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Revisionary jurisdiction requires proven assessment error and Revenue prejudice; further trademark verification alone cannot justify revision.
Revisionary jurisdiction requires an assessment order to be both erroneous and prejudicial to the Revenue. Enquiries into trademark acquisition, capitalisation and depreciation, including supporting bills, financial statements and explanations, may support a plausible assessment view without a mandatory valuation report. The distinction between absence of enquiry and inadequate enquiry remains material despite Explanation 2(a); a revisionary authority cannot replace the Assessing Officer's plausible view or order fishing and roving verification merely because further enquiry appears desirable. As these conditions were not established, the revisionary order was quashed and the original assessment restored.
Bank-account attachment during a restored tax appeal lifts on proportionate deposit while priority adjudication proceeds.
Bank-account attachment pending a restored statutory appeal should be replaced by proportionate security where the appeal has been remitted for fresh decision and remains undecided. Revenue protection is achieved by requiring deposit of 20% of the assessed tax liability within three weeks, after which the accounts must be released. The restored appeal is to receive priority disposal within six months.
Unexplained cash deposits: documented business cash and returned procurement advances can satisfy the source explanation requirement.
Section 69A applies only where the taxpayer does not satisfactorily explain the nature and source of money. Cash deposited during demonetisation was explained as business cash, including advances returned by paddy-procurement agents, supported by cash books, financial statements, agent details and comparative deposit data. As the books were not rejected and available evidence supported the business practice, the source was treated as satisfactorily explained. No addition for unexplained cash deposits was warranted, and the factual finding raised no substantial question of law under Section 260A.
Social forestry losses: land-based cultivation alone affects agricultural loss, book-profit adjustments, and concealment penalties where tax remains unchanged.
Agricultural treatment of social forestry losses depends on basic agricultural operations on land and operations integrally connected with them. Seed-route cultivation of saplings on land, including consequential pot or polybag operations, is agricultural; landless clonal propagation and post-sale supervision of farmers' trees are business activities for raw-material procurement. The agricultural-loss disallowance, including depreciation, and the corresponding Section 115JB book-profit adjustment were confined to the land-based component. Concealment penalty does not arise where the impugned addition leaves tax liability unchanged under the book-profit regime, because no tax has been sought to be avoided.
Non-resident income nexus governs taxability, while applicant-specific rulings, reassessment limitation, and protective refunds restrict Revenue action.
Non-resident income is chargeable in India only when received, accrued, arisen, or deemed to accrue or arise there; payer residence or deduction claims alone do not establish situs without a real nexus to the income-producing right or activity. Advance-ruling jurisdiction is confined to the applicant, the stated transaction and incidental questions, and tax-avoidance findings require an identifiable Indian tax incidence. Extended reassessment limitation requires a qualifying asset, transaction or entry belonging to the assessee and disclosure enabling a response. Protective assessment may resolve uncertainty over the correct assessee, but does not authorise protective recovery or indefinite withholding of TDS refunds.
Section 147 Explanation permits pending reassessments to cover later-detected escaped income, including search material, without fresh Section 148A procedure.
Section 147's Explanation permits a pending reassessment to cover any further escaped-income issue noticed during those proceedings without initiating a fresh Section 148A process. Its scope is not confined to information available at commencement or derived from the original reassessment material, and it applies even if the original issue produces no addition. The omission of "and also" from the amended provision distinguishes precedent based on the earlier wording. Search-derived and other external material may therefore enlarge the pending reassessment, while the search-assessment mechanism remains an alternative route. Plain statutory language in an Explanation can expand the main provision where it clearly conveys that legislative intent.
TDS assessment refunds cannot be withheld for procedural deficiencies and carry statutory interest until payment.
Refunds arising from TDS assessments and appellate give-effect orders constitute crystallised rights and are not contingent on the pre-assessment processing mechanism for TDS statements or furnishing Form 26B. Section 201 governs TDS assessment, while Section 200A and Rule 31A regulate statement processing and adjustments before assessment. Where give-effect orders are already on departmental record and no refund adjustment order exists under Section 245, refunds cannot be withheld on procedural grounds. Applicable interest remains payable under Section 244A until payment.
Continuing necessity for search records and witness recall preserved procedural orders in the criminal prosecution.
Production of income-tax search records under Section 91 CrPC requires a continuing showing that the documents are necessary or desirable at the relevant stage; prior judicial scrutiny of the authorisation and search does not create a general right to repeated disclosure of confidential foundational material. Further production was therefore declined. Recall of a witness under Section 311 CrPC likewise requires that additional examination be essential to a just decision. Where the proposed confrontation depended solely on an unavailable document and the witness had already been substantially cross-examined on the search and recovery, recall was not essential. The procedural orders remained undisturbed, without determining the criminal charges.
Statutory finality of settlement orders bars reassessment of settled deductions, leaving fraud or misrepresentation to the prescribed settlement mechanism.
Final settlement orders under the income-tax settlement scheme attain statutory finality for matters they cover, including deductions reflected in total income. Once a settlement application proceeds, exclusive jurisdiction over the relevant return and assessment year lies with the Settlement Commission. The Assessing Officer cannot reopen such settled matters through reassessment provisions. Allegations of fraud or misrepresentation must be pursued through the settlement scheme's prescribed mechanism rather than reassessment; rejection of that remedy leaves the final settlement order effective. Revenue authorities may participate in settlement proceedings and place relevant material before the Settlement Commission.
Works-contract classification for water pipelines treats installation and network revamping as taxable civil engineering and repair services.
