{"id":369311,"date":"2025-12-09T15:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T09:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=369311"},"modified":"2025-12-16T09:30:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T04:00:48","slug":"bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Nescafe Premix is &#8216;Instant Coffee&#8217;, taxable at 8%, not 16%: Bombay High Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.animate-charcter{background-image: linear-gradient(-225deg, #231557 0%, #44107a 29%, #ff1361 67%, #fff800 100%); background-size: 200% auto; -webkit-background-clip: text; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; animation: textclip 0s linear infinite;}\n@keyframes textclip {to {background-position: 200% center;}}\n<\/style>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Disclaimer: This has been reported after the availability of the order of the Court and not on media reports so as to give an accurate report to our readers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Bombay High Court:<\/span> In a reference made by the Maharashtra Sales Tax Tribunal (Tribunal), under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-9001626841\" target=\"_blank\">61<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-9001626908\" target=\"_blank\">Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959<\/a>, to determine whether &#8220;Coffee and Instant Drinks Nescafe Premix&#8221; is classifiable under Entry C-II-3 (tax 8%) or Entry C-II-18(2) (tax 16%) of Schedule C, a Division Bench of M.S. Sonak and Advait M. Sethna, JJ., upheld the Tribunal&#8217;s view that Nescafe Premix is covered by Entry C-II-3 and therefore taxable at 8%, not 16%.<\/p>\n<h3>Factual Matrix<\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Nestle India Ltd., a registered dealer, marketed Nescafe Premix, a product used in vending machines. The product contains &#8212; Soluble Coffee Powder &#8212; 8.5%, Sucrose &#8212; 54%, Partially Skimmed Milk Powder &#8212; 37% and Maltodextrin &#8212; 0.5%.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Nestle India-respondent had filed a petition before the Commissioner of Sales Tax (Commissioner) for seeing determination on the rate of tax on &#8220;Coffee and Instant Drinks &#8216;Nescafe Premix&#8217;.&#8221; The Commissioner observed that the impugned product is not instant coffee and held that the &#8220;coffee and Instant Drinks Nescafe Premix&#8221; would be powder from which no alcoholic beverages are prepared and covered by Schedule <doclink docname=\"\" actblocktype=\"Schedule\" sectionno=\"E\" doi=\"\" match=\"no\">E<\/doclink>ntry C-II-18(2) liable for sales tax at the rate of thirteen paise in a rupee. The Maharashtra Sales Tax Tribunal set aside that determination and classified the product under Entry C-II-3.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Nestle India contended that the product is understood in common parlance as &#8220;instant coffee&#8221;, since Nescafe is prepared by merely adding hot water. The Commissioner rejected this argument, finding that due to the &#8220;miniscule 8.5%&#8221; coffee content, the product is &#8220;not instant coffee&#8221; but a powder from which non-alcoholic beverages are prepared, covered by Entry C-II-18(2).<\/p>\n<h3>Moot Point<\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Whether &#8220;Coffee and Instant Drinks &#8212; Nescafe Premix&#8221; is covered by Entry 18(2) of Schedule C-II, or by Entry C-II-3 of Schedule C-II of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-9001626908\" target=\"_blank\">Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959<\/a>?<\/p>\n<h3>Court&#8217;s Observation<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0.0mm;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: solid; text-underline-mode: continuous;\">Percentage of ingredients not decisive<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court rejected the Commissioner&#8217;s reasoning that the premix contained only &#8220;miniscule 8.5%&#8221; soluble coffee powder and therefore could not be regarded as instant coffee. The Court approved the Tribunal&#8217;s reliance on the <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Forge &amp; Co.<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Municipal Corpn. of Greater Bombay<\/span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0000027843\" target=\"_blank\">(1999) 8 SCC 577<\/a>), where the Supreme Court held that &#8220;the percentage of the ingredients is also not decisive in such matters.&#8221; The Court quoted the example that if the contrary view were accepted, <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">&#8220;a pinch of salt added in preparing food cannot be regarded as an item of food.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court held that for the purpose of imposition of levy of octroi one has to see whether an item in question is enumerated in the Schedule or not. If the item is mentioned therein, then irrespective of the heading under which it is contained, the Corporation would be entitled to levy octroi on the import of the said item.<span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><\/span> The Court further held that ingredient proportions cannot dictate classification when the statute uses words of everyday understanding.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0.0mm;font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: solid; text-underline-mode: continuous;\">Application of the Common Parlance Test<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Court emphasised that the classification must rest on popular and commercial understanding, and observed that<\/span><\/p>\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: decimal;\">\n<li>\n<p>The product is expressly presented as &#8216;Nescafe Premix&#8217;.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>It is used to prepare Nescafe by simply adding hot water.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The resultant product, in the perception of the consumer, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">&#8220;was nothing but Nescaf&eacute;.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court held that &#8220;Entry C-II-3 includes not just &#8216;coffee&#8217; but also &#8216;instant coffee&#8217;. Thus, in common parlance, this was nothing, but an &#8216;instant coffee&#8217; prepared by pouring hot water into the premix.&#8221; Therefore, the product is understood by traders and consumers as instant coffee, not as a generic beverage powder.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li>\n<p style=\"font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: solid; text-underline-mode: continuous;\">Specific entry prevails over general entry<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court emphasised on the well-settled principle established in <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Bharat Forge &amp; Press Industries (P) Ltd.