Reassessment notice issued to deceased assessee - Jurisdiction u/s 148 - Proceedings against legal representatives HELD THAT: - Section 159(2)(a) permits continuation against the legal representative only of proceedings initiated while the assessee was alive, whereas section 159(2)(b) permits proceedings which could have been taken against the deceased to be initiated against the legal representative. Neither provision authorises issuance of a notice to a deceased assessee followed by continu... ... ...

Concessional corporate tax rate u/s 115BAA - Claim denied as documentary evidence supporting the option was not placed before the first appellate authority - Substantive tax entitlement not defeated by procedural lapse - Entitlement to the concessional rate of tax under section 115BAA where the option had been exercised through Form No. 10-IC in an earlier assessment year Whether the assessee was entitled to be assessed at the concessional rate of 22% u/s 115BAA for AY 2024-25? - HELD THAT: -... ... ...

Penalty u/s 271(1)(c) for concealment of income disclosed in revised return after survey - stock discrepancy was detected in survey and the additional income was disclosed only through a revised return - HELD THAT: - The original return did not disclose the correct income and the additional income was admitted only after stock discrepancies were detected during survey. A revised return filed pursuant to such detection did not efface the initial concealment. The Tribunal held that the decision... ... ...

Exemption u/ss 11 and 12 - Charitable exemption for payment-system infrastructure - Proviso to section 2(15) and fee-based payment services - Application of charitable income for benefit of specified persons Entitlement of a charitable payment-system operator to exemption under sections 11 and 12 despite receipt of transaction-based fees and the allegation that its activities benefited promoter banks - HELD THAT: - The Tribunal found the facts to be admittedly identical to those in the assess... ... ...

Business loss - commercial substance of related-party service arrangements - Interest on borrowed capital-commercial expediency of investment in another company - Disallowance of expenditure relating to exempt income - Unexplained share capital-genuineness of circular group-fund transactions Business loss - commercial substance of related-party service arrangements - Substance over form - Allowability of the claimed business loss where advisory-fee income and corresponding expenditure arose f... ... ...

Transfer pricing characterisation of service reseller - Reasoned departure from prior FAR characterisation - Characterisation of the assessee's purchase of services for resale as IT-enabled services without examining its functions or giving reasons for departure from the earlier characterisation HELD THAT: - The Dispute Resolution Panel affirmed the Transfer Pricing Officer's characterisation of the assessee as an IT-enabled service provider without cogent reasons and without consider... ... ...

Reassessment after scrutiny assessment - change of opinion - Limitation for reassessment notice following deemed notice under the amended reassessment regime Reassessment after scrutiny assessment - change of opinion - Reassessment of share-capital and investment transactions already examined in scrutiny assessment on the basis of an anonymous complaint - HELD THAT: - The original assessment had followed detailed enquiry into the petitioner's share-capital and investment transactions, wit... ... ...

Interest on delayed refunds under Vivad se Vishwas Scheme - CBDT Action Plan timeline for consequential orders after Form-5 Entitlement to interest on refund retained after issuance of Form-5 under the Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, and the date from which such interest is payable - HELD THAT: - Section 5(2) of the VsV Act and Rule 7 culminate in issuance of Form-5 and do not contemplate a further consequential order. Though Circular No. 03 of 2021 authorises the AO to pass a consequential order... ... ...

Limitation for penalty u/s 271DA for contravention of cash-receipt restrictions - Limitation for initiation of penalty proceedings under section 271DA for alleged receipt of cash in contravention of section 269ST - HELD THAT: - The two co-ordinate Bench decisions Shri. K. Umesh Shetty [2025 (1) TMI 1237 - KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] and Ganesh Agarwal [2026 (7) TMI 1035 - KARNATAKA HIGH COURT] adopted differing points for commencement of limitation under section 275(1)(c). The Court held that, on the ... ... ...

Opening stock valuation - Interest disallowance on undisputed outstanding credit Opening stock valuation - Closing stock carried forward as opening stock - Revaluation of the opening stock of Guar Dal where the corresponding closing stock of the preceding year had been accepted by the Department - HELD THAT: - The settled accounting principle is that the closing stock of an earlier year forms the opening stock of the succeeding year, the two assessments being interlinked for determination of ... ... ...

