Analysis of HC, SC and ITAT Judgment on Taxation and Corporate Law

The Supreme Court has ruled that law should prevail over equity and that judges should not legislate as it would be violative of the basic democratic principles. A bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra in a recent judgement said courts should not interpret rules on the basis of equity. "In other words, once we depart from the literal rule, then any number of interpretations can be put to a statutory provision, each judge having a free play to put his .. Full Article

When a partnership firm is dissolved and the erstwhile partner receives stock, it is a capital asset in his hands. When that asset is introduced into a business as stock, it gets converted into stock-in-trade. The value of this stock will have to be the market value on the date of introduction. The Tribunal’s reasoning that the assessee cannot value the stock introduced in the business at market value because that was not the price she paid for it is flawed because if .. Full Article

Delhi High Court in the case of CIT v. Sandan Vikas (India) Ltd. (ITA No. 348 of 2011) (Judgement date: 24 February 2011, Assessment Year: 2005-06) held that the taxpayer was eligible to claim weighted deduction on in-house Research and Development (R&D) expenditure from the year in which the taxpayer made an application to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). The High Court observed that the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) does n.. Full Article

Delhi bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (the Tribunal) in the case of Intelsat Corporation (ITA No.5443/D/2010) (Judgment Date: 4 March 2011, Assessment Year: 2007-08) held that income received by the non-resident taxpayer from leasing of transponder capacity and bandwidth cannot be taxed as ‘royalty’ under the provisions of Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act). Full Article

Hyderabad bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (the Tribunal) in the case of Hyderabad Chemicals Supplies Limited v. ACIT (ITA No. 352/Hyd/2005) (Judgment date: 21 January 2011) held that as per the provision of Section 80-IA(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) profit from the eligible undertaking has to be computed after deduction of the notional brought forward losses and depreciation of eligible undertaking even though they have been allowed to set off agai.. Full Article

Recently, the Mumbai bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (the Tribunal), in the case of Bharat Bijlee Limited v. ACIT (ITA NO.6410/MUM/2008) (Judgment Date: 11 March 2011, Assessment Year: 2005-06) , held that where a business undertaking is transferred against issue of bonds / shares, the transaction is not a “Slump Sale” as defined under Section 2(42C) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) and therefore provisions of section 50B of the Act relating to comp.. Full Article

If a search under section 132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is challenged on the ground that information leading to reasons to believe for authorising search was irrelevant then how should this question be resolved? Should the court, Look into the records and decide it alone; or Disclose the information to the aggrieved person and then adjudicate upon it, after hearing the parties (a)The Director of Income-tax (Investigation) Kanpur had jurisdiction to authorise t.. Full Article

Mumbai bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (the Tribunal) in the case of ITO v. TCFC Finance Limited (ITA No.1299/Mum/2009) (Judgement date- 9 March 2011 Assessment Year 2004-05) held that the provisions of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) deals with amount of provision for diminution in the value of any asset and not with the value of asset which remains after diminution. Once provision is made for diminution in the value of any asset, the same has to be added for co.. Full Article

The Bombay HC last week quashed the decision of the Customs, Excise, Service Tax Appellate Tribunal which held the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the licensing authority under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, did not have the powers to amend licences with retrospective effect. The CESTAT ruling was challenged by Bhilwara Spinners Ltd, manufacturers of yarn, which were granted ‘export promotion capital goods’ licence to import capital goods.. Full Article

Tenders or public auction best way to sell state properties- The Supreme Court (SC) has declared “inviting tenders from the public or holding public auction is the best way for disposal of properties belonging to the state.” In this case, Kerala Finance Corp vs Vincent Paul, the borrower failed to repay the loan and the state finance corporation tried to dispose of the mortgaged property. But the process was entangled in civil suits. The SC ssaid the corporation has .. Full Article