Finance Act, 2008

The Supreme Court examined whether, before the Finance Act 2008 amendment, an assessing officer could extend the time for filing a special audit report under s.142(2C) of the Income Tax Act without an application by the assessee. The Delhi High Court had held that such power did not exist, rendering the assessment barr…

M/s Calcutta Export Company, a partnership engaged in manufacturing and exporting casting materials, claimed a deduction for export commission charges under Section 40(a)(ia) of the Income Tax Act for AY 2005-06. The Assessing Officer disallowed the deduction because the TDS on the commission was deposited after the st…

The Agricultural Produce Market Committee (AMC) of Narela claimed exemption from income tax under section 10(20) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, asserting it was a "local authority". The Finance Act, 2002 added an exhaustive Explanation to section 10(20) defining "local authority" as a Panchayat, Municipality, Municipal C…

The petitioners, old Indian settlers of Sikkim, challenged the definition of “Sikkimese” in Section 10(26AAA) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the proviso that excluded a Sikkimese woman who married a non‑Sikkimese after 1 April 2008 from the tax exemption. They argued that the exclusion of settlers whose names were not…

GE India Technology Centre Private Ltd. imported software and paid the foreign supplier for a licence. The Income Tax Officer held the payment to be a royalty deemed to accrue in India, requiring tax deduction at source (TDS) under Section 195 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Commissioner upheld this view, but the Inco…

The assessees entered into contracts to provide motor vehicles, cranes and related equipment to ONGC and tank trucks to IOCL, and the tax authorities treated these arrangements as sales under Clause 29A(d) of Article 366, imposing sales tax and VAT. The assessees contended that the contracts were for services, not for …

The appellants, who were registered lottery dealers in Kerala, bought state lottery tickets in bulk at a discount and resold them to retailers on an outright basis, earning a profit. The Central Excise authorities directed them to obtain service‑tax registration and pay tax under the heading ‘business auxiliary service…