Interest on excess refund under Section 234D applies only when the refund becomes recoverable on a regular assessment. A regular assessment ordinarily means an assessment under Section 143(3) or Section 144; Explanation 1 extends this to an assessment made for the first time under Section 147 or Section 153A. Where an assessment under Section 143(3) has already been completed, a later reassessment under Section 147 is not a first assessment and therefore is not a regular assessment for Section 234D. Interest under Section 234D is consequently not chargeable on excess refund determined in that reassessment.

Reassessment initiated more than three years after the relevant assessment year required a recorded determination that income chargeable to tax had escaped assessment at or above the prescribed threshold under Section 149(1)(b). Aggregate cash deposits in a bank account alone did not establish escaped income. Because the order under Section 148A(d) contained no categorical quantification satisfying that condition, the statutory precondition for extended reopening was absent. The notice under Section 148 and consequential reassessment were void ab initio and quashed.

Penalty for concealment or furnishing inaccurate particulars was unsustainable where fixed deposits accepted under a public deposit scheme were supported by depositor names, addresses and transaction details. Although the credits were added as unexplained because confirmations were unavailable and the required standard of proof was not met, no external material or enquiry showed that the deposits constituted undisclosed income. The explanation that certain deposits were renewals from an earlier year, supported by available particulars, was not wholly untenable or lacking in bona fides. An addition under a deeming provision alone did not justify penalty, which was deleted.

Long-term capital gains from documented share sales cannot be treated as bogus accommodation entries solely on an investigation report or general allegations of price rigging. Contract notes, bank records, and demat statements substantiating broker-mediated purchase and sale transactions require contrary evidence linking the taxpayer to entry providers, synchronised trading, cash exchanges, or the alleged manipulation. In the absence of an assessee-specific money trail, incriminating statement, or other connecting material, presumptions cannot displace documented transactions; the addition as unexplained credit was deleted.

Reassessment is not based on a change of opinion where the original assessment did not specifically examine eligibility for agricultural-land reinvestment relief or determine total commission income, and there is reason to believe income escaped assessment. Deduction under section 54B may remain available where a binding agreement to sell created enforceable rights, consideration was received, and that consideration funded replacement agricultural land acquired before registered conveyance. Differential commission income cannot be added when tax-credit records and financial accounts establish the actual commission receipts, including evaporation loss, and the higher figure lacks evidentiary support.

Limited Scrutiny confines assessment to the notified CASS issue. A deduction for donations for scientific research is legally distinct from an eligible company's expenditure on an approved in-house research and development facility, although both arise under section 35. Examination of the latter claim required credible tax-evasion information, recorded reasons and prior administrative approval. A section 142(1) questionnaire, taxpayer participation, Form 3CL, or curative provisions could not expand jurisdiction. The resulting disallowance was invalid.

Unexplained-investment additions require credible material establishing that the assessee actually made the alleged payment. An unsigned agreement to sell, particularly where its stated execution predates purchase of the stamp paper, lacked evidentiary reliability. The seller's affidavit and disputed agreement were insufficient without independent corroboration of funds flowing from the assessee, especially where the property was conveyed to another person and the assessee denied the transaction. The unexplained-investment addition was therefore deleted.

Failure to examine the difference between purchase consideration and stamp-duty value of immovable property may trigger Section 56(2)(vii)(b). Under Explanation 2(a) to Section 263(1), an assessment made without inquiries or verification that should have been undertaken is erroneous and prejudicial to Revenue interests. Where no material shows that the Assessing Officer consciously examined the issue or adopted a sustainable view, limited revision directing fresh inquiry on that issue does not amount to substituting the Assessing Officer's opinion.

Section 69A requires an unexplained-money addition to rest on reasoned evaluation and enquiry; agricultural-income and landholding evidence, together with acknowledged cash withdrawals and redeposits, cannot be rejected on surmise alone. Although self-serving material need not be accepted fully, inconsistencies may justify an ad hoc addition. The addition was confined to 10% of the aggregate amount and made taxable at normal rates rather than under the special unexplained-income rate.

Completed or unabated assessments under Section 153A may be disturbed only for additions linked to incriminating material found during the search. Material already available to the Assessing Officer that is unconnected with search discoveries cannot support unrelated additions, including unexplained cash credits or related interest expenditure. Where no incriminating material supports a proposed addition, reassessment may instead be pursued under Sections 147 and 148, subject to their statutory conditions.

