From Published Accounts

IFRS 20 – A New Era In Accounting For Rate-Regulated Activities: Implications For India

When The Burden Shifts: Exceptions to the Residence State’s Obligation to Relieve Double Taxation

RNPOs @ 2025 Act: New Complexities

Significance of Auditing Opening Balances (SA 510)

Revised Code of Ethics, 2026

Earn-Outs And The Taxman (Part II): Taxation Of Contingent Consideration

Allied Laws

Balkar Singh vs. Initiating Officer: Provisional attachments under section 24(4) must relate to the same property previously attached under section 24(3), not different assets.

DCIT (BPU-1), Mumbai vs. Jiten Pujari: Cash held by employees in lockers for beneficial owners constitutes a fiduciary holding, exempting it from “benami transaction” definitions.

Kaluram Berva vs. Initiating Officer, Pune: Properties acquired for a company’s benefit in an individual’s name using company funds constitute benami transactions despite legal caste-related restrictions.

Yoosaf NA. vs. The Initiating Officer (BPU), Kochi: Unaccounted cash with untraceable sources falls within benami property definitions, and filing returns doesn’t exonerate the possessor from the Act.

Company Law

Transmission of Flats in Co-Operative Societies: An Updated Position

Infrastructure Investment Trust (INVIT) – Emerging Asset Class

Sanction For Reassessment – Retrospective Applicability Of Proviso To Section 151

Sanand Properties P. Ltd. vs. JCIT: Reopening assessment based on fresh information uncovering the true nature of transactions is valid and not a change of opinion.

House Rent Allowance — Section 10(13A) — Rent paid by employer to the landlord — Recovered from employee’s salary — House Rent Allowance denied by the AO on the ground that the employee did not pay rent and was living in the accommodation provided by the employer — Mode of payment of rent does not change the character of the payment — Incurring of the rent has to be seen — Not the mode of payment to the landlord — Disallowance was not sustainable.

Order giving effect to CIT(A) Order — Order not passed within time limit as provided under Section 153 — Validity and effect of — Order passed by the CIT(A) with direction to re-characterise receipts and apply beneficial tax rate after opportunity of being heard — Order giving effect to CIT(A) Order not passed within statutory time limit provided u/s. 153 — Order passed beyond the time limit — Original assessment does not survive — Return of income to be treated as accepted.

Refund — Section 244A — Return of income — Intimation issued u/s. 143(1) in 2019 — Refund determined along with interest — Interest upto the date of intimation under Section 143(1) — Refund paid only in 2023 — Assessee’s request to grant interest till the date of payment of refund to the assessee — Rejection by the AO — The AO does not have jurisdiction to decide the question of exclusion of period and deny interest — Delay due to system failure — Cannot be held against the assessee — Once refund determined in the proceedings – Interest runs till the date of payment.

Search and seizure — Assessment of third person — Notice for reassessment — Meaning of period of six or ten assessment years from “relevant assessment year” for which assessment can be made — How to compute “Six years immediately preceding assessment year relevant to previous year in which search is conducted” — Ten assessment years to be reckoned from end of assessment year pertaining to previous year in which search was conducted — Distinct from preceding year spoken of in case of six relevant assessment years — Date of search falling during F. Y. 2024-25 — A. Y. 2025-26 would be first assessment year and A. Y. 2016-17 would be tenth assessment year — Notice issued for A. Y. 2015-16 falls beyond period of ten years prescribed — Notice issued for A. Y. 2015-16 barred by limitation and accordingly invalid.

Section 144 and 144B: Assessment – Service of notice on wrong email ID- Breach of principles of natural justice – without granting a fair and effective opportunity of hearing.

Section 69A and 153A –Search action – Information – Foreign Asset – no incriminating material – Burden of proof – Addition not justified based on base note – contents of the Base Note incomplete.

Section 148 : Reassessment – service of notice – date of digital signature and date of issuance and receipt.

Payment made by the assessee to its teachers qualified for deduction of tax at source under section 194J and not under section 192. Regulations, restrictions, guidelines and control exercised in regard to logistical and administrative functions of the workforce are not unique to an education organisations and it is difficult to identify any establishment that does not exercise some degree of control over the administrative and logistical functioning of the workforce, be they salaried or otherwise called as a consultant

The enhanced rate of 60% under section 115BBE is applicable only from AY 2018-19. Consequently, during the AY 2017-18, in respect of the professional receipts surrendered in the course of survey, the AO could not have applied the enhanced rate.

Denial of claim under section 54F cannot be sustained where the case of the assessee was selected for limited scrutiny with the notice under section 143(2) stating verification of large cash deposits in savings bank account to be the reason therefor. Once a revised return is filed, the original return stands replaced. Consequently, the assessment made on the basis of original return by ignoring the revised return which reduced the total income needs to be quashed.

What the Assessing Officer could not have done directly while exercising jurisdiction under sections 147/148, the CIT(A) cannot be permitted to do indirectly while exercising powers under section 251. What cannot be done directly cannot be permitted to be achieved indirectly. Where no addition survives on the issue for which the assessment was reopened, the Revenue cannot independently assess income on issues unconnected with the reasons recorded for reopening. Power of enhancement is only ancillary to appellate jurisdiction and cannot become an independent source of jurisdiction to assess income which the Assessing Officer himself could not have assessed in the reassessment proceedings If Revenue’s argument that the CIT(A) can at any stage introduce a completely new source of income unrelated to the issue for which reassessment proceedings were initiated, is accepted, then it would virtually render the statutory limitations prescribed under sections 147 to 149 otiose.

Addition for payment of on-money cannot be sustained merely on the basis of a statement which per statement per se cannot be considered as evidence against third party unless it is tested by cross examination.

Payment for availing Google AdWords advertising services through Google’s standardised, automated self-service platform could not be characterised as fees for managerial, technical or consultancy services under section 194J and deduction of tax at 2% under section 194C was proper.

Where the assessee initially filed Form No. 10AB under an incorrect clause and thereafter filed a fresh application under the correct clause during registration proceedings, such filing was a curative step and continuation of the original proceedings and rejection of registration on the ground that the corrected application was time-barred was not justified.

Where CIT(E) granted registration under section 12AB and approval under section 80G by following the binding judgment of the jurisdictional High Court, imposition of conditions making such registration, approval and all consequential benefits subject to the outcome of a proposed challenge before the Supreme Court was unjustified.

Sec. 37(1) – Business expenditure – Disallowance of ‘discount/claim/shortage/deduction’ expenses made solely on proportionate comparison with preceding year without enquiry into supporting details or defects in books – Not sustainable – Matter restored for de novo assessment Sec. 250(6) – Commissioner (Appeals) – Ex parte dismissal of appeal for non-prosecution without adjudicating issues on merits, without specifying points for determination, decision thereon and reasons – Order unsustainable and liable to be set aside.

Article 13(5) of India-Netherlands DTAA – Gains derived from alienation of shares by way of buyback are covered within the ambit of ‘reorganization’ under Article 13(5) of DTAA; hence, taxable only in the country of residence

Article 12 of India-USA DTAA – Consideration received for providing access to publicly available information through a database does not constitute royalty. Provision of marketing support services does not encompass ‘making available’ technical knowledge; hence, consideration received will not constitute ‘fees for included services’.

A Compressed File – An Uncompressed Risk

From The President

Circulars under GST – Scope, Binding Effect and Judicial Limits

Recent Decisions in GST

Recent Developments in GST

Laughter – The Therapeutic and Inveterate Stimulant

ICAI and Its Members

Letter to The Editor

Society News