TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (7) TMI 1957
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....dated: 11.05.2021 the assessee? 3. Whether in the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the LA CIT(A) is justified in allowing the Assessee's claim of Advertisement and Sales Promotion Expenses incurred by the Assessee of Rs. 5,18,65,26,221 and disallowed by the Assessing Officer, the expenditures being not wholly and exclusively for the purpose of business of the 4. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) is justified in not appreciating that the Assessing Officer had disallowed the Advertisement and Sales Promotion Expenses on the ground that such expenses benefited the business of the bottlers of the beverages and the assessee also failed to establish that the economic cost of advertisement was recovered from the bottlers? 5. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CTT(A) is justified in allowing the bottlers were doing advertisement of their product and the assessee was doing reimbursement without entering into any agreement with the bottlers? 6. Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the CIT(A) is justified is allowing the assessee's claim of Marketing....
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.... the meaning of Section 92B of the Income-tax Act, 1961 thereby wrongly deleting the transfer pricing adjustment proposed by the TPO without appreciating the fact that the same is leading to brand building of intangibles owned by AE and hence the same is reimbursable expenses qualifying as an international transaction u/s. 92B of the Income Tax Act. 13. Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) was correct in allowing the assessee not to benchmark AMP as an international transaction when the requirement of law is that arm's length price of every international transaction has to be determined. 14. Whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) is justified by ignoring the well-established doctrine of 'substance over form' (applied by the Courts in numerous judicial decisions) indicating that transfer pricing regulations are to be applied keeping in mind the overall scheme of the taxpayer's business arrangement. The learned CIT(A) failed to appreciate that the AMP functions undertaken by the assessee resulted in creation and enhancement of marketing intangibles owned by the AE, thereby warranting arm's....
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....imited is a domestic company engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of beverage concentrates, dairy whiteners, etc. The Assessee is 100% subsidiary of Coco Cola South Asia India Holding Limited, Honkong. The Assessee filed its Return of Income electronically declaring Total Income at Rs. 751,93,44,180/-. The assessee's case was selected for scrutiny and Notice u/s. 143(2) was issued on 13/08/2018. The AO made a reference to Transfer Pricing Officer. The Transfer Pricing Officer (TPO) passed an order u/s. 92CA(3) of the Income Tax Act 1961 on 14/01/2021 proposing an upward adjustment of Rs. 6,54,19,31,488/- 5. In this case, the Assessing Officer (National E Assessment Centre) passed an Order on 06/03/2021 titled as "Draft Order u/s. 144C of the Income Tax Act 1961". The first page of the said Order is scanned and reproduced here as under : GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT National e-Assessment Centre Delhi To, COCA-COLA INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED 1109-1110, PIRANGUT TAL MULSHI PUNE 412108, Maharashtra India PAN: AAACB8573G Assessment Year: 2017-18 Dated:....
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.... AO has no jurisdiction to issue such notice. AO issued a letter dated 23.03.2021 stating that the earlier 06.03.2021 communication was a letter and not draft assessment order. It was erroneously sent. Therefore, the letter dated 06.03.2021 was withdrawn with immediate effect vide letter dated 23.03.2021. Then the AO issued noticed dated 27.03.2021 u/s. 142(1) of the Act and 30.03.2021 u/s. 142(1) of the Act. The AO (National e-assessment Centre) passed a draft order u/s. 144C of the Act for A.Y 2017-18 on 09.04.2021 (copy of the said order is at page No. 22 to 55 of paper book). Then AO passed a final assessment order on 15.06.2021 for A.Y 2017-18 assessing the total income at Rs. 17,33,01,53,480/-. 5.2 Aggrieved by the assessment order assessee filed appeal before Ld. CIT(A), raising legal grounds as well as grounds on merits of the addition. Ld. CIT(A)-13, Pune vide order dated 22.09.2025 for A.Y 2017-18 allowed the appeal of the assessee. Aggrieved by the order of ld. CIT(A) the revenue has filed appeal before this Tribunal. 6. We will discuss first the grounds related to additions made in the assessment order. 6.1 Ld. CIT(A) has discussed the addition under the head a....
