1. The Claim

A taxpayer claimed a deduction of around ₹3.71 lakh under Section 80GGC for a political donation.

The donation was made through a recognised banking channel, and the taxpayer also had a certificate from the political party supporting the donation.

2. Why Did the Tax Department Object?

The taxpayer's assessment was reopened after a search involving the political party.

The Assessing Officer disallowed the ₹3.71 lakh deduction.

The taxpayer accepted the disallowance and paid the resulting tax demand.

But there was another issue.

The department also imposed a ₹2.31 lakh penalty under Section 270A, treating the claim as misreporting of income.

3. What Was the Question Before ITAT?

Was simply claiming a deduction that was later disallowed enough to classify the taxpayer's conduct as “misreporting” and impose a penalty?

The taxpayer argued that he had made the donation through banking channels and had claimed the deduction believing it was allowable.

4. What Did ITAT Look At?

The Tribunal focused on how the penalty had actually been imposed.

It noted that the penalty order did not clearly specify:

• Which specific limb of Section 270A applied

• How the taxpayer's claim satisfied the conditions for “misreporting”

The Tribunal also noted that merely disallowing a deduction does not, by itself, establish under-reporting or misreporting.

5. The Verdict

ITAT Ahmedabad deleted the ₹2.31 lakh penalty.

Importantly, the Tribunal did not allow the ₹3.71 lakh deduction.

The taxpayer had already accepted that the deduction was not allowable and paid the resulting tax. The dispute before ITAT was specifically about the penalty.

6. The Key Tax Lesson

There is a difference between a deduction being disallowed and a taxpayer being guilty of misreporting income.

A claim can be rejected by the tax department, but that does not automatically mean the conditions for a penalty have been established.

In this case, the ITAT's focus was not whether the deduction should have been allowed. It was whether the department had properly established the basis for imposing the penalty.

India's GDP per capita was slightly higher than China's in 1990. By 2025, China's had grown to about 5.1× India's.

Source

Many taxpayers believe they can skip filing an ITR if they have no tax liability. That's not always true. Under the Income-tax Act, filing may still be mandatory if you meet certain conditions, such as owning foreign assets, making high-value transactions, or crossing specified thresholds.

If any of these conditions apply to you, check your filing obligation before deciding not to file. Filing on time can help you avoid unnecessary compliance issues.

1. The Transaction

A property dealer deposited around ₹54 lakh in cash into his bank account.

The Income Tax Department treated the deposits as unexplained income because he had not filed his ITR and did not respond to the notices issued to him.

The case eventually reached ITAT Delhi.

2. Why Did the Tax Department Object?

The Department questioned the source of the ₹54 lakh deposited into his bank account.

Since the taxpayer had not filed an ITR and had not responded to the tax proceedings, the cash deposits were treated as unexplained money and added to his taxable income.

3. What Was the Question Before ITAT?

Was the entire ₹54 lakh actually the property dealer's income?

Or was he merely receiving and transferring money on behalf of property buyers and sellers?

The answer depended on whether he could establish the actual nature and source of these cash deposits.

4. What Did ITAT Look At?

The Tribunal examined the documentary evidence available on record.

This included:

• Bank statements showing the movement of funds

• 8 registered sale deeds

• Affidavits from the property sellers

• Affidavits from the buyers

The evidence showed that the taxpayer had collected money from property buyers and subsequently transferred it to the sellers.

The Tribunal therefore found that the ₹54 lakh could not simply be treated as his undisclosed income.

5. The Verdict

ITAT Delhi ruled in favour of the taxpayer and deleted the addition of ₹54 lakh as unexplained income.

The Tribunal accepted that the money represented property-related transactions passing through his bank account rather than his own income.

6. The Key Tax Lesson

A large cash deposit in your bank account does not automatically mean the entire amount is your taxable income.

But if you're handling money on behalf of someone else, the source and nature of those transactions must be properly documented and explainable.

This case also highlights an important distinction:

Winning a tax dispute ≠ ignoring tax compliance.

The taxpayer's documentary evidence ultimately helped establish what the ₹54 lakh actually represented.

Filed your ITR and still waiting for your refund? Don't panic just yet. A refund may take time to be processed, but there are also a few issues on the taxpayer's side that can hold it up. Before assuming your refund is delayed, check these 5 things:

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1. ITR filed but not verified

Filing your ITR is not the final step. You must also complete e-verification or submit the ITR-V within 30 days of filing.

Check your ITR status and make sure it shows that the return has been successfully e-verified.

2. Pending Section 143(1)(a) adjustment

The CPC may propose an adjustment if it identifies a discrepancy in your return, such as a mismatch in income, TDS or tax credits.

If you receive a proposed adjustment communication, review it and submit your response within the prescribed time. Ignoring it could affect your final refund amount.

3. Section 139(9) defective-return notice

If your ITR contains certain incomplete or inconsistent information, the CPC may issue a defective-return notice.

You generally get 15 days, or the period specified in the notice, to rectify the defect. Ignoring the notice can result in the return being treated as invalid.

4. Bank account issue

Your refund can also fail because of a problem with the nominated bank account.

Check whether the account is:

• Active
• Pre-validated
• Correctly linked with your PAN, wherever required
• Correctly entered with the right IFSC

If a refund has already failed, you may need to update the account and request a refund reissue.

5. Section 245 notice / Outstanding demand

If you have an outstanding tax demand, the Department may propose to adjust it against your refund under Section 245.

If you receive such a communication, check whether the demand is correct, already paid or disputed, and respond accordingly.

