Two Certainties
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No GST on Corporate Guarantees: The Bombay High Court Misses a Beat
A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court (‘High Court’) in M/S. DP Jain & Co Infrastructure Private Limited v Union of India (‘DP Jain case’) ruled that corporate guarantee, not accompanied by consideration, cannot be subjected to…
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Not Tolerating an ‘Absurd’ GST Demand
On 30 April 2026, a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court (‘High Court’) in Tata Sons Private Ltd v Union of India through the Ministry of Finance (‘Tata Sons case’) set aside a ‘patently perverse’ Goods and…
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Amendments to the IT Rules, 2026: Effectuating the Tiger Global Case
On 31st March 2026, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (‘CBDT’) notified amendment to two sub-rules of Rule 128, The Income Tax Rules, 2026 (‘IT Rules, 2026’). Reactions to the amendments are neatly divided: while a few…
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Amendments to the IT Rules, 2026
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IT Act, 2025
A timeline of the past decade. As I elaborate in a related post - the IT Act, 2025 has a longer (and opaque) history than widely believed.
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Income Tax Act, 2025: A ‘Reform’ Comes to Life
The Income Tax Act, 2025 (IT Act, 2025) – after almost a decade of attempts to redraft income tax law - comes into force on 1 April 2026 and replaces the Income Tax Act, 1961 (IT…
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Money Displaces Skill-Chance Distinction: Examining Taxation and Regulatory Approaches to Online Gaming
The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (‘CGST Act, 2017’) and The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (‘OGA, 2025’) use money as the criteria to differentiate between various kinds of online gaming. In both legislations…
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Buyback Tax: An Anti-Abuse Measure Wrapped in a Tax
Finance Bill, 2026 proposes to amend buyback tax. Yet again. The proposed amendment simultaneously simplifies and complicates buyback tax. Latter because of the proposal to create a separate tax slab for promoters of companies who participate in…
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Supreme Courts Uses Tax Sovereignty to Hunt Tiger Global
The Supreme Court recently handed a significant legal victory to the Income Tax Department (‘Revenue’) in The Authority for Advance Rulings (Income-Tax) & Ors v Tiger Global International III Holdings (‘Tiger Global case’). And in the process created…
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Health and National Security Cess: Some Context
The Lok Sabha on 5th December 2025, passed the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025. The Health se National Security Cess (‘Health and National Security Cess’) is an unusual marriage of public health and national…
