Will-based claims for property remain benami claims where pleadings allege that the claimant funded acquisition in another's name and the property was held for the claimant's present or future benefit. Such beneficial-owner claims are barred from civil enforcement, and a later Will or proposed re-transfer cannot independently validate restoration of the property. The fiduciary-capacity exception requires a legally recognised property-related fiduciary duty; employment, personal confidence, loyalty, or commercial arrangements alone are insufficient. Courts may reject a plaint at the threshold where its own averments disclose the statutory elements of benami and no legally sustainable exception, while genuine fact-dependent fiduciary disputes.....

Reassessment under Sections 147 and 148 requires a bona fide reason to believe, founded on tangible material having a live link to possible income escapement; final proof is not required at the notice stage. Reopening is impermissible where the Assessing Officer seeks to revisit an issue consciously examined in the original scrutiny, but prior production of documents alone does not establish full and true disclosure or formation of an opinion. Survey-derived information may support reopening where it reveals previously unexamined material facts about a transaction's true character. Recorded reasons are the exclusive jurisdictional foundation: later material cannot supplement them. Taxpayers must receive the reasons, have an opportunity to object, and obtain a speaking order before reassessment proceeds.

Section 195 requires withholding only from a remittance to a non-resident that includes income chargeable in India. For software, royalty depends on transfer of copyright rights, not merely the right to install, access, use, or distribute a copyrighted article under restrictive terms. Where a DTAA is more beneficial, its royalty and FTS definitions control; treaty FTS may require technology to be made available. Amounts that are neither royalty nor FTS require consideration as business profits, ordinarily taxable only where profits are attributable to a permanent establishment. Composite payments require component-wise allocation and analysis.

Reassessment under sections 147 and 148 was sustained because the registered sale deed was the material available when belief of escaped income was formed; an earlier transfer asserted through an agreement to sell and power of attorney required investigation and did not negate reopening. Capital-gains relief under section 54B was available where new agricultural land was purchased from earnest money or advance sale consideration before registration of the transferred land. The qualifying reinvestment had to be allowed in computing capital gains, while the reassessment remained valid.

TRQs for apples, kiwifruit, albumins and New Zealand MPI-certified Manuka honey operate through export certificates issued by New Zealand and electronic TRQ Authorisations issued to designated Indian importers. Applications must reference the relevant certificate or allocation, identify MSME status, and are transmitted to the Indian Customs EDI System. Imports are allowed only through electronic customs debiting. Authorisations are subject to annual quota limits, applicable CIF conditions and quota windows, remain valid only for the relevant quota year, and lapse to the extent unutilised.

An Indian supplier that outsources part of an overseas services contract to a foreign supplier makes an export supply for the full contract value, subject to export and place-of-supply conditions, and imports the outsourced portion. Integrated tax is payable under reverse charge on that import, with input tax credit available. Direct payment by the overseas recipient to the foreign supplier may count as export consideration if the corresponding tax is paid and retention outside India is authorised.

All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback in Chapter 71 are amended for tariff items 711301, 711302 and 711401. The figure in column (4) for tariff item 711301 is substituted from 1851.99 to 1794.11. For tariff items 711302 and 711401, the figure in column (4) is substituted from 29501.09 to 26859.02. These substitutions amend the existing duty drawback Schedule under the Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rules, 2017.

Special additional excise duty on exports of petrol and diesel is revised by substituting the rates in the applicable table. The rate against serial number 1 becomes Rs. 2.5 per litre, and the rate against serial number 2 becomes Rs. 8.5 per litre. The revised duty rates take effect on 16 October 2026.

Customs invites applications to empanel voluntary expert valuers for import and export valuation of diamonds, gemstones, jewellery, pearls, synthetic gemstones and industrial diamond powder. Eligibility generally requires relevant qualifications and five years' valuation experience, subject to reduction or waiver for higher qualifications or exceptional achievement, alongside a clean professional record and independence. Shortlisting follows CV screening, practical assessment and interview. Appointed valuers must submit standardised reports and records, cooperate in proceedings, avoid conflicts, and serve without remuneration; Customs Officers retain final decision-making authority. Appointments are non-transferable and subject to review. F.....

Rule 49(2) permits a Special Economic Zone Unit to bring back duty-paid goods from the Domestic Tariff Area when a buyer fails to take delivery, subject to identity verification, proof of non-availment of benefits including input tax credit, and separate auditable inventory records. Such goods may be resold without alteration on payment of applicable duty as a fresh Domestic Tariff Area sale. Goods may also be returned for repairs within the prescribed or extended period, subject to identity verification and duty on repair value.

