Non-compete fees received by a taxpayer will be a non-taxable capital receipts up to the financial year 2002-03. The amendment to treat non-compete fees as taxable revenue receipts came into effect only from April 1, 2003 – this was upheld by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Mumbai bench in its recent order. The amendment does not have a retrospective effect, held the ITAT bench and declined to set aside the order of the Commissioner (Appeals), who had treated the non-compete fees of Rs.10 crore received by Lyka Labs (a company engaged in manufacture and sale of bulk formulation of pharmaceutical products) as a capital receipt. Lyka Labs had as per an agreement dated March 12, 2002 entered into a non-compete agreement with its joint venture company Lyka Hetro Health Care Limited (LHHCL) for not competing with LHHCL in the marketing, distribution and selling activities of certain formulations for the trade mark which has been registered or used by it. Both Lyka Labs and the Commissioner (Appeals) relied on an earlier order given by the Supreme Court in the case of Guffic Chem. The apex had categorically held that the amendment is only with effect from April 1, 2003 (Assessment year 2004-05 onwards) and does not have a retrospective effect for taxing the non-compete fee received prior to the said period. The Supreme Court in this order had also distinguished the compensation received for termination/loss of agency and a loss of source of business as per a negative covenant where the former would be a ‘revenue receipt’ and the latter a ‘capital receipt’. There is no doubt that the agreement entered into by Lyka Labs and LHHCL was a negative covenant. Accordingly, the ITAT bench dismissed the appeal filed by the I-T department.
Read More →Taxpayers had until May 31, 2024, to link their PAN with Aadhaar. Failure to do so will result in a higher Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) being levied on their income. This applies to transactions entered into before March 31st, 2024, with the TDS rate doubling for those with unlinked PANs. "The IT department has given a final deadline for 31st May 2024 for linking PAN with Aadhaar. In case assessee still fail to do so, this will tantamount to PAN being inoperative and will attract section 206AA whereby deduction shall be @ 20%," said Ritika Nayyar, Partner, Singhania & Co. The situation was particularly frustrating for homebuyers who unknowingly purchased property from sellers with unlinked PANs. These buyers faced notices demanding additional tax due to the higher TDS rate. However, a recent CBDT circular provides relief. If the seller links their PAN with Aadhaar by May 31st, the homebuyer will be off the hook for the additional tax. The income tax department in April 2024 provided relief to many homebuyers who were issued tax deduction at source (TDS) notices because the Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) of the property sellers were inoperative. The circular gave the homebuyers a chance to avoid the tax notices as long as the property sellers link their PAN with Aadhaar by May 31.
Read More →GSTN is pleased to inform that NIC is releasing the E-Way Bill 2 Portal (https://ewaybill2.gst.gov.in) on 1st June 2024. This portal ensures high availability and runs in parallel to the e-way Bill main portal (https://ewaybillgst.gov.in). The e-way bill 2 portal synchronises the e-way bill details with main portal within a few seconds. The highlights of the portal are as follows: • Presently, E-Way Bill 2 Portal provides the critical services of E-Way Bill system, and gradually it will be extended with other services of e-way bill system. • E-Way Bills can be generated and updated on the E-Way Bill 2 Portal independently. • E-Way Bill 2 portal provides the web and API modes of operations for e-way bill services. • The taxpayers and logistic operators can use the E-Way Bill 2 portal with the login credentials of the main portal. • The taxpayers and logistic operators can use the E-Way Bill 2 portal during technical glitches in e-way bill main portal or any other exigencies. • The Criss-Cross operations of printing and updating of Part-B of E-Way Bills can be carried out on these portals. That is, updating of Part-B of the E-Way bills of portal 1 can be done at portal 2 and vice versa. • In case E-Way Bill main portal is non-operational because of technical reasons, the Part-B can be updated to the E-Way Bills, generated at Portal 1, at portal 2 and carry both the E-way Bill slips. • For further details, please visit the e-way bill portals.
Read More →GST authorities are working out a mechanism to deal with the taxation and registration issues related to shared warehouses maintained by e-commerce companies, where multiple suppliers store their goods for the last mile delivery, an official said. The issue of taxation for warehouses has cropped up after multiple suppliers have geo-tagged the same warehouse as their 'additional place of business' under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules. "We are working to see whether a 'shared workplace' or 'coworking space' concept can be implemented for the warehouses maintained by e-commerce companies to store goods of multiple suppliers," the official told PTI.
Read More →Real estate developers are contesting the 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) levy on the transfer of development rights within joint development agreements (JDA) between developers and landowners. They believe the JDA does not involve any sale of land and hence the transfer of the rights is not taxable. Earlier this week, a developer filed an appeal in the Supreme Court (SC) against a ruling of a Telangana High Court, which held that JDAs should be taxed. The apex court has issued a notice to Centre to seek its response and will hear the matter on September 9. As no stay has been given on the Telangana High Court order, landowners and the developers will have to pay the taxes after valuing the service till the matter is finally decided.
Read More →Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that the government will repeal the changes made to Section 43B of the Income Tax Act if MSMEs want to continue operating with uncertainty on payment timelines from their buyers. Interacting with MSMEs and local industries in Ludhiana, Sitharaman said the government added the 45-day payment rule effective since 2008 to the Income Tax Act on the request of MSMEs facing delays in payment from their buyers beyond 45 days. “If MSMEs want relaxation in payment made by their buyers without the 45-day limit, whether over 45 days, 150 days or a year and further, then it is easy to make the changes. We will change it and go back to the original rule,†Sitharaman said. The government in last year’s budget had proposed to add a new clause h under Section 43B of the Income Tax Act to address the challenge of delayed payments faced by MSMEs in the country, hindering the flow of working capital and overall business growth. The clause (h), which came into effect on April 1, 2024, with 2024-25 as the assessment year (that is financial year 2023-24), allows expenses to buyers on invoices from micro and small enterprises only if paid within 45 days (where agreement exists) and within 15 days if there is no agreement in the year of actual payment instead of the year when it was incurred as an expense.
Read More →Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 28 hinted at the possibility of the government reconsidering changes made to the income tax rules mandating payments to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within 45 days, failing which companies will have to pay tax on the amount due. This mandate came into effect on April 1, 2024. She urged MSMEs to send representations on the same, adding that the government will "surely do something about it in the July Budget." Speaking at an event in Ludhiana, Punjab, Sitharaman said the changes mandating the 45-day payment window was introduced as per requests from MSMEs themselves.
Read More →The income tax department on Tuesday asked taxpayers to link PAN with Aadhaar by May 31 to avoid tax deduction at a higher rate. As per income tax rules, if a Permanent Account Number (PAN) is not linked with biometric Aadhaar, TDS is required to be deducted at double the applicable rate. Last month, the income tax department issued a circular stating that no action will be taken for short deduction of TDS in case the assessee links his/her PAN with Aadhaar by May 31. "Please link your PAN with Aadhaar before May 31, 2024, if you haven't already, in order to avoid tax deduction at a higher rate," the department posted on X. In a separate post, the I-T department asked reporting entities, including banks, forex dealers, to file SFT by May 31 to avoid penalties.
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