Rajasthan High Court Refuses to Quash VAT Proceedings Against JK Lakshmi Cement Over Diesel Supplied To Contractors

The Rajasthan High Court has recently refused to quash proceedings initiated against JK Lakshmi Cement Limited over alleged VAT liability arising from diesel supplied to transport and mining contractors, holding that the company must respond to the tax authorities and raise its objections during the ongoing assessment inquiry.The dispute arose after the Commercial Taxes Department conducted a survey and investigation into the operations of the cement manufacturer.According to the department, the...

Additional VAT Surcharge Valid Over Concessional Tax: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court, on 27 February, held that an additional VAT surcharge under Section 7A can be levied over and above the concessional tax payable under Section 7 on sales of declared goods made to registered dealers.A Division Bench comprising Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Parmod Goyal was dealing with a batch of appeals filed by Jyoti Strips Pvt. Ltd. challenging assessment and appellate orders passed under the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003.The Bench held: "The...

Rooh Afza Is Fruit Drink, Not Residuary Goods; Supreme Court Applies 4% VAT Under Uttar Pradesh VAT Act

The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that “Sharbat Rooh Afza” manufactured by Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories is classifiable as a “fruit drink / processed fruit product” under Entry 103 of Schedule II Part A of the Uttar Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2008, and not under the residuary entry taxable at 12.5%. A Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan allowed the appeals and set aside the Allahabad High Court's judgments dated July 2, 2018 and August 3, 2022, which had upheld taxing...

Gujarat High Court Upholds Classification Of 'Mint Orange 2022' As Industrial Input Under VAT Act

The Gujarat High Court has held that 'Mint Orange 2022' is classifiable as an industrial input under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003, clarifying that household use does not prevent a product from being treated as an industrial input when its composition and primary use are industrial in nature.A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed the Tax Appeal filed by the Commercial Tax Department, holding that the product qualifies as an aromatic chemical and...

Jharkhand High Court Quashes Time-Barred VAT Reassessments In Batch Including Tata Chemicals, Hindalco, L&T

The Jharkhand High Court has recently quashed reassessment proceedings initiated against Tata Chemicals Limited, Hindalco Industries Limited, Larsen and Toubro Ltd., Tata Steel Limited and several other taxpayers, holding that reopening of completed VAT assessments beyond the statutory period is barred by limitation. A Division Bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Justice Deepak Roshan observed that the issue was already settled and that “the law is set at rest.” Referring to its earlier...

Subsidised Sales Don't Bar ITC, Milling By-Products Not Taxable Under AP VAT: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on 2 February held that input tax credit (ITC) cannot be disallowed merely because essential commodities are sold at subsidised prices fixed by the State Government. It further held that by-products such as broken rice, bran and husk retained by millers during the milling of paddy do not constitute a taxable disposal or transfer attracting levy under the Andhra Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005. A Bench of Justice R. Raghunandan Rao and Justice T.C.D. Sekhar was...

Punjab and Haryana High Court Bars Coercive Recovery Action Against Firm After VAT Records 'Burnt In Fire'

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has restrained the Punjab tax department from taking coercive recovery action against a proprietorship firm over a legacy VAT demand, after the state told the court that the assessment record had been destroyed in a fire. A Division Bench of Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Ramesh Chander Dimri recorded the State's submission that the assessment order against Swastika Insulation was not available with the department, as the record was “stated to have been burnt.” ...

Supreme Court Lets LG Electronics Withdraw Challenge To Rajasthan HC Entry Tax Ruling

The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd. to withdraw its Special Leave Petitions challenging a Rajasthan High Court ruling on entry tax, granting it liberty to seek a review before the High Court as the constitutional validity of the provision remains pending. A Bench of Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe recorded the submission that the vires of the provision had not been examined in the proceedings leading to the impugned judgment, since...

Supreme Court Refuses To Interfere With Delhi HC Ruling On CST Exemption For Inter-State Sales In Mitsubishi Case

The Supreme Court of India has refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court ruling that allowed a tax exemption claimed by Mitsubishi Corporation India for inter-state sales, rejecting the tax department's argument that the benefit was unavailable because an earlier sale of the goods was already exempt from tax. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan said the case did not warrant interference. “We see no good reason to interfere in the impugned judgment and order passed by the High...

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...

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...

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...