LiveLawBiz Direct Tax Monthly Digest: July 2026

SUPREME COURTSupreme Court Issues Notice On Revenue's Appeal Against HC's India-Singapore DTAA Relief To ST ShippingCase Title : ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX Versus M/S ATLANTIC GLOBAL SHIPPING PVT. LTD. Case Number : Diary No. 25162-2026The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice in the Income Tax Department's appeal challenging a Gujarat High Court judgment that held ST Shipping Pte Ltd, Singapore was entitled to the benefit of Article 8 of the India-Singapore Double Taxation...

After 20 Years, Delhi High Court Reserves Verdict In Railways' Plea Against Sales Tax Demands On IRFC Transactions

The Delhi High Court has recently reserved judgment in a batch of writ petitions filed by the Ministry of Railways challenging sales tax demands in relation to transactions involving the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), nearly 20 years after the petitions were instituted in 2006.The division bench of Justices Anil Khetrapal and Shail Jain reserved judgment and asked the parties to file synopses, not exceeding five pages each, within three working days.The writ petitions were filed in...

Delhi High Court Dismisses 19-Year-Old Sales Tax Reference On Video Cassettes For Non-Prosecution

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a 19-year-old sales tax reference concerning the tax classification of video cassettes for non-prosecution.A division bench of Justices Anil Khetrapal and Shail Jain had earlier observed that with the advancement of technology, the issue may have become purely academic.On Friday, the court dismissed the reference after observing that no one had appeared on behalf of the Petitioner-Casette Shoppe for several hearings."A perusal of the record reflects that the...

Retrospective Property Tax Demands Invalid Under GPMC Act: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has held that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) could not retrospectively revise the rateable value of a property and demand property tax years after the relevant assessment period had ended, ruling that such demands were contrary to the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, and the Taxation Rules framed under it."Having regard to the statutory provisions and rules thereunder, demand of taxes on the basis of revised rateable value with retrospective...

Allahabad High Court Seeks Centre's Response On GST Appellate Tribunal Vacancies In Uttar Pradesh

The Allahabad High Court has sought an affidavit from the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India detailing the efforts being made to fill vacancies in the GST Appellate Tribunal benches in Uttar Pradesh. In a petition filed by S.S. Pharma, the issue of GST appellate tribunals not sitting was brought before the High Court. Justice Piyush Agrawal had directed the state counsels to seek instructions on the appointments, sittings, and disposal of cases by the Appellate...

Works Contractors Liable To Pay Purchase Tax On Unregistered Dealer Purchases: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on 9 July held that works contractors are liable to pay purchase tax on materials purchased from unregistered dealers, even when such materials are used in the execution of works contracts involving deemed sales. A Division Bench of Justices N. Anand Venkatesh and K.K. Ramakrishnan allowed the revision petitions filed by the State of Tamil Nadu, set aside the orders passed by the appellate authority and the Tamil Nadu Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, and restored the...

Labour Contractor Liable For Service Tax Despite Production-Based Payments: CESTAT New Delhi

The New Delhi Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 31 July held that a labour contractor providing workers to a steel company was liable to pay service tax as the agreement was a manpower supply contract and not a job work arrangement for manufacturing. A Bench of Judicial Member Binu Tamta and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao dismissed the appeal filed by Padam Charan Guman Singh and upheld the demand of service tax, interest and penalty under Section 78 of the Finance...

TPO Can't Treat Goodwill Amortisation As Operating Expense In Transfer Pricing: ITAT Delhi

The Delhi Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that amortisation of goodwill arising from acquisition of a business cannot be treated as an operating expenditure while computing the Profit Level Indicator (PLI) under the Transactional Net Margin Method (TNMM) for calcuating transfer pricing. Observing that such amortisation is "an abnormal item arising out of acquisition of business and not a regular operating expenditure", the tribunal ruled that the Transfer Pricing...

10% Pre-Deposit For Penalty-Only GST Appeals Cannot Apply Retrospectively: GSTAT Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) on 28 July held that the 10% pre-deposit requirement introduced for penalty-only appeals under the proviso to Section 112(8) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act cannot be applied retrospectively. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Justice Sushil Kumar Sharma and Technical Member Duvvuri Krishna Srinivas allowed the appeal filed by Reddy Veeranna Constructions Pvt. Ltd. and held that the amended provision would not...

ITC Cannot Be Denied For Bona Fide GSTIN Reporting Mistake: Tripura High Court

The Tripura High Court on 27 July held that a taxpayer cannot be denied Input Tax Credit (ITC) due to a genuine mistake in reporting invoices under the wrong Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), when the error does not result in any loss of revenue to the Government. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit allowed the writ petition filed by Ashutosh Bandyopadhay and directed the GST authorities to permit rectification of Forms...

Refund Of Service Tax Cannot Be Decided Before Determining Nature Of Contract: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on 27 July held that the question of refund or adjustment of Service Tax cannot be decided before the Assessing Authority determines whether the underlying contract is a works contract or a service contract, as the nature of the contract determines the applicable tax liability. A Division Bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Basant Balaji partly allowed the appeals filed by Gaiagen Technologies Private Limited (formerly Pest Control India Private Limited) and set aside...

Patna High Court Upholds CENVAT Credit On Captive Power Plant Despite Surplus Power Supply

The Patna High Court on 24 July dismissed the Central Excise Department's appeal against Harinagar Sugar Mills Ltd. and upheld the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal's (CESTAT) order allowing the company to claim CENVAT credit on capital goods, input services and iron and steel items used in its manufacturing operations. A Division Bench of Justices Bibek Chaudhuri and Rana Vikram Singh held that the benefit cannot be denied merely because part of the electricity generated in...