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DATE: June 13, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 18, 2018 (Date of publication)
AY: 2008-09
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CITATION:
S. 269SS/ 271D Penalty: It is not enough for the assessee to show that the transaction of taking loan/ deposit by cash is genuine or bona fide. It has also to be shown that there was reasonable cause u/s 273B for the assessee being unable to take the loan/deposit by account payee cheque or account payee bank draft

There is no dispute between the parties that bonafide nature of transactions alone would not be sufficient to escape the clutches of sec. 271D of the Act. As per the decision rendered by Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Kum. A.B. Shanthi (supra), it is required to be established that there was some bonafide reasons for the assessee for not taking or accepting loan or deposit by account payee cheque or account payee bank draft, so that the provisions of sec.273B of the Act will come to the help of the assessee. Only in such cases, the AO is precluded from levying penalty u/s 271D of the Act

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DATE: July 16, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 18, 2018 (Date of publication)
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CITATION:
ITAT Appointment Rules: Persons selected as Member of the ITAT will continue till the age of 62 years and the person holding the post of President, shall continue till the age of 65 years

At this juncture, we may note that there is some confusion with regard to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) as regards the age of superannuation. We make it clear that the person selected as Member of the ITAT will continue till the age of 62 years and the person holding the post of President, shall continue till the age of 65 years

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DATE: July 2, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 18, 2018 (Date of publication)
AY: 2004-05
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CITATION:
S. 147/ 143(2): If the notice u/s 143(2) is issued prior to the furnishing of return by the assessee in response to notice u/s 148, the notice issued u/s 143(2) is not valid and the reassessment framed on the basis of said notice has to be quashed. S. 292BB does not save the assessment (All judgements considered)

The proposal to reopen an assessment under section 147 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, is to be based on reasons to be recorded by the Assessing Officer. Such reasons have to be communicated to the assessee. Merely because the assessee participates in the proceedings pursuant to such notice under section 148 of the Act, it does not obviate the mandatory requirement of the Assessing Officer having to issue to the assessee a notice under section 143(2) of the Act before finalizing the order of reassessment. A reassessment order cannot be passed without compliance with the mandatory requirement of notice being issued by the Assessing Officer to the assessee under section 143(2). The requirement of issuance of such notice is a jurisdictional one. It does go to the root of the matter as far as the validity of the reassessment proceedings under section 147/148 of the Act is concerned

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DATE: July 9, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 14, 2018 (Date of publication)
AY: 2012-13
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CITATION:
S. 2(1A) Agricultural income: Mushroom is not a ‘vegetable’, ‘plant’, 'fruit' or ‘animal’ but is a ‘fungus’. Anything which is produced by performing basic operations on the soil is an "agricultural product" and the income therefrom is "agricultural income". The nature of the product and the fact that it is not a ‘plant’, ‘flower’, ‘vegetable’ or ‘fruit’ is irrelevant. The only relevant aspect is whether the production is by performing some basic operations on the soil (All judgements considered)

It is clear that we cannot restrict the word “product” to ‘plants’, ‘fruits’, ‘vegetables’ or such botanical life only. The only condition is that the “product” in question should be raised on the land by performing some basic operations. Mushroom produced by the assessee is a product. This product is raised on land/soil, by performing certain basic operation. The product draws nourishment from the soil and is naturally grown, by such operation on soil which require expenditure of “human skill and labour”. The product so raised has utility for consumption, trade and commerce and hence would qualify as an “agricultural product” the sale of which gives rise to agricultural income.

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DATE: July 2, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 10, 2018 (Date of publication)
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CITATION:
S. 194-I TDS: Amounts paid as part of the lease premium or biannual or annual payments for a limited/specific period towards acquisition of lease hold rights are not subject to TDS, being capital payments. Amounts constituting annual lease rent, expressed in terms of percentage (e.g. 1%) of the total premium for the duration of the lease, are rent and subject to TDS

(1) Amounts paid as part of the lease premium in terms of the time schedule (s) to the Lease Deeds executed between the petitioners and GNOIDA, or biannual or annual payments for a limited/specific period towards acquisition of lease hold rights are not subject to TDS, being capital payments; (2) Amounts constituting annual lease rent, expressed in terms of percentage (e.g. 1%) of the total premium for the duration of the lease, are rent, and therefore subject to TDS

