Tax
Charges Paid For Bandwidth To Overseas Telecom Operators Not Royalty U/S 9(1)(vi) Of Income Tax Act: Delhi HC Rejects Plea Against Airtel
The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal preferred by the Income Tax Department claiming that Bharti Airtel should have deducted TDS on payments made to overseas telecom service providers for bandwidth services.A division bench of Justices Vibhu Bakhru and Tejas Karia relied on CIT v. Telstra Singapore Pte. Ltd. (2024) the High Court had held that where those availing services provided by a foreign telecom company were not accorded a right over the technology, infrastructure or any...
Tax Monthly Digest: April 2025
SUPREME COURTDealers Cannot Claim Input Tax Credit For Purchases Linked To Exempt Sales Under UPVAT Act : Supreme CourtCase Title: NEHA ENTERPRISES VERSUS COMMISSIONER, COMMERCIAL TAX, LUCKNOW, UTTAR PRADESHCase no.: CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6553 OF 2016Emphasizing that tax statutes must be strictly construed with statutory language taking precedence over policy intent, the Supreme Court, in a case concerning the Uttar Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2008 (“VAT Act”), held that a dealer is not entitled to...
GST Inspection Not Legally Sustainable Without Compliance With S.67 Of CGST Act & S.100 CrPC: Patna HC Quashes ₹88.64 Lakh Tax Demand
The Patna High Court, while allowing a petition challenging a tax demand of ₹88,64,550.50, has observed that an inspection conducted under the BGST/CGST regime is legally unsustainable if not carried out in compliance with Section 67 of the BGST/CGST Act, 2017 read with Section 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. According to Section 67 of BGST/CGST Act, 2017, an inspection to be conducted in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure. Further, as per Section 100 of the Code of...
GST Dept Expected To Empathetically Consider Assessees' Requests To Adjourn Personal Hearing On Medical Grounds: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has observed that the Goods and Services Tax authorities are expected to empathetically consider an assessee's request for adjournment of personal hearing on medical grounds.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta said the Department should not proceed to pass adverse orders in such matters.The development comes in a petition filed by an optical firm, claiming that impugned order raising demand of approximately Rs.1.5 crores was passed by the...
Rule 86A CGST Rules | Credit Ledger Can't Be Blocked For More Than One Year : Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has ordered unblocking of an enterprise's Electronic Credit Ledger following the lapse of one year since its initial blocking.In doing so, a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta cited Rule 86A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 which lays down the conditions of use of amount available in electronic credit ledger. It prescribes that the credit ledger of an assessee cannot be blocked beyond the period of one year.As per factual...
Jharkhand HC Quashes ITAT Relief To Assessee For Relying On Overruled Precedent In TDS Default Case, Remands Matter For Fresh Adjudication
The Jharkhand High Court has quashed an order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Circuit Bench, Ranchi, after finding that it was solely based on a precedent that had been overruled by the Supreme Court. The Tribunal had earlier deleted the entire addition made by the Assessing Officer under Section 40(a)(ia) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, on the ground that the payments in question had already been made. The Division Bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Rajesh Kumar...
Delhi High Court Denies Relief To Firm Allegedly Involved In ₹550 Crore GST Fraud, Questions Its Conduct Before Dept
The Delhi High Court refused to entertain a writ petition filed by a Noida based firm allegedly involved in GST fraud of over Rs. 550 crores.In doing so, a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta were unappreciative of the Petitioner's conduct in responding to the Department's proceedings.A demand of over ₹550 crores has been raised from various firms including the Petitioner.The case of the Department is that an investigation in respect of evasion of GST was...
S.10(26) IT Act | Gauhati HC Upholds Refund Of Income Tax Deducted From Scheduled Tribe Officer's Salary, Says He Was Entitled To Exemption
The Gauhati High Court has upheld a single-bench decision asking the Central government to refund the income tax deducted from the salary of a BSF Assistant Commandant belonging to the Scheduled Tribe community.A division bench of Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice N. Unni Krishnan Nair passed the direction in view of Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which prescribes tax exemption to members of recognised Scheduled Tribe communities posted in specified areas.It observed, “It...
Customs Act Grants Unfettered Investigative Powers Where Infraction Is Suspected: Patna High Court
The Patna High Court has held in a recent judgement that the Customs Act, 1962 provides 'unfettered power' to investigate where there are reasons to believe that there has been infraction of its provisions.Presiding over the case, Justice Mohit Kumar Shah, observed, “The investigation cannot be nipped in the bud and be prevented simply on the basis of certain technicalities. The Customs Act provides unfettered power to investigate where there are reasons to believe that there has been infraction...
Customs Act | Engineering Services Fees Having Direct Nexus With Import Of Goods Fall Within Assessable Customs Value : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court yesterday (May 1) ruled that engineering and technical service fees paid by the importer must be included in the assessable value of imported spare parts under the Customs Act, 1962. The bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan upheld that the 8% technical and engineering fee charged to the appellant(Coal India) should be included in the assessable value for determining customs duty. It was the case where the appellant floated a tender for spare parts for P&H...
GST | Bail Should Be Normally Granted For Offences Under S 132 CGST Act Unless Extraordinary Circumstances Exists : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court recently expressed surprise at the High Court and the Magistrate Court denying bail to a person accused of committing offences under Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act.The Court observed that in cases like this, bail should normally be granted. The offences alleged against the appellant were under Clauses (c), (f) and (h) of Section 132(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The maximum sentence is of 5 years with fine.In this case,...
Directors Not Personally Liable For Non-Fulfilment Of Company's Export Obligations Unless Specific Role Is Alleged: Delhi HC
The Delhi High Court has held that unless specific allegations which discuss the role of a director in the export performance are made, there is no question of finding the director personally liable for non-fulfilment of export obligations by the company.Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju relied on Santanu Ray vs. Union of India where the Supreme Court discussed vicarious liability of directors. In the case at hand, the Petitioner, a non-executive Director of M/s Poysha Industrial Ltd was aggrieved by...