but claimed interest cannot be added to cost.
Whether interest on a home loan may be added to the cost of acquisition depends on whether that interest was previously claimed as an interest deduction under the house property rules or Chapter VIA; tribunals and some high courts have allowed capitalisation of unclaimed pre construction interest into the asset's cost, but a proviso effective AY 2024 25 bars including interest already claimed as a deduction to prevent double benefit. (AI Summary)

Tobacco taxes: central excise duty replaces compensation cess with much higher specific and ad valorem rates on tobacco products.
The Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025 substitutes the Fourth Schedule tariff table to reintroduce central excise duty as the principal levy on tobacco and tobacco products, replacing the compensation cess where applicable; it prescribes specific and ad valorem rates across defined product categories (including uniform 70% on unmanufactured tobacco, increased per 1,000 cigarette specific rates, expanded slabs for manufactured tobacco and 100% on nicotine/inhalation products) and provides that collections are excise receipts entering the divisible pool for distribution to states. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit reversal cannot be initiated against a bona fide recipient without first serving discrepancy notice to the supplier.
The authority must follow the statutory matching and communication sequence under Section 42: where a recipient's ITC claim exceeds supplier declarations, the discrepancy must be communicated to both supplier and recipient and the supplier given an opportunity to rectify; only on supplier's non-rectification may the amount be added to the recipient's output liability, making recovery or ITC reversal against a bona fide recipient premature without prior proceedings against the supplier. (AI Summary)

Re-import of rejected export goods can be duty-free if export benefits are fully reversed and procedures followed.
Duty-free re-import under Notification 45/2017-Cus is available for goods returned after export for genuine commercial reasons provided all previously claimed export incentives are fully reversed and a specific exemption claim with documentary linkage is made on the bill of entry; timing limits apply and extensions require approval. (AI Summary)

Intellectual property infringement may justify urgent interim relief despite filing delays and pre-suit mediation requirements.
A suit alleging continuing infringement of patent and design rights with a prayer for interim injunction may contemplate urgent interim relief where the plaint and annexed documents clearly show a real need for immediate intervention; urgency is assessed from the persistence of the wrong, risk of market confusion and consumer deception, and mere delay in filing does not by itself negate urgency when infringement is ongoing. (AI Summary)

GST reforms: rate rationalisation accepted with short-term revenue trade-offs while technology bolsters compliance.
The Finance Ministry summarised support for GST 2.0 rate rationalisation as a citizen friendly reform expected to lower living costs and boost growth, accepting a projected short-term net revenue shortfall while emphasising improved compliance and monitoring of price pass through. It reaffirmed that the five year constitutional compensation mechanism has ended and no alternative is planned, rejected end use exemptions such as for MPLADS to protect Input Tax Credit and prevent misuse, and detailed technology driven anti evasion and simplification measures for compliance and enforcement. (AI Summary)

IGST refund on export sales remitted for limited verification; reconcile export turnover, ledger and refund receipts.
The tribunal remitted the IGST refund issue to the AO for limited verification after the taxpayer produced an IGST refundable ledger at the appellate stage; the AO must verify reconciliation of export turnover across books, GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B, confirm ledger debits/credits against GST portal and refund receipts, and assess whether the accounting treatment treats the IGST payment as a receivable or results in undisclosed income. (AI Summary)

Claim shares from IEPF: file IEPF Form-5, submit verification documents, and receive shares in your demat account.
Recovery from IEPF requires online filing of IEPF Form-5 with shareholder, company, share and demat details, followed by submission of supporting physical documents to the company or its registrar. The company verifies the claim and forwards a verification report to the IEPF Authority, which on satisfaction directs transfer of shares in dematerialised form to the claimant's demat account and credits accumulated dividends to the linked bank account; claimants must hold a demat account and meet KYC and title-document requirements. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax: zero-rated exports and SEZ supplies now require authorized operations for zero-rating and ITC compliance.
Section 16 treats physical exports as zero rated and, until 30/09/2023, treated SEZ supplies as zero rated irrespective of purpose; from 01/10/2023 SEZ zero-rating requires supplies to be for authorized operations. Section 16(2) limits ITC denial to only section 17(5) of the CGST Act. Section 16(3) earlier allowed choice of bond/LOU without payment and refund of unutilized ITC or payment of IGST with refund; post-amendment refunds must follow section 54 and include repayment with interest if export proceeds are not realized. Sections 16(4) and 16(5) deal with notifications and bar refunds where export duty applies. (AI Summary)

Repairs replacing minor parts and share-transfer/listing fees qualify as revenue deductions, not capital outlays.
Minor replacements of parts or effluent pipeline components that do not create a new plant or replace the whole are revenue expenditure under repairs and maintenance principles and deductible as general business expenditure; apply the enduring benefit and independent-asset replacement tests. Professional fees for share transfers, capital reconciliation/audit and listing of existing equity are business/compliance costs and treated as deductible ordinary business expenditure, distinct from capital costs associated with fresh issues of share capital. (AI Summary)

GST assessments include self-assessment, provisional, scrutiny, best judgement and urgent summary assessments with bonds, notices, and approvals.
Assessment under GST is categorised into procedural types: Self-Assessment requires taxpayers to determine and pay tax through prescribed returns; Provisional Assessment allows payment subject to bond and security where value or rate is uncertain, with later final adjustment; Scrutiny Assessment permits officer examination of returns and issuance of notices for discrepancies; Best Judgement Assessment enables officers to estimate liability where taxpayers fail to file or are unregistered; Summary Assessment permits immediate assessment with higher authority approval in urgent cases, with subsequent rights to challenge or seek withdrawal. (AI Summary)

