{"id":6285,"date":"2019-10-09T10:08:38","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T04:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/?p=6285"},"modified":"2019-10-09T10:08:38","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T04:38:38","slug":"demystifying-the-indian-taxation-regime-on-e-commerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/demystifying-the-indian-taxation-regime-on-e-commerce\/","title":{"rendered":"Demystifying The Indian Taxation Regime On E-Commerce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-content\/uploads\/E-Commerce.jpg\" alt=\"E-Commerce\" width=\"168\" height=\"100\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-content\/uploads\/E-Commerce.jpg 168w, https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-content\/uploads\/E-Commerce-100x60.jpg 100w, https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-content\/uploads\/E-Commerce-150x89.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 168px) 100vw, 168px\" \/><strong>Snehal Kanzarkar and Sara Jain, both 5th year law students at MNLU Mumbai, have examined the extent of coverage of e-commerce transactions under the Income-tax and GST and explained the various advantages and disadvantages of the respective legislation. The authors have also offered valuable suggestions on how the present law and practices can be made to be in consonance with the prevailing international standards so as to achieve better compliance and and prevent tax evasion, especially by non-resident enterprises<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>1.  Domestic Taxation<\/h2>\n<p>1.1. The digitalization of every aspect of life has led  to an exponential growth of e-commerce transactions in the recent years, which  necessitates the need to regulate and tax these transactions. This paper  discusses the taxation of e-commerce transactions under the GST Act,2017 and  the Income-tax Act, 1961. It is divided in two parts. The first part deals with  the taxation of e-commerce transactions within the country i.e. domestic  taxation and the second part deals with the taxation of international  e-commerce transactions i.e. international taxation. The domestic aspects of  taxation are discussed here in reference to the GST Act, 2017. This part is  sub-divided in various sections, which elaborate on the challenges in taxation  of the e-commerce under the earlier indirect tax regime [i] and the need for  the GST Act and its advantages over the earlier regime. [ii] Further, it  explains the taxation of e-commerce taxation in two parts i.e. taxation of the  e-commerce operators under the CGST Act, IGST Act and the SGST Act [iii] the  taxation of intermediaries under IGST Act [iv].<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>A. Challenges in taxation of the E-commerce  under the earlier indirect tax regime<\/h2>\n<p>1.2. With digitization of every aspect of life, the  economy is no exception. The  phrases like &ldquo;borderless world&rdquo; and &ldquo;modern technology defies geography&rdquo; have  become reality in digital economy. The e-commerce industry has expanded  tremendously over the years. The size of the e-commerce industry in India is  estimated to be approximately $40.3 Billion. [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unido.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2017-10\/WP_15_2017_.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UNIDO, Inclusive and  Sustainable Industry Development Working Paper Series WP 15, National Report on  Development of E-commerce Development in India, 2017<\/a><\/strong>] Thus, the regulation and taxation of the  electronic-retail businesses and other e-commerce transactions have gained  momentum over the years. E-commerce includes the supply of goods,  services or both, including digital services, over digital or electronic  network. [<strong>Section 2 (14), Central Goods and Services Act, 2017<\/strong>]<\/p>\n<p>1.3. Earlier, the e-commerce was taxed under various  legislations in India.  This caused multiplicity of problems for the taxation of the transactions,  which included multiplicity of legislations leading to double taxation and  cascading effect in taxation of e-commerce entities, different tax liability  and compliance mechanisms for the manufacture, sale and supply in different  states, lack of clarity about the taxation of the services provided by  e-commerce operators and the intangible goods. [<strong> Institute  of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI),  <a href=\"https:\/\/idtc-icai.s3.amazonaws.com\/download\/E-commerce-Research-paper-GST.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Study Paper on Taxation of e-commerce under GST (2017<\/a>)<\/strong><\/a>] In light of these issues, the  government envisioned &ldquo;One Nation One Tax&rdquo; and consolidated around 17 indirect  tax legislations into a single legislation i.e. the GST Act, 2017.