TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (2) TMI 942
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....this court u/s. 8F of the Karnataka Entertainment Tax Act, 1958 for laying a challenge to Karnataka Appellate Tribunal's order dated 29.07.2022 whereby its appeals in STA Nos. 1916-1954 of 2014 having been negatived, the appellate order made by the authorities have been upheld. 2. BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE: 2.1 Assessee is a Direct to Home (DTH) entertainment service provider in terms of DTH License dated 16.09.2003 w.e.f. October 2003. The DTH services are being provided under the brand name 'Dish TV'. The short grievance of the Assessee is inclusion of service tax component in the 'amount received or receivable' while levying entertainment tax, in terms of Sec. 4G of the Act. 2.2 The authorities did not agree with the Assessee that the ....
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....ich the subscribers would pay to the multi system operator towards distributing satellite television signals and therefore service tax component cannot be added while computing the same for the purpose of levy of entertainment tax. (ii) Power to levy entertainment tax is referable to Entry 78 in the State List, Schedule 7 of the Constitution of India whereas power to levy service tax is broadly relatable to Entry 97 in the Central List; that being the position levying entertainment tax even on the service tax would be constitutionally impermissible and therefore Sec. 4G should be restrictively construed to exclude service tax component. (iii) In the absence of definition of 'invoice' in the Act, the Bills/Statement of Accounts contain....
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.... legislation, necessitated by the integration of the State of Karnataka under the States Re-organisation Act, 1956. The Preamble to the Act reads: "...It is expedient to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the levy of tax on entertainments in the State of Karnataka." It has undergone a slew of amendments. Section 2 is the dictionary clause. Clause (ca) of section 2 defines 'cable television'; clause (e) defines 'Entertainment'; clause (gg) defines 'Multi System Operator'. Sections 3(1) & 4G were much pressed into service by both the sides and therefore, they are reproduced below: "[3. Tax on payment for admission to entertainments.- [(1) There shall be levied and paid to the State Government entertainments tax on each payment....
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.... is answered in the negative and in favour of the Assessee. 5.3 The above view gains support from the decision of Apex Court in M/s Anand Swarup Mahesh Kumar vs. Commissioner Of Sales Tax (1980) 4 SCC 451 wherein, at para 10, Assessee therein had argued that the market fee payable under the UP Krishi Utpadan Mandi Adhiniyam, 1964 being a sum which could be collected from the purchaser under the provisions of the said statute by the commission agent for being remitted to the market committee, could not be considered as forming part of the consideration payable by the purchaser of the goods to the commission agent and therefore, it could not be included in the 'turnover of purchases' for the purpose of levy of tax under section 3-D of the UP....
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....s right in telling that the Constitution does not bar levy of tax on tax. His example that cess is tax levied on taxes, is very attractive. However, that is permissible only when the legislature has the competence to levy the original tax and the tax on that tax, whatever be the nomenclature. No contra Ruling or opinio juris is cited before us. 5.5 Learned AGA submitted that there is textual difference between sections 3 and 4G of the Act in the sense that section 3 employs the expression 'excluding the amount of tax' and therefore, the intention of the legislature is clear that the absence of such an expression in section 4G does not permit exclusion of service tax component while computing the amounts received or receivable, for the purp....
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....ulates in a taxation statute, that would enure to the benefit of the Assessee subject to all just exceptions. 5.6 The last contention of the Assessee is that the invoice issued by it to each of the customers every time was reflected in the records produced before the authorities, cannot be summarily rejected. Abundant evidentiary material is produced even in the paper book of the petition. The Assessee had placed before the authorities the Statement of Account showing itemized billing and separate collection of service tax amount which aspect has been discussed by a Coordinate Bench of this Court in Assessee's earlier STRP No. 436/2017 disposed off on 10.12.2021. True it is that the word 'invoice' is not defined in the 1958 Act nor in the ....