Madras High Court

Long Wait for GSTATs: July 2017 … and Counting.

February 24, 2025February 24, 2025

GSTATs have been envisaged as the first appellate forum under GST laws. And yet, 7.5 years since implementation of GST, not a single GSTAT is functioning. Reason? Many. Some are easy to identify, others are tough to understand. Nonetheless, here is a small story of the ill-fated GSTATs since the… Read More »

Fee for Technical Services: Future Demands Answers

August 27, 2024August 27, 2024

Introduction Tax practitioners tend to refer to Fee for technical services (‘FTS’) and Royalty income in tandem with an intent to highlight the shape shifting nature of both concepts under domestic and international tax law. And in Indian context, the discussion is also about the high volume of litigation that… Read More »

ESOPs-Related Compensation Present an Interesting Dilemma

August 21, 2024August 21, 2024

Introduction Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) are typically taxable under the IT Act, 1961 in the following two instances: first, at the time of exercise of option by the employee as a perquisite. The rationale is that the employee has received a benefit by obtaining the share at a price below the… Read More »

Powers of Arrest under GST: Unravelling the Phrase ‘Committed an Offence’

May 28, 2024May 28, 2024

CGST Act, 2017 provides the Commissioner power to arrest under specific circumstances. Section 69, CGST Act, 2017 states that: Where the Commissioner has reasons to believe that a person committed any offence specified in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 132 which… Read More »

Post-Supply Discounts Cannot be Included in Transaction Value: Madras HC

February 6, 2024

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 party and a discount and noted that a discount by itself cannot qualify as… Read More »

Supply of Vouchers and GST: Three Decisions and a Defensible Conclusion

February 5, 2024February 5, 2024

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 Advance Rulings (‘AAAR’), and thereafter before the Madras High Court was that the PPIs/vouchers issued by them… Read More »

Religious Vows and Income Tax Obligations: Harmony to Clash

January 29, 2024January 29, 2024

The Supreme Court is currently seized of a matter which, at its core, involves determining to what extent do the religious beliefs of a person exempt them from withholding tax obligations under the IT Act, 1961. In this article, I will focus on the issues involved and refer to the… Read More »

Whose Money is it? Madras HC Says Deposit of Cash Amounts to Payment of GST

January 25, 2024January 26, 2024

The Madras High Court, in a recent decision, observed that the money in Electronic Cash Ledger (‘ECL’) of the taxpayer belongs to the exchequer since the money was deposited in the name of the exchequer in the form of GST. The High Court held that it cannot be said that the… Read More »

Section 194N of IT Act, 1961 is Constitutional: Madras HC

January 16, 2024January 20, 2024

The Madras High Court recently[1] upheld constitutionality of Section 194N of the IT Act, 1961. Section 194N inserted via Finance Act, 2019 was argued by the petitioners to be unconstitutional on the grounds of it being illegal, arbitrary, and violative of their fundamental rights under Article 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. Section… Read More »

Madras HC Holds Prescribed Time Period for Filing Returns as ‘Directory’: Interprets Section 62, CGST Act

January 8, 2024January 8, 2024

In a recent decision[1], the Madras High Court had to decide if an assessee loses the right to file tax returns after expiry of 30 days under Section 62(2), CGST Act, 2017. Section 62(2) provides an assessee 30 days to file returns after the proper officer passes a ‘best judgment’ assessment order.… Read More »