Tax Law Landmark Case Laws – Simplified & All in One Place
Finding well-organized Tax Law – Landmark Case Laws notes can be a hassle, so we’ve brought everything together in one place for your convenience.
Contents
Income Tax
| Case Name & Year | Court | Description | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.P. High Court v. State of A.P. (1965) | SC | Scope of state taxation powers | View Here |
| CIT v. B.C. Srinivasa Setty (1981) | SC | Capital gains not leviable without ascertainable cost | View Here |
| CIT v. Vatika Township (2014) | SC | Retrospective vs prospective tax amendments | View Here |
| McDowell & Co. v. CTO (1985) | SC | Substance over form; tax avoidance condemned | View Here |
| Azadi Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2003) | SC | Validity of tax planning; DTAA | View Here |
| Vodafone International v. Union of India (2012) | SC | Indirect transfer of assets; offshore deals | View Here |
| CIT v. G.M. Knitting Industries (2015) | SC | Deductions allowed even if form filed late | View Here |
| CIT v. Woodward Governor (2009) | SC | Forex fluctuation loss as revenue expenditure | View Here |
| K.P. Varghese v. ITO (1981) | SC | Burden of proof on Revenue for fair market value | View Here |
| CIT v. P. Mohanakala (2007) | SC | Unexplained cash credits | View Here |
| CIT v. Rajesh Jhaveri (2007) | SC | Reopening of assessment—information requirement | View Here |
| CIT v. Kelvinator of India (2010) | SC | Reassessment cannot be mere change of opinion | View Here |
| CIT v. Thalibai F. Jain (1975) | SC | Voluntary disclosure | View Here |
| CIT v. S.A. Builders (2007) | SC | Commercial expediency in interest deduction | View Here |
| Sahara India v. CIT (2008) | SC | Block assessments | View Here |
| CIT v. HCL Technologies (2018) | SC | 10A / 10AA benefits | View Here |
| CIT v. Walfort Share & Stock Brokers (2010) | SC | Dividend stripping | View Here |
| CIT v. Podar Cement (1997) | SC | Owner for taxation includes beneficial ownership | View Here |
| R.D. Aggarwal v. CIT (1965) | SC | Business connection in India | View Here |
| CIT v. Calcutta Discount Co. (1973) | SC | Duty of assessee to disclose primary facts | View Here |
| CIT v. Travancore Titanium (1966) | SC | Penalties and prosecution | View Here |
| ICICI Bank v. CIT (2012) | SC | Bad debts allowed | View Here |
| CIT v. N.C. Budharaja (1993) | SC | Definition of “manufacture” | View Here |
| CIT v. T.V. Sundaram Iyengar (1996) | SC | Deposits as income | View Here |
| CIT v. Shoorji Vallabhdas (1962) | SC | Real income theory | View Here |
| CIT v. Ramaraju Surgical (2012) | SC | Depreciation on assets | View Here |
| CIT v. Associated Cement Companies (1988) | SC | Perquisites to employees | View Here |
| CIT v. Sterling Foods (1999) | SC | Nexus with “profits derived from business” | View Here |
| CIT v. Bhopal Sugar (1977) | SC | Genuine transactions and sham | View Here |
| CIT v. Durga Prasad More (1971) | SC | Surrounding circumstances in tax cases | View Here |
| CIT v. Chandulal Keshavlal (1960) | SC | Commercial expediency test | View Here |
| CIT v. Lovely Exports (2008) | SC | Share application money cannot be treated as income | View Here |
| CIT v. Reliance Petroproducts (2010) | SC | Incorrect claim ≠ concealment | View Here |
| CIT v. Balaji Alloys (2016) | SC | Capital subsidy as capital receipt | View Here |
| Malabar Industrial Co. v. CIT (2000) | SC | Revision under Sec 263 | View Here |
| CIT v. Max India Ltd. (2007) | SC | 263 when two views possible | View Here |
| CIT v. Vajrapani Naidu (2015) | SC | House property income | View Here |
