Section 90 of the Income Tax Act of 1961 has been the pivotal reference point to examine the applicability of Double Tax Treaties on determination of liability under the Act. The provision and understanding all along has been that in the event of conflict between the provisions of the Act and...

The reform process for the indirect taxation regime in India has been ongoing for some time, with the prevailing view being that simplification of tax regime and a principle-laden approach was an essential concomitant in the outlook of a developed nation. Much debate has ensued and during the...

The Government of India submitted the ‘Direct Taxes Code' Bill, 2010 the Parliament in August, 2010. The Code, expected to come into force from the next financial year i.e. 1st April 2012, is not just a regular amendment but replaces all the existing direct tax laws in India. The drafters have...

While on one side India and its citizens have been grappling with black money and blaming the Government for being unable to come out with the means to effectively tackle the social menace, on the other hand statutory provisions effectuating the Government intent to come to terms with the...

In an earlier article titled as ‘Service Tax on Lawyers: A levy short lived?' [Excise and Customs Reporter Vol. 191(4), pp. 55SF-60SF] I had an occasion to point out that the levy of service tax on individual lawyers was an experiment out of the various experiments conducted by the Government...

India's tryst with corporate governance is not new, yet not ideal. When in 1996 the Confederation of Indian Industry (‘CII') undertook the first institutional initiative on corporate governance in India (leading to the 1998 report on ‘Desired Corporate Governance: A Code'), the ideals of...

The history of ever expanding horizon of service tax law in India has extensive sub-chapters of its own. The levy being unique and unprecedented in the country, the Finance Act, 1994 has made a number of experiments for the levy and collection of service tax from various sectors. Sometimes owing...

In his paper titled ‘Dividend Distribution Tax – Some Nuances' published in 339 ITR (J) 52 the learned author has dwelled upon certain aspects of tax on distributed profits under Section 115O of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘1961 Act'). In 339 ITR (J) 52 the author referred contrary decisions...

The unbridled intent to maximize the return for shareholders has earned an enviable place for the tax-planning fraternity in corporate structuring deliberations. More often than not, elevating the trend akin to an axiomatic proposition, cross-border transactions are tested for tax-efficiency...

The exigibility of a transaction to multiple levies has always been a contentious issue. Vivisection of composite contracts to subject various elements therein to diverse levies is a quintessential reflection of this trend exhibited by tax-authorities. The issue is more or less settled in the...