Tag: Taxation
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Unsettling the Settled: The Nature of Dividend Distribution Tax in India
[Paras Khetan is a 5th year BA.LLB (Hons.) student at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore] Dividend taxation in India has undergone significant changes over the past few decades. For a substantial duration, India followed a unique system for taxing the dividends declared or paid by a domestic company called the ‘Dividend Distribution Tax’
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Understanding “Undertaking” in the Context of Investment Demergers
[Barsha Dikshit is a Partner and Sourish Kundu a Senior Executive at Vinod Kothari & Co.] The meaning of “undertaking” has been one of the most debated issues under Indian company law and tax law, particularly when it comes to the questions of whether shares or investments can be treated as an “undertaking”. While the term intuitively refers
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The Tax Policy Paradox in Fast-Track Demergers
[Aayush Agarwal is a 3rd year student at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar and Taher Hussain is a 4thyear student at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai] On July 21, 2025, the Select Committee on the Income Tax Bill, 2025, presented its Report (‘the Report’) before the Parliament, analysing various provisions of the new bill and suggesting appropriate changes to it. One
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The Hyatt Judgment and the New PE Paradigm: Form vs. Function in Indian Tax Law
[Shravan Anande is a fourth-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student and Hari Priya Murarikar is a third-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student, both at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] In a significant judgment with wide-ranging implications for international taxation, the Supreme Court of India in Hyatt International (Southwest Asia) Ltd. v. Additional Director of Income Tax has affirmed the existence of a permanent establishment (PE)
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Dual Tax Dilemma: State of Kerala v Asianet Satellite Communications Ltd
[Surya Gayathri is a 2nd year BA.LLB student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] On May 22, 2025, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh delivered a significant ruling in State of Kerala v. Asianet Satellite Communications Ltd., addressing the constitutionality of dual taxation on broadcasting services. The case arose
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Settling Regulatory Settlements: A Taxing Tale
[Bhaskar Vishwajeet is a lawyer at a law firm in New Delhi] On April 23, 2025, the Central Board of Direct Taxes issued a Notification that any expenditure incurred in settlement proceedings concerning contraventions under certain laws will not be deemed deductible from the taxable income of a settlement-seeking entity. The Notification exclusively covers only the following legislations:
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Skoda’s Customs Dispute: Examining Indian Jurisprudence on Automobile Import Classification
[Parv Jain is a 4th-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad] Late last year, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Private Limited (‘Skoda’) received the largest tax demand ever issued to an automaker in India, amounting to $1.4 billion. The demand challenges the classification of imported parts at its Aurangabad factory. According to the customs
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Restricting Carry-Forward of Losses: Analysing Reforms to the Income Tax Act
[Megha Porwal and Manav Pamnani are 3rd year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students at the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] The Union Budget presented on 1 February 2025 marks a significant development in the jurisprudence pertaining to direct taxes in India. This is because it introduces a substantial amendment to sections 72a and 72AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (IT Act). The Bill proposes the insertion of