| CIT v. Nandi Steels (2012) | SC | Depreciation from sale-leaseback | View Here |
| CIT v. Excel Industries (2013) | SC | Tax neutrality | View Here |
| CIT v. Classic Binding (2018) | SC | Bogus purchases | View Here |
| CIT v. JP Morgan (2019) | SC | Transfer pricing | View Here |
| Hindustan Coca Cola v. CIT (2007) | SC | Double taxation | View Here |
| CIT v. Ramaniyam Homes (2016) | SC | Joint development agreements | View Here |
| CIT v. M/S Larsen & Toubro (2015) | SC | Works contract | View Here |
| CIT v. Southern Technologies (2010) | SC | NBFC provisions | View Here |
| CIT v. State Bank of India (2016) | SC | NPA provisions | View Here |
| CIT v. Mahindra & Mahindra (2018) | SC | Loan waiver as non-taxable | View Here |
| CIT v. Essar Teleholdings (2018) | SC | Retrospective tax | View Here |
GST
| Case Name & Year | Court | Description | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohit Minerals v. Union of India (2022) | SC | IGST on ocean freight unconstitutional | # |
| Canon India v. Commissioner (2021) | SC | DRI has no power to issue SCN | # |
| Radha Krishan Industries (2021) | SC | GST provisional attachment | # |
| Dharani Sugars (2019) | SC | Power of RBI; impact on GST | # |
| A.B. Sugar Mills (2020) | SC | GST input tax credit | # |
| Skill Lotto Solutions v. Union of India (2020) | SC | GST on lotteries constitutional | # |
| J.K. Mittal v. UOI (2021) | Del HC | Arrest & bail under GST | # |
| Nodal Officer v. M/s. BHEL (2020) | SC | Transitional credit | # |
| Jubilant Foodworks (2021) | Del HC | Restaurant GST ITC | # |
| Ecom Express (2022) | SC | Classification dispute | # |
| MRF Ltd. (2023) | SC | Anti-profiteering | # |
| Tata Projects (2021) | HC | Works contract under GST | # |
| Patanjali Ayurved (2022) | HC | Misclassification | # |
| Lenovo India (2021) | HC | Transitional forms | # |
| K.P. Sugandh (2021) | SC | Search & seizure GST | # |
| LG Electronics (2022) | HC | Blocking electronic credit ledger | # |
| Agarwal Foundries (2021) | HC | GST cancellation of registration | # |
| Varun Beverages (2022) | SC | Input tax determination | # |
| ACC Ltd. (2021) | HC | GST valuation | # |
| Hero Motocorp (2022) | HC | ITC claims | # |
| Hindustan Unilever (2021) | HC | Anti-profiteering principles | # |
| Havells India (2023) | HC | Refund eligibility | # |
| Britannia Industries (2022) | HC | GST on promotional schemes | # |
| Walmart India (2022) | HC | ITC mismatch | # |
| Reliance Retail (2023) | HC | GST classification dispute | # |
| Amazon Seller Services (2021) | HC | E-commerce liabilities | # |
| Infosys Ltd. (2022) | HC | GST audit | # |
| Flipkart Internet (2021) | HC | TCS under GST | # |
| Oyo Hotels (2022) | HC | GST on aggregator services | # |
| Indigo Airlines (2023) | HC | Refund of GST | # |
Customs
| Case Name | Court | Description | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canon India (2021) | SC | DRI jurisdiction | # |
| Eicher Motors Ltd. (1999) | SC | Valuation under Customs | # |
| Sun Export Corp (1997) | SC | Duty drawback | # |
| Atic Industries (1984) | SC | Classification | # |
| Mangalore Chemicals (1991) | SC | Exemption notification interpretation | # |
| Escorts Ltd. (1999) | SC | Project imports | # |
| Ferodo India (2008) | SC | Anti-dumping | # |
| Vishal Exports (2013) | SC | Export incentives | # |
| V.M. Salgaocar (1998) | SC | Royalty valuation | # |
| Reliance Industries (2016) | SC | Customs duty exemption | # |
| Nirma Ltd. (2012) | SC | Misdeclaration | # |
| SRF Ltd. (2015) | SC | Safeguard duty | # |
