Srikantha Rao T (B.Com, FCA) is based in Bangalore. He is Practice Lead - Indirect Taxes at Tax Compaas and has been in Practice for nearly 20 years. He is presently engaged in Indirect Tax Practice and deals with Advisory and Litigation functions for clients of the firm. He also handles tax planning, structuring and Management reviews for clients in indirect taxes.
Apart from specialising in Indirect Taxes, he has over the years handled Management & Operations reviews, Internal Audits, Due Diligence and Risk Advisory Services for clients. He has handled clients both in manufacturing and service sectors covering fertiliser, automotive, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, telecommunications, machine tooling/engineering, iron & steel and software industry to name a few.
Areas handled in Indirect Taxes include Central Excise, Customs, Service Tax, Foreign Trade Policy apart from Karnataka VAT and CST. He has co-authored books on Central Excise and Service Tax in the past and is a regular contributor of articles on indirect taxes including GST. He has also authored the book "GST Law Simplified With Relevant Case Laws" for Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association published by Taxmann Publications Pvt Ltd. In case of need he could be reached on his mobile 9845273812, 9986406333 or on email at [email protected]
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Work from home employees in India may create GST reverse-charge and registration obligations for foreign employers.
Where a foreign employer provides employees in India with facilities and those employees supply services to the employer while working in India, the arrangement can create GST exposure via the reverse charge mechanism and may require the foreign employer or a local registrant to obtain registration in India; the existence of a fixed establishment depends on a sufficient degree of permanence and distinct human and technical resources made available to receive or supply services. (AI Summary)
Goods and Services Tax - GST
Composite supply under GST taxed according to the principal supply; classification requires identifying the dominant component.
Composite supply under GST is a bundled transaction of goods and/or services with one component as the principal supply; taxability is governed by that principal supply. Mixed supply, by contrast, comprises independent items supplied for a single price and attracts the highest applicable rate. Determination requires factual analysis of natural bundling, dominant nature of components, contractual terms (including cross fall clauses), value contribution and trade practice. Revenue circulars and advance rulings illustrate variable outcomes across contexts and underscore the need for clearer guidance on natural bundling. (AI Summary)
Goods and Services Tax - GST
Zero-rated supplies let exporters preserve input tax credit or discharge IGST then claim refund, subject to procedural conditions.
Zero-rating classifies exports and specified supplies to SEZs as zero-rated supplies, preserving input tax credit and permitting exporters either to export under a Letter of Undertaking without tax and claim refund of unutilised credits, or to pay IGST using input credit and seek refund of tax paid; deemed exports to EOUs and against specified authorisations allow supplier refunds subject to recipient acknowledgments and undertakings, while customs-area and title-transfer rules determine when supplies are treated as imports or exports for IGST levy. (AI Summary)
Goods and Services Tax - GST
Works contract classification determines GST treatment as service or supply affecting tax jurisdiction and invoicing rules.
Works contracts under GST are confined to contracts concerning immovable property where transfer of property in goods occurs during execution; such contracts are generally treated as services for GST, making the amount of materials used irrelevant and attracting service tax rates. Classification between works contract and supply-plus-installation depends on contract terms, nature of property and timing of title transfer, with movability tests and precedents informing whether components are immovable. Continuous supply status and subcontracting clauses affect invoicing obligations and potential liability. (AI Summary)
Goods and Services Tax - GST
Dual GST structure: CGST/SGST for intra state and IGST for inter state supplies with input credit set off mechanism.
A dual destination based GST replaces multiple central and state indirect levies by imposing CGST and SGST on intra state supplies and IGST on inter state and imports. Uniform substantive rules govern chargeability, valuation and classification; time and place of supply rules determine liability; input tax credit allows set off subject to specified exclusions and utilisation hierarchy; exports are zero rated; valuation follows transaction value with fallback rules; registration, returns, refunds, audit and recovery procedures are prescribed; and a GST Council plus constitutional amendments allocate powers and apportion IGST. (AI Summary)
Goods and Services Tax - GST
Duty credit scrips can be used to discharge customs, excise and service tax liabilities, subject to procedural undertakings.
