Tax

GST Council | Anatomy of a Constitutional Body | Perspective of a Tax Lawyer

Service Charge, its Similarity with Tax, and a ‘Double Whammy’ for Consumers: Some Thoughts

Introduction  The Delhi High Court (‘High Court’) recently ruled that levy of mandatory service charge by restaurants violates customer rights. The High Court’s reasoning, anchored in consumer protection laws, termed a mandatory service charge as deceptive and misleading…

Why Should Tax Lawyers Care About the Annual Budget?

Tax law, especially Indian tax law discussions are far too often contained by self-sustaining logic of statutory provisions and case laws. Tax lawyers, including me, feel validated and satisfied having decoded a particular judgment or the…

Compounding Fee is Not Tax

In a recent judgment[1], the Delhi High Court clarified that merely because appellants paid a compounding fee after initiation of legal proceedings against them, does not permit the State to retain the said amount if there…

Interface of IBC and Tax: Supreme Court Clarifies

In a notable judgment[1], the Supreme Court has clarified the waterfall mechanism under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (‘IBC’) vis-à-vis the claims of secured interests and the place of the Revenue Department in the pecking order. …