Article
Tribunal’s power to grant stay: The case of Pepsi Foods
By Samyak Lohade
Recently, the Supreme Court in DCIT v. Pepsi Foods Ltd. examined the power of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (‘ITAT’) to grant stay, as well as certain amendments which provided for automatic vacation of stay granted by the ITAT. The article in this issue of Direct Tax Amicus analyses the legislative history in the matter of grant of stay by the Tribunal with the help of notable judicial precedents. The author traces the history of this issue right from the Apex Court’s decision in the case of ITO v. M.K. Mohammed Kunhi to the amendments by Finance (No. 2) Act, 1998, Finance Act, 2001, Finance Act, 2007 and Finance Act, 2008. He notes that though the Supreme Court has struck down the word ‘even’ and the words ‘is not’ after the words ‘delay in disposing of the appeal’ in the third proviso to Section 254(2A) as being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, the Finance Act, 2020 has again made certain amendments to Section 254 and introduced more conditions and limitation to the power of the Tribunal in grant of stay of recovery of demand. The article concludes by stating that it appears that the Tribunal can no longer exercise its independence in granting complete stay and the only recourse available is to approach the High Court...
Notifications
- Form 12BA under Rule 26A(2) revised – Employer to furnish various additional details including stock options allotted
- Payments to non-residents – New rule introduced for online application for lower withholding
- CIT(A)s for jurisdiction under Black Money Act notified
- Classification of ‘search case’ under Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act 2020 clarified
- Extension of certain reporting requirements in Form 3CD until 31 March 2022
- Re-registrations of trusts under Section 12AB – Rules and Forms notified
- Applications for condonation of delay in filing of Form 10B and 10BB for years prior to A.Y. 2018-19 to be disposed within 3 months
- ‘Potential cases’ for issuance of notice under Section 148
- Due dates extended for passing of specified Orders, issuance of notices and linking Aadhaar with PAN
- Faceless assessment – Class of cases for Section 144B specified
Ratio decidendi
- Payment made by resident software importers for shrink-wrapped software is not ‘royalty’ – Supreme Court
- Vivad se Vishwas Scheme not debarred by prosecution initiated on issue unrelated to tax arrears in particular AY – Bombay HC strikes down FAQ 73 of Circular No. 21/2020
- Refund of taxes paid in foreign jurisdictions not available in absence of any tax liability in India – Tax paid however available as business expenditure – ITAT Mumbai
- Cancellation of registration under Section 12A effective from date of conclusion of hearings for cancellation of registration – Option of assessee to avail the benefit of Section 11 – ITAT Mumbai
- Sums paid by company to shareholder and adjusted later against security deposit and rentals are not deemed dividends under Section 2(22)(e) – Karnataka High Court
