In international customary law, the scope of bilateral tax conventions is not exhaustive and instead limited by the temporal scope set out in ‘taxes covered’ clause. It is true that the scope of such clause, albeit with additional procedural stipulations, is ambulatory and taxes subsequently enacted under the domestic law provisions by treaty partners are…
Last month witnessed the release of the operative part of the award of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (‘PCA’) in the dispute initiated by Vodafone’s Dutch entity against Government of India (‘GOI’) under the India-Netherlands Bilateral Investment Treaty (‘Indo-Dutch BIT’). It is understood that the detailed award has been withheld in view of the request…
Those with a long memory for cricketing events may remember the 1996 World Cup hosted jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The winner, Sri Lanka, made 398 runs for 5 wickets, in a one-day international match, a record that stood until April 2006. South Africa’s Gary Kirsten scored 188 runs, not out, against the…
I am currently working on a case that involves questions of huge significance when it comes to related-party transactions and customs valuation. It is always good to begin with a caveat and I have two. The first is that the import in question pertains to the years 2002-2006, when the Indian custom valuation rules were…
It is widely accepted that the United States of America is one of the most litigious countries on earth. As of 2010, US residents spent about 2.2% of their GDP (approximately 310 Billion Dollars) annually on litigation costs[1]. There are more lawyers per capita in the United States that any other country in the world….
In my previous post, I had discussed the judgment delivered in the case of Elsevier Information Systems Gmbh v. Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax which discussed the liability of the taxpayer when it charges a subscription fee from the customers for rendering access to its database. It seems that the Income Tax Department has still…
On February 1, 2020 India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Government’s Union Budget for the year 2020-21. With its continuing promise of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025, the budget announcements contained a host of reforms to obliterate the seeping fears regarding prospects of the Indian economy with focus on agricultural, rural…
In the year 2017, the Indian Parliament enforced “The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017” [hereinafter “CGST”]. The purpose of the Act was to make a provision for levy and collection of tax on intra-State supply of goods or services or both and for other incidental matters by the Central Government. Subsequent to the…
India recently notified a Protocol that amends the India-China tax treaty and incorporates some of the OECD recommendations put forth as part of its BEPS project. The changes would apply from the 2020 financial year. The Protocol brings about serious changes to the tax treaty in several areas, including limiting treaty abuse, tackling artificial avoidance…
Introduction Last fortnight, India by way of a Presidential Ordinance unexpectedly unveiled a new corporate tax rate structure. Given that the annual Union Budget exercise was presented in July, the announcement was unscheduled particularly since Ordinance route is rarely resorted for such changes. Nonetheless these changes are in line with the recent spate of measures unveiled…
While earthlings are grappling with taxation in a digitalised world, a new and important frontier has been opening up somewhat less observed. Commercial exploitation of space has become commonplace and plans for activity beyond our planet more ambitious. At the IFA Permanent Scientific Committee we are always looking ahead to see where cutting-edge tax issues…
Globally, countries are making a concerted effort to rein in the direct tax challenges posed by the digital economy. Some of this work is directly inspired by the recommendations set out by the OECD as part of its 15-point Action Plan to tackle base erosion and profit shifting. The Indian government, too, introduced two key…
In this blog, I shall examine the policy and characteristics underlying the split-rate system of taxing corporate profits/income. I shall also discuss the issue whether the Indian Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) represents an inverse split-rate applied to corporate profits/income, or if it is merely an independent levy, which is source-agnostic. Split-rates and their role in…
Earlier this month, the author of this blog was at the IFA UK branch meeting where experts assembled to discuss certain interpretational aspects concerning the BEPS Multilateral Instrument (BEPS MLI) from a UK perspective. Most of these issues would have relevance in other jurisdictions too (including India) as more and more countries ratify the BEPS…
