Enhancement of an assessment by the first appellate authority, including on a fresh issue or new source of income, requires prior compliance with the mandatory reasonable-opportunity requirement under Section 251(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Disallowance of short-term capital loss without giving the assessee an opportunity to show cause cannot be sustained. The enhancement was set aside and remanded for fresh adjudication after adequate opportunity of hearing.

Failure to obtain a tax audit does not attract penalty where turnover remains below the enhanced audit threshold and the prescribed cash-receipt and cash-payment conditions are satisfied. Reconciliation of operating revenue with bank credits may account for differences arising from GST and tax deducted at source. Financial statements, cash records, bank statements and audit material indicating no cash receipts, cash payments, or opening or closing cash-in-hand support application of the enhanced threshold. Consequently, the tax-audit requirement does not apply and penalty for non-compliance is not leviable.

Adequate opportunity of hearing was not provided where the assessment followed shortly after an unanswered show-cause notice without a further opportunity to respond. Although rejection of the books of account was not considered defective, the assessment requires fresh adjudication after the assessee receives adequate and reasonable hearing. The merits of book rejection and income estimation remain open for independent consideration upon verification of relevant details, clarifications and explanations.

Genuine voluntary contributions received with specific donor directions to form part of an educational institution's corpus retain their capital character and are not taxable merely because the institution claims exemption under Section 10(23C)(vi) rather than Section 11. Donor identity, banking-channel receipt, confirmation and an express corpus direction distinguish such receipts from ordinary voluntary contributions available for application toward institutional objects. The absence of an identically worded corpus exclusion under Section 10(23C)(vi) during the relevant year does not change the legal character of genuine corpus contributions; subsequent clarification under that provision supports this treatment.

Income surrendered during a survey and included in the return cannot be taxed at the special rate under section 115BBE merely because its source is not precisely explained. Section 115BBE applies only to income properly falling within the deeming provisions for unexplained credits, investments, money, expenditure or related items. The relevant deeming provision must be specifically identified, and its foundational conditions must be established. Where no such provision is invoked and no findings support its application, surrendered income remains taxable at the normal applicable rate.

Agricultural receipts from date cultivation cannot be assessed as income from other sources merely because estimated yield exceeds declared sales where the agricultural land, plantation, operations and sale rate are accepted. Such an addition requires evidence that the declared quantity was not produced or sold, or that receipts arose from a non-agricultural source. Likewise, agricultural expenditure cannot be increased through an ad hoc percentage estimate without identifying false or inadmissible expenses or relying on comparable data, expert material or another cogent basis. Unsupported estimates of yield or expenditure do not displace recorded agricultural receipts and accounts; consequential interest must be recomputed.

For Assessment Year 2024-25, the section 87A income-tax rebate is available against tax payable on short-term capital gains taxable under section 111A where the taxpayer has opted for the section 115BAC tax regime. This position follows consistent coordinate Tribunal decisions allowing the rebate, with no contrary High Court or Supreme Court ruling identified. The rebate consequently reduces tax computed on such short-term capital gains for eligible taxpayers under the new tax regime.

Cash consideration receivable in relation to transfer of immovable property falls within the definition of a specified sum under section 269SS, rather than section 269ST. The restriction on such receipts applies only from its effective date. Penalty under section 271D cannot be imposed for an assessment year in which no relevant cash consideration was received, even if the transaction otherwise falls within section 269SS. Receipts relating partly to a period before the restriction became effective and to an earlier assessment year cannot support a penalty for a later assessment year; the penalty is therefore invalid.

Subletting charges paid to MIDC as a mandatory lease condition for earning rental income are deductible in computing income from house property. Where subletting is permitted only upon payment of those charges, they constitute an integral cost of earning the rental income and rental receipts must be computed on a net basis after reducing that cost. The statutory deduction under Section 24(a) does not preclude deduction of mandatory subletting charges in arriving at taxable rental income. Principles applicable to exemption notifications do not govern this computation, and prior acceptance of the claim supports consistency.

Transfer-pricing benchmarking for cross-border loans may require LIBOR plus an appropriate basis-point spread, with LIBOR plus 200 basis points treated as the applicable arm's-length rate. Corporate-guarantee pricing was benchmarked at 1% based on inter-group guarantee rates and the taxpayer's charging pattern. No notional interest adjustment was warranted on delayed associated-enterprise receivables where comparable delayed payments from non-associated enterprises were interest-free. Brought-forward losses and unabsorbed depreciation require verification before consequential allowance in accordance with law.