The Policy issues duty credit scrips under MEIS and SEIS which may be used to pay customs duties (including CVD and SAD), central excise duties and service tax on input services; scrips cover capital goods, are transferable, registrable at a port of registration, and permit claim of cenvat credit or drawback. Use for domestic procurements requires furnishing an undertaking to the jurisdictional Central Excise officer to pay any differential duty/tax with interest, presentation of debited scrips and supplier invoices to customs/excise officers, and compliance with specified application and registration procedures. (AI Summary)
Customs - Import - Export - SEZ
Cenvat credit scope for services and goods used directly or indirectly in manufacture clarified, with utilisation and reversal rules.
Cenvat credit is admissible for goods, input services and capital goods used directly or indirectly in or in relation to manufacture and clearance of dutiable final products, subject to explicit exclusions; eligibility depends on functional nexus and effective contribution to manufacture, with special rules on transport beyond factory, installation versus embedded site-works, credits prior to registration, treatment of exempted by-products, proportional reversals where segregation is impractical, invoice endorsements, and permitted cross-utilisation of credits. (AI Summary)
Cenvat Credit
Cenvat credit refund tied to export turnover realisation may restrict refunds when export proceeds remain unrealised.
Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules apportions refundable credit by multiplying net cenvat credit by the ratio of export turnover (requiring both service provided and consideration received by quarter end) to total turnover (export turnover plus value of other services in the relevant period). This creates two interpretive outcomes: full refund for pure exporters when numerator equals denominator, or restricted refund when the numerator is confined to realised receipts while the denominator includes billed but unrealised export value, necessitating potential carry forward of credits and raising procedural disputes. (AI Summary)
Service Tax
Transfer of right to use goods: software licensing tax treatment turns on exclusivity, effective control and contract terms.
Taxability of software licensing turns on whether the contract effects a transfer of right to use goods or instead creates a non-transfer licence/service. Key indicia are existence and identity of goods for delivery, legal entitlement of the transferee to use the goods including necessary permissions, exclusivity of rights during the period, effective control over use, and assignment of intellectual property. Application to software depends on contractual terms-exclusive transfers or assignment favor characterization as transfer of goods; non exclusive EULAs and retained ownership favor licensing/service treatment. (AI Summary)
Service Tax
Works contract characterisation governs when supply-plus-installation agreements attract works-contract taxation rather than sale.
The issue is whether composite supply-and-installation agreements are to be treated as works contracts or as contracts of sale. Where a single contract requires supply plus installation resulting in permanent affixation or incorporation, prior authority and constitutional definitions support treatment as a works contract regardless of the incidental supply element. Separate contracts for purchase and installation remain sale and service respectively, but a composite contract falls within works-contract taxation, with significant implications for vesting of materials, accretion, and VAT/service-tax liability. (AI Summary)
Service Tax
Related party customs valuation: transaction value may be rejected if relationship influences price, invoking alternative valuation methods.
Customs valuation of imports involving related parties requires that the transaction value be the price actually paid or payable and that buyer and seller are not related, or if related, that the relationship has not influenced the price. Where the proper officer has reasonable doubt about truth or accuracy, Rule 12 mandates enquiry, opportunity to be heard and, if doubts persist, rejection of transaction value followed by sequential application of Rules 4-9. Alternative methods include comparison with identical or similar goods, deductive value, computed value and a residual method, with specified additions under Rule 10. (AI Summary)
Customs - Import - Export - SEZ
Exemption threshold for resident welfare associations: exceeding contributions trigger tax on entire collection; reimbursements excluded if pure agent.
Services by Resident Welfare Associations to members can be taxed because an unincorporated association and its members are treated as distinct persons; Notification 25/2012 ST exempts certain member collections but clause 28(c) provides a per member monetary limit for sourcing third party goods or services. The article concludes that where any one member's contribution exceeds the stipulated limit, the entire collection from that member is taxable (rather than only the excess), CBEC has so clarified, and associations should segregate input credits and substantiate reimbursements to exclude them from valuation. (AI Summary)
Service Tax
Education cess as duty of excise permits use of Cenvat credit to discharge education cess liabilities on excisable goods.
The Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004 and the Central Excise Act, read together, treat education cess on excisable goods as a duty of excise subject to the Central Excise Act's rules on levy, collection, refunds and exemptions. Because "duty of excise" is equated with CENVAT under the Central Excise Act and Cenvat Credit Rules incorporate Act definitions, Cenvat credit of basic excise duty may be utilised to discharge education cess liabilities on excisable goods where no specific statutory restriction exists. (AI Summary)
Cenvat Credit
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
28 Nov 2025 
5 Replies 
