During the last two months August 2026 and September 2026, more and more orders were pronounced by the GSTAT, High Courts as well as the Supreme Court paving way for reasoned orders at adjudication as well as first appeal levels. The orders passed by the GSTAT are binding on all State as well as Central officials as the design of GST law itself is one nation, one tax. Only in order to avoid frivolous appeals by Revenue, CBIC has set monetary limits (with certain exceptions) for preferring the ap... ... ...

1. For years, the phrase "construction of an immovable property" in Section 17(5)(d) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 operated as a near-unconquerable barrier for capital-intensive industries. Tax authorities routinely adopted a mechanical rule of thumb: if an asset was heavy, anchored to earth, fastened to a concrete plinth, or required engineering alignment, it was summarily branded "immovable property". 2.The inevitable consequence was the denial of Input Tax Credit (ITC). E... ... ...

Introduction The import and export of goods in India are governed primarily by the Customs Act, 1962, the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, and the Foreign Trade Policy issued by the Central Government. Although most goods may be imported or exported subject to applicable duties and procedures, certain goods may be prohibited or restricted in the public interest. Power of the Central Government Section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962, empowers the Central Government to p... ... ...

A Valid Provision Still Requires Lawful Application A purchasing dealer may receive goods or services or both, hold a proper tax invoice and pay the entire invoice value, including GST, through banking channels. Yet, years later, the Department may seek reversal of input tax credit because the supplier failed to deposit the tax or its registration was retrospectively cancelled. The resulting dispute raises two separate questions: whether actual payment of tax to the Government can be prescrib... ... ...

Chain of judgments/ orders: 2026 (9) TMI 1404 - SC Order M/s. Himatsingka Seide Limited Versus Principal Commissioner Of Income Tax Central 2. 2026 (4) TMI 1920 - CALCUTTA HIGH COURT Principal Commissioner Of Income Tax Central 2, Kolkata Versus M/s. Himatsingka Seide Limited. Order of ITAT dt.15.03.24 reported as 2024 (4) TMI 189 - ITAT KOLKATA - Himatsingka Seide Ltd. Versus Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle-XVI, Kolkata. And (Vice-Versa) And Assistant Commi... ... ...

The Indian income tax framework operates within a strict hierarchical process where orders of appellate authorities and courts are binding on subordinate officers. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in UNION OF INDIA Versus KAMLAKSHI FINANCE CORPORATION LTD. - 1991 (9) TMI 72 - Supreme Court, held that the judgment delivered by the Tribunal is binding on the Assessing Officer and he is bound to follow it in its true letter and spirit. The mere fact that the order of the Appellate Authority is no... ... ...

The Appeal Was Dismissed Without Examining the Tax Dispute A statutory appeal gives a taxpayer an opportunity to challenge an adverse order before a higher authority. However, the merits of the dispute may remain unheard if the taxpayer fails to comply with a procedural requirement for filing or maintaining the appeal. This was the central concern in Bos Natural Flavours Pvt Ltd Versus The Commissioner Of Kerala State GST, Thiruvananthapuram. - 2026 (9) TMI 2057 - GSTAT ERNAKULAM. T... ... ...

The Hon'ble Delhi High Court in Armour Security India Limited Versus Union Of India & Anr. - 2026 (8) TMI 406 - DELHI HIGH COURT declined to exercise writ jurisdiction against the Show Cause Notice issued under Sections 76 and 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 ("the CGST Act") and the consequent Order-in-Original, and relegated the assessee to the alternative remedy of appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act, holding that the question as to what constitutes a "reasonable period... ... ...

The Levy Began with a Misreading of the Transaction GST disputes involving industrial land often arise from an incorrect description of the transaction. An original allotment of land by an industrial development corporation, a long-term lease granted to an industrial unit, and a subsequent assignment of the lessee's rights to another party are legally distinct transactions. Their tax treatment cannot be determined merely by describing them all as transactions involving "leasehold rights."... ... ...

