A refund claim for excess service tax cannot be rejected on an objection not disclosed to the assessee through a show cause notice. Although a Tribunal finding of refund eligibility with consequential relief does not require automatic disbursement and permits examination of legal impediments, including notification conditions and unjust enrichment, the adjudicating authority must give the assessee an opportunity to respond to any objection concerning tax paid on an abated value while CENVAT credit was availed. The High Court quashed the rejection and required fresh adjudication after notice, hearing and a reasoned order.

Section 62(2) of the GST law provides for deemed withdrawal of a best-judgment assessment when the registered person files the required returns within the prescribed framework; delayed filing requires payment of the applicable late fee. The note records that, following amendment of the provision, delay in filing GSTR-3B may be condoned where the relevant returns and late fee have been furnished. In the described matter, the assessments were treated as deemed withdrawn, and consequential recovery proceedings and attachments of immovable property were rendered ineffective.

Section 62(2) of the CGST Act provides that a best-judgment assessment for non-filing of a return is deemed withdrawn where the registered person furnishes a valid return within the prescribed period after service of the assessment order, although interest and late-fee liability continues. The notes state that the dealer filed the return for the disputed period with applicable interest and late fee after the assessment order, which the revenue did not dispute. Applying the statutory provision and cited High Court decisions, the January 2024 assessment was treated as withdrawn and set aside.

Interest and penalty for delayed payment of CGST and SGST were made subject to verification of the taxpayer's claim that tax dues had already been discharged through adjustment of input tax credit within the permissible period. The High Court directed the competent authority to examine that claim and determine whether any interest or penalty remained payable. The taxpayer may submit a representation for expeditious decision, and recovery under the challenged order and notice remains stayed until the representation is disposed of.

Inherent jurisdiction to quash criminal proceedings does not permit resolution of disputed factual defences concerning alleged wilful failure to furnish returns pursuant to search-assessment notices. Assertions that seized material was requested but not supplied, and that the default lacked wilfulness or mens rea, were disputed and lacked prima facie proof of requests before the stipulated period expired. Such matters require evidence and cannot be determined through a mini-trial at the quashing stage, where the Court assesses only whether a prima facie case exists. The quashing petitions were dismissed, leaving the Trial Court to decide the prosecutions on evidence without being influenced by the order's observations.

Eligible-industrial-unit deductions are discussed in relation to interest on staff advances and deposits, overdue customer-bill interest, and a Sikkim manufacturing unit. The notes distinguish interest not eligible for deduction from overdue-bill interest and address continuity where prior-year positions govern. They also cover exempt-income expenditure: sufficient interest-free own funds may preclude interest disallowance, while administrative expenditure is computed under the prescribed method. For LLP-interest transfers, partnership rights are capital assets, but related-party status and approved valuation require examination. In book-profit computation, the notes address exempt-income adjustments, intangible-asset amortisation, and trea.....

Website development costs are discussed as qualifying for depreciation at the higher rate applied to computer software, based on earlier decisions. Payment gateway charges paid to banks are characterised as banking-service fees rather than commission or brokerage because the gateway facilitates secure payment settlement without acting as an agent; consequently, tax deduction obligations on commission were not attracted. Advertisement, marketing and publicity expenditure is treated as revenue expenditure where it forms part of the profit-earning process and creates no permanent asset or enduring advantage of decisive character. Ticket-cost reimbursements to an overseas group company are also discussed as not being expenditure claimed by the assessee, supporting deletion of the related tax-deduction disallowance.

Foreign-currency loan interest must be benchmarked against the relevant currency's LIBOR-based rate, not domestic lending rates; the interest adjustment was deleted. Corporate guarantees were treated as international transactions, but commission was restricted to 0.50% of outstanding guarantees. For section 10A, separately claimed units require factual examination as independent undertakings, while exclusions from export turnover must also be excluded from total turnover. Exempt-income disallowance excludes interest where interest-free funds exceed investments, with administrative expenditure limited to investments yielding exempt income. Hedging losses on export-related forward contracts were treated as non-speculative revenue losses. Seve.....

Penalty for belated filing of TDS returns may not be sustained where penalty proceedings are initiated after an unexplained nine-year lapse. The Tribunal note states that, following a coordinate Bench decision on materially similar facts, the delayed penalty was treated as illegal and unsustainable. The penalty order was set aside and the taxpayer's appeal was allowed.

Project assistance received from a development authority for constructing and establishing water infrastructure is characterised by its purpose: assistance for project development is capital in nature, unlike operational assistance, which may be revenue. The note states that the Tribunal treated the assistance as a capital receipt and deleted the corresponding revenue addition, following its consistent prior approach. It also states that excess construction expenditure over capital assistance may be amortised over the concession period as deferred revenue expenditure where consistent with applicable accounting principles and CBDT guidance for infrastructure facilities. The disallowance of amortised project expenditure was deleted; interest and penalty issues were consequential and premature.

