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Foreign tax credit remains available despite delayed return and documentation filing where substantive entitlement is undisputed.
Foreign tax credit under Section 90 is substantive double-taxation relief and cannot be curtailed solely because the return or Form No. 67 was filed late. Rule 128 prescribes procedural and documentation requirements for claiming the credit, including filing Form No. 67, but its filing requirement is directory where the taxpayer's entitlement, credit quantum, and supporting compliance are undisputed. As subordinate legislation, Rule 128 cannot defeat the statutory entitlement to foreign tax credit merely due to delayed filing under Section 139(4) or delayed submission of Form No. 67.
Foreign tax credit survives delayed Form 67 filing, subject to verification of the underlying claim under applicable law.
Foreign tax credit under tax treaties is not forfeited merely because Form 67 is filed late. Rule 128(9) fixes the filing timeline but does not prescribe forfeiture for delay; the requirement is procedural and directory rather than a mandatory condition of eligibility. Form 67 should therefore be accepted, and the foreign tax credit claim determined after verification in accordance with applicable law.
Jurisdictional reassessment notices issued by an unauthorised officer are invalid, causing consequential assessments to fail.
CBDT Instruction No. 1/2011 assigned assessment jurisdiction over non-corporate assessees reporting income at or above the prescribed metropolitan-city threshold to a Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner. Where an Income-tax Officer issued a reassessment notice despite lacking that allocated jurisdiction, the notice was jurisdictionally defective. The defect was not curable, rendering the reassessment proceedings and consequential assessment invalid and liable to be quashed.
Reassessment after scrutiny requires fresh tangible material; change of opinion and Section 148A defects undermine reopening validity.
Reassessment following a completed scrutiny assessment requires fresh tangible material and cannot rest on a review of the same loan confirmation, bank statements and balance sheet previously examined. Deletion of an addition in search-related assessment proceedings for lack of incriminating material does not prevent available remedial action, but it does not supply fresh material to justify reopening. A reassessment notice served on or after 1 April 2021 under the earlier regime must undergo the Section 148A process: show-cause notice, disclosure of material, consideration of response and a reasoned order before a Section 148 notice. Non-compliance renders reopening procedurally defective.
Interest on belated refund claims remains unavailable despite condonation permitting fresh income-tax returns to be processed.
Refunds arising from fresh returns filed after condonation of delay under section 119(2)(b) are treated as belated refund claims for the purposes of CBDT Circular No. 11/2024. Clause (ii) of paragraph 6 excludes interest under section 244A on belated refund claims generally, rather than only on supplementary claims. Consequently, statutory refund interest is unavailable where the original return was filed after the statutory deadline without a valid condonation order and the refund follows a subsequently condoned return.
Substantial justice requires a fresh evidence opportunity after ex parte reassessments and delayed first appeals.
Ex parte reassessments under Sections 147, 144 and 144B, coupled with dismissal of first appeals in limine for delayed filing, warrant a further opportunity to substantiate disputed transactions where additions have not been examined on merits. The assessee may present its case and supporting evidence before the Assessing Officer. If it fails to comply, the assessment may be completed on the material available in accordance with law.
Orders against non-existent amalgamating companies remain void despite notices to successors when tax authorities had prior amalgamation intimation.
Orders under section 201 issued in the name of an amalgamating company after it has ceased to exist under an approved amalgamation scheme are jurisdictionally invalid where the Revenue received timely notice of the amalgamation. Issuing a show-cause notice to the amalgamated company does not cure a final order addressed to, carrying the tax-deduction account number of, and served on the non-existent entity. The defect is not merely procedural: an order against the ceased entity is void ab initio. Principles concerning curable notice defects or delayed intimation do not apply where prior intimation was given.
Cash-deposit explanations require net agricultural income and verified gift donors; unsupported balances remain unexplained money under tax law.
Cash-deposit explanations based on agricultural income must reflect net income available after agricultural expenses, not gross receipts. Accordingly, only the net agricultural income supported the deposits, while the excess agricultural claim remained unexplained. Gift-based explanations require reliable evidence of donor identity, relationship and financial capacity. In the absence of confirmations, identity proof and evidence of capacity, only the accepted portion of gifts could explain the deposits; the remaining amount was treated as unexplained money under Section 69A.
Safe custody of company-funded jewellery does not by itself establish receipt of a cash loan or deposit.
Jewellery purchased from a company's disclosed income and held by its managing director for safe custody does not, by itself, establish that the managing director accepted a cash loan or deposit. Characterising the value of such jewellery as a cash loan requires evidence of an actual loan or deposit transaction; assumptions, presumptions and surmises are insufficient. On these facts, the alleged contravention of the cash-loan restriction was not established, and the related penalty was unsustainable.
Recorded banking-channel loans cannot be treated as unexplained investments without creditor creditworthiness enquiry or supporting evidence.
Section 151 sanction for reopening may rest on available material indicating escaped income where no return was filed, provided the approval reflects application of mind rather than mechanical consent. Section 69 applies to investments not recorded in the books; a loan or advance recorded in the books and received through banking channels cannot be characterised as unexplained investment merely because the creditor's creditworthiness is doubted. Documentary support must be addressed, and an adverse creditworthiness finding requires enquiry from the creditor or other rebutting evidence; recourse to Section 68 does not cure an unsupported addition.
