A notice has come in demanding equalisation levy, and I cannot find the levy anywhere in the Income-tax Act. Which statute is it actually in, what machinery governs assessment and appeal, and has it not been abolished?
The equalisation levy is not in the Income-tax Act, 1961 at all. It is charged by Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 (Act 28 of 2016), which is a self-contained code running from section 163 to section 180 with its own extent and commencement provision, its own definitions, two charging sections, its own collection, statement, assessment, rectification, interest, penalty and appeal provisions, its own rule-making power and its own removal-of-difficulties power. Chapter VIII came into force on 1 June 2016, that date having been appointed by Notification No. S.O. 1904(E) dated 27 May 2016 issued under sub-section (2) of section 163, and the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016 were notified the same day by S.O. 1905(E) under sub-section (3) of section 179. Both levies have since been switched off, on DIFFERENT dates: the two per cent levy on e-commerce supply or services does not apply to consideration received or receivable by an e-commerce operator on or after 1 August 2024 (section 165A(4)), and the six per cent levy on specified services does not apply to consideration for specified service received or receivable on or after 1 April 2025 (section 165(3)).
Decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) on 2016-06-01, reported as Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 (sections 163 to 180). Commencement: Notification No. S.O. 1904(E), Gazette of India dated 27 May 2016, under section 163(2); the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016, Notification No. S.O. 1905(E) of the same date, under section 179(3). Section 165A was inserted by section 153 of the Finance Act, 2020 and restructured by section 171 of the Finance Act, 2021. The Chapter appears as clauses 160 to 177 of the Finance Bill, 2016, the numbering moving up by three on enactment.. It bears on section FA 2016 s.163, section FA 2016 s.163(2), section FA 2016 s.163(3), section FA 2016 s.164, section FA 2016 s.165, section FA 2016 s.165A, section FA 2016 s.166, section FA 2016 s.166A, section FA 2016 s.167, section FA 2016 s.168, section FA 2016 s.169, section FA 2016 s.170, section FA 2016 s.171, section FA 2016 s.172, section FA 2016 s.173, section FA 2016 s.174, section FA 2016 s.175, section FA 2016 s.178, section FA 2016 s.179, section FA 2016 s.180, section 10(50), section 40(a)(ib) of the Income Tax Act 1961, in How Tax Law Is Read and Assessment & Scrutiny matters.
Three practical consequences follow, and each of them decides how a file is run. First, nothing in the Income-tax Act governs the levy's procedure. There is no section 143(3), no section 246A, no section 154 for it; the equivalents are inside Chapter VIII itself, and an objection or appeal filed under an Income-tax Act provision is filed under the wrong statute. Section 178 of the Finance Act 2016 applies a named list of Income-tax Act provisions to the levy, and that list was itself widened by the Finance Act 2020 (which substituted the words 'sections 119, 120' for 'sections 120'), so which Income-tax Act machinery reaches the levy is a question of reading section 178 and nothing else. Second, abolition does not close a file. The levies are switched off prospectively by cut-off dates written into the charging sections themselves; consideration received before those dates remains chargeable, and the assessment, interest, penalty and appeal machinery in Chapter VIII continues to operate on it. A practitioner in 2026 is still handling live equalisation levy assessments and appeals for financial years 2016-17 to 2024-25. Third, the two dates are different and it is a common error to run them together. Between 1 August 2024 and 31 March 2025 the two per cent e-commerce levy had gone but the six per cent levy on online advertisement was still charged. Getting that wrong in a reply produces a demand for a period that was never chargeable, or a concession for a period that was.
Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them.
