Kerala High Court Quashes Panchayat Prosecution Over Tax Dues, Reiterates Recovery Must Fail First

The Kerala High Court has quashed criminal proceedings initiated by a grama panchayat against the General Manager of GTL Infrastructure Ltd. over alleged non-payment of panchayat tax in respect of mobile towers, holding that prosecution under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act can be launched only after statutory recovery proceedings are first exhausted. A Single Bench of Justice C. S. Dias allowed a criminal miscellaneous case filed by the General Manager, who was the first accused in a complaint...

Joint Commissioner's VAT Revision Cannot Be Revisited By Senior Officer: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 2 February held that once an order is revised by a Joint Commissioner under Section 86 of the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003, it cannot be subjected to a further suo motu revision under Section 85 by a Senior Joint Commissioner, as both officers act as delegates of the Commissioner and exercise the same revisional authority. A Bench of Justice Kausik Chanda, while dismissing a review petition filed by the West Bengal Tax Department, wrote: "Once an order has...

Budget 2026: No Prosecution For Non-Disclosure Of Foreign Assets Up To ₹20 Lakh Under Black Money Law

The Union Government has proposed easing prosecution under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, in cases involving non-disclosure of foreign assets, other than immovable property, with an aggregate value of up to ₹20 lakh. Clause 144 of the Finance Bill, 2026, proposes amendments to the provisos of Sections 49 and 50 of the Black Money Act to provide further that the prosecution provisions “shall not apply in respect of an asset or...

Budget 2026-27 Proposes Penalty Relief, Decriminalisation And Litigation Reduction In Income Tax Law

The Union Budget 2026–27 on Sunday proposed wide-ranging changes to the income tax penalty and prosecution framework, including immunity schemes, decriminalisation of certain offences and procedural measures to reduce litigation.Presenting her direct tax proposals, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Multiplicity of proceedings are a hindrance to the ease of doing business.” She proposed to “integrate assessment and penalty proceedings by way of a common order for both.” The Finance...

Stamp Duty on DRT-Monitored Auction Sales To Follow Auction Price, Not Market Price: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has reaffirmed that stamp duty on a sale certificate issued pursuant to a court-monitored auction, including auctions conducted by the Debt Recovery Tribunal, must be levied on the auction price and not on a higher market value independently assessed by stamp authorities.A Single Judge Bench of Justice N.J. Jamadar held that once a property is sold through a transparent, court-supervised auction process, stamp authorities cannot reassess its value by applying independent...

Exemption Claims Under Kerala Building Tax Act Must Be Referred To Government: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on 14 January held that when a claim for exemption under the Kerala Building Tax Act is raised, statutory authorities are obliged to refer the matter to the State Government and cannot independently reject the claim while completing assessment proceedings. The ruling was delivered by Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. while allowing a writ petition filed by M/s VPK Motors Pvt. Ltd., which runs a Toyota dealership at Kannur, challenging the levy of building tax on its premises...

Contractors Can't Be Made To Pay Past TDS Shortfall By Contracting Authority: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently held that Rail Coach Factory (RCF) cannot recover differential tax deducted at source (TDS) from contractors for past periods once the contractors' VAT liability has already been assessed and paid. A Bench of Justice Jagmohan Bansal and Justice Amarinder Singh Grewal was hearing writ petitions filed by G.S. Builders, Inderjit Bajaj and R. Tech Builders. The contractors had challenged recovery notices issued by RCF seeking to deduct additional amounts...

New Constructions Cannot Be Taxed In Appeals Against Earlier Property Assessments: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on 22 January held that new constructions cannot be brought to tax while deciding statutory appeals filed against earlier property tax assessments. It clarified that the scope of such appeals is confined to examining the validity of the existing demand and cannot be expanded to assess buildings constructed subsequently. A Bench of Justice Harisankar V. Menon observed: “The assessment as regards new constructions, if any, requires to be carried out with reference to the...

Tax Authorities Must Return Title Deed Given As Security Or Certify Its Loss: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has clarified that where an assessee furnishes an original title deed to the tax Department as security, the authorities are duty-bound either to trace and return the document or to formally certify that it has been irretrievably lost. Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A., by a judgment delivered on 16 January, was deciding a writ petition filed by M/s Bash-P-International, a partnership firm earlier registered under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (KVAT Act). The Court...

Supreme Court Upholds Odisha Entry Tax Act, Dismisses Tata Sponge Iron's Challenge

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed Tata Sponge Iron Limited's challenge to the constitutional validity of the Odisha Entry Tax Act, 1999, and upheld the Orissa High Court's refusal to entertain the plea. The company had also sought a refund of entry tax collected by the State of Odisha. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale said there was no reason to interfere with the High Court's order. “We do not find any infirmity in the impugned order,” the court said. Tata...

Imported Parts Alone Don't Justify Higher Sales Tax On Car Audio Systems: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has ruled, in a dispute over the tax treatment of Kenwood-branded car audio systems, that the use of imported components does not by itself make the finished product an imported good, holding that “the parts do not, by themselves, constitute a complete car audio system”. A bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and Mummineni Sudheer Kumar was deciding whether Nippon Audiotronix's car audio systems were taxable at 12.5 percent as domestic goods or at 20 percent as imported...

Welfare Boards For Building And Construction Workers Mandatory Before Levy Of Cess: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has recently held that the constitution of Welfare Boards under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 (BOCW), is a mandatory precondition for the effective levy and collection of cess under the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996The court ruled that in the absence of such Welfare Boards, cess could neither have been validly levied nor collected, as the statutory scheme under both enactments presupposes the existence of a functional...