Service-tax liability on turnover from trading in farm products requires examination of whether that turnover is exigible to service tax before liability can be sustained. Where the adjudicating order proceeded on the basis that no response was filed and no personal hearing was attended, reconsideration is required after allowing the taxpayer to respond and submit relevant material. The service-tax order was quashed and the proceedings restored for fresh consideration, with the taxpayer's response to be considered without rejection solely for delay. The writ petition was partly allowed.

Cancellation of GST registration based solely on a list identifying an enterprise as fake requires prior physical verification of its registered business premises, particularly where the registrant has responded to the show-cause notice with documents relating to State Authority proceedings. Treating the enterprise as non-operational without that verification was improper. The show-cause notice and cancellation order were quashed, while preserving the proper officer's ability to verify the premises under the GST Rules and take further action in accordance with law.

Effective opportunity of hearing in GST adjudication was denied where electronic notices were sent to e-mail credentials registered with an erstwhile auditor, leaving the taxpayer without effective knowledge of the proceedings. The High Court treated the explanation of loss of contact with the auditor as plausible and bona fide, and found that the resulting inability to respond justified intervention against the ex parte adjudication. The adjudication order and summary were quashed, with fresh consideration directed after a 10% deposit of the tax demand and filing of a response and supporting documents. The authority must issue a reasoned order after affording an opportunity to respond.

Re-credit of excess tax to an electronic credit ledger requires examination of the taxpayer's entitlement under the applicable refund framework and CBIC circulars. Relief cannot be granted without recorded reasons; the direction permitting re-credit was therefore set aside and remanded for a fresh speaking order. Recomputation of GST liability also requires a disclosed and reasoned basis, with reference to self-assessed and auto-generated returns and audit reports on record. The unexplained reduction of assessed liability was set aside and remanded for fresh determination after hearing both sides.

Valid e-way bill compliance requires Part B to identify the vehicle actually transporting goods. Where a vehicle breaks down and goods are transferred, the movement must be supported by contemporaneous evidence and the e-way bill must be updated or freshly generated before transit. A later e-way bill issued by the purchaser does not cure a vehicle mismatch where the driver holds the supplier's invoice and no contemporaneous material establishes purchaser-led transport. Such discrepancies are not merely technical and can support an inference of intent to evade tax. Penalty proceedings under Section 129 for transport without a valid e-way bill were confirmed.

Tax withholding under Section 195 arises only where a payment to a non-resident is chargeable to tax in India. Where consistent Tribunal findings, upheld by the High Court for earlier years, establish that the recipient has no permanent establishment in India and its relevant income is not taxable, the Assessing Officer cannot take a contrary position on identical facts. Section 195(2) applies only when the payer accepts that part of a remittance is taxable but requires determination of the taxable portion or deductible tax. It does not require an application where the entire payment is not chargeable. Consequently, no tax deduction obligation or Section 201 default arises for such payments, and the Section 201 order was quashed.

Third-party search material forming the foundation for assessment of a person other than the searched person requires use of the special assessment procedure under section 153C. Its overriding clause displaces general reassessment under sections 147 and 148, even where the Revenue subsequently analyses or corroborates the seized material and treats it as information indicating escaped income. Because the alleged transactions, taxpayer identification and inference of unaccounted income originated in seized material, the section 148A(d) order and consequential section 148 notice lacked jurisdiction and were quashed.

Consequential assessment orders giving effect to appellate directions that require verification and an opportunity to the assessee must be completed within the limitation period applicable under section 153(3), as extended by TOLA where relevant. Where the appellate order was received during FY 2019-20, the consequential order had to be made by 31 March 2022. An order issued after that date is time-barred and cannot support a demand notice. In the absence of a valid fresh assessment, the returned income must be accepted, and amounts deposited against the invalid demand are refundable with interest.

Transfer-pricing adjustments were properly confined to international transactions involving import of raw materials from associated enterprises, as the arm's-length price mechanism applies to those transactions; the restriction was upheld. Functional differences in products, manufacturing activities and raw materials justified exclusion of a proposed comparable, and the High Court declined to reappraise that factual finding under section 260-A. Working-capital adjustment was remitted for verification because supporting particulars had not initially been furnished, with no final determination of entitlement or amount. The foreign-exchange revenue filter was also remitted for reconsideration under a consistent approach after giving the assessee an opportunity. Revenue appeals were dismissed.

Show-cause notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond are required before an assessment can make an addition as unexplained money. Where proposed variations notified to the taxpayer differed from the unexplained-money addition ultimately made, and no notice addressed that proposition, the taxpayer was denied an opportunity of hearing in breach of natural justice. The assessment order and consequential penalty notices were quashed, while preserving the revenue's right to commence fresh proceedings in accordance with law.

