Income Tax Case Law — by court, section and subject

Search the case law library

Try 148A, 271(1)(c), cash deposit, bogus purchase, stay of demand or a case name. Voice search works in English and Hindi — your speech is transcribed by your browser, not by us.

Start here

If you have a notice in your hand and fifteen minutes, this is the page to read.

Worked examples

48 notice situations taken start to finish, in order, with the authority behind every step. Start here if you have a notice rather than a question.

The whole library, in short

All 1209 authorities, one line each, grouped into 26 subjects — a page per subject. The fastest way to find the rule that fits your facts.

Every authority here has been searched for later treatment. 523 of them are the ones where the answer is not a clean yes — overruled, narrowed, overtaken by an amendment, or checked without a conclusion. Read the note before you cite.

Calculators

40 of them on VittSphere ONE — interest under 234A, 234B and 234C, capital gains, sections 54 and 54F, HRA, 44AD and 44ADA, TDS. The law here, the arithmetic there.

By court

In descending order of binding force. This is where precedent actually lives.

Supreme Court

Binding on every court and authority in India.

524 entries

High Court

Binding within that High Court's jurisdiction. Persuasive elsewhere.

423 entries

ITAT

Binding on the AO and CIT(A) within the Tribunal's jurisdiction. Persuasive elsewhere.

156 entries

Advance Ruling

Binding only on the applicant who sought it, in respect of the transaction the ruling was sought on, and on the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner and the authorities subordinate to him in respect of that applicant and that transaction — and only until the law or the facts change (section 245S). It binds nobody else. The Tribunal and the courts nonetheless treat a considered ruling as persuasive, which is why practitioners cite them.

53 entries

CBDT Circulars & Instructions

Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them.

53 entries

By stage of your dispute

Where you are in the process — from the assessing officer up to the Supreme Court.

AO — Assessment Stage

No precedent is created here. What governs this stage is the Act, the Rules, CBDT instructions — and the decisions of the courts above, which the officer is bound to follow.

167 entries

CIT(A) — First Appeal

A CIT(A) order binds only the parties and is not generally published. What governs the stage is the statute and the higher-court law on what a first appellate authority may and may not do.

55 entries

ITAT

The first stage at which precedent is created. Binding on the AO and CIT(A) within the Tribunal's jurisdiction.

166 entries

High Court

Binding within that High Court's jurisdiction. Persuasive elsewhere.

429 entries

Supreme Court

Binding on every court and authority in India.

526 entries

One thing worth knowing. Precedent only starts at the Tribunal. An assessing officer's order and, in the ordinary course, a CIT(A) order bind nobody but the parties and are not published. That does not leave those two stages empty — it means the law that governs them was made higher up. The AO and CIT(A) pages carry that law: what the officer must do before adding to your income, and what a first appellate authority may and may not do with your appeal.

By section on your notice

Look at the section printed on the notice and start here. These are the 57 sections with 16 or more entries. Every one of the 1364 sections we hold has a page of its own — the full section index lists them all with their counts.