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Not a judgment. The instrument is Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016. Its commencement is recorded in the Lok Sabha list of papers laid on the table on 5 August 2016 in these words: 'A copy of the Notification No. S.O. 1904(E) (Hindi and English versions) published in Gazette of India dated 27th May, 2016, together with an explanatory memorandum appointing the 1st day of June, 2016 as the date on which Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 shall come into force issued under sub-section (2) of Section 163 of the said Act.' The same list records 'A copy of the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016 (Hindi and English versions) published in Notification No. S.O. 1905(E) in Gazette of India dated 27th May, 2016, under sub-section (3) of Section 179 of the Finance Act, 2016, together with an explanatory memorandum.' The shape of the Chapter is established from two documents. The marginal heading of every provision in it is printed in the arrangement of clauses of the Finance Bill, 2016, where the Chapter runs as clauses 160 to 177 and the numbers move up by three on enactment, so that clause 160 "Extent, commencement and application" is section 163 and clause 177 "Power to remove difficulties" is section 180: section 163 (extent, commencement and application), section 164 (definitions), section 165 (charge of equalisation levy), section 166 (collection and recovery of equalisation levy), section 167 (furnishing of statement), section 168 (processing of statement), section 169 (rectification of mistake), section 170 (interest on delayed payment of equalisation levy), section 171 (penalty for failure to deduct or pay equalisation levy), section 172 (penalty for failure to furnish statement), section 173 (penalty not to be imposed in certain cases), section 174 (appeal to Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)), section 175 (appeal to Appellate Tribunal), section 176 (punishment for false statement), section 177 (institution of prosecution), section 178 (application of certain provisions of Income-tax Act), section 179 (power to make rules) and section 180 (power to remove difficulties). Section 153 of the Finance Act, 2020 then amended the Chapter section by section, and it is from that section that the following are taken: the amendment of section 163(3); the insertion into section 164 of 'e-commerce operator' and 'e-commerce supply or services' as clauses (ca) and (cb) with effect from 1 April 2020; the substitution of the marginal heading of section 165, which the amending Act printed as 'Charge of equilisation levy on specified services'; the insertion of section 165A, 'Charge of equalisation levy on e-commerce supply of services'; the substitution of the marginal heading of section 166 with 'Collection and recovery of equalisation levy on specified services' and the insertion of section 166A, 'Collection and recovery of equalisation levy on e-commerce supply or services'; the substitution in section 178 of 'sections 119, 120' for 'sections 120'; and the change to the outer limit in section 180(1) from 'expiry of a period of two years from the date on which the provisions of this Chapter come into force' to '31st day of March, 2022'. Section 179 carries the rule-making power, as the laying of the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016 under sub-section (3) of that section shows. The two cut-offs are in the charging sections themselves: section 165A(4) reads 'The provisions of this section shall not apply to any consideration received or receivable by an e-commerce operator from e-commerce supply or services made or provided or facilitated by it on or after the 1st day of August, 2024', and section 165(3), as reproduced by the Madras High Court in Zoho Corporation, reads 'The provisions of this section shall not apply to any consideration for any specified service received or receivable by a person on or after the 1st day of April, 2025.'
Not a judgment. The statutory position is that the equalisation levy is imposed by a statute other than the Income-tax Act, 1961 — Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 — which came into force on 1 June 2016 under a notification issued under its own section 163(2); that the Chapter carries its own complete machinery for collection, statement, assessment, rectification, interest, penalty and appeal in sections 166 to 175, its own rule-making power in section 179 and its own removal-of-difficulties power in section 180, and applies only such provisions of the Income-tax Act as section 178 names; and that the two charges it created have been ended prospectively on two different dates, the two per cent e-commerce levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 August 2024 and the six per cent specified-services levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 April 2025, so that periods before those dates remain fully chargeable and their assessments and appeals remain live.
Not a judgment; no judicial reasoning is stated for the Chapter itself. On the character of the Chapter as a separate charge, the Madras High Court recorded in Zoho Corporation Private Limited v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax at paragraph 4 that 'An equalization levy was introduced under Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016, in relation to the provision of online advertising services by a non-resident to a resident of India or the permanent establishment (PE) of a non-resident carrying on business in India', and at paragraph 9 that 'Equalization levy was introduced in the Finance Act, 2016. Section 165, which is the charging section', before setting the section out.
