“Section 149(4)”

Notices issued under the unamended Section 148 of the Income-tax Act between April 1, 2021, and May 4, 2022, must be treated as notices issued under the new Section 148A(b) of the amended law. This requires the Assessing Officer to follow the procedure prescribed under the amended reassessment provisions, including issuing an order under Section 148A(d) before a fresh notice under Section 148.

A statement recorded under Section 132(4) during a search operation constitutes incriminating material and valuable evidence to dislodge earlier findings and make an assessment under Section 153A. Any material unearthed during search operations is also considered valuable evidence for invoking Section 153A.

The Supreme Court clarified that an appellate authority's 'finding' must be essential for disposing of the appeal for the relevant assessment year, not an incidental observation about another year's income. Appellate authorities cannot issue directions on matters not directly arising in the appeal for the specific assessment year, especially regarding escaped income, which has separate statutory mechanisms.

The Gujarat High Court holds that the explanation to Section 80-IA(4) of the Income-tax Act, regarding works contracts for infrastructure facilities, is clarificatory and explanatory in nature, not an amendment with retrospective effect. Its vires are upheld as it does not levy tax retrospectively.

An assessee cannot object to reassessment proceedings by demanding the source of information that led the Assessing Officer to believe that income had escaped assessment. Reassessment is justified when based on information from authorities like the Director of Income Tax (DIT) about bogus accommodation entries.

An addition under Section 68 for cash credits is not justified if the assessee establishes the identity and creditworthiness of the creditor and the genuineness of the transaction.

For availing deduction under section 80-IA, the 'infrastructure facility' does not necessarily need to be owned by the assessee. The assessee was held to be a developer, eligible for deduction under section 80-IA(4).

The actual cost of an asset for depreciation purposes is the cost to the assessee, reduced by any portion of that cost met by another person. Revaluation of assets motivated by inflating depreciation claims, rather than genuine business needs, is not permissible.