Income Tax Case Law India — search by section

What does your notice say at the top?

Every notice carries a section number in its first line. Start there.

s.143(1)An intimation adjusting your return s.143(2)Your return has been picked for scrutiny s.139(9)Your return is defective s.148AThey want to reopen an earlier year s.148A reassessment notice s.245A refund is being set off against a demand s.156A demand notice s.133(6)They want information or documents s.271(1)(c)Penalty for concealment s.270APenalty for under-reporting Not sureSomething else — browse every section

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

100 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 2411 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. 1,082 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.

604 entries

High Court

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

837 entries

ITAT

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

547 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.

370 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.

504 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.

355 entries

ITAT

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

743 entries

High Court

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

903 entries

Supreme Court

Binding on every court and authority in India.

612 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 141 sections with 16 or more entries. Every one of the 2438 sections we hold has a page of its own — the full section index lists them all with their counts.

Income tax case law, arranged so you can actually use it

What does your notice say at the top?

Start here

Worked examples

The whole library, in short

Is it still good law?

Calculators

By court

Supreme Court

High Court

ITAT

Advance Ruling

CBDT Circulars & Instructions

By stage of your dispute

AO — Assessment Stage

CIT(A) — First Appeal

ITAT

High Court

Supreme Court

By section on your notice

143(3)

148

147

260A

143(1)

45

139(1)

90

132

68

37(1)

154

28

143(2)

195

263

153A

4

48

92CA

271(1)(c)

11

22

201(1A)

144B

72

144

201(1)

9(1)(i)

32

142(1)

201

250

44AB

192

2(47)

9(1)(vii)

133(6)

194C

56

145

234B

12A

148A

40(a)(ia)

92C

133A

14A

144C

273B

5

132(4)

139

264

44AD

119(2)(b)

156

194J

153C

2(14)