The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal {ITAT} Delhi set aside the CIT{A}’s order, remanding the addition of ₹5 crore under Section 68 back for fresh scrutiny. The issue revolves around Charan Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd. receiving share capital at a high premium from 13 companies that the Assessing Officer (AO} suspected were paper companies due to unserved statutory notices.
Delhi ITAT held that delayed employees’ PF/ESI contributions are disallowable even under section 143(1), citing Supreme Court in Checkmate Services. However, ICDS-based depreciation adjustments exceed CPC powers and were deleted.
ITAT Delhi held that when an assessee’s own funds far exceed interest-free advances, no disallowance under Section 36(1)(iii) can be made. Interest addition of ₹5.62 crore was deleted, and 14A disallowance was limited to dividend-yielding investments.
The ITAT ruled on a Transfer Pricing adjustment, holding that companies failing the 75% export filter (MAA Business Solutions) and the Related Party Transaction (RPT) filter (WNS Global) must be excluded from the comparable set for ITES providers. The Tribunal directed a fresh re-computation of the arm’s length price (ALP) after applying correct filters, providing relief to the assessee.
ITAT directed the AO/TPO to accept the corrected operating margins for comparables in the Business Support Services segment, specifically for Forbes Facility Services Pvt. Ltd. The Tribunal’s order rectifies computational errors and ensures that the benchmarking is based on correct financial data, allowing for proper recomputation of the ALP.
ITAT annulled an assessment and addition of $\text{Rs. }31.80$ crore of share capital made under Section 153C, ruling that the jurisdiction was invalid for an unabated assessment year. The key takeaway is that for an already completed assessment, the AO must rely on incriminating material found during the search, not mere statutory documents already in the books.
The ITAT ruled that Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) legally remain debt until conversion, rejecting the Transfer Pricing Officers (TPO) re-characterization of them as equity. The Tribunal quashed the Nil Arm’s Length Price (ALP) for associated interest and remanded the matter for fresh benchmarking.
ITAT upheld the deletion of a 25% bogus purchase addition, ruling that the AO cannot disallow purchases based merely on suspicion and circumstantial evidence when the audited books of account were not rejected. The key takeaway is that without finding defects or rejecting the books, and while accepting sales, disallowance of purchases is impermissible.
Delhi ITAT ruled that a negative lien is not a corporate guarantee, quashing the Rs.16.48 Cr transfer pricing adjustment under Section 92B. Negative lien imposes no repayment liability.
The issue was whether agricultural land compulsorily acquired in NOIDA was a taxable capital asset. The ITAT, relying on judicial precedent, ruled it was pure agricultural land and thus not taxable, rejecting the taxman’s attempt to treat the NOIDA area as a municipality.
