Taxmann’s Tax Prosecution under Income-tax/GST & Black Money Laws By Gagan Kumar 5th Edition April 2026

Tax Prosecution Gagan Kumar 5th Edition April 2026

Tax Prosecution Gagan Kumar 5th Edition April 2026

The Present Publication is the 5^th Edition, amended by the Finance Act 2026. This book is authored by Gagan Kumar, with the following noteworthy features:

• [Dual-Act Cross-Referencing] Every provision is cross-referenced across both the Income-tax Act 1961 and the 2025 Act, with a complete section-mapping table covering all 26 prosecution provisions (Secs. 473–498 of the 2025 Act alongside their 1961 Act equivalents)
• [Finance Act 2026 Currency] The law reflects all amendments under the Finance Act 2026, including updated prosecution thresholds, compounding charges, and the CBDT’s prosecution-identification circular—with the ₹25 lakh threshold below which prosecution ordinarily requires collegium approval
• [Complete Procedural Lifecycle—Fully Updated for the BNSS] From sanction and complaint filing through cognizance, charge framing, cross-examination, discharge, quashing, compounding, and all appellate tiers—Magistrate to Supreme Court. All procedural references are current under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, which replaced the CrPC—covering discharge (Sec. 268), quashing (Sec. 528), revision (Sec. 438), and appellate provisions (Chapter XXXI)—making the book immediately operative for proceedings initiated under the new code
• [Reasonable Cause and Culpable Mental State] Chapter 7 maps what courts have actually accepted as reasonable cause across real factual scenarios, and analyses the reverse presumption of culpable mental state under Section 278E/490, including when and how it is rebutted, through the leading Supreme Court and High Court decisions
• [Corporate Liability and the ‘Person in Charge’ Test] Chapters 4 and 5 map personal prosecution liability across every director category: Managing Directors (automatically liable), Whole-time Directors (on specific averment), Independent/Non-Executive Directors (not liable absent knowledge or connivance), Nominee Directors, and professional directors. The Kalanithi Maran decision—a Non-Executive Chairman holding 50%+ shares held not prosecutable for TDS default—is examined in detail
• [IBC–Prosecution Intersection] Whether directors of companies under CIRP or liquidation remain personally exposed to prosecution for pre-insolvency tax offences, analysed through the IBC moratorium provisions and key decisions including Kingfisher Airlines and Ajay Kumar Radheyshyam Goenka
• [Prosecution Mitigation | Discharge, Quashing, and Compounding] A practitioner guide to all three exit routes. Covers why discharge is rarely available once the culpable mental state presumption applies; the High Court cases directing compounding over quashing; and the full compounding framework including charge computation (with 1.2x–1.6x multipliers for repeat offenders), the Footcandles Film ruling that CBDT guidelines cannot override Section 279(2) jurisdiction, and the 2024 CBDT clarification that compounding is not an admission of guilt
• [GST Prosecution] Standalone treatment covering the full punishment matrix under Section 132 CGST Act, constitutional validity of arrest powers, delegation of ‘reason to believe’, arrest without assessment, bail jurisprudence, and the complete compounding framework including Forms GST CPD-01 and CPD-02
• [Black Money Act Prosecution] Section-by-section analysis of the BMA’s prosecution provisions (Secs. 49–53), carrying mandatory rigorous imprisonment of 6 months to 7 years. Includes the significant ruling that revised-return disclosure under Section 139(5) bars prosecution under Section 50, and the retrospective-operation question through Union of India v. Gautam Khaitan
• [CBDT Guidelines and Landmark Rulings] Appendix 1 reproduces the full compounding guidelines—jurisdiction rules, procedure, charge computation, co-accused provisions, and the NRI misconception clarification. Appendix 2 consolidates the landmark rulings underpinning the treatise, in reference format for courtroom use
• [Author’s Practical Annotations] At several points, the author inserts an ‘Author’s Note’, commentary on a judgment’s unstated factual implications, a gap in judicial reasoning, or a question left open by the court. These annotations reflect the perspective of a practitioner who has appeared in these proceedings, not merely studied them

About the author