CA Mohit Gupta has expressed his views on the controversial question whether section 245K(2) of the Income-tax Act imposes a total bar on the filing of subsequent applications for settlement or whether the bar is applicable only in respect of an application in respect of the same assessment year. He has opined that the judgement of the Hon’ble Madras High Court in Abdul Rahim vs. ITSC 96 taxmann.com 571 does not lay down the correct law and requires to be reconsidered and/or superceded by a legislative amendment. A pdf copy of the article is available for download

The scheme of Settlement of cases under the Income Tax Act’1961 is governed by Sections 245A to 245M contained in “Chapter XIX-A: Settlement of Cases”.

In the common parlance, it is believed that the settlement of cases is a one time opportunity in the life time of such applicant (now also includes its related person w.e.f. 01-06-2015). 

In the quest of academic learning a question arises so far as what is the intention of legislature and the legal position in this regard – as to whether an applicant is debarred from making subsequent application before the Income Tax Settlement Commission or not. Let us have an academic outlook towards it.

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Section 270AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 provides taxpayers with immunity from imposition of penalty under section 270A and prosecution under sections 276C and 276CC of the Act. Advocate Sameer Bhatia has analyzed the provision in detail and explained its nuances. He has also advised on the circumstances in which assessees should, and should not, opt for the immunity and should instead choose to contest the penalty and prosecution on merits

Prologue of the Provisions in General

The penalties generally imposable under the Income Tax Act, 1961 are governed by the provisions of Chapter XXI with sections ranging from 270 up to 275. A very drastic change has since been introduced in the law by way of insertion of section 270A dealing with penalty for under-reporting and misreporting of income inserted by the Finance Act, 2016 with effect from 01st April, 2017. The provisions governing penalty have since now been categorized into charge specific arena with prime focus on the cases wherein a person shall be considered to have under-reported his income and/or mis-reported his income as a consequence of under-reporting of income. Section 270AA of the Income Tax Act which got inserted in the statute by the Finance Act, 2016 with effect from 01st April, 2017 is part and parcel of its corresponding provision implanted in section 270A. Section 270AA of the Act deals with the provisions pertaining to immunity from imposition of penalty and initiation of proceedings under section 276C or section 276CC which in turn depends upon fulfillment of certain conditions prescribed therein for the so called indirect settlement.

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CAs Mukesh Dholakiya and Archit Sheth have explained the implications of a search and seizure action under section 132 of the Act from the point of view of jewellery which is found during the search. The rights and obligations of the assessee have been clearly spelt out alongwith a reference to all the relevant legislative provisions, judicial pronouncements and circulars of the CBDT. A pdf copy of the article is available for download

1.         Brief Background:

Section 132 of the Act confers highest power to the income tax department (‘Department’) to invade into the privacy of a person. As per this section, a search and seizure action can be carried out, inter alia, in the case of any person who is in possession of any money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article or thing and such money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article or thing represents either wholly or partly income or property which has not been disclosed or would not be disclosed for the purpose of the Act. The department has power to seize any such money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article, if found unexplained at the time of search. Most commonly, during the course of search action, jewellery is seized from either the residential premises or the bank locker. However, in many of the cases, searched person(s) are not aware of the benefits available to them under the Act. In this article, we will elaborately discuss all the possible benefit available to the searched person(s) in respect of jewellery found during the course of search.

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Advocates Mahendra Gargieya and Hemang Gargieya have prepared a comprehensive guide in which they have explained the entire law and procedure relating to e-assessments under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The ld. authors have also drawn on their experience and given practical tips on what precautions taxpayers should take to ensure proper representation. The guide will prove very useful to all taxpayers and professionals. A pdf copy of the guide is available for download

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Advocate Anuj Kisnadwala has eloquently voiced the dilemma that all taxpayers are presently facing with regard to the payment of advance-tax. While non-payment attracts levy of interest, excess payment creates the problem of seeking a refund. The ld. author has pointed out that in any event, interest is payable at only 0.75% and not at 1% as prescribed by section 234C of the Act. He has also opined, relying on judicial precedents, that interest under section 234C of the Act can be charged only for the actual period of default and not for the entire period of three months

1) The next date of compliance, of some significance, under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’), falls on 15thJune, 2020 by which assessee will have to discharge the obligation of payment of first instalment of advance tax for the financial year 2020-21. Out of the total estimated tax liability of the year (after reducing T.D.S.), 15% of tax has to be paid on or before that date unless the date is extended. As the government is in urgent need of resources, the chances of extension of due date are not very bright. Although, recently the Government has granted extension in respect of due date for payment of GST, it has come with a stipulation of interest. (except for small businesses)

