Educational Trust Using Earnings For Educational Advancement Entitled To Benefits Under Section 12AA Of Income Tax Act: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that an institute registered as an educational trust, using its earnings solely for educational advancement, should not be denied the benefits of Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961.The Bench of Justices Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Sanjay Vashisth observed that “the institute is a duly registered educational trust and whatever earnings it receives are also utilized for the purpose of advancement of education, the institution could not have been...

“Notification Issued Without GST Council's Recommendation”: Gauhati HC Sets Aside Notification Extending Time Line For Issuance Of Order For A.Y. 2018-19 And 2019-20

The Gauhati High Court allowed the batch of writ petitions challenging the Notification No. 56/2023 dated 28.12.2023 extending the period of limitation for issuance of Order u/s 73(10) of the CGST Act, 2017 for the Assessment Year 2018-19 and 2019-20.The Court opined that the existence of the recommendation is a sine qua non for exercising the power under Section 168A to extend the timelines and without the recommendations, the exercise of the power would be legally not sustainable. The Bench...

Madras High Court Stays Instruction Of Specified Officer Removing General Insurance Services From Default List Of Input Services For GST Exemption

The Madras High Court has stayed an instruction issued by the Specified Officer, Office of Development Commissioner, MEPZ Special Economic Zone, through which the officer had unilaterally removed General Insurance services from the default list of input services which are eligible for GST exemption. Justice Anita Sumanth noted that assumption of jurisdiction by the specified officer to amend the instructions which was issued by the Government of India was suspectable. “Prima facie...

Non-Filing Of Declaration & Input-Output Ratio Is Procedural Requirement But Not Pre-Condition For Claiming Rebate On Excise Of Exported Goods: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court recently clarified that just because the verification of input-output ratio was not submitted before the export of goods, it does not mean that same cannot be verified post export of goods.While giving such relaxation, the Division Bench of Justice K. R. Shriram and Justice Jitendra Jain observed that the procedure for submitting input-output ratio is inconsequential for claiming rebate under Central Excise Act when the claim of petitioner/ assessee is only qua excise duty...

Tax Department Can't Create Charge On Property Of Corporate Debtor During Currency Of Moratorium Imposed By NCLT: Himachal Pradesh HC

The Himachal High Court held that once the corporate debtor is directed to be liquidated by the NCLT u/s 33(5) of Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC), no legal proceeding could be instituted by or against him by the Tax Authorities.Thus, the High Court clarified that the red entry/charge created by the Revenue Department on the property of the petitioner-company during the currency of the moratorium imposed by the NCLT, would be void in law.Prior approval of the Adjudicating Authority under...

Proper Officer Has No Evidence That Taxpayer Did Not Exist At Principal Place Of Business: Delhi HC Quashes Order Cancelling GST Registration With Retro Effect

Pointing out that the order cancelling the petitioner's GST registration with retrospective effect does not indicate any reason except referring to the SCN, the Delhi High Court quashed the said order and permitted the petitioner to file a response to the SCN.The Division Bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Sachin Datta observed that “letter sent by Deputy Commissioner (Anti Evasion) did not provide any particulars as to on which date the physical verification was conducted. It also...

Staff Welfare Expenditure Incurred By Employer As Per SEBI Guidelines Is Revenue Expenditure: Delhi High Court

Emphasizing that shares which is subject to a lock-in stipulation, could not be sold in an open market, the Delhi High Court held that valuation report obtained by the employer for ascertaining its withholding tax obligations during allotment of such shares to its employees as a perquisite, cannot be considered for purpose of Fair Market Value (FMV) of those shares.Referring to the decision in case of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax vs. M/s Religare Securities Ltd. [ITA 311/2018], the...

Department Can't Issue SCN Simply Alleging Misstatement, Without Pointing Out Specific Fact Of Suppression By Taxpayer: Delhi HC

Finding that the Show cause notice (SCN) issued to the petitioner/assessee did not set out any intelligible reasons for cancellation of its GST registration, the Delhi High Court quashed the said SCN.The High Court found that the SCN issued to the petitioner, simply mentioned the provisions of Section 29(2)(e) of the CGST Act, 2017 which authorises the proper officer to cancel the taxpayer's GST registration if it is obtained by means of fraud, wilful mis-statement, or suppression of facts,...

Profits Attributable To Permanent Establishment Can't Be Ignored On Basis Of Global Income Or Loss Earned/ Incurred By Cross Border Entity: Delhi HC

Referring to Article 7 of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) entered into between the Government of United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India, the Delhi High Court held that the right of the Holding company (source State) to allocate or attribute income to the Permanent Establishment (PE) cannot be restricted on the basis of the global income or loss that may have been earned or incurred by a cross-border entity.If an enterprise is carrying on business through a PE situated in...

Assessee Entitled To Cash Refund Of Accumulated CENVAT Credit Despite Abolition Of Education Cess: CESTAT

The Ahmedabad Bench of Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has stated that merely because levy of education cess was abolished does not disqualify an assessee from availing Cenvat Credit on Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess.The Bench of Ramesh Nair (Judicial Member) and C L Mahar (Technical Member) has observed that “the abolition of Education Cess does not affect the accumulated Cenvat credit which was availed during the time when the Cenvat...

If State GST Has Started Proceedings, They Must Complete The Process; It Cannot Be Transferred To Central GST: Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court stated that the State and Central Governments have been extended the same powers under the CGST and SGST Act and if one of the officers has already initiated proceedings, the same cannot be transferred to another and he alone is to issue process under the Act and take it to its logical end.The Bench of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan observed that “….where a proper officer under the CGST Act had initiated proceedings on a subject matter, no proceedings would be...

Income Tax Authorities Have The Power To Seek Interim Custody Of Currency Notes Produced Before The Magistrate: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court held that income tax authorities have the power to seek interim custody of currency notes seized and produced before the jurisdictional magistrate by any other officer or authority if there is any reason to believe that the seized currency is part of any asset that has not been disclosed for the purpose of the Income Tax Act.The Division Bench of Justice P. B. Suresh Kumar and Justice C. Pratheep Kumar was answering a question referred to it by the Single Bench. The Single...