<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">CCE<\/span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0000016693\" target=\"_blank\">1990 (1) SCC 532<\/a>, that specific entries override general entries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"animate-charcter\" style=\"margin-bottom: 3%; margin-left: 36pt; font-weight: bold;\">&#8220;A general entry may be resorted to only when the goods cannot be classified under a specific tariff entry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Applying this rule, the Court held that Entry C-II-3, being directly concerned with coffee and instant coffee, is clearly the special provision, whereas Entry C-II-18(2) is merely a general description covering beverage powders of all kinds. The Court held that <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">&#8220;the product in question was liable to be classified under Entry C-II-3, which was a specific entry dealing with &#8216;coffee&#8217; or &#8216;instant coffee&#8217; rather than the general Entry C-II-18(2).&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li>\n<p style=\"font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; text-underline-style: solid; text-underline-mode: continuous;\">Application of trade and market understanding<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Relying on <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">CCE<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Connaught Plaza Restaurant<\/span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0000047361\" target=\"_blank\">(2013) 18 GSTR 1<\/a> (SC), <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Commr. of Sales Tax<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">La Bella Products<\/span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-9001776512\" target=\"_blank\">(1985) 59 STC 221<\/a> and <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Commr. of Sales Tax<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Ajay Industrial Packing (P) Ltd.<\/span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-9001776629\" target=\"_blank\">(1995) 99 STC 35<\/a>), the Court reaffirmed that words in taxing statutes must be construed according to their commercial or popular meaning, unless there is a technical definition to the contrary.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Accordingly, the Court held that <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">&#8220;if the product &#8216;Nescafe premix&#8217; by pouring hot water into it results in &#8216;coffee&#8217; or &#8216;instant coffee&#8217;, the department cannot insist upon classifying the same under the general Entry C-II-18(2).&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Court&#8217;s Decision<\/h3>\n<p>The Court held that &#8212;<\/p>\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: decimal;\">\n<li>\n<p>The Tribunal was correct in classifying &#8220;Coffee and Instant Drinks &#8212; Nescafe Premix&#8221; under Entry C-II-3 of Schedule C-II.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The Commissioner&#8217;s view that the product was not instant coffee due to low coffee content was unsustainable.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The correct test is common parlance, under which the product is undeniably perceived and consumed as instant coffee.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Entry C-II-3, being the specific entry, must apply over the general entry relating to beverage powders.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court answered the reference in favour of the respondent-assessee and against the Sales Tax Department and held that Nescafe Premix is taxable at 8% under Entry C-II-3, not at the higher 16% rate under Entry C-II-18(2).<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">[<span style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #632423;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Commr. of Sales Tax<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Nestle India Ltd.<\/span>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/0XiIwYNM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025 SCC OnLine Bom 4950<\/a>, Decided on 27-11-2025<\/span>]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 18pt;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">*Judgment by Justice M.S. Sonak<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Advocates who appeared in this case:<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\">Ms. Jyoti Chavan, Addl. G.P, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Counsel for the Applicant<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\">Ms. Nikita Badheka a\/w Lata Nagal, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Counsel for the Respondent<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">The Court held that Nescafe Premix is classifiable under Entry C-II-3 and not under the general Entry C-II-18(2) of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67514,"featured_media":369312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[47742,94523,2569,94532,94524,94534,94530,94529,94531,94526,71533,6961,94525,94527,94535,94528,94533],"class_list":["post-369311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-common-parlance-test","tag-advait-m-sethna","tag-Bombay_High_Court","tag-bombay-sales-tax-act","tag-coffee","tag-commercial-understanding","tag-entry-c-ii-182","tag-entry-c-ii-3","tag-ingredient-percentage","tag-instant-coffee","tag-justice-m-s-sonak","tag-maharashtra-sales-tax-tribunal","tag-nescafe","tag-nescafe-premix","tag-sales-tax-reference","tag-specific-vs-general-entry","tag-tax-rate-determination"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bombay HC: Nescafe Premix is &#039;Instant Coffee&#039;, taxable at 8%, not 16% | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore why Bombay High Court has held that Nescafe Premix is &#039;Instant Coffee&#039;, taxable at 8%, not 16%\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nescafe Premix is &#039;Instant Coffee&#039;, taxable at 8%, not 16%: Bombay High Court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore why Bombay High Court has held that Nescafe Premix is &#039;Instant Coffee&#039;, taxable at 8%, not 16%\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T09:30:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T04:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ritu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Nescafe Premix is &#039;Instant Coffee&#039;, taxable at 8%, not 16%: Bombay High Court\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ritu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/\",\"name\":\"Bombay HC: Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16% | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T09:30:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-16T04:00:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/392f265bae2f48f0f0d02b8e0e9015b9\"},\"description\":\"Explore why Bombay High Court has held that Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16%\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.webp\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533,\"caption\":\"Nescafe Premix is Instant Coffee\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nescafe Premix is &#8216;Instant Coffee&#8217;, taxable at 8%, not 16%: Bombay High Court\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/392f265bae2f48f0f0d02b8e0e9015b9\",\"name\":\"Ritu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c47318594774c1fe55e3e8c85dcd1909276373d9bf11730032fc1a7d05d56a47?