Tax
Appeal Without Remedy: GST Appellate System's Fatal Flaw
When the Goods and Services Tax (GST) launched in July 2017, policymakers hailed it as a "good and simple tax" to streamline compliance and unify India's fractured indirect tax landscape. Eight years later, however, a glaring procedural defect in its appellate framework forces taxpayers into a grim dilemma: accept flawed orders or endure endless restarts. Under Section 107(11) of the...
New FEMA Compliance Framework for Service Exports
Currently, service exports from India (excluding software) are largely exempt from EDF/SOFTEX filings and related FEMA compliances. Service Exporters (including software) have generally been proactive in realizing proceeds because their GST refunds are strictly linked to the export realizations. If not realized, such exporters face the burden of GST and interest under Rule 96A of the...
Can Employer Claim Income Tax Deduction On Delayed PF-ESI Deposits? Supreme Court To Settle Conflicting Decisions
The Supreme Court agreed to examine the contentious issue under the tax law of whether an employer is entitled to claim income tax deductions for employees' Provident Fund (PF) and Employees' State Insurance (ESI) contributions that are deposited after the prescribed due date. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta issued notice in an appeal filed against the Delhi High...
Supreme Court Redraws The Tax Line On Amalgamations
The Supreme Court's judgment in Jindal Equipment Leasing Consultancy Services Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income Tax (2026) Livelaw (SC) 37 arrives with a seeming contradiction. It simultaneously widens the net of business-income taxation while raising the evidentiary drawbridge the Revenue must cross to haul it in. This is its defining feature. The decision performs a decisive...
Beyond The TRC: A Veil-Piercing Moment In International Tax Law
The Supreme Court's judgment in Authority for Advance Rulings (Income Tax) & others v. Tiger Global International Holdings 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 50 marks a moment where the long-standing tension in Indian tax law between form and substance is not merely acknowledged, but decisively addressed. Quietly, and without theatrics, the Court applies to international tax law an instinct long familiar...
Repeated IT Reassessment Against NDTV Founders Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy Amounts To Harassment: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has observed that repeatedly reopening income tax assessments against NDTV founders Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy for the same year amounted to their "unnecessary harassment" A Division Bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Vinod Kumar made the observation while dealing with reassessment proceedings initiated by the Income Tax Department for the Assessment Year...
Delhi High Court Quashes Income Tax Notices Against NDTV Founders Prannoy Roy And Radhika Roy; Imposes ₹2 Lakh Cost On Dept
The Delhi High Court has set aside the income tax reassessment notices issued to New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV) founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy (petitioners), relating to a transaction involving RRPR Holding Pvt. Ltd, a promoter group of the news network.The bench further imposed Rs. 2 Lakh costs on tax authorities, directing that Rs. 1 Lakh be paid to each petitioner.Senior...
In Tiger Global Case, Supreme Court Explains Distinction Between 'Tax Planning' & 'Tax Evasion'
The Supreme Court has held that while an assessee is permitted in law to plan transactions to avoid tax, such planning must strictly conform to the framework of the Income Tax Act, the applicable rules, and notifications. The Court said that once a transaction structure is found to be illegal, sham, or lacking commercial substance, it ceases to be permissible tax avoidance and...
'Tax Sovereignty Must Not Be Compromised' : Supreme Court Suggests Safeguards While Entering Into International Tax Treaties
In his concurring opinion in the Tiger Global–Flipkart tax dispute, Justice JB Pardiwala stressed that tax sovereignty is an essential facet of India's economic independence and warned against ceding taxing rights through international treaties or external pressures.Justice Pardiwala fully agreed with the reasoning and conclusions reached by Justice R Mahadevan, who authored the main...
Contract To Hire Global Speakers For Media Summit Not Subject To Service Tax As 'Event Management' : Supreme Court
In a major relief for the media and event organizers, the Supreme Court on Friday (January 16) held that the fees paid to high-profile speakers through international booking agencies do not attract Service Tax under the category of "Event Management Service". A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan set aside the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) order...
