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Reworking GST Export Refunds: A Case for a More Practical Mechanism
In international commerce, the settled principle is that a country should export goods and services, not domestic taxes. Therefore, taxes suffered on procurements used for export activity should flow...
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GST Departmental Audit and Limitation: Why FORM GST ADT-01 Cannot Be Viewed in Isolation
1. Core propositionSection 65 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 permits departmental audit of a registered person, but it does not prescribe a separate outer time limit for issuing the a...
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GST’s Statutory Pause Button: Revisiting “Call Book” Proceedings after Tata Steel
The GST law was designed as a time-bound code. It fixes periods for issuance and adjudication of notices, distinguishes ordinary cases from fraud or suppression cases, and expects the tax administrati...
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GST on Telecom Licence Fee and Spectrum Charges: Can the CERC Ruling Reopen the Debate?
1. Why the issue has become importantTelecom companies in India make substantial recurring payments to the Department of Telecommunications (“DoT”). Two of the most important payments are the licence...
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Missing E-Way Bills under Section 129: Late Compliance, No Compliance, and the Unsettled Line Between Lapse and Evasion
Two recent decisions of the GST Appellate Tribunal, Lucknow Bench, have brought back an old but important GST controversy: when goods are intercepted without an e-way bill, is that fact alone enough t...
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Nil Turnover in GST Returns Cannot by Itself Justify Cancellation of Registration: Gujarat High Court
Introduction: Registration Cancellation and Its Commercial ConsequencesGST registration is the statutory foundation upon which a person conducts business within the GST framework — issuing tax invoice...
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Section 112(2) CGST Act: GSTAT's Discretion to Refuse Small-Value GST Appeals Explained
Background: Controlling Litigation on Small-Value DisputesThe GST framework contains a built-in mechanism to discourage appeals involving trivial amounts of tax, input tax credit, fine, fee or penalty...
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GST Proceedings After Death of a Sole Proprietor: Section 93 Liability, Notice Requirements and Retrospective Section 16(5) Relief
IntroductionThe death of a taxable person does not, of itself, extinguish an outstanding goods and services tax liability. The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 contains specific provisions tha...
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GST Registration in India: A Practical Compliance Checklist Before and After GSTIN Allotment
GST registration is no longer a routine online formality. The process has gradually become a front-end compliance filter through which the tax department verifies the applicant’s identity, place of bu...
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Section 74 under GST: Fraud Allegations Cannot Be Presumed from Mere Wrong ITC Availment
Date: 26 August 2026The developing jurisprudence under GST is now sending a clear message: proceedings under section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 cannot be initiated casually. Th...
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Corporate Guarantees under GST: Taxability, Valuation, Exports and Litigation Risks
1. IntroductionCorporate guarantees occupy a central place in the financing arrangements of business groups. By utilising the financial standing, creditworthiness and brand value of established entiti...
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GST Appeals Dismissed for Delay: Why a Final, Limited Reopening May Be Worth Considering
The early GST period created a class of disputes where the substantive controversy may never have been examined at all. In several cases, appeals were rejected only because they were filed beyond the...
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Artificial Intelligence in GST Governance: Opportunities, Limits and the Need for Human Oversight
1. The New Face of Tax AdministrationTechnology can make tax administration faster, more accurate and more responsive, but the final sense of justice must remain rooted in human reasoning. Artificial...
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Global Indirect Tax Update: UAE clarifies VAT valuation for deemed service supplies; China digitises departure tax refund process
This update summarises two significant indirect tax developments: the UAE Federal Tax Authority’s clarification on valuation of deemed supplies of services for VAT purposes, and China’s move towards a...
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Gujarat High Court on GST and Corporate Guarantees: Levy Sustained, 1% Rule Narrowed
In Torrent Power Ltd. v. Union of India [2026] 189 taxmann.com 490 (Gujarat), decided on 14 August 2026, a Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court dealt with a batch of thirteen writ petitions questi...
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Arrest Under GST Cannot Be a Surprise: Supreme Court Requires Prior Communication of Section 69 Order
1. Why the ruling mattersThe power to arrest under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 has always carried serious consequences for personal liberty. Section 69 of the CGST Act authorises the...
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Promotional Spending on One’s Own Rights Is Not Automatically a Taxable Service
1. The Central Message of the Zee Entertainment RulingThe decision in Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, Mumbai Central v. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited [(2026) TaxCorp(ST) 43454 (SC) :...
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GST Search, DIN Compliance and “Voluntary” Payments: Key Lessons from Bhima Enterprises
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, in M/s. Bhima Enterprises v. The Principal Chief Commissioner of GST & Central Excise, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, (2026) TaxCorp(GST) 70597 (HC-MADRAS), has d...
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GST on Corporate Guarantees: Taxable, But Not by Artificial or Retrospective Valuation
The Gujarat High Court’s decision in Torrent Power Ltd. v. Union of India and Others, (2026) TaxCorp(GST) 70620 (HC-GUJARAT) (2026), is an important ruling on how GST applies to corporate guarantees i...
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GST Treatment of Corporate Guarantees: Supply, Valuation and the Unresolved Fault Lines
Corporate guarantees have moved from being routine treasury tools within business groups to a major GST litigation issue. In a typical group structure, a holding company may issue a guarantee to a ban...