Letter [F.No.500/111/2009-FTD-1(Pt.)], dated 29-5-2012 The Finance Act 2012 has introduced certain clarificatory amendments in Section 2 clause (14), Section 2 clause (47), Section 9 and Section 195, of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (“Act”), with retrospective effect from 01.04.1962 or 01.04.1976, whereby meaning of various terms used in these sections have been clarified in order to remove any doubt regarding their interpretations. 2. These amendments have been introduced retrospectively in order to clarify the legislative intent and state the position of law from the date of coming into effect of these sections in the Act. 3. Doubts have been raised in various quarters about the implication of these amendments on the assessments that have already been completed and attained finality. 4. The Board, after due consideration, hereby directs that in case where assessment proceedings have been completed under section 143(3) of the Act, before the first day of April, 2012, and no notice for reassessment has been issued prior to that date; then such cases shall not be reopened under Section 147/148 of the Act on account of the abovementioned clarificatory amendments introduced by the Finance Act, 2012. However, assessment or any other order which stand validated due to the said clarificatory amendments in the Finance Act 2012 would of course be enforced. 5. This may be brought to the notice of all officers in your region immediately.
Miscellaneous
CIT vs. High Energy Batteries (India) Ltd (Madras High Court) The assessee purchased an igni-fluid boiler from its sister concern and on the same day leased it back. The AO & CIT(A) relied on McDowell 154 ITR 148 and held the sale and lease back arrangement to be a sham & camouflage for a loan by the assessee to the sister concern and rejected the assessee’s claim for depreciation. However, the Tribunal allowed the claim on the ground that the transaction was not a “sham”. On appeal by the department, HELD dismissing the appeal:
Sale & Lease Back transactions are not “sham” transactions
INSTRUCTION NO. 01/2012 [F.NO.225/34/2011-ITA.II], DATED 2-2-2012 The issue of processing of returns for the Asst. Year 2011-12 and giving credit for TDS has been considered by the Board. In order to clear backlog of returns, the following decisions have been taken:
CBDT Instructions on processing returns for AY 2011-12
Press Release dated 15.5.2012 issued by the Ministry of Finance: Following government amendments have been proposed in the provisions relating to General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) contained in the Finance Bill 2012.
Amended GAAR Provisions In Finance Bill 2012: Press Release
Farida Holdings (P.) Ltd. v Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax [2012] 21 taxmann.com 462 (Chennai – Trib.) The assessee is a private limited company, mainly functioning in the role of a holding company over a number of hundred-percent subsidiary companies. The assessee company is exercising administrative control over the subsidiaries in its status as holding company. In that status the assessee company is also managing the financial affairs of its subsidiaries. The assessee company is monitoring the inflows and outflows of the subsidiary companies in its attempt to utilize the available funds to the maximum advantage of the group companies. The Assessing Officer found that the assessee company had received loan amounts from different subsidiaries and those borrowed funds were in turn advanced to other subsidiaries. According to the assessing authority, the loans obtained by the assessee from its subsidiaries were in the nature of deemed dividends as per section 2(22)(e) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and, therefore, liable to be taxed.