Tribunal upholds tax-exempt status of Tata Trusts

New Delhi: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has upheld the tax-exempt status of three Tata Group trusts, quashing a revision order of the Income Tax Department that sought to cancel tax exemption on grounds that they held shares of Tata Sons. It also censured former Tata Sons Chairman Syrus Mistry for supplying documents to the tax department soon after his unceremonious exit as the head of the salt-to-software group. The ITAT's Mumbai bench - comprising its President Justice P P Bhatt and Vice President Pramod Kumar - passed three separate orders on December 28, upholding the tax-exempt status of Ratan Tata Trust, JRD Tata Trust and Dorabji Tata Trust.

It said the March 2019 revision order of the Income Tax Department that sought to cancel tax exemption to the three trusts was "devoid of any legally sustainable merits". The three trusts collectively hold about 66 per cent in Tata Sons - the holding company of Tata Group.