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n<h2>B. GST: A  ray of hope for the challenges of e-commerce taxation<\/h2>\n<p>1.4. The GST regime brought uniformity in the taxation  of e-commerce transactions. It reduced the cascading effect of taxes and  reduced the overall rate of taxation. E-commerce transactions are defined as  the transactions which involve the supply of goods and services through an  online platform. [<strong>Section 2(14), Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017<\/strong>]  There are various bodies that can supply such goods and services. In accordance  with the provisions of the CGST Act, 2017, SGST Act, 2017 and the IGST Act,  2017 there are two ways of taxing the suppliers of such goods and services-  taxation of e-commerce operators [i] and taxation of intermediaries [ii]. These  aspects are discussed in detail in the following sections.<\/p>\n<h2>C. Taxation of E-Commerce Operators<\/h2>\n<p>1.5. Section 2 (43B) of CGST Act, 2017 defines  e-commerce operator is a person who, directly or indirectly, owns operates an  electronic platform (virtual\/digital), which is engaged in the supply of any  goods and\/or services. Indian law is based on the inventory model. This implies  that the supply of goods and services by a person on his\/her own accord will  not qualify them as e-commerce operator, but merely acting as a platform for  supply of goods and services between two persons will make him\/her the  e-commerce operator. The E-commerce operators and persons supplying goods and  services through the e-commerce platform are mandated to obtain registration in  each state where they trade. [<strong>Section 24, CGST Act, 2017<\/strong>] However, an  exception has been created for the persons supplying goods and services through  the e-commerce platform on the basis of their aggregate value of the supplies  made by them i.e. if the aggregate value of such supplies made is less than Rs.  20 lakhs in states and less than 10 lakhs in &ldquo;special states&rdquo; they are not  bound to get registered. [<a href=\"https:\/\/gstcouncil.gov.in\/sites\/default\/files\/gst rates\/notfctn-65-central-tax-english.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>CGST Notification no. 65\/ 2017- Central Tax, dated November 15, 2017<\/strong><\/a><strong>,  Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue, Central Board of Excise and  Customs)<\/strong>] <\/p>\n<p>\n  1.6. The taxation of e-commerce transaction under the GST  regime is based on the place of supply because GST is a destination-based tax.  The correct determination of the place of supply is crucial because an error in  this can lead to payment of taxes to the wrong state. For example, if the place  of supply is Bangalore, Karnataka and the place of recipient is Nagpur,  Maharashtra, IGST and CGST will be applicable since it is an inter-state  supply. But, if the place of supply and place of recipient is both Bangalore,  Karnataka CGST and SGST will be applicable. The separate grounds for taxation  on the basis of place of taxation are taxation of intra-state supply <strong>[i]<\/strong> and taxation of inter-state supply <strong>[ii]<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<h3>i&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Taxation  of intra-state transactions<\/h3>\n<p>1.7. Section 9 of IGST Act, 2017 defines intra-state  supply as the supply of goods or services or both in such a manner that the  place of supply and recipient of supply are in the same state or the same union  territory. Central Goods Services Tax and State Goods Services Tax are  applicable for an intra-state supply. [<strong>Section 8, IGST Act, 2017<\/strong>]<\/p>\n<p>1.8 The taxation of supplied made through the e-commerce  platform is difficult on the basis of a destination-based tax. This is because  of the fact that the supply is made through a virtual platform, which makes it  difficult to keep track of the transactions and affix the liability on the beneficiary  of the supply. Thus, the tax is collected at the source. The E-commerce  operator has to collect tax at the rate of 1% (0.5% CGST and 0.5% SGST) of the  net value of the taxable supplies, supplied through its platform. [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/gstcouncil.gov.in\/sites\/default\/files\/cgst-Notification-2018\/notfctn-52-central-tax-english-new.