Reassessment based on loose paper - live link with assessee Whether reassessment notice founded on an unsigned and uncorroborated loose paper, without a live link between its contents and the assessee, was valid? - HELD THAT: - The loose paper neither identified the petitioner nor established any connection with the person named therein or with the entities referred to in the satisfaction note. The alleged rate and inference of escaped income were derived from third-party material and were ba... ... ...

Settlement under Section 125B of the Customs Act - writ petition which was pending before this Court against the order of the Settlement Commission has been decided by the Division Bench of this Court, vide its judgment [2017 (5) TMI 743 - DELHI HIGH COURT] and Hon'ble the Supreme Court has issued notices and stayed the effect and operation of the judgment [supra] HELD THAT:- We find that the present appeal was adjourned sine-die on 20.01.2016 and has thereafter has been listed on a number of... ... ...

Perverse findings based on an erroneous factual premise - Validity of the Tribunal's decision on limitation rendered on the premise that the assessee had adopted the Dispute Resolution Panel route - HELD THAT: - The assessee had admittedly pursued the appellate route before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), and not proceedings before the Dispute Resolution Panel. Since the Tribunal's discussion and conclusion proceeded throughout on the contrary factual foundation, its finding... ... ...

Adjustment of income-tax refund against outstanding demand - Release of the balance income-tax refund where adjustment against an outstanding demand is proposed - HELD THAT: - Where a refund is found due and adjustment under Section 245 of the Act of 1961 is proposed against an outstanding demand, only the amount proposed for withholding or adjustment may be retained. The remaining refund must be remitted immediately, without prejudice to the parties' right to contest whether the proposed ad... ... ...

Credit of tax deducted at source where deductor fails to deposit tax - Entitlement of a salaried taxpayer to credit of tax deducted at source by the employer but not deposited with the Revenue - HELD THAT: - Though the Revenue could have been justified in disallowing TDS not deposited by the deductor, the taxpayer could not be blamed for the employer's failure or deprived of the resulting legitimate entitlement as has been held by this Court in its judgement Satwant Singh Sanghera [2024 (10)... ... ...

Deduction for new industrial undertaking under section 80-IE - Recomputation of eligible profits under section 80-IA(10) - Excise-duty incentive as capital receipt - Working-partner remuneration and deduction computation Deduction for new industrial undertaking under section 80-IE - Splitting up or reconstruction of existing business - Transfer of previously used plant and machinery - Entitlement of the pharmaceutical manufacturing undertaking to deduction under section 80-IE despite the tran... ... ...

Faceless assessment - breach of natural justice - Writ jurisdiction despite alternative statutory remedy Faceless assessment - consideration of authenticated responses - Effective opportunity of personal hearing - Validity of the faceless assessment where authenticated replies were ignored, insufficient time was granted to answer the show-cause notice, and a meaningful personal hearing was not afforded - HELD THAT: - The replies filed in response to the notice under section 142(1) and the sho... ... ...

Interest on tax refund - effect of settlement under Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme - Finality of unchallenged appellate directions HELD THAT:- The special leave petition was dismissed, with pending applications disposed of. No reason to interfere with the High Court's order.... ... ...

Classification and GST rate of Medicated Toilet Soap - Concessional GST rate for Toilet Soap - Whether medicated toilet soap in bars, cakes, moulded pieces or shapes is covered by the concessional-rate entry for toilet soap or by the residual entry for other soaps under the revised rate notification? - HELD THAT: - The notification adopts the tariff nomenclature and interpretative rules under the Customs Tariff Act. Medicated Toilet Soap is specifically classifiable under tariff item 34011110... ... ...

Classification of reusable used gunny bags - GST rate on jute packing bags based on sale value - Common Parlance Test - Functional Utility Test Whether the used gunny bags without plastic coating, arising after use in packing of raw materials and subsequently sold by the applicant, are to be classified as reusable packing bags under HSN 6305 or as waste/scrap under other headings, and the applicable rate of GST thereon? - HELD THAT: - Classification depended on the goods' condition, essen... ... ...