https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=332095 Departmental circulars issued under a taxing statute are binding on subordinate authorities and are intended to ensure uniformity and predictable business conduct. A later circular cannot retrospectively displace an earlier circular unless it is merely clarificatory and reflects an authoritative declaration of law; where it instead signals a change in departmental stand, it does not nullify the earlier circular for prior transactions. If the legal position remains debatable, the benefit of doubt goes to the assessee. The 1979 circular therefore continued to govern transactions entered into before the 2004 circular, and the assessee remained entitled to its benefit for the earlier assessment years. en-us Wed, 31 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0530 Sun, 11 Sep 2016 21:22:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=332095 Departmental circulars issued under a taxing statute are binding on subordinate authorities and are intended to ensure uniformity and predictable business conduct. A later circular cannot retrospectively displace an earlier circular unless it is merely clarificatory and reflects an authoritative declaration of law; where it instead signals a change in departmental stand, it does not nullify the earlier circular for prior transactions. If the legal position remains debatable, the benefit of doubt goes to the assessee. The 1979 circular therefore continued to govern transactions entered into before the 2004 circular, and the assessee remained entitled to its benefit for the earlier assessment years. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Wed, 31 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=332095