Supreme Court
Supreme Court Dismisses Fox Mandal's Appeal In ₹3.89 Crore Service Tax Case
The Supreme Court recently (March 25) dismissed an appeal filed by Fox Mandal and Company against the Commissioner of Central Goods and Service Tax, Noida, declining to interfere with the CESTAT order, which upheld service tax and CENVAT-related demands aggregating to about Rs. 3.89 crore.While refusing to interfere with the CESTAT judgment dated December 11, 2024, which had upheld substantial service tax demands and remanded certain issues for reconsideration, a bench of Justices Pamidighantam...
Supreme Court Stays CESTAT Order Against Prism Johnson In ₹11.25-Crore Service Tax, CENVAT Credit Case
The Supreme Court on Monday, issued notice and granted an interim stay on an order passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi against listed building materials company Prism Johnson Limited. The tribunal had upheld a service tax demand of about Rs 11.25 crore and denied CENVAT credit of around Rs 7.70 crore in related excise proceedings. A bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Vijay Bishnoi passed the order after hearing senior counsel...
Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Ola Parent ANI's Plea Against Delayed Service Tax Order
The Supreme Court of India has declined to interfere with a Bombay High Court order directing ANI Technologies Private Limited, the parent company of Ola Cabs, to pursue a statutory appeal against a service tax demand. A Bench of the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi held that no valid ground was made out to disturb the High Court's decision. The court agreed that the writ petition was rightly not entertained. The dispute relates to a service tax adjudication order...
Transfer Of Title In Immovable Property Doesn't Attract Service Tax : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has clarified that an activity which merely involves the transfer of title in immovable property by way of sale cannot be treated as a “service” under the Finance Act, 1994. Consequently, such transactions lie outside the ambit of service tax.A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta delivered the verdict while dismissing an appeal filed by the Commissioner of Service Tax, New Delhi against M/s Elegant Developers, a partnership firm based in Allahabad. The...
Supreme Court Dismisses Rs 244 Crore Service Tax Plea Against Bharti Airtel Over Employee Scheme
The Supreme Court has recently dismissed a nearly Rs 244 crore service tax appeal filed by the Commissioner of Central Goods and Service Tax, Gurugram, against telecom giant Bharti Airtel Ltd. The dispute concerned the company's Airtel Employees Services Scheme (AESS), which offered free or discounted telecom services to its employees.The appeal challenged a January 27, 2025 order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chandigarh, which had set aside the entire tax...
Some Merit In Allegations That GST Officials Coerce Assesses To Pay Tax With Threat Of Arrest; It's Impermissible: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Thursday (February 27) observed that there was some merit in the allegation that tax officials coerce assesses to pay the Goods and Services Tax with the threat of arrest. This observation was made by the Court on the basis of data.The Court said that if any person is feeling coerced to pay GST, they can approach the writ court for refund of the tax paid by them under coercion. The Court also said that the officers who indulge in such coercion must be dealt with...
'Will Pull You Up' : Supreme Court Asks GST Department To Rectify Issues Over Fake Invoices, Asks How Genuine Purchasers Are Liable
The Supreme Court on Wednesday flagged a recurring problem in GST matters whereby genuine purchasers who paid Goods and Services Tax (GST) face issues because their suppliers raised fictitious bills to evade crediting the GST to the department.The Court orally wondered how could the purchaser be held liable for the incorrect GST registration of the suppliers when they have genuinely made purchases and paid the money, including the GST amount.A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanijv Khanna and...
Card Issuing Bank Not Liable To Pay Service Tax On Interchange Fee When It Is Already Paid On MDR : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court recently ruled that a card issuing bank is not liable to separately pay service tax on the interchange fee when the said tax already stands paid on the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). The Three Judge Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Justice R. Mahadevan observed that “the entire amount of the service tax payable on the MDR has been paid to the Government and there is no loss of revenue”. (Para 9) The Bench observed so, while answering in...
Supreme Court Summarises Principles For Interpreting Tax Statutes In Judgment On GST Input Tax Credit
The Supreme Court on Thursday (October 3) outlined the principles governing the interpretation of taxation statutes in the context of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017.A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Sanjay Karol summarised the principles of interpretation while dealing with a case involving the interpretation of Section 17(5)(d) of the CGST Act, which disallows Input Tax Credit (ITC) on goods and services used in the construction of immovable property, except for...