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....ete the entire addition of Rs. 518,65,26,221/- made on account of disallowance of advertising and sales promotion expenses by the AO. 54. The appellant succeeds on this ground of appeal; the ground is allowed. 6.2 Thus, Ld. CIT(A) allowed the assessee's appeal by following the decision of Coordinate Bench of ITAT in assessee's own case for A.Y 1997-98 to 2016-17. 6.3 Ld. DR has accepted that there is no distinguishing feature. Ld. DR accepted that the impugned issue is covered in favour of assessee by ITAT order in assessee's own case. 6.4 Accordingly, having regard to the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, and taking into consideration the decision rendered by the Coordinate Bench followed by Ld. CIT(A) on identical issue under similar factual circumstances in favour of the assessee. Respectfully following the decision of Coordinate Bench of ITAT and maintaining judicial consistency, particularly when identical additions made on similar facts have been deleted by the Coordinate Bench. No new facts or circumstances have been placed on record in order to controvert or rebut the findings so recorded by Ld. CIT(A). Therefore, we see no reasons to in....
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....Assessee's Business: The ITAT recognised a direct and clear link between the marketing support expenses and the assessee's business of selling concentrate. These expenses, in the form of rebates, discounts, and incentives given to the bottlers, were aimed at increasing the sale of concentrate. ii. Wholly and Exclusively for Business Purpose: The ITAT accepted the assessee's contention that the marketing support expenses were incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of its own business as required under Section 37(1) of the Act. The Tribunal found that these expenses were a legitimate business expenditure incurred to boost the volume of concentrate sold to the bottlers, ultimately leading to an increase in the assessee's revenue. OME TAX DEPART Encouraging Bottler Sales: The ITAT underscored that by providing marketing support, the assessee was encouraging the bottlers to promote and sell more of the finished beverages in their respective areas. This increase in beverage sales directly translates to a higher demand for the concentrate manufactured by the assessee. iv. Distinction from Advertisement: The assessee's clarification t....
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....ue is covered in favour of assessee by ITAT order in assessee's own case. 8.2 We have heard the rival contentions of both the parties and perused the material placed on record. In this regard we noticed that Ld. CIT(A) has discussed this issue in para 66 to 68. The relevant paragraph is extracted below: 66. I have carefully perused and considered the contentions, submissions, including the evidence and case laws, and the arguments put forth by the appellant as well as those put forth by the AO in his assessment order. 67. It must be pointed out that appellant's claim with respect to the allowability of expenses under the head / relating to service charges and reimbursement to Coca Cola India Inc (CCII) has been consistently allowed by the Hon'ble Pune Tribunal from AY 1997-98 to AY 2016-17. Key aspects emanating from the rationale underlying the decision of the Hon'ble Tribunal are as follows - i. Nexus to Assessee's Business: The ITAT found a direct nexus between the services rendered by CCI Inc. (even those relating to bottlers' plants or quality audits) and the assessee's business of manufacturing and selling concentrate an i....
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....n coolers made by the A.O. 9.1 In this regard ld AR submitted that this issue is squarely coved by the decision of Coordinate Bench of ITAT in assessee's own case for A.Y 1997-98 to 2016-17. Contra ld. DR has accepted that there is no distinguishing feature. Ld. DR accepted that the impugned issue is covered in favour of assessee by ITAT order in assessee's own case. 9.2 We have heard the rival contentions of both the parties and perused the material placed on record. In this regard we noticed that Ld. CIT(A) has discussed this issue in para 66 to 68. The relevant paragraph is extracted below: iv. Assessee's Ownership and Control: A significant factor in the ITAT's decision was that Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd. retained complete ownership of the coolers at all times. Furthermore, the assessee maintained a degree of control over the coolers, including the right to access outlets to verify their assets, move coolers between locations, and replace them as needed. These terms and conditions indicated that the coolers were not simply given away to the bottlers or vendors but remained the property and under the strategic control of the assessee, further solidifying th....