Rule 6 regulates voluntary withdrawal and departmental denial of the composition option. A taxpayer seeking withdrawal must file FORM GST CMP-04, and the indicated effective date cannot predate commencement of the financial year in which the filing occurs. Departmental denial follows notice in FORM GST CMP-05, reply in FORM GST CMP-06, and an order in FORM GST CMP-07. A retrospective denial cannot take effect before the contravention. Tax, interest and penalty may be determined from contravention to the CMP-07 order, while section 9 tax liability applies from issuance of that order.

Government supplies of used vehicles, confiscated goods, old goods, waste and scrap to registered persons are subject to reverse charge, while supplies to unregistered persons require the supplying department to register and pay GST, subject to registration requirements. Delayed GSTR-3B filing with payment of tax and interest ordinarily does not attract penalty under section 73(11), though a general penalty may follow due process. Post-GST price-revision debit or credit notes attract GST rates. GST value includes income-tax TCS, and documented consignments treat the consignor or consignee as owner.

Narcotics trafficking enforcement under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, involved intelligence-led interceptions at Bengaluru and Delhi airports and near Nagpur. Passenger baggage and a backpack were examined, leading to the seizure of amphetamine and cocaine and the arrest of three passengers. The recoveries included amphetamine concealed in baggage, a ladies' suit and a backpack lining, and cocaine contained in transparent packets within baggage.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence enforcement action identified an organised gold-smuggling syndicate importing foreign-origin gold through Ahmedabad and Surat airports, followed by handover to handlers, intermediary routing, illegal melting, and cash-based supply through an Ahmedabad jewellery outlet. Further searches recovered undocumented foreign-origin gold bars and records concerning smuggled gold linked to a Dubai-based financier. The investigation identified interconnected roles across the movement, processing, and disposal of smuggled gold; three persons were arrested under the Customs Act, 1962.

TCS under section 52 applies to the Tea Board as an electronic commerce operator conducting electronic tea auctions and settling payments. Buyers deposit a consolidated amount in an escrow account covering tea value, brokerages and Tea Board charges. TCS is collected separately from tea producers on the net value of tea supplies and from auctioneers on the net value of brokerage services. Auctioneers do not receive payment for tea sold through auction.

Stamp-duty valuation differences within the 10% tolerance applicable under the seller-side valuation rule cannot support a purchaser-side addition for inadequate consideration under Section 56(2)(vii)(b)(ii). The beneficial tolerance therefore prevents deemed-income treatment where the variation remains within that range. Limited-scrutiny assessments are confined to issues identified in the scrutiny notice. An addition concerning an issue outside that scope is without jurisdiction unless the assessment is validly converted to complete scrutiny through the required approval process. Both additions were consequently removed from the assessed income.

Del-credere agent status under Para 3 of Schedule I depends on invoicing. Where the supplier invoices the customer, including through the DCA, the DCA is not an agent and its buyer loan is an independent principal-to-principal service; related interest is excluded from the value of goods supplied by the principal. Where the DCA invoices in its own name, it is an agent. Credit extended by such DCA is subsumed in its supply of goods, and the related interest is included in the value of that supply.

Time-expired drugs or medicines may be returned either as a fresh supply or through a credit note. Registered persons may invoice a fresh return supply, while composition taxpayers issue a bill of supply and unregistered persons may use a commercial document without tax. Input tax credit on a fresh return supply must be reversed if the returned goods are destroyed. Under the credit-note method, tax liability may be adjusted only where the statutory timing and input tax credit conditions are met; otherwise, the credit note may be issued without tax adjustment or portal declaration.

A casual taxable person must deposit advance tax on estimated net tax liability after allowing due eligible input tax credit. Exhibitions operating beyond 180 days require normal taxable person registration, supported by an allotment or consent letter for the premises; no advance-tax deposit is required and registration may be surrendered after the exhibition. Excess input tax credit improperly distributed by an Input Service Distributor is recoverable from recipient units with applicable interest and penalty, with voluntary payment through FORM GST DRC-03 or recovery proceedings where payment is not made.

Cash found during a search remains unexplained money where the assessee attributes it to relatives but they cannot substantiate its source. Claims by the mother and wife required independent support, such as bank withdrawals, disclosed earnings, or other cogent material. Confirmations and affidavits alone did not establish ownership or the source of the cash. The addition for unexplained money was therefore sustained against the assessee.