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Notification  No. 52\/2018, dated 20th September, 2018<\/a><\/strong>]  This tax is called tax collected at source (TCS) and is applicable on the  supplies only if the value of the supply is above 2.5 lakhs. The amount  collected by the e-commerce operator has to be paid to the government by the 10th  day of the next month and the return of the same has to be filed in GSTR-8  form. The failure to pay GST is punishable with a penalty of Rs.100 per day for  CGST and Rs. 100 per day for SGST and the maximum penalty is Rs. 5000. <\/p>\n<h3>ii. Taxation of inter-state transactions<\/h3>\n<p>1.9 These separate categories are created on the basis  of place of supply. According to section 8 of IGST Act, 2017 the supply of  goods and services through the electronic platform between two states, two  union territories, a union territory and a state will constitute inter-state  supply. The inter-state supply by an e-commerce operator is regulated by  section 13 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. This section is  vital in determining the nature of the transaction, because that in turn will  help in deciding whether it is inter-state tax or intra-state tax. The only tax  applicable to the inter-state transactions is the Integrated Goods and Services  Tax. IGST is also applicable on the e-commerce inter-state transactions for the  import of goods and for the transfer of online information and database access  or retrieval services.<\/p>\n<h2>D. Taxation of intermediaries<\/h2>\n<p>1.10 Intermediaries, as defined under section 2 (13) of  the IGST Act, 2017,includes the brokers, commissioning agent or any other  person, who provides platform for the supply of goods or services or securities  between two people but do not initiate the transaction on their own accord. If  the place receipt is outside the territory of India, the place of supply  provided by the intermediaries for the place of supply is considered to be the  location of supplier i.e. India. If the services location of the recipient is  within the territory of India, the place of supply will be the location of the  recipient. [<strong>Section 13, IGST Act, 2017<\/strong>]<\/p>\n<p>1.11 The courts and tribunals have laid down certain  clarifications regarding the persons liable as intermediaries. These are as  follows: <\/p>\n<p>1.11.1. <strong>Third Party Transactions will not amount to  intermediary services: <\/strong>The Hon&rsquo;ble Supreme Court held in the case of <strong><em>Commissioner <\/em>v. <em>AIA Engineering ltd <\/em><\/strong>[<strong>2016 (41) S.T.R. J262 (S.C.)<\/strong>] i.e.  the purchase and subsequent sale of goods and services will not amount to an  intermediary service under the GST Act. In this case, the assesse had recorded  two separate transactions i.e. purchase of goods by them from WSL and the sale  of goods by them to ACC. The assessing officer taxed them as intermediary  service. The court gave the decision in favor of the assesse and held that  these are two separate transactions of sale and purchase and this will not  amount to intermediary service. This implies that only the act of providing a  platform for supply of goods, services or securities will make a person liable  as an intermediary under the GST Act, 2017.<\/p>\n<p>1.11.2. <strong>Support and  marketing services:&nbsp; <\/strong>When a person negotiates and purchases some  goods and services from the principle and later sells them to the customer, it  will not be considered an intermediary service because these are two separate  transactions and the act of negotiation of the prices with the principle is not  on the behalf of the customer. However, support services in shipping in such an  act will constitute intermediary service only when the negotiation is done on  behalf of the customer. Further, the marketing services provided to global  universities are &ldquo;intermediary&rdquo; services.[<strong>In Re: Global Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd. 2016 (45) S.T.R. 574  (A.A.R.)<\/strong>] Lastly, the  back office support services, payroll processing, maintenance of records of  employees and the customers provided to the customer outside India will be  considered as the intermediary services and will be considered as the  intermediary services. The service provider will be made liable in  capacity of an intermediary. [<strong>Vservglobal Private Limited [2018 (19)  G.S.T.L. 173 (A.A.R. &ndash; GST)]<\/strong>] <\/p>\n<p>1.11.3. <strong>Zero-rated supply  and intermediary services<\/strong>: Earlier,  the services provided to entities outside India, were considered to be export  services, which implied that they will be zero-rated supply and thus, they were  not taxable under the GST Act. However, there has been a change in this  position. Certain services provided to the overseas clients are considered to  be services taxable in India. In a recent decision the Maharashtra Advance  Authority Ruling held that the act of arranging\/facilitating the supply of the  goods between the overseas clients and their customers in India would qualify  as an intermediary service. The appellant, who was providing the services of  back-office documentation, administrative support and payroll-processing to the  overseas clients, was declared as an intermediary[<strong>GST- ARA,  Application No. 03 dated 9 April, 2018<\/strong>]. The services provided by it would not be considered as export and  hence zero rated supply under section 16 of the GST Act, 2017. They were  considered as inter-state supply and hence taxable under IGST. [<strong>Section  7, Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017<\/strong>] The services were taxed as services provided by  the intermediary and the location of supply i.e. India was considered as the  place of supply and thus the supply was made taxable. <\/p>\n<h2>E.