Taxation – Exemption Notification – Conditions for Eligibility – The Supreme Court held that while exemption notifications should be liberally construed, the beneficiary must fall within the ambit of the exemption and fulfill the conditions thereof. If any conditions laid down in the notification are not fulfilled, the application of the notification does not arise. The Court emp...
Tax Law – Electricity Duty – Exemption Provisions – The Supreme Court held that charitable educational institutions are not exempt from electricity duty under the Maharashtra Electricity Duty Act, 2016 – The omission of Section 3(2)(iiia) from the 1958 Act in the 2016 Act indicates the legislative intent to exclude such exemptions – High Court's interpretation lea...
Service Tax – Banking and Financial Services – Interchange Fee – Whether the interchange fee received by the issuing bank (Citi Bank) from the acquiring bank in credit card transactions is subject to service tax – Tribunal relied on the decision in M/s ABN Amro Bank NV v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax, Noida, holding interchange fee not liable to s...
Income Tax – Recalling of Earlier Order – Section 254(2) of Income Tax Act – Powers under Section 254(2) limited to rectifying mistakes apparent from record – ITAT’s jurisdiction does not extend to re-hearing appeals on merits – High Court’s affirmation of ITAT’s recalling order erroneous – Detailed submissions on merits by parties does not con...
Tax Law – Pre-deposit Requirement – Appellant deposited amounts under protest before the assessment order – Contended that these should be adjusted against the pre-deposit required under Section 26(6A) of the MVAT Act for filing an appeal – Supreme Court held that the plain language of the statute requires a deposit of 10% of the disputed tax liability in addition to any am...
Taxation – Nature and Character – Levy of water and sewerage taxes under Section 52 of the UP Water Supply and Sewerage Act – Levy labeled as water tax and sewerage tax – Supreme Court held that the nomenclature does not determine the nature of the levy – Taxes on lands and buildings within the meaning of Entry 49 List II of the Seventh Schedule – Taxes imposed ...
Income Tax Act – Section 263 – Period of Limitation for Revisional Orders – The Supreme Court clarifies that under Section 263(2) of the Income Tax Act, the period of limitation for making an order is two years from the end of the financial year in which the order sought to be revised was passed. The term "made" is used in Section 263(2), not "received" or &qu...
Income Tax – Advance Tax and Interest – Assessee's liability for interest under Section 234B – Assessee, a non-resident company, contended no liability due to the payer's default in deducting tax – Supreme Court held that prior to financial year 2012-13, assessee could reduce advance tax liability by the amount deductible at source – Post-2012 amendment introd...
Taxation Law – Refund of Unutilised Input Tax Credit – Challenge to Section 54(3) – Appellant contested the constitutional validity of Section 54(3) of the CGST Act, which restricts refund to unutilised ITC on inputs in cases of inverted duty structure – Gujarat High Court held the exclusion of input services from refund as ultra vires – Madras High Court upheld the e...
Taxation Law – Disallowance under Section 14A – Appeal against High Court’s order endorsing disallowance of proportionate interest for investments in tax-free bonds and securities – Supreme Court held that proportionate disallowance under Section 14A is not warranted where the assessee has sufficient interest-free funds exceeding the investments – Reiterated that tax-...