How?

Here’s what happened in a recent Income Tax case before ITAT Bangalore.

1. ₹1.33 Crore in Cash Deposits

A retired teacher from Mysore had cash deposits of around ₹1.33 crore during FY 2014-15.

He had also not filed an ITR for AY 2015-16. This caught the attention of the Income Tax Department through its information/risk management system.

2. What the Tax Department Found

The Department received information about substantial cash deposits in the taxpayer's bank accounts. The transactions included cash deposits of:

• ₹13 lakh in Bank of Baroda
• ₹60 lakh in Canara Bank
• Another ₹60 lakh in cash deposits

Along with bank interest of ₹12,701, the total transactions came to approximately ₹1.33 crore. The Department therefore initiated reassessment proceedings.

3. What Did the Assessing Officer Do?

The Department first issued a notice under Section 148A(b) on 26 March 2022, asking the taxpayer to explain why reassessment should not be initiated.

The taxpayer did not respond to the notice. On 26 April 2022, the Assessing Officer passed an order under Section 148A(d) and issued a Section 148 notice. The reassessment proceedings followed.

Eventually, the AO determined the taxpayer's total income at approximately ₹48.85 lakh. The taxpayer challenged the assessment before the CIT(A), but the appeal was rejected.

He then approached the ITAT, Bangalore.

4. The Legal Issue Wasn't Simply the ₹1.33 Crore

This is where the case gets interesting. The key question before the Tribunal was:

“Did the Income Tax Department still have the legal authority to reopen AY 2015-16 when the Section 148 notice was issued on 26 April 2022?”

The relevant limitation period under the earlier reassessment framework had already expired on 31 March 2022. The Section 148 notice, however, was issued on 26 April 2022. So the issue became one of limitation and jurisdiction.

5. What Did ITAT Decide?

The ITAT held that the reassessment proceedings could not survive because the Section 148 notice was issued beyond the permissible limitation period.

Once the notice initiating reassessment was held to be invalid, the reassessment based on that notice could not stand. The Tribunal therefore quashed the reassessment proceedings.

6. But This Does NOT Mean ₹1.33 Crore Was Tax-Free

This is probably the most important point.

The ITAT's decision should not be read as:

"A retired person deposited ₹1.33 crore in cash and the Tribunal declared it tax-free."

That is not what the case establishes. The central issue was whether the Department had validly exercised its reassessment powers within the prescribed time limit. The taxpayer won because the reassessment itself was held to be legally invalid.

7. The Key Tax Lesson

The Income Tax Department has significant powers to reopen past assessments where income may have escaped assessment.

But those powers are not unlimited.

They must be exercised:

within the prescribed time limits + following the required legal procedure.

Even when the underlying transactions involve substantial amounts, a reassessment cannot survive if the very notice used to initiate it is legally invalid.

In tax litigation, sometimes the question isn't just "How much tax is payable?"

It's also "Did the tax department have the legal authority to make this assessment in the first place?"

1. Choosing Your Tax Regime

The New Tax Regime is the default option. However, eligible taxpayers can choose between the Old and New Tax Regime every financial year.

If you have business or professional income, the rules for switching between regimes are different, so make sure you understand your eligibility before making a choice.

2. Basic Exemption Limits

Category	Old Tax Regime	New Tax Regime
Senior Citizen (60–79 years)	Up to ₹3 lakh	Up to ₹4 lakh
Super Senior Citizen (80+ years)	Up to ₹5 lakh	Regular slab rates under the New Tax Regime (no separate age-based exemption)

3. Rebate Under Section 87A

Depending on the regime you choose, you may also be eligible for a rebate.

Tax Regime	Maximum Rebate	Available If Taxable Income Does Not Exceed
New Tax Regime	₹60,000	₹12 lakh
Old Tax Regime	₹12,500	₹5 lakh

4. Are Senior Citizens Above 75 Exempt from Filing an ITR?

Not necessarily.

Under Section 194P of the Income Tax Act, a resident senior citizen aged 75 years or above may be exempt from filing an ITR only if all of the following conditions are met:

• Income consists only of pension and interest.
• The interest is earned from the same specified bank where the pension is credited.
• The required declaration is submitted to the specified bank.
• The specified bank computes the tax liability and deducts the applicable TDS.

If you have income from rent, capital gains, multiple bank accounts, business or profession, or any other source outside these conditions, you may still be required to file an ITR.

Conclusion

Your age alone doesn't determine your tax liability or whether you need to file an ITR. The tax regime you choose, your income sources, your eligibility for rebate, and the conditions under Section 194P all play an important role. If you're filing your return this year, it's worth reviewing these points before you submit your ITR.

UPI is handling more transactions than ever, but the average payment value has steadily declined—from ₹1,804 in January 2022 to ₹1,273 in June 2026. This isn't a sign of weaker growth. Instead, it reflects the rapid rise of everyday, low-value payments as UPI increasingly replaces cash for groceries, transport, local shopping, and other daily purchases. The figures in the infographic are derived from NPCI's monthly UPI transaction statistics.

Source

According to CMIE's Economic Outlook (April 2026), grocery & supermarket payments account for 39.3% of merchant UPI transactions, followed by fast food (15.6%), restaurants (13.2%), telecom services (9.2%), and service stations (7.0%). The data highlights how UPI has evolved into India's preferred payment method for everyday spending. What's your most common use of UPI?

Source

Official data from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) shows that net non-corporate tax collections have exceeded net corporate tax collections since FY 2022–23. The chart compares net collections over the last five financial years.