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dispute resolution mechanism <\/h2>\n<p>The CGST Act, 2017 has introduced the provision of seeking  advance ruling under section 97. If the assessee wants a clarification  regarding the classification of goods, applicability of the notification, the  time and value of the supply of goods, services or both, admissibility of the  input tax credit paid on the tax paid, determination of liability to pay tax or  the requirement of registration of the applicant, he\/she can file an  application (FORM GST ARA-01) to the authority of advance ruling set-up under  the SGST Act. <strong>[Section 96, 97, CGST Act, 2017, Rule  104, 105CGST Rules, 2017]<\/strong> Once the application is admitted, the  authority for the AAR shall give its ruling within thirty days. The appeal will  be binding on the assessee and the department for the given matter. <strong>[Section  98, CGST Act, 2017]<\/strong> However, it will not be binding on other assesses in  other cases i.e. it will not be a binding precedent. The appeal filed by the  assessee (FORM GST ARA-02) to the Appellate Authority of Advance Rulinghas to  be filed within30 daysof the order of the AAR along with a fee of Rs. 10,000\/-,  while the appeal filed by the officer (FORM GST ARA-03) has to be filed within  thirty days and no fees has to be submitted along with that.<strong>[Sections 49 and  98, CGST Act, 2017; Rule 106, CGST Rules, 2017]<\/strong> The AAAR is bound to give  the decision in ninety days of the date of filing the appeal and it shall be  binding on the asssesse and the revenue department. [<strong>Section 101, CGST Act,  2017<\/strong>]<\/p>\n<h2>2.  International Taxation <\/h2>\n<p>2.1. This part discusses the aspects of taxation of the  income earned by the non-residents by the means of online services and supply  of goods through online platforms in India.  It is discussed in reference of the provisions of Income Tax Act, 1961. It is  further divided in two parts i.e. the taxation by equalization levy <strong>[i] <\/strong>and  the taxation by the means of significant economic presence and the virtual  service permanent establishment <strong>[ii]. <\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>A. Taxation of digital transactions under the  Income Tax Act, 1961<\/h2>\n<p>2.2. The income through the online transactions can be  taxed in two ways: <\/p>\n<p>i. Equalization levy<\/p>\n<p>ii. Significant Economic  Presence and Virtual Service Permanent Establishment<\/p>\n<h3>i.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Equalization Levy<\/h3>\n<p>2.3. The challenge of taxation of e-commerce  transactions was dealt with and discussed at length in by the OECD as a part of  Base Erosion Action Plan (Task force on Digital Economy with G-20 countries).  As a result of this, a 15-point Action Plan was devised and the action plan 1  dealt with the tax challenges of digitalization (Report by Task Force on  Digital Economy). This is relevant because it was greatly relied on by the  committee on taxation of e-commerce, in its report titled &ldquo;Equalization levy on  specified transactions&rdquo;. On the basis of these findings, equalization levy was  proposed in the Finance Act, 2016. It introduced the concept of Equalization  levy and significant economic presence.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>2.4. Equalization levy was introduced as a measure to  prevent the tax evasion on the online services, provided by the residents to  the non-residents. It was introduced at a rate of 6% of the amount of the  consideration for the specified services received or receivable by a  non-resident not having a permanent establishment in India, from a resident in  India who carries out business or profession, or from a non-resident having  permanent establishment in India. &ldquo;Online&rdquo; means a facility or service or right  or benefit or access that is obtained through the Internet or any other form of  digital or telecommunication network. For the purpose of equalization levy, the  &ldquo;specified service&rdquo; means online advertisement, any provision for digital  advertising space or any other facility or service for the purpose of online  advertisement. [<strong>Section 165, Finance  Act, 2016<\/strong>]<\/p>\n<p>2.5. In order to ensure that the levy does not affect  the business of the micro, medium and small enterprise businesses, the  government specified a limit of consideration on which the equalization levy  won&rsquo;t be applicable i.e. it won&rsquo;t be applicable if the total amount of consideration  does not exceed one lakh rupees. [<strong>Explanatory notes to Finance Act, 2016:  Circular No.