Return filed in response to a reassessment notice may be treated as a regular return where delayed filing was bona fide because an advance-ruling application on the taxability of the sole transaction remained pending. Credit of tax deducted at source and other prepaid taxes must be allowed against the assessed demand; once such adjustment is permissible, excess prepaid tax cannot be denied as a refund without statutory basis. Fresh assessment must verify the prepaid-tax credits, grant any resulting refund with applicable interest, and may entail fresh penalty proceedings where warranted.

Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, read with its overriding provision, prohibits the institution or continuation of proceedings against a corporate debtor during the insolvency moratorium. Income-tax revisional proceedings initiated or continued during that period cannot be sustained. A revisional order passed after commencement of the moratorium was set aside without examination of the proposed revision on merits. The proceedings may be revived and reframed after the moratorium ceases, if permitted by law, with a reasonable opportunity of hearing; all merits issues remain open.

GST reimbursement for ongoing contracts awarded before GST was introduced could not be denied merely because tender rates were stated to include applicable taxes at the time of bidding. Tender conditions did not cover a tax that did not exist when the work order was issued, and a conflicting pre-bid clarification could not override those conditions. Government measures for ongoing works contemplated compensation for the net additional GST burden through a supplementary agreement. Rejection after referral for chartered-accountant verification, while similarly placed contractors received reimbursement, was arbitrary and inconsistent with equal treatment. Reimbursement was due to the extent verified by the respondents' chartered accountant.

SEZ units covered by the State's 2002 policy were promised complete exemption from stamp duty and registration fee, including for leases transferring an interest in land. Formal statutory recognition through the Gujarat Special Economic Zone Ordinance, 2004 did not displace the pre-existing policy benefit for lease deeds executed earlier. Denying exemption solely because a lease pre-dated the Ordinance would undermine the investment-inducement purpose of the policy and unjustifiably distinguish similarly placed SEZ units by execution date. The fiscal exemption therefore extends to such pre-Ordinance leases, with consequential refund of stamp duty and registration fee.

Section 35(4)(b)'s six-month period for claiming a refund does not prevent an assessing authority, during assessment or reassessment, from correcting an error that resulted in a taxpayer receiving a deduction or exemption below the legally available amount. The authority must determine the correct tax liability and rectify mistakes even where rectification benefits the taxpayer; retention of amounts legally due cannot justify a restrictive reading. Refunds legitimately due must therefore be granted despite expiry of the six-month claim period.

Condonation of a 483-day delay in filing a revision petition requires a satisfactory explanation for the entire period beyond the 180-day statutory limitation. Medical circumstances that do not adequately explain prolonged inaction are insufficient, particularly where the petitioner initiated the underlying Tribunal appeal and was required to pursue the statutory remedy diligently. The delay would have brought the challenge more than two years after the Tribunal order; condonation was therefore refused and the application rejected.

Central excise duty and penalty for alleged clandestine clearances cannot rest on unreliable seized records. The panchnama, ledger and other quantification documents lacked proved recovery and contents, were not supplied, and were undermined by contradictory evidence on the panchnama's execution. The proprietor's statement was not inculpatory because the entries were described as rough, of unknown authorship, and unavailable in copy. Excluding turnover derived from those materials, clearances for both relevant years remained within the small scale industry exemption limit. Consequently, clandestine clearances were not established, and no duty or penalty was payable.

Clean Environment Cess liability on closing stock concerns taxability or excisability and is therefore treated as a determination relating to the rate of excise duty. Section 35G excludes High Court appeals on such questions, while Section 35L(2) places them within the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction. Consequently, an appeal challenging cess liability on closing stock must be filed before the Supreme Court and is not maintainable before the High Court.

Interest on genuine EMI loans or advances, including compensatory or penal interest for delayed instalments, is consideration for the use of money rather than a separate credit-card or tolerance service. Routing disbursal, accounting or recovery through a credit-card account does not alter the transaction's substantive character as a bilateral loan. Such interest remains excluded from service-tax value before 1 July 2012 and falls within the negative-list treatment of lending thereafter. Extended limitation and penalties do not apply where the dispute is interpretational, transactions were recorded and disclosed, and fraud, wilful misstatement, suppression or intent to evade tax is not established.

The pre-1 April 2011 definition of input service under the CENVAT Credit Rules covered services used in activities relating to business and did not require a direct nexus with exported output services. Employee group insurance could therefore qualify for Rule 5 refund, subject to verification of the amount and other statutory conditions. Club membership services require evidence of actual business use, such as customer entertainment or business meetings; employee health, fitness or recreation use alone does not establish eligibility. Rule 5 refund is confined to eligible accumulated credit for the claimed refund period, excluding credit relating to services received after that period.