Finance Bill, 2026 Proposes Enabling GST Appellate Tribunal To Hear Advance Ruling Appeals

The Finance Bill, 2026, proposes a change in the GST appellate framework that will allow the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal to hear a limited category of advance ruling appeals. GSTAT will continue to function as the appellate forum for regular GST disputes such as classification, valuation, and input tax credit. The proposed change does not alter this role. Under the GST law, advance rulings are issued by state-level Authorities for Advance Rulings. Appeals lie before the...

Cigarettes Turn Costlier From Today As 40% Sin Tax Kicks In

Cigarettes will get 40% costlier from today, as higher taxes on tobacco products notified by the Union government take effect from February 1, 2026.The Ministry of Finance had issued the notification on December 31, 2025, replacing the GST compensation cess with a 40 per cent sin tax under the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025. While the notification was issued earlier, the revised levy becomes applicable from today.The notification also raises the GST rate on tobacco and related products...

Supreme Court Declines To Interfere With HC Decision Treating Education Consultancy To Foreign Universities As Export

The Supreme Court recently refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court judgment that had held that educational consultancy services provided by Indian entities to foreign universities qualify as exports of services and are not taxable as intermediary services under the GST law. A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by the Revenue. The Court also extended by two months the time granted to the Department to process the...

GST Not Payable On Transfer Of Leasehold Rights: Gujarat High Court Directs Refund

The Gujarat High Court, recently relying on its earlier ruling, reiterated that transferring or assigning leasehold rights in land is equivalent to the sale of land and therefore does not constitute a taxable 'supply' under the GST frameworkA Bench of Justice A. S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi was hearing a petition filed by Aquaeva Chemtech Private Limited, which had challenged the withholding of its GST refund relating to the transfer of leasehold rights in an industrial plot. The court...

Economic Survey 2025-26: GST 2.0 Delivers Stable Revenue As Transactions Rise

The Economic Survey 2025–26 said GST revenues remained steady following rate rationalisation under the GST 2.0 framework.Gross GST collections during April to December 2025 stood at Rs 17.4 lakh crore, registering a year-on-year growth of 6.7 percent, the Survey noted. It added that GST revenue growth broadly tracked nominal GDP growth during the period. The Survey also pointed to strong transaction activity, with cumulative e-way bill generation rising 21 percent year-on-year during the same...

Two-Year GST Refund Limitation Starts From Date Of Correct Payment: Kerala High Court

Earlier this month, the Kerala High Court held that the two-year limitation period under the GST law to claim refunds begins from the date on which tax is paid under the correct head, and not from the date of an earlier mistaken payment. The ruling was delivered by Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. while allowing a writ petition filed by Pushpagiri Medical Society, a registered non-profit organisation running a hospital and medical education institutions in Kerala. The Bench observed: “The right to...

GSTAT Delhi Confirms ₹19.3 Lakh Profiteering Liability on Park Avenue After-Shave Distributor

The Delhi Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) on 27 January directed sellers of Park Avenue After-Shave Lotion to deposit Rs. 19,32,446 into the Consumer Welfare Fund, confirming the revised profiteering allegations against them. The ruling comes after a major correction in the profiteering calculations, following the identification of duplication of invoices, which had caused the original financial demand to be overstated.A Bench comprising Dr. Sanjaya Kumar Mishra,...

Gujarat High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of GST Appeal Over 13-Day Delay

The Gujarat High Court recently set aside an appellate order rejecting a GST appeal solely on the ground of a 13-day delay, holding that the appellate authority had failed to exercise its discretion under the law despite having the power to condone the delay. A bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi held that the delay fell within the additional 30-day condonable period available beyond the 90-day statutory limitation under Section 107(4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax...

“Very Easy To Blame A Professional”: Delhi High Court Rejects Plea To Restore GST Registration Blaming CA

The Delhi High Court has refused to restore a trader's cancelled GST registration, observing that it is “very easy to blame a professional” after the firm attributed its failure to respond to tax notices to its Chartered Accountant. A Division Bench of Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Ajay Digpaul dismissed a batch of writ petitions filed by Fone Zone NXT, a proprietorship firm dealing in mobile phones and allied accessories. The firm had challenged the cancellation of its GST...

Uploading Show Cause Notice on 'Additional Notices' Tab Ineffective, Delhi High Court Reiterates

The Delhi High Court, on 21 January 2026, remanded a matter back to the Proper Officer, noting that uploading a show cause notice under the 'Additional Notices' tab was not a valid service. A Division Bench comprising Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Ajay Digpaul set aside the demand order, allowing the petitioner to file a reply to the show cause notice and avail a personal hearing. The Bench noted: “we are of the view that the petitioner has made out a case for remand for the...

Jharkhand High Court Quashes Order Denying Tax Credit For Late Returns In Light Of New GST Amendments

The Jharkhand High Court on 21 January, set aside an appellate order that denied Input Tax Credit (ITC) to a taxpayer, clarifying that credit cannot be denied solely for filing returns beyond the original deadline if subsequent statutory amendments expressly allow it.In a case where the taxpayer claimed ITC for FY 2018-19, the Court noted that once Section 16(5) of the CGST Act, 2017 was inserted, registered persons became entitled to claim ITC for past financial years provided their...

Appellate Authority Cannot Enhance GST Liability Without Hearing Taxpayer: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 14 January reiterated that a GST appellate authority cannot enhance taxable turnover or impose a higher rate of tax on grounds that were never part of the original adjudication, without giving the taxpayer an opportunity to be heard. A Bench of Justice Om Narayan Rai set aside an appellate order which enhanced the petitioner's taxable turnover by adding zero-rated supplies of Rs. 27 lakh and imposed GST at 18%, holding that such enhancement at the appellate stage...