Original works relating to a single residential unit outside a residential complex qualify for service tax exemption. Independent houses with separate access and utility connections qualify for the exemption. A service tax refund is not barred by unjust enrichment where the claimant bears the tax incidence. Where the housing board deposits tax under reverse charge and deducts that amount from the contractor's payments, the contractor bears the incidence, and the tax paid on qualifying construction is refundable.

Import restrictions on goods loaded before a notification and release on an enhanced valuation remain in question. Interim release has been directed subject to conditions concerning duty, a bank guarantee, and proof of manufacture and export. The conditions address the risk of irreparable harm while seeking to protect the domestic market. The writ petition remains pending without final adjudication.

Appeal before the appropriate authority may be filed within two weeks of receipt of the order. An appeal filed within that period is to be entertained without reference to limitation and decided on its merits in accordance with law, subject to compliance with all applicable conditions, including any required pre-deposit.

Commission expenditure paid to private parties cannot be disallowed as bogus on conjecture without a valid reason to distinguish it from comparable commission expenditure allowed for banks. The assessment noted non-deduction of tax, and checks of the ledger and bank account revealed no disputed payment by account-payee cheque. Where the reasons for disallowance are the same as those relating to the allowed bank commission, the private-party disallowance is unsustainable.

Systematic instruction in classical dance and allied arts can qualify as education for charitable purposes under the Income-tax Act when conducted without a profit motive. Training that imparts knowledge and skills in traditional dance and related arts, with expenditure directed towards the trust's objects, falls within this understanding of education. Rejection of the trust's application for approval under section 80G was erroneous, and the application requires fresh consideration.

Property investment payments made in an earlier year are distinguished from payments made during the relevant year; bank statements, registration deeds and gift deeds can establish the timing and source of payments. Gifts from a son and daughter-in-law fall within the exempt category, with bank records supporting the identity, creditworthiness and genuineness of the transfers. Rental income already offered for tax cannot be added again because the same income cannot be taxed twice.

A contingent income-tax liability disclosed in the notes to accounts and audit report cannot be disallowed while processing a return if it was not debited to the profit and loss account or claimed as expenditure. Reporting the liability as not allowable under section 37 does not justify an adjustment under section 143(1) where no expenditure deduction was claimed. Disclosure of the liability is distinct from claiming it as a deduction.

Natural justice and fair play support fresh adjudication of an assessment made under section 144 without the assessee's participation, with an opportunity of hearing before the assessing officer. Concerns about hearing notices and the requirement of a reasoned appellate order under section 250(6) are relevant to the fresh adjudication, alongside the availability of further documents. The additions remain undecided.

Trustees must apply for registration under the Rajasthan Public Trust Act, 1959, but an unregistered trust is not prohibited from carrying out its objects. Absence of that registration does not, by itself, bar income-tax registration because the two statutes have separate provisions and consequences. School bus activity inextricably linked to an institution's educational activity is not subject to the separate-books requirement under section 11(4A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Penalty under section 271(1)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for earlier non-compliance with assessment notices is not sustainable where subsequent compliance is accepted and considered in completing the assessment, rather than a best judgment assessment being made under section 144. This applies where earlier notices were not answered, but a subsequent show-cause notice was fully complied with and the response was considered in completing the assessment under section 147.

The first proviso to section 149 preserves the earlier six-year limitation period for relevant past assessment years despite the extended period under the amended regime. Time allowed to respond to a preliminary notice can be excluded only if the reassessment notice first satisfies the limitation test under the amended regime; it cannot save a notice barred by the proviso. For assessment year 2015-16, a notice issued after the earlier limitation period expired was time-barred. The reassessment could not survive, and the resulting additions were liable to deletion.

Section 14A and Rule 8D require the assessing officer to record, by reference to the taxpayer's accounts, dissatisfaction with the claimed expenditure disallowance before applying the prescribed computation method. The size of exempt income and investments alone does not identify a defect in the taxpayer's voluntary disallowance. Expenditure adjustments under clause (f) of Explanation 1 to section 115JB must be computed independently of section 14A and Rule 8D; the section 14A disallowance cannot be directly added to book profits.

Interest written off as irrecoverable can qualify for a bad debt deduction under section 36 when it is written off in the relevant accounts and has been taken into account in computing income for that or an earlier year. Separate proof of actual irrecoverability is unnecessary. Interest included in income in earlier years and written off in the relevant accounts satisfies these conditions for deduction.

Penalty notices under sections 271 and 274 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 must specify whether the charge is concealment of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars of income. The two grounds have distinct meanings, and retaining both alternatives in a standard-form notice without identifying the applicable charge indicates non-application of mind. A penalty based on an unspecified charge cannot be sustained.

Charitable exemption under section 10(23C)(iv) remains available while approval is valid. Funds held solely for administration under binding restrictions are not income available for application to charitable objects. The character of corpus contributions depends on their purpose and attached obligations, not their accounting designation. Transferred funds require examination for changes in obligations, and double taxation of receipts must be avoided. Accumulation under section 10(23C)(iv) is not subject to a monetary limit or Form 10 requirement. Utilisation for charitable objects within five years requires verification, and unspent amounts may be taxed in the sixth year.

Section 68 places the burden on the assessee to substantiate share-sale transactions before the proceeds can be treated as explained. Uncontroverted purchase and sale invoices, demat and bank statements can discharge that burden where transactions are routed through banking channels, the shares are held for more than a year and sold on a stock exchange, and no share-price manipulation is attributed to the assessee. An addition of the sale proceeds as unexplained cash credits cannot be sustained in those circumstances.

Section 43CA provides for deemed sale consideration based on stamp-duty valuation. Where the taxpayer disputes that valuation, including the area used, and requests a valuation reference, the valuation must be referred to the District Valuation Officer and the resulting addition determined afresh after the report. Long-term capital gains supported by purchase, shareholding, demat, sale and bank records cannot be treated as unexplained solely on general allegations of share manipulation without evidence linking the taxpayer to misconduct. In those circumstances, exemption under section 10(38) is allowable.

Cash deposits may be explained for the purposes of Section 68 through cash books, balance sheets and bank statements showing sufficient cash balances and earlier withdrawals. These records can discharge the assessee's prima facie burden of explaining the source of deposits. Relevant records should be assessed on their contents rather than discounted on assumptions and presumptions.

The section 80P deduction cannot be denied solely because a return was filed within the period permitted under section 139(4), rather than by the section 139(1) deadline. The amendment to section 143(1)(a)(v), effective from 1 April 2021, enables disallowance of Chapter VI-A deductions during return processing but does not authorise that adjustment for assessment year 2019-20. The deduction is available for that year where the return was filed within the section 139(4) period.

Interest on borrowed capital used to acquire an overseas business through wholly owned subsidiaries is deductible under section 36(1)(iii) where the acquisition has an established nexus with expansion of the borrower's business and is commercially expedient. Acquisition of control does not by itself negate that nexus. Board records and financing documents established the business purpose, and the interest disallowance was deleted. An addition for alleged unaccounted mining profits was also deleted because production quantities matched records reported to mining authorities and no contrary material was produced.