Zero rated supplies to SEZ require SEZ officer endorsement for refund claims from 01/10/2023; export duty bars refunds from 01/11/2024.
From 01/10/2023 the statute requires supplies to be for authorized operations of the SEZ and endorsement by the SEZ officer becomes necessary where the supplier claims refund of IGST or ITC; a further amendment (from 01/11/2024) disallows refund where such supplies are subject to export duty. Prior to 01/10/2023 endorsement was not universally required and no endorsement is required where no refund is sought and ITC is simply utilised in business. (AI Summary)

Intent change in GST can trigger ITC reversal when inputs shift from taxable to exempt or non-business use.
Intent change in GST occurs when inputs or services originally claimed for Input Tax Credit are subsequently used for exempt, non-business, personal use, written off, or permanently transferred, triggering mandatory ITC reversal and adjustment under Sections 16 and 17, Rules 42 and 43, and deemed-supply rules; annual recalculation and tagging of disposals are practical compliance steps, while penalties depend on mens rea though reversal and interest arise from changed use irrespective of intent. (AI Summary)

Rebate under section 87A applies against tax on long term capital gains from debt instruments when not barred by section 112A.
The Tribunal construed s.112A(6) as limiting the s.87A rebate bar to long term equity capital gains described in s.112A(1)(ii), finding no bar to claiming s.87A against tax on long term debt capital gains governed by s.112; it directed recomputation of tax payable so the mandatory s.87A rebate applies against tax on such debt LTCG where overall tax exceeds the rebate threshold. (AI Summary)

Indian economic growth and GST changes: tobacco excise revised, new security-health cess, and smarter credit-note handling.
Two Acts amend indirect-tax treatment of specified goods and production processes: the Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025 revises central excise duty rates on tobacco and tobacco products to maintain tax levels alongside GST and compensation cess; the Health Security and National Security Cess Act, 2025 levies a cess on machinery or processes used to manufacture specified goods (initially pan masala), directing proceeds to the Consolidated Fund for national security and public health and prescribing levy, calculation, administration, audit and appeal mechanisms. GST administrative updates include a 31 December filing deadline and an IMS upgrade requiring recipient confirmation to determine ITC reduction upon credit-note acceptance. (AI Summary)

GST notices must be based on transaction-level evidence, not merely income-tax raid material or AI-generated orders.
GST demands must be founded on independent, transaction-specific evidence - invoices, e-way bills, GSTR filings and ITC trails - and not mechanically on income-tax search material. Adjudicating authorities must exercise independent application of mind, read taxpayer replies, and record reasoned satisfaction; AI or templated orders may assist research but cannot substitute human decision-making. (AI Summary)

Telecom cyber security rules require centralized mobile number validation and impose telecom style obligations on non telecom platforms.
The Amendment mandates a Centralised Mobile Number Validation platform and designates non telecom digital service providers as Telecommunication Identifier User Entities subject to telecom style cyber security, data integrity, reporting, and cooperation obligations. It strengthens IMEI regulation through prohibition of duplicated or tampered IMEIs, a central IMEI blacklist, and mandatory IMEI scrubbing by resale and refurbishment dealers, and it empowers the Government to suspend or disconnect telecom identifiers without prior notice for security, safety, cybercrime prevention, or network integrity concerns. (AI Summary)

Cheque dishonour: the statutory demand notice must state the exact cheque amount or the notice is invalid.
The document stresses that a written demand preceding a criminal complaint for cheque dishonour must expressly demand the identical amount shown on the dishonoured cheque; any variance in the amount-whether typographical or claimed inadvertence-renders the notice invalid. Ancillary claims (interest, costs) may be severed if the cheque amount is clearly specified, but failure to state the same amount as the cheque defeats the statutory precondition and vitiates proceedings. (AI Summary)

GST transitional credit: imposing a 12 month invoice limit on first stage dealers disrupts pass through and risks double taxation.
Section 140(3)(iv) imposes a 12 month invoice age restriction on transitional ITC; applying this manufacturer style time bar to first stage dealers is new and retrospective, disrupts the pass through of duty embedded in pre GST stock, risks double taxation, and lacks a rational nexus to transition objectives. The restriction improperly imports Rule 4(7)'s one year limit (meant for manufacturers/service providers) onto dealers, and accrued credit that has satisfied statutory conditions should be treated as a vested right not arbitrarily extinguishable. (AI Summary)

GST return scrutiny applies only to filed returns; officers use ASMT notices; 30-day reply and online process.
Section 61 permits scrutiny only of filed GST returns to verify correctness and notify discrepancies; no return, no scrutiny, and no power to issue a filing notice. Where returns are absent, section 62 enables best judgment assessment. Scrutiny operates online, with a 30-day reply period for discrepancy notices. Time limits for issuing notices and orders follow the limitation regime in section 73 and CBIC timelines. Rule 99 requires forms ASMT-10, ASMT-11 and ASMT-12 for the scrutiny process, and section 61(3) allows month-specific corrective measures when discrepancies are accepted. (AI Summary)