High Court Vows To Make CsIT Pay Personal Costs For Harassing Taxpayers With Frivolous Appeals

CIT vs. Proctor and Gamble Home Products Ltd (Bombay High Court)

For filing frivolous appeals and harassing taxpayers, heavy/exemplary costs to be imposed which will have to be personally paid by the jurisdictional CIT who sanctioned filing of the appeal
We are now putting the Officers of the Revenue to notice, that in all cases including where appeals are filed, the Offices instructing the Counsel would review whether the appeal should at all be pressed in view of the Revenue having accepted the jurisdictional High Court’s order on an identical issue and take necessary instructions from the Commissioner of Income Tax to withdraw and/or not press the appeal. Alternatively, in case a conscious decision is taken to press the appeal, then an averment to the effect that either the case is distinguishable or an appeal has been preferred from the decision of this Court to the Apex Court if not averred in the appeal memo, then a further affidavit in support be filed indicating the reasons. In the absence of the above, we will be compelled to impose heavy/exemplary costs to be personally personally paid by the jurisdictional – Commissioner of Income Tax under whose jurisdiction, the appeal is being filed and pressed in spite of the issue being settled by this Court and the same having been accepted by the Revenue
 

Uday C Tamhankar vs. DCIT (ITAT Mumbai)

Extrapolation: Fact that assessee admitted undisclosed income for one year does not mean that AO can assume that similar undisclosed income is earned in earlier years as well
The assessing officer did not bring any material on record to support his case of estimation of professional receipts of earlier years. We also notice that the assessing offer has assessed the net profit on the alleged suppressed professional receipts, meaning thereby, the assessing officer has presumed that the assessee would have suppressed corresponding expenses also. Again it is only a guess work only, unsupported by any material. Similarly, the average daily collection estimated by the AO was also mere guess work. In effect, there is no material available with the AO to show that the assessee has suppressed professional receipts as well as expenses in order to substantiate the estimation made by him
 

Parinee Developers Pvt Ltd vs. ACIT (ITAT Mumbai)

S. 271(1)(c): If the notice does not clearly specify whether the penalty is initiated for "concealment" or for "filing inaccurate particulars", it is invalid. Penalty should be imposed merely because the income has been offered to tax in a later year and not in the present year
the penalty notice issued u/s 274 of the Act is ambiguous to the extent for which the penalties are initiated. The said notice does not specify where the present penalty is being levied for concealment of income or for furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income. CIT (A) did not strike of The irrelevant limb mentioned in the notice u/s 274 of the Act. CIT (A) is not clear as to the relevant limb of the provisions of section 271(1)(c) of the Act for which penalty should be levied. Further, in the quantum order u/s 250 of the Act, the CIT (A) initiated penalty for assessee’s failure in furnishing inaccurate particulars in respect of estimated cost of future expenditure resulted in suppression of income. In the penalty order of the CIT (A), penalty was levied for “concealment of particulars of income‟ in respect of the change in estimated cost. By all these variations, the CIT (A) is not clear as to whether the penalties are levied for “concealment of income” or “furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income”