Resale Price Method appropriate where distributor adds no value; gross margin governs transfer pricing benchmarking.
Resale Price Method is appropriate where a distributor solely trades and does not add value to purchased goods; in such cases the distributor's gross profit margin on resales of finished goods purchased from an associated enterprise is the determinative benchmark. A pure distributor relationship is characterised by trading-only activity, absence of value addition, a manufacturer-distributor contractual relationship, and performance of sales-related functions while bearing commercial risks. Differences in employee or marketing expenses, including start-up expatriate support, do not change this characterisation. (AI Summary)

Interest on GST refund accrues from after sixty days of the first application until the implementation application is filed.
Applications filed pursuant to appellate orders are implementation filings, not fresh adjudication; interest at the standard rate accrues from the day after sixty days from the first application until the filing of the subsequent implementation application, and the proper officer must process the implementation application and determine and disburse the interest accordingly. (AI Summary)

Seizure of cash under GST: permissible only if cash forms part of business assets and is relevant to tax proceedings.
Seizure powers under the GST regime are limited to items the proper officer reasonably believes are useful to tax proceedings; cash not constituting stock in trade or business assets is generally not liable to seizure, findings from income tax inquiries are not automatically relevant, and procedural safeguards-formal seizure documentation and prescribed notice timelines-must be followed or seized items must be returned. (AI Summary)

Power to seize cash under CGST Act absent, seized cash ordered remitted with interest by revenue.
The court held that the CGST inspection, search and seizure provision does not empower the Revenue to seize cash discovered during searches; seizure powers under that provision apply to goods, documents and things relevant to proceedings, not currency. The decision, following prior high court precedents, directed remittance of the seized cash to the petitioners with accrued interest and noted that the Revenue may pursue other lawful measures consistent with the statutory scheme. (AI Summary)

Residential dwelling exemption denied for hostel accommodation; hostel services treated as taxable commercial accommodation under composite supply rules.
The Authority for Advance Ruling held that hostel accommodation provided with ancillary services to students and working women is not a residential dwelling for exemption purposes, is taxable under the accommodation tariff heading, and in house food supplied as part of the composite supply takes the tax rate applicable to the principal accommodation service. (AI Summary)

Authority to issue GST classification circulars: Tax Research Unit lacks power, circular invalidated and classification left to competent authority.
The Tax Research Unit lacks statutory authority under the CGST framework to issue binding classification clarifications, a power conferred exclusively on the Board; Circular No. 80/54/2018 GST failed to address the Customs Tariff Act's separation of plastics and textiles and was issued without adequate evidential basis, and is therefore quashed, leaving tariff classification to the competent authority in appropriate proceedings. (AI Summary)

Compounding of FEMA contraventions for continued FCNR(B) renewals after return to India enables monetary composition under compounding rules.
Section 15(1) FEMA allows compounding applications decided by authorized officers; Para 10 of Schedule II treats deposits of persons returning to India as resident deposits for most purposes and requires conversion of FCNR(B) deposits on maturity to resident rupee or RFC accounts at the accountholder's option. Renewal of FCNR(B) deposits after becoming resident can constitute a contravention; compounding proceedings quantify the sum involved and undue gain, consider submissions and enforcement inputs, and apply the Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules in setting a monetary composition. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit denial when wrong recipient GSTIN is reported - follow circular procedures and reassess claims accordingly.
Whether Input Tax Credit should be disallowed where an incorrect recipient GSTIN is entered in GSTR 1 is governed by Circular No. 183/15/2022 GST: the jurisdictional officer of the actual recipient must notify the concerned tax authority that ITC should be disallowed if claimed by the recipient, allowance of ITC to the actual recipient is independent of action by the other registered person's authority, and paragraph 4 procedures of the Circular must be followed when adjudicating such GSTR 3B/GSTR 2A discrepancies. (AI Summary)

Stamp valuation rule can determine full value of consideration when agreement precedes registration and electronic payment conditions met.
From assessment year 2017-18, the value adopted by a stamp valuation authority is to be treated as the full value of consideration where consideration is lower; if agreement and registration dates differ, the stamp value on the agreement date may be used provided the consideration (or part) was received by account-payee instruments or prescribed electronic mode on or before the agreement date. Prior to these provisos, capital gains arose when the transferee took possession or otherwise satisfied part-performance requirements; mere licence does not suffice. (AI Summary)

Non-compliance with tribunal orders may attract penalties and contempt referral against responsible officials and mandatory implementation obligations.
The Tribunal found customs officers in deliberate non compliance with its order permitting re export despite bank guarantees and specific directions, citing an administrative circular requiring implementation of Tribunal orders even if a stay application is pending. It imposed a monetary cost on the erring Commissioner to enforce judicial discipline, directed immediate implementation and reporting of compliance, and referred the matter to the higher court for consideration of contempt proceedings against the responsible official. (AI Summary)

