Show-cause notice limits in tax demands: SVLDRS disclosure alone cannot support fresh adjudication or remand.

A tax demand based solely on an SVLDRS-1 disclosure, without independent verification of services, records, or taxable value, cannot be sustained where the show-cause notice itself lacks a factual foundation beyond that declaration. The commentary explains that the statutory settlement scheme requires designated verification and issuance of discharge certificate, and that an adjudication or remand cannot be used to rebuild the case by introducing a fresh factual basis outside the notice. A remand for de novo adjudication in such circumstances is impermissible because the demand must stand or fall on the allegations made in the show-cause notice. The impugned order was therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether the demand could be sustained when it was raised and confirmed solely on the basis of the declarant's SVLDRS-1 disclosure without independent verification of services rendered, records, or taxable value, and whether a remand for de novo adjudication to fill those gaps was permissible.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under the Finance Act, 2019 provides for voluntary disclosure, verification by the designated committee, issuance of statement and discharge certificate, and finality of the matter covered by the certificate. In the present case, the show-cause notice and the original adjudication were founded only on the SVLDRS declaration, without reference to any independent material establishing liability. The adjudicating authority had not undertaken the necessary factual verification or passed a proper speaking order. A remand directing the department to verify the entire case afresh would in substance amount to redrafting the show-cause notice, which is impermissible because the demand must stand or fall on the allegations contained in the notice itself.

Conclusion: The demand could not be sustained on the basis of the SVLDRS declaration alone, and the remand order was not sustainable.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the appeal was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: A tax demand cannot be confirmed or remanded for fresh factual foundation when the show-cause notice itself is confined to a voluntary disclosure under the settlement scheme and contains no independent basis for liability; such a remand would unlawfully go beyond the scope of the notice.

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