Delayed trade receivables from associated enterprises are treated as a separate international transaction where realisation exceeds the normal credit period and provides an uncompensated financing benefit. Acceptance of the underlying IT/SDS service margin at arm's length, or inclusion of finance costs in operating costs, does not itself establish arm's-length compensation for extended credit. A debt-free service provider with no interest-bearing borrowings may not require a notional interest adjustment, subject to factual verification. For foreign-currency IT/SDS receivables, the article notes benchmarking at LIBOR plus 200 basis points after allowing a 60-day credit period.

A modified return filed by a successor following an NCLT-approved business reorganisation must be examined within the scope of the reorganisation order for recomputation of income. Under MAT, transfer pricing adjustments under normal provisions cannot increase book profit unless authorised by a specified adjustment to certified accounts. For transfer pricing, closely linked software sales and support services may be aggregated under TNMM where they form an integrated business model; documented evidence of service rendition and benefit precludes a nil valuation. A foreign associated enterprise may be the tested party if it is the least complex entity, and comparable margins require appropriate period and segmental-data analysis.

Transfer pricing of low-end IT-enabled back-office support services requires functional comparability and reliable public financial data. Comparable companies may be included where their accounting, human-resources or BPO functions are broadly similar, but excluded for unavailable data, abnormal royalty-driven profits, high-end consultancy or audit functions, or unsegregated merger effects. Working capital adjustment requires examination of demonstrated differences in collection periods between the tested party and comparables. Interest on outstanding associated-enterprise receivables requires review of the taxpayer's debt-free status and whether its average collection period is abnormally high against industry practice; denial of working capital adjustment should not coexist with an unexamined receivables interest adjustment.

Corporate guarantees to subsidiaries are described as shareholder activities but, following retrospective inclusion within capital financing, remain international transactions requiring arm's length benchmarking; the guarantee commission was restricted to 0.5%. Omission without a saving clause of the specified domestic transaction category for related-party expenditure invalidated the related transfer-pricing reference and adjustment. Common head-office costs may be allocated at cost among eligible and non-eligible units because the head office is a cost centre, not an independent service provider. Interest-free advances to overseas associated enterprises require arm's length interest benchmarking despite own funds or commercial expediency. Recurring advertisement, brand-promotion and market-research expenditure was treated as revenue expenditure, not capital expenditure.

Valuation of unquoted shares under the prescribed framework allows the assessee to choose either the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) or Net Asset Value (NAV) method. Where DCF is selected, the Assessing Officer may examine the underlying data and projections and obtain or determine a fresh valuation if they are unreliable or unrealistic, but must continue under the DCF method. The notes state that substituting NAV for the assessee's chosen DCF method exceeds the Assessing Officer's jurisdiction; accordingly, the NAV-based addition discussed was deleted.

Immunity from penalty for under-reporting of income requires reconsideration where a timely Form No. 68 application is followed by rectification of the assessment demand resulting in a refund. The material states that neither the penalty order nor the appellate order considered whether the rectification affected compliance with the requirement to pay tax and interest, particularly where no demand ultimately survived. The immunity claim was restored for fresh examination by a speaking order after granting reasonable opportunity, with consequential reconsideration of the penalty issue if required.

Failure to file a return despite taxable income can constitute under-reporting under section 270A where no original return is furnished and assessed income exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to tax. The note explains that section 270A is triggered by objective statutory conditions rather than concealment or intent to evade tax. Income disclosed in response to a reassessment notice and accepted without further addition does not cure the initial filing default. Availability of income details through tax deduction at source also does not remove the return-filing obligation. As no exclusion under section 270A(6) was established, penalty under section 270A(7) was sustained.

RTGS credits claimed as gold-sale proceeds were treated as a benami transaction because the appellant did not prove a prior business relationship with the remitting entities or independently corroborate invoices, purchase bills, ledgers and stock records. The undisputed cash deposit with the alleged benamidar, subsequent RTGS transfers, timing after demonetisation and bank records supported confirmation of the provisional attachment. Denial of cross-examination did not breach natural justice: no intermediary statement existed, the alleged benamidar had been made available but did not appear, and no actual prejudice was shown. The appeal was dismissed.

Sugar export prohibition applied prospectively under the policy prevailing on the export date. Transitional protection required a pre-existing, registered irrevocable commercial letter of credit; private contracts, advance payments, and unsubstantiated claims that goods were in the export pipeline did not qualify. Consignments covered by a Let Export Order issued before the notification remained unaffected. The article notes that export quotas did not create vested rights for merchant exporters, and legitimate expectation or promissory estoppel could not prevent a revised policy adopted in supervening public interest. The prohibition, intended to protect domestic availability and price stability, was treated as a reasonable restriction; the writ petitions were dismissed, with domestic disposal of retained sugar permitted under applicable law.

Brand rate drawback on exported bus bodies was discussed in relation to simultaneous DEPB benefit for chassis components. The notes state that the 1988 circular's average-rate dispensation did not require independent body builders to furnish duty-paid documents, and that the 2003 circular continued this approach after DEPB was introduced. They further state that double reimbursement could not be presumed solely from DEPB availing without material showing reimbursement of the same duty incidence. Recovery proceedings for wrongly granted drawback were treated as distinct from brand-rate revision and subject to Rule 16, requiring initiation within a reasonable time rather than automatic application of customs-duty limitation. The impugned denial and recovery were quashed for covered exports.