| Essar Steel (2004) | SC | Interpretation of tariff entries | # |
| ITC Ltd. (2019) | SC | Self-assessment | # |
| Wipro Ltd. (2018) | SC | Drawback fraud | # |
| M/s. GMR Energy (2017) | SC | Project import issues | # |
| Samsung India (2017) | SC | Valuation | # |
| Uniworth Textiles (2013) | SC | Suppression | # |
| Aurobindo Pharma (2020) | SC | Anti-dumping valuation | # |
| Infosys BPO (2021) | SC | Import of software | # |
Excise & Service Tax
| Case Name | Court | Description | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dilip Kumar & Co. (2018) | SC | Interpretation of exemptions | # |
| Fiat India (2012) | SC | Under-valuation & assessable value | # |
| Dai Ichi Karkaria (1999) | SC | CENVAT credit | # |
| SRD Nutrients (2017) | SC | Refund eligibility | # |
| Hindustan Zinc (2014) | SC | Input tax | # |
| L&T (2015) | SC | Works contract | # |
| Imagic Creative (2008) | SC | VAT & service tax overlap | # |
| Gujarat Ambuja (2006) | SC | Service tax constitutional validity | # |
| All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (2007) | SC | Nature of service tax | # |
| BSNL v. Union of India (2006) | SC | Sale vs service distinction | # |
| Commissioner v. Ultratech (2010) | SC | CENVAT distribution | # |
| Flock India (2000) | SC | Finality of assessment | # |
| Escorts JCB Ltd. (2002) | SC | Excise classification | # |
| Wipro Ltd. (2002) | SC | Modvat credit | # |
| Maruti Suzuki (2009) | SC | Input eligibility | # |
| Bajaj Auto (2016) | SC | Excise valuation | # |
| Thermax Ltd. (1992) | SC | Modvat | # |
| Godrej & Boyce (2015) | SC | Excise duty refund | # |
| Reliance Industries (2017) | SC | Excise classification | # |
| Honda Siel (2013) | SC | Pollution cess | # |
Constitutional Tax Cases
| Case Name | Court | Description | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keshavananda Bharati (1973) | SC | Taxation powers under Constitution | # |
| Gannon Dunkerley (1958) | SC | Division of tax powers | # |
| Gannon Dunkerley II (1993) | SC | Works contract tax | # |
| Jindal Stainless (2016) | SC | Entry tax | # |
| India Cement (1990) | SC | Cess and tax distinction | # |
| Hoechst Pharmaceuticals (1983) | SC | Corporate tax | # |
| Hotel Balaji (1993) | SC | Sales tax amendments | # |
| Bengal Immunity (1955) | SC | Inter-state trade taxation | # |
| H.R. Sugar Factory (1970) | SC | Tax distribution | # |
| Govind Saran Ganga Saran (1985) | SC | Elements of taxing statute | # |
| Synthetics & Chemicals (1990) | SC | Alcohol taxation | # |
| Automobile Transport (1962) | SC | Regulatory fee vs tax | # |
| Kesoram Industries (2004) | SC | Nature of taxes | # |
| State of UP v. Sukh Deo (1969) | SC | Taxation rules | # |
| Dena Bank (2008) | SC | Debt vs tax | # |
| R.C. Tobacco (2005) | SC | Excise levy | # |
| Ujagar Prints (1989) | SC | Excise valuation | # |
| Steel Authority of India (2011) | SC | Entry tax | # |
| NALCO (2014) | SC | Mineral royalty | # |
| State of Punjab v. Nestle (2004) | SC | Tax exemptions | # |
| Federation of Hotel & Restaurants (1989) | SC | Expenditure tax validity | # |
| Goodricke Group (1995) | SC | Tea tax | # |
| Shree Mahavir Oil Mills (1997) | SC | Entry tax discrimination | # |
| Vedanta Ltd. (2018) | SC | Mining royalties | # |
| Adani Gas (2020) | SC | Regulatory fee | # |
| Hindalco Industries (2019) | SC | Royalty taxation | # |
| Carpo Power (2018) | SC | GST compensation | # |
| Bharat Petroleum (2016) | SC | State taxation limits | # |
| Tata Iron & Steel (2004) | SC | Import tax | # |
| Utkal Contractors (1987) | SC | Royalty | # |
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