By Tushar Aggarwal With the passage of time, different technologies and standards evolve. Similarly, law cannot stand still; it must change with the changing social concepts and values [see end note 1]. Tax laws though necessarily enacted in its own time, are nevertheless to be construed as taking note of the advances in technology. Entertainment tax in India is being levied for more than a...

By Ashish Karundia The economic growth that India witnessed in last two decades has attracted Multinational Enterprises (‘MNEs’) to increase their business presence manifold in India. Many MNEs have won projects involving Engineering, Procurement and Construction (‘EPC’) to be undertaken on turnkey basis. An EPC contract generally involves supply of goods and services, both offshore and onsho...

By V. Sivasubramanian A Goods and Services Tax (GST) is on the anvil. From the kind of discussions I see around in the media and Government circles, the only issues which are holding back its rollout is the lack of consensus on the compensation mechanism for the expected loss of some States on account of its implementation, inclusion or exclusion of specific products from scope of GST and the...

By Ashish Karundia The way Indian economy withstood global economic slowdown has made India a very alluring destination for foreign investments. For testing Indian waters, many Multinational Companies (‘MNCs’ or 'HO' or 'Non-resident') prefer opening a Liaison Office (‘LO’) in India. LO can be set up in India only after obtaining permission from Indian central bank i.e., Reserve Bank of India...

By S. Sriram Relocation of business from one country to another, where the labor and other costs are comparatively cheaper, results in cost saving to the Multi National Enterprise (‘MNE’) groups.  The net cost so saved is Location Savings (‘LS’) as explained by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (‘OECD’) [see end note 1].The United Nations further expands the scope of ...

By Ashish Karundia Globalisation has led Multinational Companies (MNCs) to increase cross border secondment of technical, managerial and other employees to their subsidiaries located in low cost jurisdictions such as India. The rationale behind seconding such employees is sometimes to help the subsidiaries avail the benefit of skill and expertise of the seconded employees in respective fields...

By Rajat Juneja & Sumeet Khurana Backdrop When a partnership firm is formed for carrying on real estate business and a partner contributes land or building therein then the tax consequence of contribution of such land or building becomes a tricky issue. The computation of the capital gain on this transaction is a challenge because of two Sections that are apparently applicable but conflicti...

By Nirav Karia The Supreme Court in Super Synotex [see end note1] case had considered the Sales Tax Incentive Scheme extended by State of Rajasthan.  Under that scheme, it appears that the assessee was entitled to retain with him 75% of the sales tax collected from his buyers and pay only 25% to the State Government.  The State of Rajasthan instead of giving certain amount towards industrial ...

By Rajat Juneja & Sumeet Khurana Background Tax reforms can play a decisive role in supporting growth, by removing distortions, enhancing transparency and ensuring certain level of stability in the area of international taxation. Indian economy has grown at an impressive pace over the past couple of decades as a result of wide-ranging structural reforms however lack of a stable tax regime h...

By Iype Mathew One of the important changes made as part of the amendments brought by Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014 is the amendment to the provisions relating to pre-deposit and grant of stay in Customs, Excise and Service Tax laws.  Earlier, though pre-deposit of the full disputed amount was prescribed yet the appellate authority was vested with the discretion to waive pre-deposit and to grant ...

By V. Sivasubramanian In this year’s budget, i.e. Budget 2014-15, the Joint Secretary, Tax Research Unit [JS (TRU)-I], Central Board of Excise & Customs [‘CBEC’ or ‘Board’], has sought to clarify the legal position involving interpretation of certain Customs and Central Excise notifications through an annexure to his covering letter [see end note 1] addressed to the Chief Commissioners and Co...

By Sumeet Khurana and Rajat Juneja Backdrop One of the most apprehensive subjects for India for last couple of years has been the dwindling rupee value which besides triggering inflation and broadening the current account deficit has also augmented certain tax related issues. One such issue stems from the concerns relating to the treatment of foreign exchange loss arising on revaluation of ...