Legal tender ambiguity over specified bank notes may permit continued use until government defines extent of restriction.
A government notification declared that specified high-denomination bank notes "shall cease to be legal tender with effect from" a stated date "to the extent specified below," while the notification itself sets out banking return, remittance and exchange procedures but does not define the operative limits. A separate notification preserves legal tender for certain transactions for a short interim period. The omission of a definition of the phrase "to the extent specified below" creates an interpretive ambiguity as to which payments remained lawful after the effective date, prompting the view that the notes cannot be read as conclusively ceased to be legal tender until clarified. (AI Summary)

Excise on specified goods now limited; transitional provision preserves existing tax laws, with administrative clarification pending.
The Amendment Act (effective 16 September 2016) confines Union excise to specified petroleum items, natural gas and tobacco products by recasting Entry 84 of the Seventh Schedule, constraining the Central Government's excise power and limiting the Central Excise Act, 1944 to those goods. Section 19's transitional saving preserves "any provision of any law relating to tax on goods or services" in force in any State until amendment, repeal, or one year, producing divergent interpretations about whether central statutes (including the Finance Act, 1994) continue; administrative statements shortly thereafter reported no legal infirmity in the notifications. (AI Summary)

Dispute resolution scheme for indirect taxes offers limited relief to most service taxpayers, aiding primarily large defaulters.
The scheme permits a declaration and payment of service tax with interest plus a reduced portion of adjudicated penalty to obtain immunity from proceedings for cases pending before Commissioner (Appeals), though classes of assesses are excluded. The author argues the measure has limited benefit for most service taxpayers because statutory provisos already allow reduced penalty payment within a short period and taxpayers lacking merits typically already settle; the scheme chiefly aids a narrow set of large defaulters and is unlikely to substantially decrease litigation. (AI Summary)

Service tax on renting of motor vehicles: abatement confined to motor cabs; larger passenger vehicles now subject to joint charge and full tax.
Amendment limited the abatement for renting of passenger motor vehicles to renting of a motor cab (vehicles carrying not more than six passengers excluding driver). Consequently, renting services of larger passenger vehicles such as omni buses, mini buses and buses no longer qualify for abatement; reverse charge does not apply where abatement is unavailable, and such supplies fall under the joint charge mechanism, making both provider and recipient liable to pay tax as specified in the notification. (AI Summary)

Non-appealability of Commissioner orders under service tax bars tribunal appeals; remedy lies in filing a writ petition.
Orders of the Commissioner under Section 73A of the Finance Act, 1994 are not appealable to the Appellate Tribunal because the statute explicitly lists only Sections 73 and 83A as subjects of tribunal appeal; literal interpretation and precedent on analogous omissions support that the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction, leaving aggrieved parties to seek relief by writ petition under Article 226 unless legislative amendment adds Section 73A to the appeal provision. (AI Summary)