- 3\/2017, para 32<\/strong>] This provision came into effect from June 1,  2016 [<strong>Notification No. 37 (SO 1904E)<\/strong>]<\/p>\n<h3>ii.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Significant Economic Presence and Virtual  Service Permanent Establishment<\/h3>\n<p>2.6. Even prior to the incorporation of significant  economic presence the courts have relied on the similar parameters to determine  the existence of permanent establishments in India.  It was held by the ITAT Bangalore in the case of <strong>ITO v.Right Florists(2013) 143 ITD 445 (Kol.)(Trib.)<\/strong> that on the  basis of the the domain name, specific website for the Indian users, the number  of users, the revenue generated and the usage of the servers for the purpose of  revenue generation by the companies in India, the service permanent  establishment can be constituted in India. Thus, the advertising revenues of  the tech giants such as Google and Yahoo would be taxed as the revenue  generated by the Permanent Establishments. <\/p>\n<p>2.7. In the Finance Act, 2018 the concept of Significant  Economic Presence was introduced by the government to prevent the evasion of  taxation by the companies, who do not have physical presence in India but,  still solicit business and earn income from India. The section 9 of the Income  Tax Act, 1961 was amended and explanation 2A was inserted. <strong>[Section 4, Finance Act, 2018] <\/strong>The conditions for significant  economic presence have been included in the parameters for the constitute  business connection in India. This implies that even if the non-resident  companies do not have a physical presence in India, they can be taxed in India  if they have significant economic presence in India. The twin conditions for  significant economic presence in India are:&nbsp;  the transactions regarding the sale-purchase or transfer of goods,  services or any other tangible or intangible property if they are above the  prescribed threshold<strong> [i] <\/strong>and the  systematic and continuous solicitation of business by the NRE, which involves  interaction with the customers <strong>[ii]  (Section 9, Explanation 2A, Income Tax Act, 1961). <\/strong>The fulfillment of these  conditions constitutes business connection of the Non-resident enterprise in  India. The introduction of these parameters is a great step in taxation of the  digital economy, but the government is yet to notify the threshold for  constituting significant economic presence. It had released a public  consultation paper for this in 2018 and the comments received are under  consideration. [<strong>Public Consultation on the proposal for amendment of Rules  for Profit Attribution to Permanent Establishment- reg, F.No. 500\/33\/2017-FTD.I<\/strong>]  According to this committee report, the threshold for significant economic  presence can be based either on the number of local users or the amount of  local revenue generated. In terms of the number of users, the committee has  advised to assign 10% weightage to the users in the companies with business  models with low or medium user density and 20% weightage to the users in the  companies with business models with high user density. <\/p>\n<p>2.8. Recently, the ITAT Delhi rendered the landmark  judgment of <strong>M\/s Nokia Networks OY v. JCIT,  (2018) 65 ITR (Trib.) 23 (SB) (<\/strong><strong>Delhi<\/strong><strong>)(Trib.)<\/strong>held  that the foreign company did not have a permanent establishment in India  and was thus, not liable to be taxed a s a permanent establishment in India.  It held that if the parent company of an Indian company does not explicitly  fulfill the criteria laid down for forming a permanent establishment in the  Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, it cannot be made liable because the  Indian Company is a virtual projection of its parent company. [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/kluwertaxblog.com\/2018\/09\/03\/permanent-establishment-virtual-projection-case-nokia-networks\/?print=print\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Permanent Establishments and Virtual  Projection: The case of Nokia Networks<\/a>, Kluwer International Tax Blog, September   3, 2018,<\/strong>]&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>2.9. Another peculiar issue in the taxation of  e-commerce is the taxation of the expenditure incurred in the creation of  market intangibles such as goodwill. This issue was recently discussed by the  ITAT Bangalore in the case of <strong>M\/s  Flipkart India Private Limited v. CIT (2018) 170 ITD 751 (Bang.)