Key highlights of the publication
- Important updates/announcements: Central and state governments have come out with various amnesty schemes to dispose of legacy disputes amicably and quickly. The amnesty scheme proposed by the Kerala government is a new addition. The Kerala Amnesty Scheme, 2024, has been proposed for settling outstanding taxes and disputes about the assessment years up to 2017-2018. Interestingly, the scheme, apart from granting a complete waiver of interest, penalty, and a particular portion of disputed tax, also grants relaxation, in some cases, on undisputed liabilities.
- Key judicial pronouncements: On the judicial front, lengthy deliberations between the Revenue and the taxpayers concluded last month, with the Delhi HC’s judgement upholding the constitutional validity of the anti-profiteering provisions under the GST law. A recent development is that the Supreme Court has issued a notice in a SLP filed against the HC’s order. The SLP has been tentatively listed on 1 April 2024. In another important case, the Telangana HC has held that the transfer of development rights under the Joint Development Agreement (JDA) is a ‘service’ and not an outright ‘sale of land.’
- Important developments in direct taxes: On the direct tax front, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has notified ITR forms (i.e., ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-5, and ITR-6) for AY 2024-25 and has extended the timeline for issuing intimation for processing returns with refund claims for AY 2018-19 to AY 2020-21.
