Net ITC for refund of unutilised Compensation Cess credit on zero-rated supplies is confined to input tax credit actually availed and attributable to the relevant refund period. A reversal recorded in that period need not reduce Net ITC where records establish that it relates to residual unutilised credit from earlier tax periods and was not included in the credit supporting the refund claim. Paragraph 43(c) of the departmental circular must operate consistently with the statutory refund formula and cannot require deduction of every reversal reported during the period, thereby curtailing a statutory refund entitlement.

Statutory discretion governing appellate admission applies where a penalty does not exceed the prescribed monetary threshold. In an appeal by a managing director against a penalty order issued under section 107, the penalty fell within the threshold for discretion under section 112(2). The Tribunal exercised that discretion to refuse admission, so the appeal was not admitted.

Rule 24(4) of the GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, 2025 permits rejection of an appeal where filing defects remain unrectified despite adequate opportunities. The appellant received six hearing opportunities, including three before the Bench and three before the Registrar, but neither appeared nor sought adjournment. No additional material was uploaded to cure the notified defects. Persistent non-attendance and failure to rectify defects support treating the appeal as not being actively pursued and considering rejection under the procedural rule.

Storage and warehousing of agricultural produce is exempt, but that exemption does not extend to separately hired godowns used exclusively for the exempt outward service. Renting such godowns constitutes an independent supply of rental or leasing of non-residential property and attracts GST at 18%. Where the lessor is registered, tax is payable under forward charge. Where an unregistered person rents a godown to a registered recipient, the amended reverse-charge entry applies, making the recipient liable to pay GST at 18% from 10.10.2024.

Domestic ex-works supply of aircraft manufactured in Gujarat to the Ministry of Defence constitutes a taxable supply of goods where title passes for consideration in the course or furtherance of business. The aircraft are not covered by the GST exemption examined, and GST is payable at the applicable rate. Where the outward supply is made from Gujarat and the registration threshold is exceeded, the supplier must obtain GST registration in Gujarat under the applicable registration provisions.

The statutory bar on admission of an advance-ruling application applies where the same question concerning the applicant is already pending or has been decided in proceedings. A transporter's supply-characterisation question-whether making vehicles available to another goods transport agency is exempt or taxable-formed the basis of a pending input-tax-credit reversal proceeding and had been decided for an earlier tax period. Both grounds precluded examination of classification, exemption, or taxability on the merits, and the application was rejected as not maintainable.

Royalty payable for a State Government grant of mineral extraction rights under a Short-Term Permit is contractual consideration for licensing services involving the right to use minerals, rather than a tax. The permit holder, as recipient of a Government-to-business supply, must discharge GST under reverse charge at 18%. The shorter duration and restricted area of a Short-Term Permit do not change the nature of the supply where the grantor, extraction rights and royalty basis correspond to those for quarry and mining leases. Short-Term Permit holders therefore receive the same reverse-charge GST treatment as quarry and mining lease holders.

Specified composite works contract services supplied to the Government or a local authority for pipelines, conduits or plants for water supply, water treatment, or sewerage treatment or disposal attracted GST at 12% (6% CGST and 6% SGST) on 1 June 2022 under the concessional entry then in force. Omission of that entry from 18 July 2022 did not alter the rate on the queried date. A contractual entitlement to recover additional tax caused by a GST-rate increase falls outside advance-ruling jurisdiction because it is not among the exhaustively listed matters on which a ruling may be sought; the reimbursement question was therefore not answered.

The proviso to Section 270AA(4) bars rejection of a penalty-immunity application without a meaningful opportunity of hearing. Notice requiring appearance on the following day, followed by immediate rejection, was insufficient to allow applicants to present and substantiate their claims. The rejection orders were set aside, and the applications were remitted for fresh consideration after hearing the applicants and considering their material. Assessing Authorities were entitled to await expiry of the prescribed appeal period before deciding the applications; that delay did not invalidate the process.

Reassessment litigation concerns the authority to sanction notices, the jurisdiction of a Jurisdictional Assessing Officer to issue them, and whether the prescribed faceless mechanism requires issuance by a competent Faceless Assessment Officer. The 2021 amendments to sections 147 to 151, including new section 147A, may affect pending challenges. Following remand of related matters, the petition was closed with liberty to bring a fresh challenge on the same cause, challenge section 147A, and seek consequential relief. Existing protection continues for 90 days and ceases if no fresh approach is made within that period.

