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DATE: July 16, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 30, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2009-10
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CITATION:
Action of the ITAT in disregarding its own order without reason and remanding matter to AO for fresh consideration is "arbitrary" and "failure to perform basic judicial function" and a "lapse" which should not occur again.

The Tribunal should not completely disregard its earlier order without some reason. This is the minimum expected of any quasi judicial / judicial authority. If the Tribunal has failed to perform it’s basic judicial functions in such arbitrary manner, the approach of the Tribunal must be corrected, so as to ensure that such lapses do not occur again

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DATE: July 6, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 29, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2003-04
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CITATION:
S. 271(1)(c): The rigors of penalty provisions cannot be diluted only because a small number of cases are picked up for scrutiny. No penalty can be levied unless if assessee's conduct is "dishonest, malafide and amounting concealment of facts". The AO must render the "conclusive finding" that there was "active concealment" or "deliberate furnishing of inaccurate particulars"

Conditions under Section 271(1)(c) must exist before the penalty can be imposed. Mr.Chhotaray tried to widen the scope of the appeal by submitting that the decision of the Apex Court should be interpreted in such a manner that there is no scope of misuse especially since minuscule number of cases are picked up for scrutiny. Because small number of cases are picked up for scrutiny does not mean that rigors of the provision are diluted. Whether a particular person has concealed income or has deliberately furnished inaccurate particulars, would depend on facts of each case

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DATE: July 20, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 29, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 1985-86, 1987-88
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CITATION:
S. 221: Penalty for failure to pay TDS in time can be levied even if the assessee voluntarily pays the TDS. Financial hardship, diverse locations and lack of computerization are not good excuses. The fact that CIT(A) decided in favour of the assessee & deleted the penalty does not necessarily mean that two views are possible

Parliament treats a person who has deducted the tax and fails to pay it to revenue as a class different from a person who has not deducted the tax and also not deposited the tax with revenue. This is for the reason that in the first class of cases the assessee concerned after deducting the tax, keep the money so deducted which belongs to another person for its own use. In the second class of cases, the assessee concerned does not take any advantage as he pays the entire amount to the payee without deducting any tax and does not enrich itself at the cost of the government. Therefore, although penalty is also imposable in the second class of cases, yet in view of the proviso to Section 201(1) of the Act, it is open to such assessee to satisfy the Assessing Officer that as they have good and sufficient reasons no penalty is imposable. It is in the above view that in the first class of assessees the Parliament has provided for prosecution under Section 276B of the Act for failing the pay the tax deducted at source

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DATE: June 17, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 29, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 1997-98
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CITATION:
Strictures passed regarding the "casual and callous" and "frivolous" manner in which senior officers of the dept authorize filing of appeals. Strictures also passed against counsel for acting as a "mouthpiece" of the Dept in persisting with unmeritorious appeals. CBDT directed to take appropriate action

Undoubtedly, an Advocate has to fearlessly put forth his client’s point of view, however the same has to be tempered /guided by truth and justice of the dispute. In matters of tax, justice requires that there must be certainty of law which presupposes equal application of law. Thus where the issue in controversy stands settled by decisions of this Court or the Tribunal in any other case and the Revenue has accepted that decision, then in that event the Revenue ought not to agitate the issue further unless there is some cogent justification such as change in law or some later decision of an higher forum etc

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DATE: June 17, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 29, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 1997-98
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CITATION:
S. 244A: Interest on income-tax refund received by a non-resident is not effectively connected with the PE (Permanent Establishment) either on asset test or activity test. Accordingly such interest cannot be assessed as business profits but has to be assessed as "interest" under Article 11/ 12

Interest on income tax refund is not effectively connected with the PE (Permanent Establishment) either on asset test or activity test. Therefore, taxable under the Article 11(2) of Indo Netherlands tax treaty

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DATE: June 30, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 29, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 1999-00
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CITATION:
S. 28(va)/ 115JA: non-compete consideration received prior to insertion of s. 28(va) is not taxable. Amount credited to reserves without a corresponding debit to the P&L A/c cannot be added to the "book profits"

