On 25 July 2024, the Supreme Court of India through an 8:1 majority, upheld the right of State Governments to impose taxes on mines and mineral-bearing lands. The Supreme Court also ruled that royalties payable on extracted minerals do not constitute a tax. In this article, we discuss the ruling of the Supreme Court.

GST on secondment of expats – Instruction No 05/2023-GST dated 13 December 2023 Applicability of Goods and Services Tax (‘GST’) on secondment/ deputation/ loaning of employees/ expats is a burning issue in India, resulting in issuance of show cause notices to several multinational companies operating in India.  The heightened investigation by the GST authorities in […]

The Indian Union Budget 2023-24 received assent of the President of India on 31 March 2023, paving the way for a slew of changes to tax laws, including 64 additional amendments to the initially proposed Finance Bill on 01 February 2023. One of the key amendments impacting non-residents/ foreign companies (not having a permanent establishment […]

The Honourable Finance Minister of India presented the Union Budget 2023-24 on 01 February, 2023.  Solidifying the vision of “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, the budget proposals include various measures from a tax perspective to provide necessary impetus to both individuals and corporates. We are pleased to share a summary of the key budget […]

The 48th GST Council meeting was held on 17 December 2022, which was Chaired by the Honorable Finance Minister – Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by the Finance Ministers of various Indian States and Union Territories.  The role of the GST Council is to propose changes to GST rates and compliances, issuing clarifications on contentious […]

Equalisation levy was introduced in India by the Finance Act, 2016 with a view to tax income earned by a non-resident on specified services – being online advertisement, provision of digital advertisement space or any other facility or service for the purpose of online advertisement. Subsequently, the Equalisation levy was also introduced on e-commerce supply […]

The Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers vide its notification dated 21 July 2020, notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Medical Devices (Scheme), pursuant to which the first guidelines were issued on 29 October 2020. The PLI Scheme provides financial incentive to approved medical device manufacturers, which will help boost domestic […]

A strenuous tussle between the Government of India and the taxpayers has come to an end. With the ruling of Supreme Court in Union of India & Anr vs Filco Trade Centre Pvt Lts & Anr[1], the Hon’ble Apex Court has put to rest the long pending issue of transitional credit under the new GST […]

Applicability of indirect taxes on betting, lottery, casinos, online gaming have been a matter of dispute since the service tax era, and now continuing in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The issue of whether these can be classified as ‘game of chance’ or ‘game of skill’ has been settled by the Indian Courts […]

In the Union Budget speech for F.Y. 2022-23, the Finance Minister had announced that a battery swapping policy will be introduced to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles in India. Now, in line with this announcement, NITI Aayog has published the draft battery swapping policy. In this document, we have summarised the key points of […]

This article briefly explains the Vehicle Scrappage Policy and its impact on the Indian auto industry.

We have prepared a detailed write-up on the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (‘CAROTAR 2020’), which provides an understanding, features and way forward as applicable to Indian importers and exporters.

India’s Electric Vehicle (‘EV’) industry is still at its nascent stage; however, given the country’s market size coupled with the Government’s aggressive EV adoption policy, EV sales in India have grown by 20 percent at 1.56 lakh units in FY 2019-20.  The backbone to this is the various policies and incentives announced by the Central and State […]

The Indian defence sector has been the third least popular sector for foreign direct investment (FDI). The Indian foreign direct investment policy has been revised with a view to increasing the inflow of foreign direct investment in the defence sector. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has issued a press note […]

India is looking to phase out its polluting thermal power plants to meet its climate sustainability goals. However, the growing population and rapid industrialization have surged India’s electricity demand in recent years and the trend is expected to continue over the next two decades. To meet this increased power demand, India has embarked on an […]

India is facing two of its biggest challenges due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic viz., (a) providing healthcare services to the needy and, (b) providing employment to its huge workforce. While the government has given assurances that essential services shall continue, there are concerns regarding disruptions to the supply chain including issues of […]

The Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 promises the much awaited and needed reforms to India’s electricity sector. The poor financial health of electricity distribution companies (“DISCOMs”) is mainly attributable to operational inefficiencies and policy stagnation. Government of India, realising the necessity of radical reforms in the power sector, has proposed major amendments to its Electricity Act while simultaneously announcing […]

We, at Acuity Law, have summarized the economic stimulus package recently announced by the Government of India through 5 consecutive days of interaction from May 13 to May 17, 2020.  Aimed at introducing bold reforms across various sectors and to revive the India economy, this stimulus package is a mix of fiscal support, monetary support, ease of […]

Recent Developments on ‘Angel-Tax’ in India  Brief background  The term ’Angel-Tax’ does not technically exist under the Indian Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘IT Act’).  It is the fallout of an extreme interpretation and regressive application of an already existing provision in the IT Act to moneys raised by ‘Startups’ in India by way of equity share […]