Bank merger transfers the merged bank's assets, liabilities and customer accounts to the successor bank, so a cheque drawn on that account does not become invalid merely because the original bank ceases to exist. An endorsement that no such bank exists is insufficient, by itself, to negate the cheque where the successor bank has taken over the account. Allegations that the cheque was misplaced or the account closed require proof at trial and do not alone preclude proceedings for cheque dishonour under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Transfer of the right to use goods requires the transferee to receive possession and effective control. Hiring privately owned buses to a State transport undertaking did not meet that test where owners remained responsible for operating and maintaining the vehicles, supplied drivers, bore statutory and accident-related liabilities, and retained physical control. The undertaking's authority to prescribe routes and schedules regulated service performance but did not confer exclusive possession or control. The arrangement operated as a licence or transport service arrangement, not a deemed sale taxable under the Andhra Pradesh VAT Act.

Rule 6(3) of the CENVAT Credit Rules - electricity generated from bagasse wheeled outside the factory Liability under Rule 6(3) of the CENVAT Credit Rules in respect of electricity generated from bagasse and wheeled to the State electricity authority - HELD THAT: - Bagasse is agricultural waste and residue and is not the result of manufacture. Rule 6 of the CENVAT Credit Rules consequently has no application to bagasse; the settled position also excludes electricity generated from bagasse and... ... ...

CENVAT credit on Business Support Services received from a group company Eligibility to CENVAT credit of service tax paid on Business Support Services supplied by the group company's common corporate facility provider - HELD THAT: - Earlier final orders on identical facts [2026 (1) TMI 1460 - CESTAT MUMBAI] had recognised the common corporate support facilities as Business Support Services on which service tax was paid and apportioned to group entities, and had held the recipient entitled... ... ...

Refund of duplicate appellate pre-deposit - Pre-deposit not constituting duty payment Refund of the duplicate amount deposited electronically as the mandatory pre-deposit for filing a statutory appeal. - HELD THAT: - The statutory procedure governing refund of duty and interest did not apply to a duplicate pre-deposit made for availing the appellate remedy. A pre-deposit is not payment of duty but a condition for exercising the right of appeal, as held in Union of India Vs. Suvidhe Ltd. [1996... ... ...

Refund of service tax paid under mistake of law - Interest on refund of revenue deposit Refund of service tax paid under reverse charge on goods transport services for transportation of yeast, notwithstanding failure to claim the available exemption in self-assessment returns - HELD THAT: - The appellant was eligible for exemption on GTA services relating to yeast as food stuff, and the tax was consequently paid under a mistake of law. Such payment did not assume the character of service tax ... ... ...

Provisional attachment and retention of property under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act - Subsequent predicate offences not forming the basis of attachment proceedings Validity of confirmation of provisional attachment and retention or continuation of freezing of property, where subsequent FIRs were not part of the original attachment, seizure or freezing proceedings - HELD THAT: - The impugned actions were founded solely on the original FIR, which no longer survived. Although the subse... ... ...

Third-party interest in attached property - Developer's rights under Joint Development Agreement - Substitution of attached property - Challenge by a developer claiming rights under a Joint Development Agreement to the attachment of land and request for substitution of the attached property by deposit - HELD THAT: - The Tribunal found that the appellant held no sale deed for the land and had not pursued the remedy earlier indicated for crystallising its right or title. The record did not ... ... ...

Scheduled offence for illegal granite quarrying - Attachment of equivalent value of proceeds of crime - Reasons to believe for provisional attachment - Aggrieved person in attachment appeal - Reasoned order confirming provisional attachment Scheduled offence for illegal granite quarrying - Existence of scheduled offences underlying the attachment arising from allegations of illegal granite quarrying - HELD THAT: - The charge-sheet in one of the predicate cases included offences under the IPC ... ... ...

Rectification of company name for resemblance to registered trade mark - Holistic comparison of competing company names - Whole-name comparison Rectification of the respondent company's name "TOPLAD" on the ground that it too nearly resembled the petitioner's registered trade mark "TOPLAND" - HELD THAT: - Under Section 16(1)(b), the inquiry is confined to whether the company name is identical with or too nearly resembles the registered trade mark; unlike a trade mark dispute, likeliho... ... ...

Classification of optical transceivers under the Customs Tariff - Customs exemption exclusion for Optical Transport Network products Classification of imported optical transceivers under CTI 8517 7090 v/s under CTI 8517 6290 as Optical Transport Network products - HELD THAT: - An optical transceiver performs the limited function of converting optical signals into electrical signals and vice versa, and serves as a network interface module. It does not perform the functions of a complete Optica... ... ...