To invoke clause (b) of the Explanation below Section 115JB (identical to Section 115JA) of the Act, two conditions must be satisfied cumulatively viz. there must be a debit of the amount to the Profit and loss account and the amount so debited must be carried to Reserves. Admitted position in this case is that there is no debit to the Profit and loss account of the amount of Reserves. The impugned order has in view of the self evident position taken a view that in the absence of the amount being debited to Profit and Loss account and taken directly to the reserve account in the balance sheet, the book profits as declared under the Profit and Loss account cannot be tampered with

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DATE: July 22, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 28, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2007-08
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CITATION:
S. 2(47)(v)/(vi): Entire law on whether the entering into a joint development agreement with an irrevocable power of attorney in favour of the developer results in a "transfer" for purposes of capital gains explained

The concept of possession to be defined is an enormous task to be precisely elaborated. “Possession” is a word of open texture. It is an abstract notion. It implies a right to enjoy which is attached to the right to property. It is not purely a legal concept but is a matter of fact. The issue of ownership depends on rule of law whereas possession is a question dependent upon fact without reference to law. To put it differently, ownership is strictly a legal concept and possession is both a legal and a non-legal or pre-legal concept. The test for determining whether any person is in possession of anything is to see whether it is under his general control. He should be actually holding, using and enjoying it, without interference on the part of others. It would have to be ascertained in each case independently whether a transferee has been delivered possession in furtherance of the contract in order to fall under Section 53A of the 1882 Act and thus amenable to tax by virtue of Section 2(47)(v) read with Section 45 of the Act

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DATE: July 20, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 28, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2007-08 to 2011-12
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CITATION:
S. 194C/ 194J: No obligation to deduct TDS at stage of making provision for expenditure if payee cannot be identified. No obligation to deduct TDS if services (roaming charges) are rendered without human intervention and are not "technical services"

The assessee has to issue Form 16A prescribed under Rule 31(1)(b) of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 for the tax deducted at source. The assessee has to necessarily give the details of name and address of deductee, the PAN of deductee and amount or credited. In this case, the assessee could not identify the name and address of deductee and and his PAN. The assessee also may not be in a position to quantify the amount required for incurring the expenditure for dismantling and restoration of site to its original position. In those circumstances, the provision which requires deduction of tax at source fails. Hence, the assessee cannot be faulted for non-deduction of tax at source while making a provision

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DATE: July 24, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 27, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2009-10, 2010-11
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CITATION:
Loss suffered on account of forex derivative contracts (Exotic Cross Currency Option Contracts) cannot be treated as speculative loss to the extent that the derivative transactions are not more than the total export turnover of the assessee. If the derivative transaction is in excess of export turnover, the loss in respect of that portion of excess transactions has to be considered as speculative loss because the excess derivative transaction has no proximity with export turnover

We make it clear that total transaction considered for determining this business loss from derivative transactions cannot be more than the total export turnover of the assessee for the assessment year under consideration and if the derivative transaction is in excess of export turnover, then that loss suffered in respect of that portion of excess transactions to be considered as speculative loss only as that excess derivative transaction has no proximity with export turnover and the Assessing Officer is directed to compute accordingly

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DATE: April 22, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 27, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2007-08
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CITATION:
S. 41(1)/ 68: Unclaimed liabilities to creditors, even if fictitious and bogus, cannot be assessed u/s 41(1) in the absence of a write-back. The bogus credits can be assessed u/s 68 only in the year the credits were made and not in the year they are found to be not payable

Applying the ratio in the cases mentioned supra, the amount in question cannot be brought to tax in the year under appeal under the provisions of Section 41(1) of the Act. It is trite law that an addition under Section 68 can be made only in the year in which credit was made to the account of the creditors in the books of account maintained. Admittedly, in this case the credit to the account of creditors was made in the earlier years and therefore, the amount even cannot be brought to tax under Section 68 in the year under appeal. However, it is open to the Department to levy tax on such amount by resorting to the remedies available under the provisions of Act by duly following the procedure known to the law

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