Delhi High Court Strikes Down Service Tax on Hotel Accommodation
AS we are trying to enter the arena of GST, the Delhi High Court on Friday struck down the levy of Service Tax on short term accommodation in hotels as it was outside the legislative competence of Parliament and an instance of encroachment by the Union into a field that is completely covered by a State legislation.
The High Court made some interesting observations:
The exemption from service tax on the provision of accommodation for a room having a declared tariff of less than Rs. 1,000 per day or equivalent is by Notification No. 12/2012 dated 17th March 2012. This is not provided in the Act or the Rules. In Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs, Kerala v. Larsen and Toubro Ltd. - , the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Orissa High Court to the effect that the machinery provisions for levy of the tax could not be provided by instructions and circulars.
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Approval of GST law by parliament has further strengthened our economy and all political parties are worthy of praise for making it possible.
Taxation through GST is also bound to bring equality and a common system that will also unite the country.
There is a class in the country, especially the middle class, the upper middle class, who is more troubled with income- tax officials than the police. I have to change this situation, I am trying and I will change it. But there was a time when an honest Taxpayer would pay his income-tax, even pay extra two rupees so that he does not face any problem. But, once the tax was deposited, he would face difficulties in getting refund. He even had to go to the extent of canvassing and wait endlessly for the refund. Now, we have introduced a system of online refund. Now refund is done within a time frame of 1 to 3 weeks. Those who are watching this telecast on television will also agree that their refund reached them directly, without any application for it. This became possible only due to efforts in making government accountable.
From Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day Speech
Until Tomorrow with more DDT
Have a nice day.
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