Renting Dharamshala On Nominal Rent For Marriages Not Commercial, No Property Tax: Punjab and Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that if Dharamshala is provided at a nominal rent for conducting marriages, it will not amount to a commercial purpose.The division bench of Justice Rintu Bahri and Justice Manisha Batra has observed that Dharamshalas are not liable to pay the property tax.The petitioner's tax on lands and buildings was assessed, and the assessee was served with a notice of demand, including arrears, in the prescribed forms.In order to recover this amount, the Joint...

Madras High Court Upholds State's Decision To Increase Property Tax In Chennai, Coimbatore Municipal Areas

The Madras High Court recently upheld the validity of the Government Order issued by Tamil Nadu's Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department and the consequential resolutions of Greater Chennai Corporation and Coimbatore Corporation by which the property taxes in Chennai and Coimbatore were revised and increased.The court however emphasised that this revision in tax rates could not be implemented retrospectively and rejected a revision notice to such extent.Justice Anita Sumanth passed...

Failure To Furnish Certified Octroi Exemption Form; Importer Not Ineligible For Refund Of Octroi Under Section 194(2) Of MMC Act: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has ruled that failure to furnish a declaration duly certified by the Octroi Inspector, would not render the importer ineligible for refund of Octroi Duty under Section 194(2) of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 (MMC Act). The Bench of Acting Chief Justice S. V. Gangapurwala and Justice Arif S. Doctor held that production of a duly certified octroi exemption form is not a substantive requirement but merely a procedural requirement to enable an eligible...

Industrial Townships Are "Local Areas" For Entry Tax Levy By States Though They Are Excluded From Municipalities : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court upheld States' power to impose entry tax from Industrial Township/Areas.The bench of CJI UU Lalit, Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and J B Pardiwala held that industrial townships are 'local area' for the purposes of entry tax. The court dismissed appeals against filed against (1) Orissa High Court Judgment by OCL India Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd. and (2) the Allahabad High Court judgment by Hindustan Aluminium Company Ltd.'Local Area'Entry 52 of List II of of the...

Tax Exemptions Given With Benevolent Object, Approach For 'Exempting' & 'Including' Subject Matters Under Tax Purview Can't Be Same: Orissa HC

The Orissa High Court has held that the approach which is employed to exempt a commodity from the purview of taxation is not the same which is used to bring a good under the umbrella of taxation. While applying this principle, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Dr. Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi held that 'Chuni' is different from 'Cattle feed' under entry 66 of para-I of the Schedule attached to the Odisha Entry Tax Act, 1999 ('OET Act') and thus, the former is not...

"Tobacco & Tobacco Products" In Schedule To Odisha Entry Tax Act Include 'Bidi': Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court has held that 'bidi' comes under the purview of "tobacco and tobacco products" as provided under Entry 16, Part I of the Schedule to the Odisha Entry Tax Act, 1999 ('OET Act'). A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Justice Radha Krishna Pattanaik observed, "Although learned counsel for the Petitioner sought to contend that under Entry 31 'cigarette and lighter' is a separate item and therefore unless there is a separate entry for 'bidi' it would...

No Conflict Between Power To Levy GST And Power Of Municipal Corporation To Levy Advertisement Fee Or Advertisement Tax: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court bench of Justice Suraj Govindraj held that there is no conflict between the power to levy GST under the GST Act and the power of a municipal corporation to levy an advertisement fee or advertisement tax under Section 134 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act.The petitioner, Hubballi Dharwad Advertisers Association, is a registered association of advertising agencies who are in the business of advertising on the advertisement hoardings licenced by the...

Municipal Corporations Can Levy Advertisement Fee/ Tax Under KMC Act, No Conflict With Levy Of GST: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has declared that there is no conflict between the power to levy GST under GST Act and power of Municipal Corporation to levy advertisement fee or advertisement tax under Section 134 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act. A single judge bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj gave the declaration while rejecting a petition filed by Hubballi Dharwad Advertisers Association and others, which had challenged the demand notice dated 13.06.2018 issued by the...

State Can't Legislate On Entry Tax After Deletion Of Entry 52 Of List II: West Bengal Taxation Tribunal

The West Bengal Taxation Tribunal, headed by Malay Marut Banerjee (Chairman), Suranjan Kundu (Judicial Member), and Chanchalmal Bachhawat (Technical Member), observed that the state legislature cannot make any law in the field of entry of goods into the local area for consumption, use, and sale as Entry 52 of List II of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution of India was dropped permanently.The West Bengal Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Area Act, 2012 was introduced w.e.f. 01.04.2012 in a...

States Have Legislative Competence To Levy Tax On Lotteries Run By Other States : Supreme Court Allows Appeals Of Kerala & Karnataka

In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has held that State legislatures have the competence to levy tax on the lotteries organized by other states. Holding so, a bench comprising Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna allowed the appeals filed by the States of Karnataka and Kerala challenging the judgments of Karnataka and Kerala High Courts which held that they lacked the legislative competence to levy tax on the lotteries organized by other states like Nagaland, Meghalaya and Sikkim.In 2010,...

Madras High Court Expunges 'Scathing' Remarks Against Actor Vijay In Entry Tax Case

In an appeal filed by Actor Vijay to remove the scathing remarks made by the single judge bench while dismissing his petition for tax exemption on a Rolls Royce Ghost Motor Car, Madras High Court has expunged the observations made by single judge bench in paras 3,4,7,8, 11 and 12 of the original order.Today, a Division Bench of Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Mohammed Shaffiq allowed the writ appeal filed by Actor Vijay and disposed off the connected miscellaneous petition with no...

Kerala High Court Strikes Down Rules 9(4A) and 9(4C) Of Municipality Rules On Property Tax Fixation

The Kerala High Court has set aside Rules 9(4A) and 9(4C) of the Kerala Municipality (Property Tax, Service Tax and Surcharge) Rules which prescribe fixation of property tax at a minimum of 25% over and above the tax levied for the previous year, if the property tax arrived at on computation as per the Rules is less than the tax levied for the previous year.Justice N. Nagaresh pointed out that Section 233 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 does not permit the fixation of property tax over and...