Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate, Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB Law CorpDate: 08/05/2026 Introduction: The Never-Ending ITC Controversy Few aspects of the GST regime have generated as much litigation and commercial uncertainty as Input Tax Credit (“ITC”). Designed as the backbone of GST and the mechanism intended to eliminate cascading of…
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One Nation, Many Jurisdictions? A Canon Moment for GST and the Pandora Box of “Proper Officer” Enforcement
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate & Co-Founder, RB LawCorpDate: 10/04/2026 Introduction: When Jurisdiction Travels Beyond Borders In a tax regime built on seamless flow and destination-based principles, jurisdiction is meant to be precise—not expansive. Yet, a critical question continues to surface under GST enforcement: Can an intermediary State assume jurisdiction merely…
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Taxation by Executive? Lessons for India from US Supreme Court Decision in Trump Tariff Matter
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate | Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 09/04/2026 Introduction: When Regulation Meets Taxation The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Trump Tariff matter has reignited a foundational constitutional debate – can executive power to regulate extend to the power to tax? At…
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Input Service Distributor under GST: Madras High Court Clarifies the Interplay between Entitlement and Distribution of ITC
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate | Co-Founder & Legal Head, RB LawCorpDate: 20/03/2026 Introduction: When Procedure Challenges Substance The Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework was designed to ensure a seamless flow of input tax credit (ITC) across the supply chain. However, as the law has evolved in its application, procedural…
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Raid, Record & Reliance: Electronic Evidence, Admissions and the Consequence of Non-Retracted Statements under Customs & GST
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate & Co-Founder, RB LawCorpDate: 25/02/2026 Introduction: When Seizure Is Mistaken for Admissibility Search and seizure proceedings under fiscal statutes have increasingly become technology-driven. Laptops, accounting software backups, server extracts, pen drives and cloud data now form the backbone of many customs and GST demands. Yet a fundamental evidentiary…
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Land Development, Agency and the Elusive ‘Service’: SC Draws the Final Line
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate & Co-Founder, RB LawCorpDate: 11/02/2026 1. Introduction Classification disputes under indirect tax laws frequently revolve around a central question: when does a commercial arrangement involving immovable property cross the threshold into a taxable service? In Commissioner of Service Tax v. M/s Elegant Developers (2025-TIOL-83-SC-ST), the Hon’ble Supreme Court…
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Tax Sovereignty in an Unsettled World: A GST Practitioner’s Reading of Tiger Global and the Future of Fiscal Autonomy
Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate & Co-Founder, RB LawCorpDate: 10/02/2026 1. Introduction The concept of tax sovereignty has re-emerged as a defining theme in contemporary fiscal discourse. In an era shaped by cross-border capital flows, multilateral tax frameworks, and increasing economic interdependence, the power to design and enforce tax policy has assumed renewed…
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Reasserting Judicial Independence: Supreme Court Strikes Down the Tribunal Reforms Act,2021 – Implications for the GST Appellate Tribunal
Supreme Court Strikes Down Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 — Major Implications for GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) Author: Ashwarya Sharma, Advocate & Co-Founder, RB LawCorpDate: 20/11/2025 The Supreme Court’s landmark judgment dated 19 November 2025 in Madras Bar Association v. Union of India has once again reaffirmed that judicial independence is…
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Transitional Credit and Proper Officer; the Saga Continues
An issue that generated majority of litigation in initial years of GST law (except of course the wrath of check post officers under sections 129 and 130 of the CGST Act) and consumed significant time of the High Court’s across the country was disputes around carry-forward of input tax credit/Cenvat…
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Appearance through Authorized Representative; ex abundanti cautela
In the recent Union Budget, Parliament has added sub-section (1A) in section 70 of the CGST Act dealing with summon proceedings on the recommendations of the GST Council made in its 53rd meeting held in New Delhi on 22nd June 2024. As per section 1(2) of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 the…