Exemption for accumulation of income under Section 11(2) cannot be denied solely because the return and Form 9A were filed after the Section 139(1) due date. Timely filing of the prescribed form is treated as directory where Form 9A and Form 10 were available in the assessment record during the original and consequential assessments. Procedural delay in filing a return under Section 139(4) and Form 9A does not override a substantive claim to exemption for accumulated income. The assessee was therefore entitled to Section 11(2) exemption for all relevant assessment years.

Section 148A requires the Assessing Officer to consider the assessee's response and all available material before issuing a reassessment notice under Section 148. Reassessment for alleged bogus purchases was impermissible where purchase details had been examined during original scrutiny and were resubmitted in response to the Section 148A(b) notice, but were not evaluated in the Section 148A(d) order. Reliance on an undisclosed third-party statement, without an opportunity for rebuttal, did not independently establish income escaping assessment. Reopening on the same previously examined material constituted a change of opinion. Consequently, the Section 148A(d) order, Section 148 notice and reassessment were quashed.

Section 271B penalty proceedings operate independently of assessment proceedings and require initiation within a reasonable four-year period from the relevant assessment year; initiation after about ten years rendered the earlier-year penalties time-barred. Delay in completion of the State Co-operative Department audit may constitute reasonable cause for delayed submission of the Section 44AB report, although it does not excuse non-submission after the audit is complete. For later years, a Section 142(2A) special audit fulfilled the essential purpose of the Section 44AB audit, and the audit-related delay and absence of prejudice negated penal action.

Donation of current income by one charitable institution to another institution with similar charitable objects constitutes application of income for charitable purposes. The restriction effective from 1 April 2003 applies only to donations made from income accumulated for subsequent application under Section 11(2), not to donations from current income. Consequently, such current-income donations qualify as charitable application, and the related addition is to be deleted.

Deduction for a service co-operative bank is unavailable where the return claiming it was not filed within the due date prescribed for filing returns. Eligibility for the statutory deduction depends on timely compliance with the mandatory return-filing requirement. Applicable jurisdictional precedent requires a co-operative society to claim the deduction through a return filed by the prescribed due date, and a previously contrary precedent was distinguished. Consequently, the deduction remained unavailable for all relevant assessment years despite condonation of the delay in filing appeals.

Cash deposits in specified bank notes during demonetisation may be explained as business sale proceeds where the taxpayer has disclosed the relevant business income and part of the deposits has been accepted as explained. Maintenance of books of account is not compulsory for every taxpayer under the Income-tax Act. In the absence of material disproving the explanation, failure to maintain books alone does not justify treating business-receipt deposits as unexplained money. The unexplained-money addition was therefore regarded as unjustified and liable to deletion.

Section 151 requires reassessment notices issued more than three years after the relevant assessment year to obtain prior approval from the Principal Chief Commissioner, Principal Director General, Chief Commissioner, or Director General. Approval by a Principal Commissioner does not fulfil this jurisdictional requirement. Consequently, a notice issued beyond that period without approval from the prescribed authority, and all consequential reassessment proceedings, are invalid.

Condonation of delay requires a bona fide and sufficient explanation for the entire period of default. Employment in the Merchant Navy and presence on board a ship did not satisfactorily explain the 560-day delay in filing the first appeal against a penalty order, particularly where the assessee was not on ship when the order was made and the interval between payment of the appeal fee and filing remained unexplained. The first appeal was therefore treated as barred by limitation, and its rejection was sustained.

Alleged bogus purchases may warrant an addition limited to the profit element embedded in those purchases rather than disallowance of the full purchase amount as unexplained expenditure. Applying an estimated 15% profit element confines the addition to the presumed benefit arising from non-genuine purchases and deletes the balance disallowance. The approach distinguishes taxable profit attributable to such transactions from the entire recorded purchase value.

Specified amendments under the Arunachal Pradesh Goods and Services Tax (Eighth Amendment) Rules, 2021 become operative from 1 January 2022. The provisions brought into force are sub-rule (2), sub-rule (3), clause (i) of sub-rule (6), and sub-rule (7) of rule 2. The commencement is made under sub-rule (2) of rule 1 and applies only to the enumerated portions of rule 2.

