We bring you this month our anniversary edition. We have completed 14 years and to commemorate this event, we have brought changes to the cover page of the journal. The cover page only has undergone the change but not the content.
For the anniversary edition, we have asked our team members (who never wrote) to contribute to the articles. Everyone has directly or indirectly contributed and the result is the bulky journal on your screen. A big thanks to all the contributors! This edition covers articles which are of great significance and of interest to both corporates and non-corporates.
The article on ‘Game of Skill vs. Game of Chance & A Study on GST Implications on Online Gaming’ focuses on the recent decision of Karnataka High Court in Gameskraft and various court’s interpretation on game of skill vs game of chance. Though the judgment has said the games of skill does not fall under the ambit of GST laws and the expression ‘betting and gambling’ appearing in GST laws covers only games of chance, the recent decision of GST Council to treat the game of skill and game of chance as one for the purposes of GST laws is unwarranted. The GST Council is trying to re-write the settled law and this will be definitely challenged by the industry. Moreover, the taxing of the entire bet value is also unprecedented and will also be subjected to judicial scrutiny.
We have also came up with an article ‘Decoding Applicability of GST on Interest – Credit Card Loan vs Standard Loan’. This article focuses on recent judgment dealing with tax implications on interest paid on loans taken using the credit card.
The next article is on ‘Insolvency Proceedings against Financial Service Providers’ deals with the law involved in initiation of insolvency proceedings against FSPs which was a result of sub-committee report. Apart from the said law, the article also deals with certain litigations surrounding the trails of creditors in initiating the insolvency proceedings against FSPs.
The next article is on ‘Important Aspects in IBC – Revisited through Recent Judgments’ details the litigation surrounding the basic (but powerful) terms under the IBC. Though the law has reached a decent maturity, there will be still a dynamic evolution on interpretation of certain basic terms like ‘debt’, ‘threshold limit’ and others. An interesting read.
From the direct taxation, we have three articles. The first one deals with the ‘Non-disclosure of foreign assets and consequences under Black Money Act’. For this article, we have taken the most general foreign asset (ESOPs issued by parent foreign entity) which may not be disclosed by the tax payers at the time of filing returns. Please be noted that the law is evolving on this aspect, since, now the tax authorities started focusing. The real depth and ambit of Black Money Act will be unleashed in future. Till then, it is required to take a conservative view and accordingly the article is drafted in this background.
The second one deals with ‘Residential Status of an Individual and Company under DTAA’. This article focuses on determination of residential status for an individual and company when there is a possibility of being resident both under the domestic law and treaty. An interesting read. The third one deals with ‘Significant Disclosures in ITR by Individuals’ which focuses on the major disclosures that need to be made by individuals while filing their returns. Having done these disclosures, an individual would be in a better position while facing scrutiny or other proceedings.
We have also collated certain important judgments under direct tax and indirect tax laws, provided our comments wherever necessary. I hope that you will have good time reading this edition and please do share your feedback.