Electronic service of GST notice and order summaries mandated to strengthen portal-based compliance and appeal tracking.
CBIC mandated electronic service of notice summaries in FORM GST DRC-01 and electronic uploading of order summaries in FORM GST DRC-07 on the GST portal for specified statutory actions, warning that non-compliance violates CGST Rules and may hinder recovery and appeals; Delhi requires computer-generated Document Identification Numbers/Reference Numbers on offline enforcement communications, with limited exceptions and procedures for post-facto regularisation; Kerala issued an SOP for coordinating IBC claims with State and District Nodal Officers, daily IBBI monitoring, Form B claims submission and monthly reporting. (AI Summary)

Tax-saving mutual funds: ELSS offer Section 80C benefits with a three-year lock-in and equity market risk.
ELSS are equity-oriented funds investing at least eighty percent in equities, offering tax benefits under Section 80C with a mandatory three-year lock-in. They combine tax savings and potential long-term wealth creation but carry equity market risk, suit aggressive investors with multi-year horizons, and require review of scheme documents. The note summarises differential tax treatment for short and longer held gains as stated and lists ten exemplar funds with past performance figures, accompanied by a market-risk disclaimer. (AI Summary)

Appointment of senior age independent director allowed if shareholder special resolution is obtained within the prescribed post appointment period.
The tribunal analysed whether a listed company may appoint an additional non executive independent director who has reached advanced age and then obtain member sanction. It held that the board may appoint an additional director to hold office until the next general meeting and that the listing obligation requiring a special resolution for appointment of a senior age independent director is a post appointment validation requirement to be satisfied at the next general meeting or within the prescribed short period. (AI Summary)

Penalty for delayed payment of collected tax limited to statutory maximum where no evasion and mitigation guidelines apply.
The court found no allegation or material showing tax evasion, only delay in depositing tax collected; accordingly, the statutory ceiling on penalty applies and mitigation guidelines and notifications must be considered, and an excessive penalty imposed without applying those factors was set aside and replaced by the maximum statutory penalty allowing for timely compliance. (AI Summary)

Redemption right under SARFAESI extinguished at auction notice publication, vesting purchaser's entitlement to the sale certificate.
The amended SARFAESI framework extinguishes a borrower's right to redeem upon publication of the auction notice; if the borrower has not paid full dues by that date the redemption window closes. Once sale is confirmed under the Rules, the successful auction purchaser gains a vested right to the prescribed sale certificate, and the secured creditor cannot withhold the certificate or enter into a private redemption arrangement with the borrower to the detriment of the purchaser. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax compliance: file GSTR-1 to report outward supplies and meet periodic return deadlines.
GST is a multi stage, destination based indirect tax with distinct components (IGST, SGST, CGST, UTGST) and requires registered persons to file periodic returns. GSTR-1 is the outward supply return for reporting invoices, debit and credit notes. Filing is monthly or quarterly (QRMP), and the portal process includes login, entering outward supplies or nil filing, generating and reviewing the summary, then authenticating submission by DSC or EVC. (AI Summary)

Account name transposition: proposal to permit transposition through account mandates and indemnity safeguards for joint accounts.
Banks currently lack standard procedures and software to process transposition of names in joint accounts because systems are aligned to the first-named holder. The author proposes adding a transposition authorisation clause to account opening forms and permitting banks to require a signed indemnity from joint applicants to protect the bank from losses, claims and liabilities arising from honouring transposition requests, and calls for regulatory direction to standardise the process. (AI Summary)

Seizure of cash limited where cash is not part of stock in trade; unjustified retention must be released promptly.
Section 67 permits search and seizure by an officer not below Joint Commissioner where there are reasons to believe items secreted are useful to proceedings; searches must follow CrPC-style safeguards, inventories must be provided, and seized items retained only as necessary with provisional release mechanisms. Seizure is ancillary to search and constrained by the object of the tax law. Courts have held that cash not forming part of stock in trade and not shown to be relevant to GST proceedings should not be seized and must be released where procedural or justificatory requirements are absent. (AI Summary)

Compounding time-limit invalidity: delegated circular cannot impose filing deadlines that alter the statutory compounding scheme.
The High Court concluded that the statutory compounding mechanism permits applications either before or after institution of proceedings and that the Board's circular imposing a fixed filing deadline introduced a temporal limitation inconsistent with that statutory scheme; implementation guidance must remain within the Act's scope and cannot substantively amend or curtail the right to seek compounding, so decisions based solely on the circular's time bar require fresh consideration on merits. (AI Summary)

Tax residence rules challenged by digital nomads; treaty and domicile concepts require revision to address cross-border employment.
Reliance on tax residence and the physical-presence test leaves remote employees outside source taxation when they do not establish residence or meet time thresholds. Digital nomads can provide services benefiting a jurisdiction without creating conventional presence, producing untaxed source income or concentrated taxing rights in the state of residence. Proposed responses include defining qualified residence for treaty benefits, adjusting presence thresholds, adopting redistribution mechanisms between residence and source states, and updating nexus concepts to reflect digital economic presence. (AI Summary)