Taxability of ‘free’ supplies in the privacy/ information framework

 The Supreme Court in the landmark judgment of Puttaswamy recognized that right to privacy is a fundamental right, the notions of which amplified in the Aadhar case. This followed up with the tabling of Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (PDPB) before the Parliament. But after the criticism and its inadequacies, the PDPB has recently been withdrawn, with reported placement of a new draft in due course. All things said and done, the privacy framework is not only going to shake up the internet traffic, but depending upon how its worded may leave its marks on the tax laws as well. In this backdrop, the present piece discourses the potential taxability of information collected by the service providers.

Electronic furnishing of Form 10F – Flowchart for Payer/Deductor

  

While Form 10F has been notified for electronic filing, the income-tax portal allowed filing for only AY 2022-23. However, now the income-tax portal has been updated to file Form 10F online for AY 2023-24 (i.e. FY 2022-23).

IGST on import of goods – ‘duty of customs’ or IGST

 

1. The case concerned classification of imported goods and application of IGST rate thereon. The customs officer went with the what a layman would do, trace goods into IGST rate notification and do the rest of the math (right or wrong)

New Features in GST Portal.

 Various new functionalities are implemented on the GST Portal, from time to time, for stakeholders. In the month of July 2022, the following changes are made:

1. Registration:

i. Allow taxpayers to enter multiple trade names
ii. Mandating mobile number for applying for persons applying for Temp ID for Advance Ruling

2. Return:

i. Addition of new GST Rate slab of 6%
ii. Auto population of data in Form GSTR-4 from Form GSTR-1 in Table 4A & 4B

3. Refund: Option in Form RFD-01 to get refund arising out of excess payment in GSTR 4, for Taxpayer under Composition levy

4. Advance Ruling: Functionality to search and view Advance Ruling Orders

5. Payments:

i. The limit of cash payment in Over the Counter (OTC) mode has is now restricted to Rs 10,000
ii. Updated generic messages on GST PMT-06 challan page

Guidelines for arrest and bail relating to punishable offences under the CGST Act, 2017

 

The GST Investigation Wing of CBIC has released Guidelines for arrest and bail relating to punishable offences under the CGST Act, 2017 on 17 August 2022 vide Instruction No.02/2022-23(GST Investigation).

The above instruction is aimed to ensure the judicious use of power to arrest an accused during the course of investigation by the officers in the backdrop of Supreme Court judgement dated 16 August 2021 in Criminal Appeal No.838 of 2021 arising out of SLP (Crl) No. 5442/2021.

Guidelines for the issuance of summons under Section 70 | Instruction No.03/2022-23

 

The GST Investigation Wing of CBIC has released Guidelines for the issuance of summons under Section 70 of the CGST Act, 2017 on 17 August 2022 vide Instruction No.03/2022-23(GST Investigation). The instruction is aimed to ensure diligent use of power by the officers while issuing of summons to the tax payers during routine requisition of information and documents.

Mumbai Tribunal rules MAT provisions are not applicable to foreign bank despite having branch in India

 This Tax Alert summarizes a ruling of the Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (Tribunal) dated 3 August 2022 in the case of Credit Suisse AG ^[1] (Taxpayer), wherein one of the issues was whether minimum alternate tax (MAT) provisions under the Indian Tax Laws (ITL) will be applicable to a foreign company having permanent establishment (PE) in India and also independently earning incomes not attributable to such PE.

CBDT notifies books of account and other documents to be maintained by charitable institutions

This Tax Alert summarizes Notification No. 94/2022 dated 10 August 2022 (Notification) issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which notifies a new rule as prescribed by the enabling provisions of the Income Tax Law (ITL).The Finance Act 2022 had amended the enabling provisions for the charitable institutions to maintain books of account and other documents and it is one of the pre-conditions for availing exemption under the ITL. The new rule provides that charitable trust and other eligible institutions (charitable institutions) are required to maintain books of account and other documents. The documents prescribed require maintenance of record exhaustively in respect of different segments such as sources of income, application, investment or deposit of money etc. It also includes maintenance of details such as name, address, PAN, Aadhar number of every donor, as also of every person in respect of whom application is made or claimed. The books of account and other documents are to be maintained at the registered office for a period of ten years from the end of the relevant tax year. It may be kept at any other place as decided by the management by way of a resolution. It may be maintained in written or electronic form. Furthermore, if the charitable institutions are subjected to reassessment for any tax year, the books of account are to be maintained till the reopened assessment is finalized.

Interest on Delayed Refund Not Hit by SC Suo Moto Extension

 

It is to apprise you that the Hon'ble Delhi High Court ('HC') in the case of Ankush Auto Deals v. Commissioner of Delhi GST, 2022-VIL-561-DEL, held that the Hon'ble Supreme Court ('SC') suo moto extension order does not apply to interest on delayed refund under Section 56 of the Central / Delhi GST Act, 2017 ('Act').

SEZ WFH Rules

 

The SEZ Division of the Ministry of Commerce has issued Instruction No. 110 today providing guidelines on standard operating procedure (SoPs) for Work from Home (WFH) for implementation of Rule 43A of the SEZ (Third Amendment) Rules, 2022.

 

CBIC Circulars issued post 47 Council Meeting

 

 

Certain circulars have been issued by the Ministry of Finance yesterday to provide clarifications on various aspects/ transactions ranging from tax treatment, rate of tax, exemptions etc.

CBIC lowers e-invoice turnover threshold to INR10 crore with effect from 1 October 2022

 This Tax Alert summarizes a recent Notification^[1] issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) under goods and services tax (GST).

With effect from 1 October 2022, e-invoicing will be applicable to taxpayers having aggregate turnover exceeding INR10 crore in any preceding financial year from 2017 to 2018 onwards.

Earlier, the threshold limit for e-invoicing was reduced from time to time, as under:

• INR500 crore to INR100 crore (w.e.f. 1 January 2021),
• INR100 crore to INR50 crore (w.e.f. 1 April 2021) and
• INR50 crore to INR20 crore (w.e.f. 1 April 2022).

As per media reports, we understand that the government is contemplating to further reduce the threshold to INR5 crore in the future.

The move to reduce turnover threshold and increase the ambit of e-invoicing is mainly aimed at resolving mis-match errors and to check tax evasion.

Considering the timelines, concerned businesses will have to ramp up their IT systems in order to comply with the e- invoicing norms.

Tax Due Date - Aug 22

 

Sl No	Due Date	Related to	Compliance to be made
1	11.08.2022	GST	Filing of GSTR – 1 for the month of July 2022
2	20.08.2022	GST	- Payment & filing of GST return for the Month of July 2022- Form GSTR 3B
5	07.08.2022	TDS/TCS (Income Tax)	· Deposit TDS for payments of Salary, Interest, Commission or Brokerage, Rent, Professional fee, payment to Contractors, etc. during the month of July 2022. · Deposit TDS from Salaries deducted during the month of July 2022 • Deposit TCS for collections made under section 206C including sale of scrap during the month of July 2022, if any • Deliver a copy of Form 15G/15H, if any to CCIT or CIT for declarations received in the month of July 2022, if any