Charitable trust investment breaches attract maximum marginal rate only on affected income, preserving exemption for remaining qualifying income.
Breach of prescribed investment conditions by a charitable trust triggers forfeiture of exemption only for the income connected with the non-conforming investment. Under Section 13(1)(d), the proviso to Section 164(2), and Circular No. 387, eligibility for exemption under Section 11 remains distinct from the extent of exemption forfeited because of a statutory contravention. The maximum marginal rate applies only to the affected portion of income, while the trust retains Section 11 exemption for its remaining qualifying income.
Section 263 Revision Fails Where Assessment Already Examined Cash Deposits and No Revenue Prejudice Exists
Revisionary jurisdiction cannot be invoked over cash deposits merely because the Principal Commissioner adopts a different view after assessment. Where the Assessing Officer examined the deposits in detail during assessment, the assessment order is not erroneous or prejudicial to the interests of the Revenue on that issue. Revision is therefore impermissible where the existing assessment record establishes adequate inquiry.
Faceless reassessment notice issuance excludes jurisdictional assessing officers, making their notices unsustainable under the prescribed framework.
Under the faceless reassessment framework, a jurisdictional assessing officer cannot validly issue a reassessment notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act. Issuance must conform to the prescribed faceless mechanism rather than the conventional jurisdictional-officer process. The legal position is presented as settled by an earlier ruling against the Revenue, rendering the impugned reassessment notice unsustainable and supporting the assessee's position.
Notional rental income cannot arise from unsold flats before an occupancy certificate permits lawful occupation.
Notional rental income under Section 23(1)(a) is not chargeable on unsold flats for the period before an occupancy certificate is issued. A property without an occupancy certificate is legally incapable of occupation; where it was neither legally occupiable nor actually occupied, no annual letting value can be attributed on a notional basis under income from house property. A completion certificate alone does not establish legal occupiability without an occupancy certificate.
Statutory appeal limitation bars delayed condonation, while restored GST registrations cannot be unsettled after departmental implementation.
Section 107(4) of the CGST Act confines condonation of delayed appeals to its express outer period; a statutory appellate authority has no inherent or equitable power to extend that limit, and writ relief cannot enlarge appellate jurisdiction. Departmental implementation of orders restoring cancelled GST registrations can preclude a challenge to that restoration where taxpayers have resumed business and reversal would disturb intervening transactions. The revocation remedy under Section 30 and Rule 23 operates independently of the appellate remedy under Section 107; expiry of the portal-based revocation period does not bar an appeal against registration cancellation.
Statutory appeal limitation bars excess delay condonation, but implemented registration restoration prevents reopening settled GST appellate relief.
Section 107 confines condonation of delay in statutory appeals to its express additional period; a first appellate authority has no inherent or equitable power to extend that outer limit. Constitutional relief under Article 226 does not expand that statutory appellate jurisdiction. Registration revocation and appeal operate as independent remedies, so inability to seek revocation through the portal after the prescribed period does not extinguish the right of appeal. Where appellate orders have been implemented by restoring registrations and enabling subsequent business transactions, reopening those orders without addressing the consequences may yield no effective relief; the implemented restoration prevents reopening the settled position in these proceedings.
Statutory appeal limitation prevents condonation beyond the prescribed outer period, while registration restoration can defeat later departmental challenges.
Section 107 confines an appellate authority's power to condone delay to the prescribed outer period; equitable considerations or writ relief under Article 226 cannot enlarge that statutory jurisdiction. Failure to seek registration revocation within the Rule 23 period does not remove the independent appellate remedy against cancellation where portal functionality prevents timely revocation. Restoration of registrations pursuant to appellate orders enables resumption of business and renders subsequent departmental challenges ineffective unless the consequences of implementation are addressed. Statutory limitation therefore governs condonation, while implemented registration restoration remains unaffected.
GST on compulsory acquisition compensation lacks a taxable supply because landowners surrender property under statutory expropriation, making deductions unlawful.
Compulsory acquisition of land and buildings is a statutory exercise of eminent domain, not a voluntary supply of goods or services by the owner. Land and structures attached to or embedded in land constitute immovable property. Surrender of such property under compulsory acquisition does not amount to a sale of goods or provision of services, and the compensation payable cannot be treated as consideration for a taxable supply. GST deduction from acquisition compensation therefore lacked statutory authority; the deducted amount was required to be refunded with interest.
Electronic credit ledger blocking survives an appeal pre-deposit, while separate unblocking consideration remains available under provisional restriction rules.
Rule 86A blocking of an electronic credit ledger is a provisional measure that requires recorded reasons and cannot continue beyond one year. Filing a GST appeal with the prescribed pre-deposit creates a deemed stay of recovery for the balance demand, preventing appropriation from the electronic cash ledger or blocked credit ledger. That stay does not automatically lift a subsisting Rule 86A blocking order. Unblocking remains subject to the separate Rule 86A mechanism, under which the affected person may seek consideration of an unblocking request.
Regular bail: parity with co-accused and willingness to provide voice samples supported release despite pending forensic examination.
Regular bail was warranted under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, after weighing the allegations, the petitioner's willingness to provide a voice sample, and parity arising from bail granted to 34 of 37 accused. Although the allegations concerned an organised tax-evasion arrangement and forensic examination of voice samples remained pending, those considerations did not require continued custody on the stated facts. The petitioner therefore met the threshold for regular bail.