appointing the 1st day of June, 2016 as the date on which Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 shall come into force issued under sub-section (2) of Section 163 of the said Act
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppThe equalisation levy is not in the Income-tax Act, 1961 at all. It is charged by Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 (Act 28 of 2016), which is a self-contained code running from section 163 to section 180 with its own extent and commencement provision, its own definitions, two charging sections, its own collection, statement, assessment, rectification, interest, penalty and appeal provisions, its own rule-making power and its own removal-of-difficulties power. Chapter VIII came into force on 1 June 2016, that date having been appointed by Notification No. S.O. 1904(E) dated 27 May 2016 issued under sub-section (2) of section 163, and the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016 were notified the same day by S.O. 1905(E) under sub-section (3) of section 179. Both levies have since been switched off, on DIFFERENT dates: the two per cent levy on e-commerce supply or services does not apply to consideration received or receivable by an e-commerce operator on or after 1 August 2024 (section 165A(4)), and the six per cent levy on specified services does not apply to consideration for specified service received or receivable on or after 1 April 2025 (section 165(3)). This was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text) and bears on section FA 2016 s.163, section FA 2016 s.163(2), section FA 2016 s.163(3), section FA 2016 s.164, section FA 2016 s.165, section FA 2016 s.165A, section FA 2016 s.166, section FA 2016 s.166A, section FA 2016 s.167, section FA 2016 s.168, section FA 2016 s.169, section FA 2016 s.170, section FA 2016 s.171, section FA 2016 s.172, section FA 2016 s.173, section FA 2016 s.174, section FA 2016 s.175, section FA 2016 s.178, section FA 2016 s.179, section FA 2016 s.180, section 10(50), section 40(a)(ib) of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 (sections 163 to 180). Commencement: Notification No. S.O. 1904(E), Gazette of India dated 27 May 2016, under section 163(2); the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016, Notification No. S.O. 1905(E) of the same date, under section 179(3). Section 165A was inserted by section 153 of the Finance Act, 2020 and restructured by section 171 of the Finance Act, 2021. The Chapter appears as clauses 160 to 177 of the Finance Bill, 2016, the numbering moving up by three on enactment.. Three practical consequences follow, and each of them decides how a file is run. First, nothing in the Income-tax Act governs the levy's procedure. There is no section 143(3), no section 246A, no section 154 for it; the equivalents are inside Chapter VIII itself, and an objection or appeal filed under an Income-tax Act provision is filed under the wrong statute. Section 178 of the Finance Act 2016 applies a named list of Income-tax Act provisions to the levy, and that list was itself widened by the Finance Act 2020 (which substituted the words 'sections 119, 120' for 'sections 120'), so which Income-tax Act machinery reaches the levy is a question of reading section 178 and nothing else. Second, abolition does not close a file. The levies are switched off prospectively by cut-off dates written into the charging sections themselves; consideration received before those dates remains chargeable, and the assessment, interest, penalty and appeal machinery in Chapter VIII continues to operate on it. A practitioner in 2026 is still handling live equalisation levy assessments and appeals for financial years 2016-17 to 2024-25. Third, the two dates are different and it is a common error to run them together. Between 1 August 2024 and 31 March 2025 the two per cent e-commerce levy had gone but the six per cent levy on online advertisement was still charged. Getting that wrong in a reply produces a demand for a period that was never chargeable, or a concession for a period that was. If it applies to you, the first step is this: Establish first which levy the notice is about. If it is about online advertisement or digital advertising space paid for by an Indian business to a non-resident, it is the six per cent levy under section 165 and the Indian payer is the person liable to deduct and pay. If it is about a non-resident platform's own receipts from Indian customers, it is the two per cent levy under section 165A and the non-resident operator is the person liable.