(Trib.).<\/strong> The issue for consideration here was whether the profits foregone in the  earlier years can be regarded as the expenditure incurred for the creation of  market intangibles (brand value and good will) and thus, taxed accordingly? The  ITAT held that this cannot be done and the loss incurred cannot be disallowed  on this ground. The ITAT followed the decision of the Supreme Court in the case  of <strong>CIT Vs. A. Raman &amp; Co. (1968) 67  ITR 11 (SC)<\/strong> and <strong>CIT Vs. Calcutta  Discount Co. Ltd., (1973) 91 ITR 8 (SC)<\/strong>and held that only the actual sale  price of the product can be considered while computing the profits and loss of  the assesse, not the cost price or the profits foregone. Unless, section 145  (3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 has been invoked, the profits and losses have  to be considered only on the basis of the profit and loss account of the  assesse.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<h2>3.  Advance Ruling<\/h2>\n<p>3.1. Prior to the payment of taxes, if the assessee  wants any clarification regarding the payment, extent of the amount and  applicability of the taxes\/notification to the assessee, he\/she can approach  the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the  CGST Act, 2017 and the respective State or Union Territory GST Acts.<\/p>\n<p>3.2. Advance Ruling for the GST matters: If the assessee  wants a clarification regarding the classification of goods, applicability of  the notification, the time and value of the supply of goods, services or both,  admissibility of the input tax credit paid on the tax paid, determination of  liability to pay tax or the requirement of registration of the applicant, he\/she  can file an application (FORM GST ARA-01) to the Authority of Advance Ruling  (AAR) set-up under the SGST Act. <strong>[Section 96, 97, CGST Act, 2017, Rule 104,  105 CGST Rules, 2017] <\/strong>Once the application is admitted, the authority for  the AAR shall give its ruling within thirty days. The appeal will be binding on  the assessee and the department for the given matter. <strong>[Section 98, CGST Act,  2017]<\/strong> However, it will not be binding on other assesses in other cases i.e.  it will not be a binding precedent. The appeal filed by the assessee (FORM GST  ARA-02) to the Appellate Authority of Advance Ruling has to be filed within 30  days of the order of the AAR along with a fee of Rs. 10,000\/-, while the appeal  filed by the officer (FORM GST ARA-03) has to be filed within thirty days and  no fees has to be submitted along with that. <strong>[Sections 49 and 98, CGST Act,  2017; Rule 106, CGST Rules, 2017]<\/strong> The AAAR is bound to give the decision in  ninety days of the date of filing the appeal and it shall be binding on the  asssesse and the revenue department. [<strong>Section 101, CGST Act, 2017<\/strong>] There  is no specific provision in the GST act for appealing against the decision of  the AAAR. In a recent decision, the Hon&rsquo;ble Bombay High Court held that the  decision of the AAAR cannot be challenged on merits before the High Court under  the writ jurisdiction. However, the court can look into the order, if there is  a violation of principles of natural justice, the AAAR exceeded its  jurisdiction or committed errors of law and ensure the compliance with the  principles of natural justice. <strong>[JSW Energy Limited v. Union of India and 3  others, Writ petition no. 5 of 2019, Order dated 07 June, 2019]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>3.3. Advance Ruling for income tax matters: If the  assessee, who is a non-resident, wants a clarification regarding a taxability  of a transaction undertaken or proposed to be undertaken, he\/she can file an  application to the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR). A non-resident can file  an application (Form No. 34 C) to the AAR with a fees of Rs. 2,00,000. A  resident can file an application (Form No. 34 D), if he is doing a transaction  with the non-resident if the value of the transaction or transactions,  undertaken or proposed to be undertaken by him is Rs. 100 crores or more (Form  No. 34 DA) by filing a fee of Rs. 5,00,000 (if the transaction value is between  Rs. 100 crores and Rs. 300 crores) or a fee of Rs. 10,00,000 (if the  transaction value is above Rs. 300 crores). The application to the AAR cannot  be filed if the question is pending before an ITAT bench, High Court or Supreme  Court, if the question involves the determination of the fair market value of a  property or when the question relates to a transaction, prima facie for the  evasion of tax. [<strong>Section 245N, Income Tax Act, 1961; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.incometaxindia.gov.in\/communications\/notification\/notification-no-73-dated-28-11-14.