https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=785099 Whether contracts for booking speakers amounted to "event management service" under Section 65(105)(zu) of the Finance Act (pre-1.7.2012): SC held that taxability depends on whether the service falls within the statutory definitions of "event management" and "event manager" (Sections 65(40), 65(41)). The Court rejected revenue's reliance on principal-agent character or the centrality of speakers, applied the rule of strict construction of fiscal statutes, relied on a contemporaneous circular and the common-parlance test to construe "event management" as planning/organizing an event (not mere speaker booking). The booking contracts therefore do not constitute event management service, and the appeal is allowed. en-us Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 17 Jan 2026 08:45:27 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=785099 Whether contracts for booking speakers amounted to "event management service" under Section 65(105)(zu) of the Finance Act (pre-1.7.2012): SC held that taxability depends on whether the service falls within the statutory definitions of "event management" and "event manager" (Sections 65(40), 65(41)). The Court rejected revenue's reliance on principal-agent character or the centrality of speakers, applied the rule of strict construction of fiscal statutes, relied on a contemporaneous circular and the common-parlance test to construe "event management" as planning/organizing an event (not mere speaker booking). The booking contracts therefore do not constitute event management service, and the appeal is allowed. Case-Laws Service Tax Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=785099