Not a judgment. The instrument is Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016. Its commencement is recorded in the Lok Sabha list of papers laid on the table on 5 August 2016 in these words: 'A copy of the Notification No. S.O. 1904(E) (Hindi and English versions) published in Gazette of India dated 27th May, 2016, together with an explanatory memorandum appointing the 1st day of June, 2016 as the date on which Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 shall come into force issued under sub-section (2) of Section 163 of the said Act.' The same list records 'A copy of the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016 (Hindi and English versions) published in Notification No. S.O. 1905(E) in Gazette of India dated 27th May, 2016, under sub-section (3) of Section 179 of the Finance Act, 2016, together with an explanatory memorandum.' The shape of the Chapter is established from two documents. The marginal heading of every provision in it is printed in the arrangement of clauses of the Finance Bill, 2016, where the Chapter runs as clauses 160 to 177 and the numbers move up by three on enactment, so that clause 160 "Extent, commencement and application" is section 163 and clause 177 "Power to remove difficulties" is section 180: section 163 (extent, commencement and application), section 164 (definitions), section 165 (charge of equalisation levy), section 166 (collection and recovery of equalisation levy), section 167 (furnishing of statement), section 168 (processing of statement), section 169 (rectification of mistake), section 170 (interest on delayed payment of equalisation levy), section 171 (penalty for failure to deduct or pay equalisation levy), section 172 (penalty for failure to furnish statement), section 173 (penalty not to be imposed in certain cases), section 174 (appeal to Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)), section 175 (appeal to Appellate Tribunal), section 176 (punishment for false statement), section 177 (institution of prosecution), section 178 (application of certain provisions of Income-tax Act), section 179 (power to make rules) and section 180 (power to remove difficulties). Section 153 of the Finance Act, 2020 then amended the Chapter section by section, and it is from that section that the following are taken: the amendment of section 163(3); the insertion into section 164 of 'e-commerce operator' and 'e-commerce supply or services' as clauses (ca) and (cb) with effect from 1 April 2020; the substitution of the marginal heading of section 165, which the amending Act printed as 'Charge of equilisation levy on specified services'; the insertion of section 165A, 'Charge of equalisation levy on e-commerce supply of services'; the substitution of the marginal heading of section 166 with 'Collection and recovery of equalisation levy on specified services' and the insertion of section 166A, 'Collection and recovery of equalisation levy on e-commerce supply or services'; the substitution in section 178 of 'sections 119, 120' for 'sections 120'; and the change to the outer limit in section 180(1) from 'expiry of a period of two years from the date on which the provisions of this Chapter come into force' to '31st day of March, 2022'. Section 179 carries the rule-making power, as the laying of the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016 under sub-section (3) of that section shows. The two cut-offs are in the charging sections themselves: section 165A(4) reads 'The provisions of this section shall not apply to any consideration received or receivable by an e-commerce operator from e-commerce supply or services made or provided or facilitated by it on or after the 1st day of August, 2024', and section 165(3), as reproduced by the Madras High Court in Zoho Corporation, reads 'The provisions of this section shall not apply to any consideration for any specified service received or receivable by a person on or after the 1st day of April, 2025.' The matter was decided on 2016-06-01 by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Not applicable — statutory text). On those facts the CBDT Circulars & Instructions held as follows. Not a judgment. The statutory position is that the equalisation levy is imposed by a statute other than the Income-tax Act, 1961 — Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 — which came into force on 1 June 2016 under a notification issued under its own section 163(2); that the Chapter carries its own complete machinery for collection, statement, assessment, rectification, interest, penalty and appeal in sections 166 to 175, its own rule-making power in section 179 and its own removal-of-difficulties power in section 180, and applies only such provisions of the Income-tax Act as section 178 names; and that the two charges it created have been ended prospectively on two different dates, the two per cent e-commerce levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 August 2024 and the six per cent specified-services levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 April 2025, so that periods before those dates remain fully chargeable and their assessments and appeals remain live.
Not a judgment; no judicial reasoning is stated for the Chapter itself. On the character of the Chapter as a separate charge, the Madras High Court recorded in Zoho Corporation Private Limited v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax at paragraph 4 that 'An equalization levy was introduced under Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016, in relation to the provision of online advertising services by a non-resident to a resident of India or the permanent establishment (PE) of a non-resident carrying on business in India', and at paragraph 9 that 'Equalization levy was introduced in the Finance Act, 2016. Section 165, which is the charging section', before setting the section out. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "appointing the 1st day of June, 2016 as the date on which Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 shall come into force issued under sub-section (2) of Section 163 of the said Act"
It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions on 2016-06-01 and is reported as Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 (sections 163 to 180). Commencement: Notification No. S.O. 1904(E), Gazette of India dated 27 May 2016, under section 163(2); the Equalisation levy Rules, 2016, Notification No. S.O. 1905(E) of the same date, under section 179(3). Section 165A was inserted by section 153 of the Finance Act, 2020 and restructured by section 171 of the Finance Act, 2021. The Chapter appears as clauses 160 to 177 of the Finance Bill, 2016, the numbering moving up by three on enactment.. Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them. A CBDT circular or instruction binds officers of the department but not the assessee and not the courts. Where a circular helps you, you may hold the department to it. Where it hurts you, it cannot override the Act or a judgment. On section FA 2016 s.163, section FA 2016 s.163(2), section FA 2016 s.163(3), section FA 2016 s.164, section FA 2016 s.165, section FA 2016 s.165A, section FA 2016 s.166, section FA 2016 s.166A, section FA 2016 s.167, section FA 2016 s.168, section FA 2016 s.169, section FA 2016 s.170, section FA 2016 s.171, section FA 2016 s.172, section FA 2016 s.173, section FA 2016 s.174, section FA 2016 s.175, section FA 2016 s.178, section FA 2016 s.179, section FA 2016 s.180, section 10(50), section 40(a)(ib), the practical question is whether the facts of your own notice match the facts of this case closely enough for the same rule to apply.
