GST
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Tax Treatment of Mandatory CSR: Alignment of CGST Act, 2017 and IT Act, 1961
In this article, I elaborate on one of the several changes introduced by Finance Act, 2023 to CGST Act, 2017. Section 17, CGST Act, 2017 was amended via Finance Act, 2023 to clarify that the goods…
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No Service Tax on Carried Interest: GST Applicability Remains an Open Question
In a recent decision the Karnataka High Court has held that a Venture Capital Fund (‘VCF’) is not liable for service tax on carried interest. The decision reversed Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal’s (‘CESAT’) ruling which was under…
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Unfamiliar Terrain of Loyalty Points and GST
Levying GST on atypical forms of consideration is a familiar problem under GST regime. One such problem relates to the levy of GST on vouchers issued by a supplier. While we have a modicum of certainty on the…
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Can Cash be Seized During GST Inspections?
Section 67 of the CGST Act, 2017 deals with powers of inspection, search, and seizure of officers and Section 67(2) specifically empowers the officers carrying out an inspection to seize goods and documents. Courts have arrived…
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JDAs Not Exempt from GST: Telangana HC
The Telangana High Court in a recent judgment clarified that Joint Development Agreements (‘JDA’) between developer and landowner do not transfer ownership rights but only grant development rights to developer. The petitioner’s case, in summary, was that JDA…
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Lessons from NAA: Parameters of a Fair Dispute Resolution Body
The experience of transitioning from retail sales tax to VAT laws in 2002-03 provided a learning that a similar transition to GST may be used as a pretext by suppliers to artificially increase the prices of…
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Penalties for e-way bills cannot be imposed in absence of Mens Rea: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court in a recent judgment took the view that the GST Department cannot impose a penalty on taxpayers - under Section 129(3), CGST Act, 2017 - for not possessing e-way bills in the absence of an…
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Post-Supply Discounts Cannot be Included in Transaction Value: Madras HC
The Madras High Court recently observed that post-supply discounts offered by a supplier to the recipient cannot be included in the transaction value/value of supply for levying GST. The High Court distinguished between subsidy offered by a third…
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Supply of Vouchers and GST: Three Decisions and a Defensible Conclusion
This article focuses on the issue raised by M/s Kalyan Jewellers Limited (‘Kalyan Jewellers’) as regards the pre-paid instruments (‘PPI’)/vouchers issued by them to their customers. The claim of Kalyan Jewellers before the Advance Authority (‘AAR’), Appellate body for…
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NAA is Constitutional, Individual Orders Can be Challenged on Merits: Delhi HC
Introduction This post focuses on the Delhi High Court’s recent judgment upholding the constitutionality of NAA, a statutory body established under Section 171, CGST Act, 2017. I’ve examined the working of NAA in detail here and here, where I’ve highlighted the…