Works-contract services for installing a new main water pipeline and revamping a distribution network involve goods incorporated into immovable property and are treated as supplies of services. New pipeline installation falls under SAC 995422 as civil engineering waterworks, while network revamping falls under SAC 995429 as repair and maintenance, rather than SAC 995479. Exemption for pure or composite supplies is unavailable where the goods component exceeds the permitted limit. Although the recipient is a Governmental Authority, civil engineering and repair work merely connected with water infrastructure is not supplied "by way of" water supply. The services are taxable under the applicable works-contract entry at 9 per cent CGST and 9 per cent SGST.
Related-party imported IT services attract reverse-charge IGST, while self-invoice value qualifies as open market value with full input tax credit.
Imported IT support services received by an Indian recipient from a related foreign entity constitute an import of services where the supplier is outside India, the recipient is in India, and the place of supply is India. IGST is payable by the recipient under reverse charge. For related-party imported services, the invoice-value deeming principle treats the value declared in the recipient's self-invoice as open market value where the recipient is eligible for full input tax credit. This valuation mechanism applies to reverse-charge imports of services.
Electric vehicle classification retains concessional GST treatment despite battery-free supply, while inverted-duty input tax credit refunds remain outside advance rulings.
Electrically operated three-wheeled e-rickshaws, e-carts and hydraulic e-carts are classifiable under tariff heading 8703, while e-scooters fall under heading 8711. Where the vehicle's motor, inverter, control module, drivetrain and body are fitted, supplying it without a battery does not change its essential character as a vehicle propelled solely by electrical energy. The specified two- and three-wheeled vehicles therefore qualify for 5% GST. Refund entitlement for accumulated input tax credit arising from an inverted duty structure falls outside the categories permitted for advance rulings and is not admitted.
Going-concern business transfers are treated as services, while GST exemption depends on establishing the business's continuing operational status.
Transfer of an entire proprietorship business to an LLP without consideration constitutes a supply under GST where the arrangement transfers assets, liabilities, employees, rights and customer relationships for uninterrupted continuation of the business. A transfer of the business as a whole, when made as a going concern, is classified as a supply of services rather than goods. Nil-rate exemption for transfer of a going concern depends on establishing that the business satisfies applicable going-concern standards. If that status is not established, stock and business assets transferred on cessation are deemed supplies of goods and attract GST at the rates applicable to those goods.
Advance-ruling jurisdiction excludes questions about faculty supplies to an institute when the applicant does not undertake the supply.
Advance-ruling questions must relate to a supply of goods or services undertaken or proposed to be undertaken by the applicant under the CGST Act. Questions concerning an alleged supply by a faculty member to an institute, including the individual's GST registration and invoicing obligations, do not concern a supply made or proposed by the applicant. Such questions therefore fall outside the statutory scope of an advance-ruling application by the institute and are not maintainable.
GST reimbursement for works is payable separately when accepted tender rates expressly exclude taxes and payment is proven.
GST paid on balance works is separately reimbursable where the accepted Bill of Quantities expressly requires rates "without taxes," notwithstanding a PWD Manual clause contemplating tax-inclusive quoted rates. The tender terms governing the accepted bid prevent the quoted amount from being treated as inclusive of GST. As the Bill of Quantities referred to the sales-tax regime, while the liability arose under GST, and the original tender pre-dated GST for continuation of abandoned works, GST inclusion was not within the parties' contemplation. Reimbursement requires proof of GST payment through relevant GST returns.
Revival of cancelled GST registration requires pending returns and cash payment before input tax credit may be used.
Cancelled GST registration may be restored under the applicable revival framework only upon filing all pending pre- and post-cancellation returns and paying tax, interest, penalty, fine and fees in cash. Input tax credit cannot be used for these payments and may be utilised only after departmental scrutiny and approval. Restoration remains subject to compliance with these conditions and consideration of the taxpayer's representation.
GST transition reimbursement permits verified recovery of incremental works-contract tax paid by contractors from government recipients.
Government works contractors that paid the incremental GST liability arising when GST replaced VAT during an ongoing works contract may seek reimbursement from the State as recipient of the service. The reimbursement right covers only the differential tax attributable solely to the GST transition, rather than other contract liabilities. Where the contractor has discharged that incremental liability, mandamus may compel reimbursement, subject to verification of underlying records and calculations. The reimbursable amount is therefore confined to the verified differential GST liability.
GST refund limitation: writ jurisdiction may condone delay caused by a later-discovered duplicate reversal of transitional credit.
GST refund claims are subject to a mandatory two-year limitation period, but writ jurisdiction may permit condonation where sufficient cause justifies departure from that period. A duplicate reversal of transitional credit, discovered only during a later review of records, may constitute sufficient cause for restoring a delayed refund application. Following restoration, the statutory authority must examine supporting documents and determine the claimant's substantive refund entitlement afresh.
Composition levy threshold enhancement applied only from April 2019, leaving the 2018-19 tax period outside its scope.
The enhanced turnover threshold for composition levy under the CGST Act applied from 1 April 2019 through the implementing notification. It did not extend to the 2018-19 tax period because the earlier notification did not make the increased threshold available for that period. Taxpayers for 2018-19 therefore remained subject to the pre-enhancement composition-levy threshold.
Verification of pre-adjudication discrepancy proceedings required before determining whether subsequent tax demand proceedings can continue lawfully.
Verification of the asserted completion of the Rule 88C process was necessary before adjudicating liability under Section 73. The response containing relevant details required examination to determine whether Rule 88C had concluded in the petitioner's favour and, if so, whether that conclusion affected the sustainability of the Section 73 proceedings. The adjudication order was quashed and remanded for reconsideration.