Tax
GSTAT Directs Builder To Return Over ₹20 Lakhs Benefit To Diya Greencity Homebuyers With Interest
The Goods and Services Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), Anti Profiteering Division at Delhi has directed the Builder to return ₹20,21,440 out of the Amount not passed on, along with interest to the homebuyers of Diya Greencity Project. In a recent order, a Division Bench comprising, Shri. Mayank Kumar Jain (Judicial Member) and Shri. Anil Kumar Gupta (Technical Member) verified that benefit of about ₹13 crores to 1177 eligible homebuyers had been passed on but “No benefit has been passed to...
CESTAT Mumbai Grants Major Relief To Capgemini; Holds IT/ITES Services Eligible For CENVAT Credit
The Mumbai Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal has partly allowed an appeal filed by Capgemini Technology Services India Ltd., holding that most of the input services used in provision of Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services output services qualify as input services under Rule 2(l) of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004. The Bench comprising Member (Technical) M.M. Parthiban noted that Capgemini is engaged in providing IT and IT enabled ...
Tax Weekly Round-Up: December 15 - December 21, 2025
SUPREME COURTIncome Tax | Foreign Companies' Head Office Expenses For Indian Business Subject To Deduction Limit Under S. 44C : Supreme CourtCause Title: DIRECTOR OF INCOME TAX (IT)-I, MUMBAI. VERSUS M/S. AMERICAN EXPRESS BANK LTD. (and connected case)In a set-back to foreign companies doing business operations in India, the Supreme Court on Monday (December 15) held that all head office expenditure incurred by them outside India, whether common or exclusively for their Indian business...
Performance Incentives Earned By Advertising Agency From Media Firms Not Taxable: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has made it clear that the incentives received by an advertising agency from media firms for achieving benchmark targets is not susceptible to levy of service tax.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain observed,“An advertising agency primarily books slots on electronic media and books space in the print media on behalf of its clients. The advertising plans are negotiated with the media houses, with the help of the advertising agency and are finally...
Income Tax Act | ITAT Mumbai Grants Major Tax Relief To Vodafone; Deletes Depreciation, TDS & S.14A Disallowances
The Mumbai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has held that multiple additions made by the Assessing Officer could not be sustained in law. The Bench held that the transfer of passive telecom tower assets pursuant to a court-approved demerger amounted to a genuine “gift” under Section 47(iii), and the Assessing Officer could not artificially impute consideration or deny depreciation. It further ruled that roaming services do not involve human intervention so as to qualify as...
Digitalisation, GIS Mapping And Tech Consultancy For Jal Jeevan Mission Are 'Pure Services', Exempt From GST: West Bengal AAR
The West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has held that digitalisation, GIS mapping, monitoring, data management and technical consultancy services provided to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) in connection with water supply schemes qualify as “pure services” and are exempt from Goods and Services Tax (GST) under Notification No. 12/2017. The Authority ruled that such services are directly related to functions entrusted to Panchayats and Municipalities under...
Allahabad High Court Directs Criminal Contempt Against GST Official For Filing Misleading Personal Affidavit
On Thursday, Allahabad High Court directed initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Additional Commissioner, Grade-2(Appeal) First, State Tax, Meerut for filing a misleading personal affidavit before the Court despite being given 2 opportunities. Noting that the impugned order did not show any consideration of the circulars and only quoted a report signed by an appropriate office, Justice Piyush Agrawal observed “This shows the functioning of the GST Department. The...
Non-Filing Of ITR By Creditor Not Proof For Lack Of Creditworthiness: Patna High Court Deletes Income Tax Additions
The Patna High Court has held that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was not justified in restoring an addition of ₹1.91 crore under Section 68 of the Income Tax Act after reversing a reasoned order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), where the assessee had produced documentary evidence and the Assessing Officer's remand report did not disclose any adverse material. A Division Bench of Justice Bibek Chaudhuri and Justice Dr. Anshuman held that the Tribunal interfered with the...
Levy Of Service Tax On 'Access To Amusement Facilities' Unconstitutional: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court held that the levy of service tax on 'access to amusement facilities' is unconstitutional, as the entire activity squarely falls within the State's taxing power under Entry 62 of List II (entertainments and amusements) of the Constitution of India.Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Harisankar V. Menon stated that the provisions of the Entertainments Tax Act also seek to impose tax on the entire consideration received by the assessee from their clients/customers. The question...
Customs Act | Penalty Cannot Be Sustained Solely On S. 108 Statements Without Compliance Of S. 138B: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court held that statements recorded under S. 108 of the Customs Act cannot form the basis for imposing penalties unless the mandatory procedural safeguards under Section 138B are complied with.Justices A. Muhamed Mustaque and Harisankar V. Menon opined that Section 138B is essentially in the form of a procedural safeguard regarding the admission of statements under Section 108 in evidence. When the safeguards under Section 138B have not been complied with, no question of...
Service Tax | Pairing & Testing Smart-Cards For Set-Top-Boxes Qualifies As Job Work: Bombay High Court Allows Credit
The Bombay High Court has upheld the Mumbai Tribunal's decision allowing Dish TV to retain CENVAT Credit on imported smart cards, which were used for testing and pairing with Set Top Boxes. A Division Bench comprising, Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Hiten S. Venegavkar dismissed the appeal filed by the Service Tax Department against order by the Mumbai, Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) that after verifying accounting records held in favour of Dish TV....
Central Excise | Packaged Drinking Water Cannot Be Assessed On MRP Basis U/S 4A: CESTAT Chennai
The Chennai Bench of Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) held that packaged drinking water is not liable to be assessed on MRP basis under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act unless it is specifically covered by a statutory notification. Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, provides a special procedure for the valuation of excisable goods based on their Retail Sale Price (RSP) or Maximum Retail Price (MRP), rather than the standard transaction value...