Penalty for failure to furnish transfer-pricing documentation under Section 271G requires identified information or documents to be specifically requisitioned under Section 92D(3). An ambiguous penalty notice that does not identify the allegedly missing material cannot establish this prerequisite. Notices issued under Section 92CA(2) do not substitute for a statutory requisition under Section 92D(3) or prove non-production within the prescribed period. Where the taxpayer furnishes the transfer-pricing study report in response to a specific Section 92D(3) notice within time, penalty is not sustainable. Because Section 271G is penal in nature, its procedural requirements require strict compliance.

Penalty for misreported income requires examination of the statutory exclusion for a bona fide explanation and full disclosure of material facts. Imposition at the enhanced rate requires recorded reasons, and the appellate authority must determine whether the explanation for non-filing of a return despite tax deduction at source satisfies the conditions for exclusion. Where that assessment is absent, the penalty cannot be sustained; the matter requires reconsideration through a reasoned speaking order.

Delayed filing of the audit report in Form No. 10B is a directory procedural lapse where the report accompanies the income-tax return and is filed before processing under Section 143(1). In those circumstances, delay does not defeat substantive entitlement to charitable exemption under Section 11. Charitable exemption should therefore not be denied solely because Form No. 10B was filed after the prescribed deadline, provided it was filed with the return before the intimation was issued.

Registration under section 12AB requires fair consideration of lease documentation, rent expenditure and the genuineness of charitable activities. Where a rent agreement supports payments for land taken from members and the balance sheet records ownership of the building rather than the land, doubts over supporting evidence should not lead to rejection without an opportunity to provide further particulars. The registration application must be reconsidered after granting one final opportunity to substantiate the claim.

Reassessment initiation remains valid where the taxpayer received a show-cause notice, an opportunity to respond, and a reasoned disposal of objections. Personal hearing is not an absolute requirement at the preliminary stage if the taxpayer retains a substantive opportunity to contest allegations and submit evidence during reassessment. Information on unexplained cash credit and cash deposits may be considered together when intrinsically connected to alleged income escapement. Only a prima facie opinion is required to initiate reassessment; examination of the loan's identity, creditworthiness and genuineness is reserved for reassessment. A proper personal hearing and consideration of taxpayer material must be provided during reassessment, with merits remaining open.

Penalty proceedings under Section 271(1)(c) require a statutory notice that identifies the specific charge: concealment of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars. These are independent grounds, and retaining both alternatives in a general notice denies the assessee a meaningful opportunity to respond. The defect is jurisdictional rather than a curable procedural irregularity, so a penalty founded on an unspecified charge cannot be sustained. Requirements concerning recording satisfaction in the assessment order and referring to statutory Explanations are distinct from the requirement to specify the applicable penalty limb in the notice.

Section 68 cannot be used to treat a receipt admittedly received in an earlier financial year as unexplained cash credit in a later assessment year. Where an advance was received in financial year 2006-07, its addition in assessment year 2016-17 fell outside the statutory framework, even if the later disclosure of the related land-sale transaction was structured to seek set-off of capital gains against capital losses. Any suspected tax avoidance required legally appropriate action by the Assessing Officer; it could not justify assessing the earlier receipt as unexplained cash credit in the later year.

Fresh-seed exemption for psyllium seeds under the Heading 1211 entry depends on the condition of the goods at the supplier's point of supply, not on processing before procurement from farmers. Storage in dry, ventilated godowns imparts a dried character under the clarification on fresh and dried products, so the seeds are not eligible for the exemption applicable to fresh seeds. Psyllium seeds are instead treated as dried goods under Heading 1211 and attract GST at 5%. The alternative exemption for goods of seed quality does not apply where the specific Heading 1211 fresh-goods entry governs the supply.

GST recovery from a deceased proprietor's legal representative is permissible under Section 93(1)(b) only through proceedings directed at that representative and only against the inherited estate, limited to its capacity to meet the liability. Where the business has discontinued, registration is cancelled, and no notice, proceedings, or inquiry identifies the inherited estate, recovery lacks a statutory basis. Retrospective Section 16(5) overrides the Section 16(4) time limit for input tax credit relating to FY 2017-18 to FY 2020-21 where the relevant return was filed by 30 November 2021, validating eligible credit within that extended deadline.

Section 74 requires fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts, supported by pleadings and evidence of intent to evade tax. Mere availment of ineligible self-assessed input tax credit does not establish suppression where statutory filings disclose the relevant reconciliation and no evidence shows knowledge of ineligibility or evasive intent. Failure to respond to an audit enquiry or final audit report is likewise insufficient without supporting evidence. A demand cannot be sustained on an audit non-response ground introduced only at the appellate stage, as this breaches natural justice and falls outside the show cause notice.