Prior to 10-9-2004 survey for oil exploration did not fall under ‘Consulting Engineer’s Service’

Service Tax : Hydrographic, oceanographic, geophysical, geotechnical investigation, harbor development surveys, etc. for clients engaged in oil exploration do not fall under Consulting Engineer's Services; they are taxable from 10-9-2004 under 'Survey and Exploration of Mineral, Oil and Gas Services

Payments of commission for services rendered in relation to securities are out of ambit of sec. 194H

IT: Services rendered in relation to securities get excluded from express definition of 'brokerage or commission' and thus, excluded from purview of section 194H

ITAT accepts assessee’s plea for exclusion of comparables chosen by him and accepted by TPO

IT/ILT : Where assessee has wrongly included some cases in list of comparables, which position has not been disturbed by TPO, in such a case, there can be no embargo on pleading by assessee for exclusion of those comparables at a subsequent stage

Batteries manufactured for use in Railway Coaches form part of coaches per se; VAT at 4% instead of

CST & VAT : Where assessee was engaged in manufacture of various types of batteries as per specifications given by Ministry of Railways and it sold said batteries to railways for use in rail engines, wagons, coaches, etc., batteries sold to railways formed part of railway coaches, engines and wagons and would fall under Entry No. 76 of Third Schedule of Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2005

No liability of guarantor-co. if MCA doesn’t upload digitally signed Form 8 due to director’s defaul

CL : Where guarantor company's director appended digital signature on Form 8 in respect of creating charge, but same could not be uploaded on MCA site due to said director's default in some other company, no relief could be availed by bank

ITAT deals with ‘booking’ amount paid to acquire a new house; distinguishes between Ownership and In

IT: Booking of two residential houses before the date of transfer would not provide ownership rights to assessee, thus, he could not be deemed to be owning two residential houses on date of transfer

Limitation period under sec. 11B is to be triggered once an application is made for refund

Service Tax : Once application for refund is made in terms of Central Excise Act, 1944, it has to be considered in accordance therewith and not otherwise; therefore, refund of tax mistakenly on export of services, would be subject to bar of limitation under section 11B(1) of Central Excise Act, 1944

No TDS from distribution of rental income earned by a society among its members

IT : Where assessee co-operative society having collected jeep rentals on behalf of its members owning those jeeps, remitted said amount to members, it being a welfare activity and there was no element of work contract involved, assessee was not required to deduct tax at source while making remittance in question

Matter remanded as ITAT didn’t enquire into segregation of funds before giving benefit of exception

IT : Where Tribunal allowed assessee's loss from sale purchase of shares in view of exception provided in section 73 without considering segregation of total funds between business and investment, matter was to be remanded for re-examination

Writ petition not maintainable if alternate remedy against impugned order available with assessee

Excise & Customs : In view of remedy available to assessee under section 9A of Rajasthan Excise Act before Excise Commissioner/Tax Board, writ petition against adjudication order was not maintainable

HC upholds constitutional validity of Securities Contract norms for recognition of Stock Exchanges

SEBI : Regulations such as those which have been framed by Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations) Regulations, 2012, insofar as they define conditions for recognition of stock exchange, of minimum net worth, composition of board of directors, dispersal of ownership and norms for governance, do not infringe right under Article 19(1)(c) and are not ultra vires Securities Contracts (Regulations) Act, 1956.

Sum unearthed during survey couldn’t be deemed as concealed income without establishing its nature a

IT: There is no presumption that amount unearthed during course of survey will automatically be considered as 'concealed income' rather in such a case, Assessing Officer has to establish nature of income as 'concealed income' before levy of penalt

No withholding taxes from commission paid to NR agents for their services rendered outside India

IT/ILT: Payments of commission made by assessee to its foreign agents for rendering services abroad was not taxable in India and, thus, assessee was not required to deduct tax at source while making said payments

Payment under compulsion which was otherwise not payable constituted hardship requiring waiving off

Service Tax : Payment under compulsion of any amount which is not due and payable would also constitute hardship for dispensation of pre-deposit, even though assessee may be in a financial position to pay same

HC sets aside Tribunal’s order declaring appellant guilty under FERA as no evidence were found in su

FERA: In absence of any evidence on record to show that appellant made payment in lieu of pay order received from a non-resident Indian, order implicating appellant guilty of violating section 9 was to be set aside

Additions couldn’t be made on basis of seized docs unless it’s supported by sufficient material

IT: In absence of sufficient supporting material, merely on basis of document seized under section 132(4A), Assessing Officer could not make addition of undisclosed income