1. SC in Pioneer Overseas Corporation[1] - Merely raising a dispute before any authority cannot be a ground not to levy interest or waive interest under Section 220(2A) of ITA:

A SLP was filed by the assessee with respect to waiver of interest under Section 220(2A) of ITA. The petitioner contended that appropriate authority has rejected the application for waiver of interest, which was later confirmed by High Court. The petitioner stated that as the dispute was pending for Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) resolution which was culminated in the year 2012 and the liability to pay tax arose then and therefore, they are entitled for waiver of interest.

The Supreme Court stated that merely raising the dispute before any authority cannot be a ground not to levy interest or provide waiver under Section 220(2A). The Court stated that if that would be a reason, then every assessee would dispute pretending to be a bonafide litigant and seek waiver of interest and accordingly the petition requires to be set aside. The Court upheld the judgment of High Court and stated that interest under Section 220(2) is mandatory.

Read more: Summary of IT Decisions

1. Delhi High Court in Vallabh Textiles[1] - Payments made during Investigation having no colour of voluntariness, should be refunded to the assessee, since they are collected without following procedure of law:

A search was carried out by the tax authorities on the petitioner from 16^th February to 17^th February 2022. During the course of search, the petitioner has paid tax amounting approximately to Rs 1.8 Crore. The said payments were made between 01:28 AM to 07:03 AM on 17^th February 2022. The petitioner stated that the said payments were not made voluntarily but only on the coercion of the tax authorities. The tax authorities contend that since payments were made vide DRC-03 challans, the allegation of coercion is an afterthought.

The Court after going through the submissions made by both the parties, has stated that Rule 142(1A) of CT Rules[2] clearly provides that the proper officer has to issue DRC-04 acknowledging the payment of tax made by person and in the facts it is clear that although the payments were made in DRC-03, no document has been placed by revenue (tax authorities) that they have accepted the payment. Hence, the stand taken by the revenue that the payments are voluntary payments and not out of coercion is required to be set aside. Further, the court stated the fact that the said taxes were paid in the early morning hours during search also indicate the payment is out of coercion.

The Court stated that the tax authorities have violated instructions in Instruction No 01/2022-23 dated 25.05.22 issued by CBIC (dealing with the subject of deposit of tax during the course of search, inspection or investigation) and has not adopted the principles laid by Gujarat High Court in Bhumi Associate vs Union of India (MANU/GJ/0174/2021). In Bhumi Associate (supra), it was clearly stated that there should not be any tax payment during the search. Even if it is voluntary payment, the same should be after the closure of search. The Court stated that the said guidelines were violated and accordingly asked the tax authorities to refund the tax along with interest.  

Read more: Summary of GST Decisions

Section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013, deals with the filing of Appeal/Application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for revival of Companies struck-off under Section 248 of the Companies Act.  The excerpt of Section 252, is as below:

Read more: Is NCLT, Empowered (Or Powerless) To Revive Voluntarily Struck-Off Companies

Contribution to recognized provident fund (‘RPF’) and/or approved superannuation fund (‘ASF’) are the most popular saving options being selected by the employees across the industries.

In addition to the above, it is very common that the employer makes payment to employee as gratuity. This is because, various tax deductions are available to the employer and the employee under the ITA[1] in respect of above payments.

In this article, we shall discuss the concept of RPF in detail from the perspective of ITA. Other two, namely ASF and Gratuity Fund will be covered in the subsequent parts.

Read more: All About Recognized Provident Fund, Approved Superannuation Fund and Gratuity Fund - Part I