Interest on refunds of tax paid under a TDS-default demand is governed by Section 244A(1)(b) where the demand is set aside and the tax becomes refundable. That provision covers refunds not specifically falling within Section 244A(1)(a) and requires interest from the date of tax payment until the refund is granted. Section 244A(1B), inserted subsequently, does not deny interest otherwise payable under the pre-existing provision. Revenue retention of money without legal entitlement carries a corresponding obligation to refund the amount with statutory interest.

Upper turnover filters in transfer-pricing comparable selection may be applied where differences in turnover, brand value, economies of scale, bargaining power and ownership of intangibles materially affect profitability and comparability. High-turnover software-development companies were treated as unsuitable comparables because their scale and functional profile differed from that of the tested party. The approach supports excluding enterprises exceeding the stated turnover threshold when scale-related factors distort an arm's-length comparison.

Unabated assessments under section 153A permit additions for escaped income only where incriminating material is found during the search. In the absence of such assessee-specific material, the additions were deleted. Reassessment initiated on recorded reasons that misstated the assessee's investment and conflicted with the investee company's financial statements reflected non-application of mind; the reassessment was therefore void from inception and quashed, with merits left open. Penalty under section 271(1)(c) could not survive once its sole supporting quantum addition had been deleted, and was consequently deleted.

Advertisement, marketing and promotion (AMP) expenditure did not constitute an international transaction for transfer-pricing purposes, consistent with earlier orders concerning the assessee. Because an arm's length price adjustment presupposes an international transaction, no adjustment could be made for that expenditure. The deletion of the AMP adjustment was sustained, the Revenue's appeals were dismissed, and the assessee's cross-objections became infructuous.

Increase in stamp valuation between deposit of registration fee and registration of a sale deed did not justify an addition for property acquired for inadequate consideration where the purchaser was not responsible for the increase. The valuation differential remained within the 10% tolerance limit when measured against the stamp value prevailing before registration. The Assessing Officer also made the addition without referring the valuation to the District Valuation Officer. The addition for the stamp valuation differential was therefore deleted.

Recurring advertising, publicity and sales-promotion expenditure, including visual printing, promotional activities, website applications, hoardings, radio advertising, event management and sponsorships, constitutes revenue expenditure where it supports business in a competitive market without creating a capital asset or enduring benefit. Consistency in income-tax assessments requires the Revenue not to depart from treatment accepted in earlier and later years, including scrutiny assessments, unless fundamental facts materially change. On those principles, capitalisation of the expenditure was rejected and the corresponding addition deleted; other grounds remained open.

Agricultural land located within municipal limits is a capital asset, while aerial-distance and population criteria apply only to land outside those limits. Municipal jurisdiction on the transfer date must be established through underlying official material rather than an unproduced report, requiring fresh verification. An agricultural-land reinvestment exemption may be claimed for the first time before the Tribunal where relevant facts are already on record, but depends on proof of prior agricultural use and the qualifying purpose of replacement land. Stamp-duty valuation adjustment on purchase also requires reconsideration after determining whether the taxpayer disputes the value. All issues require fresh adjudication after evidence and hearing.

Profit estimation on unrecorded ready-mix concrete sales must have a reasonable nexus to the material and cannot replace an accepted turnover working without supporting evidence. Where audited results for the same activity showed a gross loss and the books were neither rejected nor found defective, departing from the year-specific approach adopted in prior assessments was unsupported; the estimated gross-profit addition was deleted. Cash-credit provisions require a credit in the taxpayer's own books. Off-book pen-drive entries attributed to unrecorded sales could not support a cash-credit addition, particularly where taxing full receipts beyond their profit element would result in double assessment. The cash-credit addition was deleted.

Rejection of books of account may be sustained where primary books, bills and vouchers are repeatedly not produced; an audit report does not replace records required for verification. Best-judgment disallowance of unverifiable expenditure must nevertheless rest on relevant material and bear a reasonable nexus to it, rather than amounting to a pure guess. Rejection of accounts alone does not justify an addition, and acceptance of recorded receipts or absence of objection to a proposed rate cannot supply evidentiary reasons. Adjacent-year audited financial statements, books and vouchers may be verified for fresh quantification after hearing.

Foreign tax credit on foreign dividend income cannot be denied solely because the prescribed form was furnished after the original-return due date but before the revised return and the end of the assessment year. Where the governing statute imposes no filing deadline and the procedural rule neither links delay to denial nor lists delayed filing as a disqualifying circumstance, the filing requirement operates as directory. Rectification is available where processing annexures recognise foreign tax credit as available but the computation simultaneously records it as nil, since that internal inconsistency is a mistake apparent from the record. The credit is to be allowed, while the processing adjustment remains open to challenge.