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DATE: July 2, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 10, 2018 (Date of publication)
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CITATION:
S. 194A TDS: Meaning of the expression "corporation" explained. Difference between "established by an Act" and "established under an Act" explained. Important principles of interpretation of fiscal statutes explained. Though NOIDA is not a "local authority", it is a "corporation established by the Act" and so payments to it are not liable to TDS u/s 194A

It is, therefore, clear that there is a well marked distinction between a body which is created by the statute and a body which after having come into existence is governed in accordance with the provisions of the statute. In other words the position seems to be that the institution concerned must owe its very existence to a statute which would be the fountainhead of its powers. The question in such cases to be asked is, if there is no statute would the institution have any legal existence. If the answer is in the negative, then undoubtedly it is a statutory body, but if the institution has a separate existence of its own without any reference to the statute concerned but is merely governed by the statutory provisions it cannot be said to be a statutory body

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DATE: June 19, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 10, 2018 (Date of publication)
AY: 2007-08
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CITATION:
S. 147/148: If there is nothing in the recorded reasons to suggest that the income chargeable to tax which has escaped assessment is Rs. one lakh or more, the notice issued u/s 148 of the Act beyond four years of the end of the relevant assessment year is invalid

The second point which is very important is that in regard to the cases falling under section 34(1A), action can be taken only where the income which has escaped assessment is likely to amount to Rs.1 lakh or more. In other words, it is only in regard to cases where the escaped income is of a high magnitude that the restriction of the period of limitation has been removed. Since no reasons were recorded that the escaped income is likely to be Rs.1 lac or more so that the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner may record his satisfaction under section 151, the initiation of reassessment proceedings after more than four years was clearly barred by time

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DATE: June 27, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 9, 2018 (Date of publication)
AY: 2012-13
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CITATION:
S. 23 ALV: Unsold flats which are held by a builder as stock in trade cannot be brought to tax under the head 'income from house property'. They are only assessable as business profits when sold (All judgements considered)

In the case on hand before us it is an undisputed fact that both assessees have treated the unsold flats as stock in trade in the books of account and the flats sold by them were assessed under the head ‘income from business’. Thus, respectfully following the above said decisions we hold that the unsold flats which are stock in trade when they were sold they are assessable under the head ‘income from business’ when they are sold and therefore the AO is not correct in bringing to tax notional annual letting value in respect of those unsold flats under the head ‘income from house property’. Thus, we direct the AO to delete the addition made under Section 23 of the Act as income from house property.”

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DATE: June 19, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 9, 2018 (Date of publication)
AY: 2006-07
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CITATION:
S. 68 HSBC Black Money: The assessee being non-resident is not liable to tax in respect of money lying in the foreign country unless the AO bring something on record to show that assessee has not fulfilled the test of taxability of non-resident under the provisions of the Act

We found that CIT(A) as dealt with the issue threadbare and after applying judicial pronouncements laid down by High Court and Supreme Court reached to the conclusion that assessee being non-resident is not liable to tax in respect of money lying in the foreign country unless AO bring something on record to show that assessee has not fulfilled the test of taxability of non-resident under the provisions of the Act. The detailed finding so recorded by CIT(A) are as per material on record and do not require any interference on our part

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DATE: June 1, 2018 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 9, 2018 (Date of publication)
AY: 2003-04
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CITATION:
S. 68 HSBC Black Money: The suspicion of the AO that the deposits in the foreign bank account have Indian origin is not unfounded because the assessee used his Indian passport to open the a/c. The intent of the assessee is not above board. Matter requires investigation because the narrations in the bank accounts do not give any clue that these amounts originate from India

At the time of opening of the bank account in Geneva, the assessee was a US citizen and resident and he was holding a US passport. Still the assessee chose to open the account in HSBC bank account in Geneva by using the address and proof thereof by way of his Indian passport which was no longer valid when he has accepted the US nationality by surrendering Indian citizenship. Here the assessee instead of surrendering his invalid Indian passport has used it to open a bank account in HSBC bank, Geneva. Further, the assessee is not responding that this bank account has been disclosed to the US tax authorities. In such circumstances, the suspicion that the deposits in this bank account have Indian origin is not unfounded

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