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Month: November 2015

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DATE: November 4, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 17, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2005-06
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CITATION:
Transfer Pricing: (i) If the AO & CIT make a mechanical reference to the TPO without applying mind to the TP report & other data filed by the assessee, the reference is invalid, (ii) A transfer pricing adjustment cannot be made if the assessee's income is exempt u/s 10A or 80HHE or (iii) if the AE is assessed at a rate of tax higher that tax rate in India

(c) The AO erred in not himself examining the issue of Transfer Pricing and with the approval of the CIT, made a reference to the TPO u/s 92CA(1) of the Act; that the AO as well as the CIT failed to apply their mind to the TP Report filed by the assessee, or to any other material or information or document furnished. The TPO made an adjustment which was incorporated by the AO in the assessment order. Thereby, the AO as well as the CIT did not discharge necessary respective judicial functions conferred on them under sections 92C and 92CA of the Act;

(d) Further, the assessee is also correct in contending that no TP adjustment can be made in a case like the present one, where the assessee enjoys u/s 10A or 80HHE of the Act, or where the tax rate in the country of the Associated Enterprises is higher than the rate of tax in India and where the establishment of tax avoidance or manipulation of prices or establishment of shifting of profits is not possible.

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DATE: October 7, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 17, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2009-10
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CITATION:
S. 50C should not be invoked if difference between stamp value and declared consideration is nominal, S. 14A/ Rule 8D does not apply to share application money, Pure foreign exchange hedging transactions cannot be treated as speculative transactions

Though section 50C of the Act does not speak of any such variation in terms of percentage between value adopted for the purpose of stamp duty and the registration and the actual consideration received on transfer, keeping in view of the decision of the Hon’ble ITAT, Hyderabad Bench and keeping in view of the fact that the difference between the valuation for the stamp duty and the actual consideration received by the assessee is less than 2% we are of the view that addition sustained by CIT(A) should be deleted

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DATE: October 30, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 17, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: -
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CITATION:
S. 292C: The presumption that documents found during search correctly reflect the facts is a ‘discretionary presumption’ & not a ‘compulsory presumption’. The presumption does not apply if the documents are inchoate

Section 292 of the Act provides that where any documents are found in possession or control of any person in the course of search under Section 132 of the Act, then it may be presumed in any proceedings under this Act that the contents of such documents are true and correct. It will be noted that the section uses the word ‘may presume’ and not ‘shall presume’ or ‘conclusively presume’. The words ‘may presume’ are in the nature of discretionary presumption different from a compulsory presumption. Therefore this presumption has to be invoked by the authorities passing an order under the Act particularly when the invocation of such presumption is discretionary on the authorities

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DATE: September 17, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 17, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: -
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CITATION:
Allotment of residential accommodation to ITAT Members should be dealt with by the Govt fairly and on a high-priority basis to enable them to discharge judicial work efficiently

The learned Additional Solicitor General has stated that the matter of allotment of residential accommodation to members of the ITAT shall be dealt with fairly and on a priority basis. We are of the view that the same principle should be followed for the future so as to obviate writ petitions being required to be filed by members of the Tribunal or on their behalf before this Court. Unless proper accommodation is made available to the members of the ITAT, the work on the judicial side cannot be expected to be discharged with a degree of efficiency. This is a matter which should be dealt with on a high priority in all respects. We record the assurance of the ASG as noted above

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DATE: October 28, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 17, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 1986-87
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CITATION:
S. 37(1): Though eyes are an important tool for the performance of functions by a professional (solicitor), the expenditure on its treatment is personal expenditure and not business expenditure

No evidence has been brought on record to establish that in the absence of investigation and treatment, the applicant would be handicapped in discharging his obligation as a Solicitor/ Advocate. While at this, we cannot resist but point out that in this Court itself, we have a couple of visually challenged Advocates who are very competent in discharging their duties. Taken to its logical conclusion, then every and all expense incurred on daily living and food would be allowable as expenditure under Section 37 of the Act

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DATE: September 29, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 17, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: -
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CITATION:
S. 194LA: TDS provisions apply only when payment is made by cash, cheques etc and not to a case of exchange such as of land for Certificate of Development Rights (CDR/ TDR)