Section 80P deduction available to a primary co-operative society is not to be denied solely because its income-tax return was filed after the due date, including beyond the extended filing period. Section 80AC links deductions to timely return filing, but Section 119(2)(b) and the applicable CBDT circular permit Chief Commissioners to consider condonation of delay for delayed returns claiming this deduction. The delayed return may be accepted and the assessment revised to allow the deduction, subject to compliance with the stipulated deposit condition imposed for the delay.

Tax deducted by an employer from salary remains credit available to the employee even where the employer does not deposit the deducted amount. The employer-deductor's default cannot be attributed to the employee or used to deny tax-deducted-at-source credit. Demands raised solely because that credit was not granted, including demands generated through return processing or rectification, cannot be sustained and must be quashed to that extent.

Discount on shares issued under an employee stock option plan is deductible as revenue expenditure under Section 37(1) where it is incurred wholly and exclusively to secure and incentivise employee services for earning profits. The discount, being the difference borne between the share price and market value, constitutes a business outgo or loss rather than a short receipt of capital. Liability arises as a definite business liability when the options vest; subsequent exercise affects quantification rather than the character of the expenditure. The discount is therefore allowable as a revenue deduction.

Comparable selection for determining arm's length price under Rule 10B requires functional comparability and is a factual, data-driven exercise. Accurate Data Converters Limited was properly excluded because it outsourced a major part of its work and was not functionally comparable to the assessee. No material established perversity, reliance on irrelevant material, or exclusion of relevant material in the factual basis supporting exclusion. The arm's length price analysis therefore excluded that company as a comparable.

One-time, non-refundable time-share membership fees may be recognised over the membership period where a consistent accounting method apportions receipts over the period of membership benefits, rather than taxed wholly on collection. A statutory clarification treating computer-software licences as royalty applies prospectively from 1 April 2012; resident software-licence renewal payments for assessment year 2008-09 therefore did not require tax deduction or trigger disallowance. Payments to non-resident suppliers do not establish equivalent taxability for resident suppliers. For disallowance purposes, "payable" encompasses sums already paid as well as outstanding amounts.

Reassessment requires a jurisdictional fact showing that income has prima facie escaped assessment. Where the entire payment was already disallowed in the earlier assessment, no income prima facie remained to have escaped assessment. Notice was issued and reassessment proceedings were stayed pending final hearing, as the jurisdictional fact appeared absent.

Eligibility for approval under Section 10(23C)(via) depends on whether a hospital exists solely for philanthropic purposes rather than on annual matching of receipts and expenditure. Incidental surpluses do not establish a profit motive where funds are applied to medical infrastructure, equipment and services; capital expenditure and depreciation must be considered in assessing the real financial position. Treatment of paying patients, consultants' fees and facility charges do not alone demonstrate commercial activity or private benefit. No statutory minimum for free or concessional treatment applies. Governance restricting funds to medical objects, barring profit distributions and dedicating residual assets to charity, together with statutory care for indigent patients, supports philanthropic status. Prior charitable recognition requires consistent tax treatment absent material change.

Approval under section 10(23C)(via) depends on whether a hospital exists solely for philanthropic purposes and not for profit. Financial position should account for capital expenditure on medical equipment and facilities, actual application of funds, and depreciation, rather than excess receipts over revenue expenditure alone. Capital application and depreciation have distinct functions. Consultant-fee arrangements do not alone show profit distribution where retained sums pay for hospital facilities and services. Medical relief to paying patients may be philanthropic; no minimum ratio of free or concessional treatment is prescribed. Philanthropic character depends on objects, medical activities, application of income and assets, charitable-hospital obligations, and absence of unrelated commercial activity or private diversion.

Computer software licence payments fall within the royalty clarification only prospectively from 1 April 2012. Tax deducted on payments to foreign suppliers does not, by itself, establish taxability of comparable payments to domestic suppliers, which require independent examination; consequently, the stated software licence renewals attracted no tax-deduction disallowance. For tax-deduction disallowance, "payable" includes amounts already paid. One-time non-refundable membership fees are recognised over the membership period, supporting apportioned recognition rather than immediate treatment in full.

Functional comparability in transfer pricing is a factual, data-driven assessment that must conform to Rule 10B. The High Court upheld the exclusion of an outsourced-service provider from the comparable set because outsourcing a major portion of its work made it functionally dissimilar to the assessee. The Revenue produced no contrary material and failed to establish perversity, reliance on irrelevant material, or exclusion of relevant material in the Tribunal's factual finding. The substantial questions of law were answered for the assessee, and the Revenue's appeal was dismissed.