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Notification No.  73\/2014, dated 28-11-2014<\/a><\/strong>]. The  AAR shall give its decision within 6 months of filing of the application. The  order will be binding only on the applicant to the extent of the transaction  for which the ruling is sought. Further, there is no provision for filing an  appeal against the ruling of the AAR. However, a writ petition can be filed  against this in the respective High Court [<strong>Articles 226,227 Constitution of  India, 1950<\/strong>]and a special leave petition can be filed against the order of  the AAR [<strong>Article 136 Constitution of India, 1950<\/strong>]&nbsp; as the AAR is falls under the definition of a  &ldquo;tribunal&rdquo; under article 227and 136 of the Constitution of India <strong>[Columbia  Sportswear Company v. DIT, TS-59-SC-2012 ]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>3.4. Thus, in case of a transaction where GST is  applicable, an application before the AAR can be filed by any applicant,  irrespective of the fact, whether he\/she is a resident or a non-resident,  while, in case of a transaction, where income tax is applicable, the  non-resident can file an application, a resident entering into a transaction  with the non-resident can file an application or a resident doing or proposing  to do a transaction worth Rs. 100 crores can file an appeal. Further, an order  given by the AAR under the GST Act can be appealed against at the Appellate  Authority for Advance Ruling within 30 days of the order of AAR, while for the  order by the AAR under the Income Tax Act cannot be appealed against. Only  recourse available is to file a writ petition in High Court. <\/p>\n<h2>4. Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>4.1. The inclusion and coverage of e-commerce  transactions in the GST regime has consolidated multiple indirect taxation  legislations and has reduced the double taxation and cascading effect in  taxation of e-commerce entities. It is equally true that the e-commerce  operators are faced with some drawbacks, such as the exclusion from claiming  input tax credit, registering for composition and separately registering in  each state. There are various advantages and disadvantages of the  implementation of GST Act on e-commerce, but in the opinion of the researcher,  the advantages outweigh the disadvantages to a great extent. The present  reforms in the Income tax act, 1961 i.e. Equalization Levy and the Significant  Economic Presence are great measures by the government to tax the income  generated in the digital economy and to bring Indian taxation practices in  consonance with the prevailing international standards. In order to prevent  further tax evasion by the non-resident enterprises because of the unique  nature of the digital economy, the government should set the threshold for the  significant economic presence and thus, put it into effect.<\/p>\n<div class=\"journal2\"> Reproduced with permission from the AIFTP Journal, October, 2019 Edition <\/div>\n<table width=\"103%\" border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"5\" cellspacing=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#FFFFCC\">\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Disclaimer: <\/strong>The  contents of this document are solely for informational purpose. It does not  constitute professional advice or a formal recommendation. While due care has  been taken in preparing this document, the existence of mistakes and omissions  herein is not ruled out. Neither the author nor itatonline.org and its  affiliates accepts any liabilities for any loss or damage of any kind arising  out of any inaccurate or incomplete information in this document nor for any  actions taken in reliance thereon. No part of this document should be  distributed or copied (except for personal, non-commercial use) without  express written permission of itatonline.org<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Snehal Kanzarkar and Sara Jain, both 5th year law students at MNLU Mumbai, have examined the extent of coverage of e-commerce transactions under the Income-tax and GST and explained the various advantages and disadvantages of the respective legislation. The authors have also offered valuable suggestions on how the present law and practices can be made to be in consonance with the prevailing international standards so as to achieve better compliance and and prevent tax evasion, especially by non-resident enterprises<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/demystifying-the-indian-taxation-regime-on-e-commerce\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/articles_new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}