Section 268A

Section 268A — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section 268A, in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• PCIT v Agroha Fincap Ltd — an accommodation-entry case falls within exception (h) of the CBDT circular, so the monetary limit does not save the assessee High CourtHelps departmentNo later treatment found
  The tax effect in the department's High Court appeal is below the circular limit. My client says the appeal must go. Is that the end of it?
  Not if the case is within one of the circular's exceptions. The Delhi High Court, on a review petition, held that where the case of the Revenue before the Assessing Officer and the Commissioner (Appeals) was one of accommodation entries, it falls within exception (h) of the circular dated 15 March 2024 — 'cases involving organised tax evasion including cases of bogus capital gain/loss through penny stocks and cases of accommodation entries' — and the appeal is maintainable without regard to the tax effect. The review petition was dismissed.
• ITO v Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society Ltd — the Rs 60 lakh Tribunal limit applied, but with liberty to the department to have the dismissal recalled if an exception is shown ITATHelps taxpayerNo later treatment found
  The department's Tribunal appeal against my client is below the monetary limit. Will the Tribunal simply dismiss it, and is that the end of the matter?
  It will dismiss it, but the dismissal is not always final. The Tribunal applied CBDT Circular No. 09/2024 dated 17 September 2024, which fixes the monetary limit for a departmental appeal before the Tribunal at Rs 60,00,000, and dismissed the Revenue's appeals because the tax effect was below that figure; the assessee's cross-objections were allowed to that extent. But on the Departmental Representative's request the Tribunal expressly reserved liberty to the department to point out, after verification, that the appeals fall within one of the circular's exceptions and to seek recall and restoration.
• CBDT Circular 9/2024 CBDT Circulars & InstructionsHelps taxpayer
  The department has appealed against my order. Is the tax effect too small for it to appeal at all?
  With effect from 17 September 2024 the Department is not to file an appeal where the tax effect does not exceed Rs. 60 lakh before the ITAT, Rs. 2 crore before a High Court or Rs. 5 crore before the Supreme Court. It applies to appeals filed after that date and to pending appeals, which may be withdrawn where the tax effect is below the enhanced figures.
• CBDT Circular 5/2024 CBDT Circulars & InstructionsCuts both waysSuperseded by amendment
  The department says the monetary limit does not apply to my case. Which exceptions let it appeal anyway?
  The listed ones only: constitutional validity of a provision, a Board order, instruction, circular or notification held illegal or ultra vires, information from law enforcement agencies such as the CBI or ED, cases where prosecution has been launched or a conviction recorded, adverse judicial comments against revenue authorities, undisclosed foreign income or assets, organised tax evasion, court-directed appeals, TDS/TCS disputes turning on the nature of the transaction, and questions on the applicability of a DTAA.

Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.