Revenue Tax Division opposes same-sex couple’s plea for tax exemption on items

The Revenue Tax Division has filed an affidavit earlier than the Bombay Excessive Court docket opposing a plea by a same-sex couple difficult Part 56(2)(x) of the Revenue Tax Act, which grants exemption from tax on items between spouses, and looking for to increase the profit to their relationship.

The affidavit, dated October 14, 2025, was filed earlier than a Division Bench of Justices Burgess Colabawalla and Firdosh Pooniwalla by Sandeep Dahiya, Principal Commissioner of Revenue Tax (Judicial). The division has urged the Bench to dismiss the petition as “misconceived”. In accordance with the division, the petitioners are trying to make use of the Revenue Tax Act to change the that means of “partner” underneath the Act, a time period that isn’t recognised for same-sex relationships underneath any marriage regulation in India. The division said that the petitioners haven’t cited any regulation recognising their relationship as a wedding or recognising them as spouses and are as an alternative asking the Revenue Tax Act to offer a definition of marriage or partner that’s opposite to the definitions underneath varied marriage legal guidelines.

The division has contended that the writ petition constitutes an abuse of the authorized course of, because the aid sought doesn’t pertain to the provisions of the Revenue Tax Act. The affidavit additional said that marriage or spousal relationships between same-sex {couples} should not recognised underneath any marriage regulation in India and, subsequently, the exemption underneath Part 56(2)(x) can’t be prolonged to them. The division has maintained that the interpretation of “partner” should align with the wedding legal guidelines in India and that the Revenue Tax Act can not outline the time period opposite to these legal guidelines.

The division has argued that the petitioners are looking for a change within the definition of “partner” underneath the Revenue Tax Act with none supporting laws recognising their relationship as a wedding. It has additionally submitted that the petition is an abuse of the method of regulation as a result of the aid sought has no reference to the provisions of the Revenue Tax Act. The division has urged the court docket to dismiss the plea, reiterating that the exemption on items between spouses applies solely to relationships recognised as marriages underneath Indian regulation. The court docket is but to pronounce its order on the matter.