The concept of tax deduction at source (TDS) and depositing the same with the Revenue is where payment is made by cash, cheque, demand draft or any other similar mode. When such payment in terms of money is made, the deduction is to be made by the person responsible to pay, and is to deposit the same with the Income Tax Department, which would be adjusted and credited to the account of the person on whose behalf such amount is paid to the Income Tax Department, and in such a case, such person, who would then be an assessee before the Department, would be entitled to adjustment of the amount so deducted as TDS on behalf of the said assessee. When no payment is made by BBMP to the land owner in terms of money, such deduction is neither possible nor is conceived under Section 194LA

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DATE: September 2, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 16, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: -
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CITATION:
Failure to give the assessee the right to cross-examine witnesses whose statements are relied up results in breach of principles of natural justice. It is a serious flaw which renders the order a nullity

Not allowing the assessee to cross-examine the witnesses by the Adjudicating Authority though the statements of those witnesses were made the basis of the impugned order is a serious flaw which makes the order nullity inasmuch as it amounted to violation of principles of natural justice because of which the assessee was adversely affected

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DATE: July 31, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 16, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2009-10
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CITATION:
S. 36(1)(iii): In a case where advances for non-business purposes are made from mixed funds, neither the AO nor the assessee can claim that the funds have come from a particular source and so the disallowance should be worked out on the basis of the average interest rate

The judgment of this Court in Commissioner of Income Tax-I, Ludhiana vs. M/s Abhishek Industries, Ludhiana [2006] 286 ITR 1 (P&H) does not deal with the question of the rate of interest to be applied in cases where the assessee has mixed funds available with it. We also agree with the Tribunal’s view that where mixed funds are diverted towards interest free advances the disallowance should be made up to the level of the average cost of debt to the assessee. There is no justification in taking into consideration the rate of interest in respect of any particular transaction where under an assessee avails advances on interest. An assessee may avail several advances from the same lender or from different lenders and at varying rates of interest. In the absence of anything to indicate that the interest free advance was made only from a particular corresponding advance received by the assessee, the advance made by the assessee would obviously be from the common pool of money. Money lying in a common pool has no identity. The various amounts advanced to the assessee get merged into a common pool. There is no justification then either for the assessee or for the department to take into consideration the rate of interest in respect of a particular advance or advances to the assessee. The only logical approach is to take into consideration the average interest rate at which the assessee has availed of the advances

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DATE: August 12, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 16, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2006-07
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CITATION:
S. 68: If the identity and other details of the share applicants are available, the share application money cannot be treated as undisclosed income in the hands of the Co. The addition, if at all, should be in the hands of the applicants if their creditworthiness cannot be proved

The Court is of the view that the Assessee by produced sufficient documentation discharged its initial onus of showing the genuineness and creditworthiness of the share applicants. It was incumbent to the AO to have undertaken some inquiry and investigation before coming to a conclusion on the issue of creditworthiness. In para 39 of the decision in CIT v. Nova Promoters & Finlease Ltd. 342 ITR 169, the Court has taken note of a situation where the complete particulars of the share applicants are furnished to the AO and the AO fails to conduct an inquiry. The Court has observed that in that event no addition can be made in the hands of the Assessee under Section 68 of the Act and it will be open to the Revenue to move against the share applicants in accordance with law

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DATE: October 13, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: November 16, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2005-06
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CITATION:
S. 275(1)(c): For penalty proceedings initiated on issues unrelated to assessment of income (such as for s. 269SS/ 269T & TDS defaults), time limit runs from date of initiation of penalty proceedings and not from date of CIT(A)'s order

Considering that the subject matter of the quantum proceedings was the non-compliance with Section 269T of the Act, there was no need for the appeal against the said order in the quantum proceedings to be disposed of before the penalty proceedings could be initiated. In other words, the initiation of penalty proceedings did not hinge on the completion of the appellate quantum proceedings. This position has been made explicit in the decision in CIT v. Worldwide Township Projects Limited (2014) 269 CTR 444 in which the Court concurred with the view expressed in Commissioner of Income-Tax v. Hissaria Bros. (2007) 291 ITR 244(Raj)

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