It cuts both ways and is cited by both sides. Not a judgment. The statutory position is that the equalisation levy is imposed by a statute other than the Income-tax Act, 1961 — Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 — which came into force on 1 June 2016 under a notification issued under its own section 163(2); that the Chapter carries its own complete machinery for collection, statement, assessment, rectification, interest, penalty and appeal in sections 166 to 175, its own rule-making power in section 179 and its own removal-of-difficulties power in section 180, and applies only such provisions of the Income-tax Act as section 178 names; and that the two charges it created have been ended prospectively on two different dates, the two per cent e-commerce levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 August 2024 and the six per cent specified-services levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 April 2025, so that periods before those dates remain fully chargeable and their assessments and appeals remain live. It arises in How Tax Law Is Read and Assessment & Scrutiny matters, on section FA 2016 s.163, section FA 2016 s.163(2), section FA 2016 s.163(3), section FA 2016 s.164, section FA 2016 s.165, section FA 2016 s.165A, section FA 2016 s.166, section FA 2016 s.166A, section FA 2016 s.167, section FA 2016 s.168, section FA 2016 s.169, section FA 2016 s.170, section FA 2016 s.171, section FA 2016 s.172, section FA 2016 s.173, section FA 2016 s.174, section FA 2016 s.175, section FA 2016 s.178, section FA 2016 s.179, section FA 2016 s.180, section 10(50), section 40(a)(ib) of the Income Tax Act 1961, and was decided by Not applicable — statutory text. Before relying on it, read the source linked on this page and check whether it has since been distinguished, overruled or overtaken by an amendment to the Income Tax Act. In practice the steps that follow from it are these. Fix the cut-off date for that levy before anything else. For section 165A the charge stops for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 August 2024; for section 165 it stops for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 April 2025. Both are drafted by reference to the consideration, not to the financial year, so a single year can straddle the line. Read Chapter VIII, not the Income-tax Act, for procedure. The statement is filed under section 167, processing and assessment are under section 168, rectification under section 169, interest under section 170, penalties under section 171 and 172, the reasonable-cause relief under section 173, the appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) under section 174 and the appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under section 175. Check section 178 to see which Income-tax Act provisions Parliament has applied to the levy before you assume any Income-tax Act right or remedy is available. Where the same receipt has been taxed as income, take the section 10(50) point in the income-tax proceeding and the section 163(3) proviso point in the levy proceeding. The two statutes are joined at those two places and nowhere else.
Still good law. The Chapter is on the statute book and continues to govern periods before its two cut-off dates; it is the CHARGE, not the Chapter, that has been ended, and it has been ended prospectively by words written into the charging sections. What could not be verified: the text of sections 163, 164 and 166 to 180 has not been read, so whether any of them has been amended since the Finance Act 2021 amendments described here cannot be confirmed, and no official publication carrying them has been traced. The marginal heading of section 178 is 'Application of certain provisions of Income-tax Act', taken from the arrangement of clauses of the Finance Bill 2016, but the list of provisions it applies is not stated in this entry, because the section's own words have not been read; a practitioner must read it before relying on any Income-tax Act provision in a levy proceeding. Whether the Income-tax Act, 2025 re-enacts or repeals anything in Chapter VIII has not been checked. Three things follow for a practitioner. The two cut-offs are on different dates and reach different charges: 1 August 2024 for the two per cent levy on e-commerce supply or services under section 165A, and 1 April 2025 for the six per cent levy on specified services under section 165. A period that straddles either date has to be split. The Chapter is a separate statute with its own assessment, interest, penalty and appeal machinery, so a dispute about the levy is not an Income-tax Act proceeding and the Income-tax Act applies to it only so far as section 178 picks it up. And because the charge is ended prospectively rather than the Chapter repealed, the machinery remains available for periods before the cut-offs, including for a statement already filed or still to be filed for such a period. No source could be cited for that finding. Checking whether an authority still stands matters as much as knowing what it held: a decision may be overruled on one point and survive on another, or the provision it interprets may have been amended since. Read the source and the editor's note on this page before relying on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal.
