Abstract
The Income Tax Act is routinely amended by the Parliament. While well reasoned amendments aimed at rectifying defects in the law are justified, retrospective amendments, often a knee-jerk reaction to judicial decisions, are inherently problematic. Thic is especially true for the recent retrospective amendments made to section 9 which have been couched as 'clarificatory'. In this background, the paper seeks to examine these key amendments to section 9, tracing their origin in the relevant decisions of the Supreme Court, briefly discussing their validity against Part III of the Constitution and the doctrine of territorial nexus. In particular, it considers: first, the amendments to section 9()(i) made in response to the Supreme Court decision in Vodafone; second, the amendments to section 9(1)(vi) and the controversy surrounding the meaning of 'copyrighted article' vis-a-vis 'copyright, third, section 9(1) (vii) and the post-2007 perplexities that have engulfed it. The conclusion presents how the Direct Taxes Code addresses these issues not only of constitutionality but also of commercial reasonableness and proposes a road ahead for our direct taxes legislation.
Recommended Citation
Andharia, Prateek
(2013)
"Section 9 of the Income Tax Act, 1961: Defaced and Defiled,"
National Law School of India Review: Vol. 25:
Iss.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://repository.nls.ac.in/nlsir/vol25/iss1/6