Assam SGST rate schedules are amended to place biris in Schedule II at 9 per cent and specified tobacco-related goods in Schedule III at 20 per cent. The latter category includes pan masala, unmanufactured tobacco, tobacco refuse other than tobacco leaves, cigars, cigarettes, manufactured tobacco other than biris, tobacco substitutes, and specified non-combustible inhalation products. Schedule VII, prescribing a 14 per cent rate, is omitted. The amendments are deemed effective from 1 February 2026.

GST exemption for hostel accommodation supplied in India to students of a foreign university is considered available where the supply is genuinely accommodation services, the occupants stay continuously for at least 90 days, and the monthly charge does not exceed Rs. 20,000 per person. The foreign-university status of the students does not independently bar exemption. Qualifying supplies before 15 July 2024 are treated as regularised on an "as is where is" basis, while later supplies must satisfy the prescribed value and continuous-stay conditions.

Time of supply for spectrum usage and similar services under GST is to be clarified in Delhi through mutatis mutandis application of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs clarification. The approach applies for implementation of the Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and seeks uniformity in the treatment of time of supply for these services.

Withdrawal of the challenge to revision jurisdiction was sought because the assessee had already appealed against additions made in the consequential assessment completed pursuant to the revision order. The dispute concerned the Principal Commissioner's exercise of revisionary power and the treatment of the original assessment as erroneous and prejudicial to revenue interests. With no objection from the departmental representative, the appeal against the revision order was dismissed as withdrawn, leaving the challenge to the consequential assessment additions to be pursued separately.

Assam SGST rate schedules are amended to revise specified tariff classifications in Schedule I at 2.5% and Schedule III at 20%. Schedule I entries are substituted with tariff codes 2202 99 21, 2202 99 29, 2202 99 31 and 2202 99 39. Schedule III entries are substituted with tariff codes 2202 99 90, 2202 99 91 and 2202 99 99. The classification amendments are deemed effective from 1 May 2026.

Bajaj Finance acquired a 5% equity stake in TrueFan AI through Finserv Intelligence, an applied research and innovation initiative supporting scalable technology enterprises. The investment follows existing use of TrueFan AI's platform for personalised customer engagement and dealer enablement. The parties intend to expand collaboration in personalised marketing, high-volume video generation, live-avatar assistance, multilingual communication, learning and development, and digital onboarding. The partnership combines equity participation with development of technological capabilities and long-term strategic value.

DGFT proposes suspension of 544 Standard Input Output Norms identified as unutilized under the Advance Authorisation and Duty-Free Import Authorisation schemes during the preceding three financial years. Stakeholders may submit comments, supporting material, reasons for retention, and details of actual or proposed utilization within 15 days. After considering timely submissions, the identified norms may be suspended, while delayed comments may not be considered.

Prior approval under Section 153D for a search assessment must be final and unconditional. Approval containing directions for further verification, consideration of confidential material, rechecking credits, or compliance with further instructions indicates that the draft assessment order was not final. Where the revised final order is not placed before and validly approved by the competent authority, the statutory approval requirement is not met. Any subsequent alteration or reworking of an approved draft requires valid approval of the final assessment order; otherwise, the assessment under Sections 143(3) and 153A is void.

Retail sale price-based valuation is extended to declared-price supplies of pan masala, specified tobacco products, cigarettes, tobacco substitutes, and specified tobacco or nicotine inhalation products. Retail sale price includes all taxes, duties, surcharges and cesses, with the highest of multiple declared prices applying. Any increased declared price is treated as the retail sale price, while area-specific prices apply to goods intended for sale in the relevant area. Customs Tariff classifications and interpretative rules govern product coverage.

Time of supply for road construction and maintenance services in National Highways Authority of India national projects executed under the Hybrid Annuity Mode is clarified for purposes of the Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The corresponding central tax clarification applies mutatis mutandis in Delhi, with the measure being clarificatory in character.