Every section number in this entry is a section of the FINANCE ACT, 2016, not of the Income-tax Act, 1961, except section 10(50) and section 40(a)(ib), which are Income-tax Act provisions and are flagged as such. The two statutes both contain sections numbered 163 to 180, and a search for one of those numbers will ordinarily return the Income-tax Act provision and not the equalisation levy one. 'Section 165' so found is the Income-tax Act's section 165, 'Case where part of trust income is chargeable', and every archived version under that number is the same trust provision. No official publication of Finance Act 2016 sections 163, 164 and 166 to 180 has been traced at all. The two Chapter VIII section numbers that do not collide with the Income-tax Act — 165A and 166A — are published under the Finance Acts rather than the Income-tax Act, and that is how the text of those two sections was obtained. The description of the remaining machinery sections in this entry is therefore taken from the amending provision that renumbered and amended them section by section — section 153 of the Finance Act, 2020 — and from section 171 of the Finance Act, 2021, both of which name each section and its subject matter in Parliament's own words. The full text of sections 163, 164 and 166 to 180 has not been read, and this entry does not purport to state their words. The Madras High Court in Zoho Corporation (1 June 2026) records at its paragraph 4 that the levy 'was made applicable with effect from 01.07.2016'; the Lok Sabha record of papers laid on the table on 5 August 2016 records the commencement notification, S.O. 1904(E) dated 27 May 2016, as appointing 1 JUNE 2016. The date was immaterial in that case. The date taken here is 1 June 2016, because it comes from the record of the notification itself rather than from a later description of it. The commencement date of 1 June 2016 is on two independent parliamentary records: the Lok Sabha list of papers laid on 5 August 2016, and the Rajya Sabha list of 2 August 2016, which prints 'S.O. 1904 (E), dated the 27th May, 2016, notifying the 1st day of June, 2016 as the date on which Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 shall come into force'. This library shows the verification state of every entry openly. This entry has not yet been read in full by a chartered accountant. The summary reflects the sources listed on this page. Read the source before you rely on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
Not a judgment. The statutory position is that the equalisation levy is imposed by a statute other than the Income-tax Act, 1961 — Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 — which came into force on 1 June 2016 under a notification issued under its own section 163(2); that the Chapter carries its own complete machinery for collection, statement, assessment, rectification, interest, penalty and appeal in sections 166 to 175, its own rule-making power in section 179 and its own removal-of-difficulties power in section 180, and applies only such provisions of the Income-tax Act as section 178 names; and that the two charges it created have been ended prospectively on two different dates, the two per cent e-commerce levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 August 2024 and the six per cent specified-services levy for consideration received or receivable on or after 1 April 2025, so that periods before those dates remain fully chargeable and their assessments and appeals remain live.
TaxSphere, “Statutory position — the equalisation levy is charged by Chapter VIII of the Finance Act, 2016 and not by the Income-tax Act: what the Chapter contains, when it commenced, and the two different dates on which the two levies stopped”, https://taxnotice.vittsphere.com/caselaw/case/statutory-position-equalisation-levy-chapter-viii-finance-act-2016-separate-statute-own-machinery-two-abolition-dates/ (validity last checked 2026-09-09)
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Who actually pays the two per cent equalisation levy, and by when? My client is being told the Indian customer should have withheld it.
The Assessing Officer has disallowed the entire online advertising spend because equalisation levy was not deducted. Is that right, and can the deduction be recovered in a later year?
My client paid a foreign platform for online advertising. Was it required to withhold six per cent equalisation levy, what was the threshold below which it was not, and from when did that levy stop?
A foreign platform sold to Indian customers. Was it liable to the two per cent equalisation levy on its own receipts, what was the threshold, and when did that levy end?
