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Varun Sood v. ACIT: The Delhi High Court in the writ W.P.(C) 8577/2019 has held that TDS prosecution can’t be initiated against any officer without establishing an administrative connection wherein in pursuance to this the bench further observed that merely because a person holds an office in a corporate entity, it would not be sufficient to make him as s a principal officer u/s 2(35) until and unless he is established to be connected with the management or administration of the company. Mere the assumption by the AO would not be sufficient for the principal officer.

Mira Bhavin Mehta v. ITO: The Bombay High Court in the case W.P.(C) 3246 of 2022 has held that the change of opinion does not constitute justification for assuming that income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment and that the AO cannot initiate the reopening of the assessment. The bench further observed that the AO in the assessment order has noted that the issue of investment in immovable property and capital gain or income on sale of property was considered under limited scrutiny and in view of the material on record, no addition on the issue is made. The information relied upon while issuing notice under Section 148A(b) relates to the flat and the gain arising on the transfer of the said flat is a short-term capital gain.

The Delhi bench of ITAT in the case having appeal no. ITA No. 1673/Del/2023 has decided that stamp value as on the date of agreement of sale of the property has to be considered for the applicability of Section 56(2)(vii)(b) of the Act. By doing the same, the ITAT has deleted the addition made under Section 56(2)(vii)(b). Further, the bench noted that the appellant had entered into an agreement fixing the amount of consideration in the year 2010, but the actual registration took place in 2013, and, further, the assessee paid a part of the consideration before the date of the agreement.

Brief facts herein as the appellant assessee is an NRI didn’t file an ITR on the premise that the total income had not exceeded the exemption limit. Further based upon the information received by the AO that the assessee has purchased an immovable property thereafter reassessment proceedings were initiated under Section 147, and notice was served on the appellant then in response to the notice the appellant filed his ITR and contented that the appellant purchased residential flat against the consideration.

Tribunal decision: The tribunal decided that the first proviso to Section 56(2)(vii)(b) categorically provides that where the date of agreement fixing the amount of consideration for the transfer of immovable property and the date of registration are not the same, the stamp duty value on the date of the agreement be taken for this provision and decided that the tribunal allowed the appeal and held that the stamp value on the date of agreement in the year 2010 has to be considered.

The Allahabad High Court in W.T.No. 1314 of 2019 has quashed the penalty order as well as the order of the appellant authority by holding that in the case of no discrepancies or any clerical errors in the documentation, there is always an onus on the department to prove that there is some intention to evade tax. The Court while deciding the case has observed that the petitioner had duly paid the customs duty along with the applicable IGST on the goods being transported from the SEZ Unit to DTA and that the department did not even try to discharge its burden to prove the intention to evade tax by the petitioner. The court also relied on the case M/S Falguni Steels vs. State Of U.Phaving petition no. W.T.No. 146 of 2023.

M/S Akhilesh Traders v. State of UP: The Allahabad High Court in the case having appeal no. W.T.: 1109 of 2019 has decided that in the absence of tax invoices or e-way bill at the time of interception and does not absolve the assessee from the liability of penalty under the GST Act because the goods in transit, the burden to prove that there was no intention to evade tax shifts on the taxpayer. The Court held that in the absence of such documents with the goods in transit, it can be presumed that there was an intention to evade tax on the part of the assessee unless proved otherwise.

Dix Engineering Projects Services Pvt. Ltd. v.The commissioner of central excise: The CESTAT in the case having case no. Service Tax Appeal No. 378 of 2010 has set aside the service tax demand and allowed the appeal of the assessee on the basis that service tax demand arising during the period from 16.06.2005 to 26.07.2009 is not leviable under maintenance and repair service in relation to the repair and maintenance of roads. The issue was whether the tax applied to the maintenance and repair of services rendered or not.?The appellant submitted that the issue is already covered by the amendment done in the year 2012 via Section 143 of the Finance Act, 2012, wherein Section 97 has been inserted into the Finance Act, 1994. Further, the bench has relied on the judgments of Allahabad High Court in Delta Erectors Pvt. Ltd. vs. UOI and Madhya Pradesh High Court in the case of M. P. Audhyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam vs. Chief Commissioner, where the court decided that the service tax from 2005-2006 to September 30, 2008 is not leviable under maintenance and repair service in relation to repair and maintenance of roads.

Bethsaida Hermitage & Tourism (P) Ltd Versus State Tax Officer: The Kerala High Court in case no OP (TAX) No. 14 Of 2023 has held that yoga and meditation charges are subjected to tax under the state tax list by upholding the tribunal’s decision in which the tribunal differentiated between the incomes and allowing certain deductions for the cost of medicines and professional charges related to ayurvedic treatments while including yoga and meditation charges and miscellaneous income in the taxable turnover. The Tribunal’s decision was primarily based on the definitions and exclusions specified under Section 4(2)(e) of the Kerala Tax on Luxuries Act.

The additional five new IRP portals, the e-invoice master information portal, and the e-invoice QR Code Verifier app announce the launch of the revamped e-invoice master information portal. New Features of the revamped E-Invoice Master Information Portal are as follows:

1. PAN-Based Search
   1. Automatic E-invoice Exemption List
   1. Global Search Bar
   1. Local Search Capabilities
   1. Revamped Advisory and FAQ Section
   1. Daily IRN Count Statistics
   1. Dedicated Section on Mobile App
   1. Improved Accessibility Compliance and UI/UX
   1. Updated Website Policy

Furthermore, GSTN has introduced an internal e-invoice comprehensive health dashboard to enhance monitoring of the e-invoice ecosystem. As a result of these improvements in the GSTN E-Invoicing System as follows:

1. Expansion of IRP Portals
2. E-Invoicing Reporting Accessibility
3. Hourly Auto population
4. E-invoice download
5. E-invoice QR code verifier App

The Andhra Pradesh AAR in the ruling No. AAR No.03/AP/GST/2024 has ruled that GST would be levied on the export of pre-packaged labelled rice up to 25 kg to foreign buyers by observing that the ultimate buyer is not present and the commodity is being pre-packed for an unknown ultimate buyer therefore the buyer from the applicant is reselling the same to another buyer. The bench also observed that regarding the applicability of GST on prepackaged and labelled irrespective of the nature of the sale. The applicant further submitted that given the amendment in Entry 51 of Schedule I of notification No. 1/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated June 28, 2017, 5% GST applies to the supply of pre-packaged and labelled rice with effect from July 18, 2022.

The Telangana AAR in the ruling No. TSAAR Order No.06/2024has ruled that there is no GST is applicable/payable on the supply of “dal” to the Department for Women, Children, Disabled, and Senior Citizens because the purchase is made for use by that institution and not for commercial or trade purposes as the supplies made by the applicant will be exempt from CGST and SGST if made to the institutional consumer.

Brief facts on the ruling are that the applicant has been engaged in the trading of food grains, sugars, edible oils, etc., and is a government contractor for the supply of the items directly and through nodal agencies. The applicant submitted that they are making supplies to HACA to serve the farming community of the erstwhile State of Hyderabad. Subsequently, the society thus comes under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act. Noting this issue, the applicant sought to go before an advance ruling.