Since its implementation on July 01, 2017, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime continues to evolve on various fronts by way of rationalisation of tax rates, availability of exemptions, procedural amendments, etc. While the Government has been relentless in its efforts to iron out every crease, bottlenecks continue to persist. With the benefit of hindsight, here is a critical look at some of the significant triumphs and misses on completion of its first anniversary.…

Parties entering into contractual arrangements usually insist on including a clause for liquidated damages to pre-emptively agree upon the amount of reparation that would be payable by either Party on failure to meet its commitment. Generally, such commitments are in the nature of adhering to timelines, fulfillment of conditions, quality of products, etc. The levy of an indirect tax on the amount of liquidated damages, has faced a series of challenges under the erstwhile service…

The industry has been grappling with uncertainty around anti-profiteering provisions since its introduction. While the Goods and Services Tax (GST) legislation and rules were available in the public domain long before the effective date of July 01, 2017, the rules relating to anti-profiteering were made public only on June 28, 2017. To everyone’s disappointment these rules failed to bring transparency and clarity to the implementation of anti-profiteering provisions; they merely chalked out the administrative hierarchy…

This is the fourth post in the our new blog series on the Budget 2018. Following our earlier posts (here, here, here and here) on the impact of the Budget on the Direct, Indirect Tax regimes and the Healthcare sector, this piece focuses on the amendments to the advance ruling system under the Customs Act. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we have enjoyed putting this together. The…

This is the second post in the our new blog series on the Budget 2018. Following our two-part post (here and here) on the impact of the Budget on the Direct Tax regime, this piece focuses on the amendments proposed under this Budget in the Indirect Tax space. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we have enjoyed putting this together. With the Indian economy recovering from a transitional slump post the…

The constitution validity of Entry Tax has faced a series of challenges. It was hoped that once the constitutional bench took control of the matter, the controversy would be resolved once for all. However, even after the constitutionality of the levy of Entry Tax per se was upheld by the majority of a nine judge bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court (SC) in the case of Jindal Stainless Steel v. State of Haryana, Civil Appeal…

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (SC), in the recent case of Steel Authorities of India Ltd.[i], considered the question of admissibility of an appeal, against an order of the Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), filed before the SC under Section 130E(b) of the Customs Act, 1962 (Customs Act). The SC analysed the provisions pertaining to the appellate mechanism laid down under the Customs Act juxtaposed with the role of the SC…