Indian tax tribunals and courts issue multiple rulings on assessments and penalties

Various Indian judicial and tax tribunals have issued several rulings regarding income tax assessments and penalties.

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Pune deleted a ₹1.50 lakh penalty against a Vodafone-Idea super distributor, ruling that recharge voucher values do not constitute business turnover for audit purposes. In Delhi, the ITAT deleted a ₹10.13 crore disallowance for Jammu Pigments Limited, citing that the assessment was based on mere allegations of bogus purchases. Additionally, the ITAT Delhi ruled that a reassessment notice issued in the name of a deceased individual is invalid and void ab initio.

In Mumbai, the ITAT remanded a transfer pricing dispute involving Tech Mahindra to a fresh bench for benchmarking after examining software and support service transactions between the company and its US-based subsidiary.

Separately, the Madras High Court set aside an income tax demand order for a taxpayer who was unable to upload returns due to technical issues. The court accepted screenshot evidence of the portal failure and ordered the department to allow the filing of returns for the 2015-16 assessment year.