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Advocate Parveen Kumar Bansal (Former ITAT Vice President) and CA Gaurav Bansal have explained the entire law relating to the jurisdiction and powers of the Supreme Court under Articles 133 and 136 of the Constitution with respect to appeals and Special Leave Petitions. The question as to whether the admission or dismissal of a SLP results in a merger of the High Court’s order into that of the Supreme Court’s has also been dealt with. All the important judgements have been referred to in detail. A pdf copy of the article is available for download

1. INTRODUCTION:

Under the Income tax Act, an appeal against the order of the High Court is filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court under section 261 of the Income tax Act. Equivalent to section 261, under the Constitution of India, Article 132 to 134A provides the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for entertaining appeals for the orders of High Court.

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CA. Pankaj Agrwal has raised the important question whether the amendment to section 115BBE of the Income-tax Act, 1961, by the Taxation Laws (Second) Amendment Act, 2016, is prospective or retrospective. He has argued that the amendment is prospective and made good his contention with a detailed discussion of the statutory provisions and case laws

Every year annual Finance Act provides rates of tax and it has two parts.  Part I provides for rates as applicable to assessment year and Part III provides for rates which may be used for tax deduction of tax at source from Salary and payment of advance-tax.  Part III generally become Part I of the next Financial year. Finance Act also provides application of special rates as provided in various sections of Income-tax Act to the specified incomes i.e. those sections get incorporated by reference in the Finance Act.

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Advocates Amol Sinha and Ashvini Kumar have pointed out that though the law is very clear on the procedure that has to be followed by the Assessing Officer when reopening an assessment under section 147 of the Income-tax Act, the same is often not followed. When the assessees challenge the breach, Courts tend to remand the entire matter back to the AO for being redone. The learned authors have argued that the practice of remand causes unnecessary hardship and harassment to the assessees. They have submitted that Courts ought to quash the proceedings and declare them void ab initio. This will also send a clear message to the AOs that they should always follow the proper procedure

REASSESSMENT PROCEEDINGS – BACKGROUND AND THE LAW

A reassessment proceeding is an age old and an important provision under Income Tax Act. If an income which otherwise would have been chargeable to tax has due to some reason, has escaped assessment, for particular assessment year, then the proceedings undertaken by the assessing officer against the assessee are defined as reassessment proceedings.

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CA Tilak Chandna has raised the interesting question whether The Prohibition of Benami Transactions Act, 1988 as amended by the Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, 2016, has retrospective or retroactive operation? He has answered the question in a clear-cut manner after an extensive research into the legislative scheme and several important judicial precedents

Background

The Prohibition of Benami Transactions Act, 1988 as amended by the Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, 2016, when implemented full throttle is likely to have adverse consequences of proportions far exceeding than are being grasped generally. One of the cardinal questions that is being hotly debated about this act is whether the law will have retrospective or retroactive operation?

It is a matter of satisfaction that as far as the Principal Act of 1988 (unamended by the act of 2016) is concerned, the matter of retrospectivity stands settled by a large bench of the highest court of the country holding in following terms:

Regarding application of section 3(3)

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CA Chandrakant K Thakkar has prepared a compilation in which he has traced the legislative history of section 56(2) of the Income-tax Act and explained the rationale of the numerous amendments. He has also set out in a tabular format the various controversial issues that have arisen to date and the judicial pronouncements which answer them. The compilation will prove invaluable as a ready-reckoner of all important case laws on section 56(2) of the Act

1. INTRODUCTION:

In any law with passage of time, new sections are introduced, existing sections are deleted and/or modified. It is a continuous process. People generally find out loopholes in the existing provisions and take advantage of such loopholes. Government comes to know of advantage being taken and accordingly introduce new section or modifies existing section so as to plug the loophole. When we analyze the provisions of section 56(2), we can see that number of changes have been made in said section time and again so as to plug the loopholes. Let us discuss the section 56(2) in detail and understand the technical aspects of provisions of section 56(2). I have prepared a table in which reference of section 56(2) and its sub section is given, said section is for taxability of what type of transaction, when it was introduced, it is effective up to which date, what are the issues in said section and reference of definitions available in said section and where said definition is defined. This table would be very useful for understanding of provisions of section 56(2) of Income Tax Act,1961.

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