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c47318594774c1fe55e3e8c85dcd1909276373d9bf11730032fc1a7d05d56a47?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ritu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_7\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bombay HC: Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16% | SCC Times","description":"Explore why Bombay High Court has held that Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16%","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16%: Bombay High Court","og_description":"Explore why Bombay High Court has held that Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16%","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2025-12-09T09:30:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-16T04:00:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ritu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16%: Bombay High Court","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ritu","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/","name":"Bombay HC: Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16% | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.webp","datePublished":"2025-12-09T09:30:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-16T04:00:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/392f265bae2f48f0f0d02b8e0e9015b9"},"description":"Explore why Bombay High Court has held that Nescafe Premix is 'Instant Coffee', taxable at 8%, not 16%","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.webp","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"Nescafe Premix is Instant Coffee"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bombay-hc-nescafe-premix-is-instant-coffee-taxable-at-8-not-16-scc-times\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nescafe Premix is &#8216;Instant Coffee&#8217;, taxable at 8%, not 16%: Bombay High Court"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/392f265bae2f48f0f0d02b8e0e9015b9","name":"Ritu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c47318594774c1fe55e3e8c85dcd1909276373d9bf11730032fc1a7d05d56a47?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c47318594774c1fe55e3e8c85dcd1909276373d9bf11730032fc1a7d05d56a47?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ritu"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_7\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nescafe-Premix-is-Instant-Coffee.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":293277,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/05\/27\/5-high-courts-to-get-new-chief-justices\/","url_meta":{"origin":369311,"position":0},"title":"5 High Courts to get new Chief Justices","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"May 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"KERALA HIGH COURT \u21aa Shri Justice Sarasa Venkatanarayana Bhatti, Judge, Kerala High Court, appointed as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. HIMACHAL PRADESH HIGH COURT \u21aa\u00a0Shri Justice Mamidanna Satya Ratna Sri Ramachandra Rao, Judge, Punjab & Haryana\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Appointments &amp; Transfers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Appointments &amp; Transfers","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/news\/appointments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"new chief justices of high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/new-chief-justices-of-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/new-chief-justices-of-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/new-chief-justices-of-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/new-chief-justices-of-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":293450,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/05\/30\/know-your-judge-justice-rd-dhanuka-chief-justice-bombayhighcourt-retires-legal-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":369311,"position":1},"title":"46th Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, Justice Ramesh Deokinandan Dhanuka, retires after a very brief tenure of 3 days","author":"Sucheta","date":"May 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Justice R.D. Dhanuka, whose appointment as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court was notified on 26-05-2023, retires today after a very short tenure of 3 days!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Know thy Judge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Know thy Judge","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/judges-information\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"justice ramesh deokinandan dhanuka","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/justice-ramesh-deokinandan-dhanuka.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/justice-ramesh-deokinandan-dhanuka.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/justice-ramesh-deokinandan-dhanuka.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/justice-ramesh-deokinandan-dhanuka.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":369287,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/09\/bom-hc-canned-pineapple-fruit-cocktail-not-fresh-fruits-no-tax-exemption-scc-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":369311,"position":2},"title":"Canned Pineapple Slices, tidbits and fruit cocktail not &#8216;Fresh Fruits&#8217;, not exempted from Tax: Bombay High Court","author":"Ritu","date":"December 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIn interpreting items in statutes whose primary object is to raise revenue and for which purpose they classify diverse products, articles and substances, resort should be had not to the scientific and technical meaning of the terms or expressions used, but to their popular meaning.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"canned Pineapple fruit cocktail not 'Fresh Fruits'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/canned-Pineapple-fruit-cocktail-not-Fresh-Fruits.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/canned-Pineapple-fruit-cocktail-not-Fresh-Fruits.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/canned-Pineapple-fruit-cocktail-not-Fresh-Fruits.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/canned-Pineapple-fruit-cocktail-not-Fresh-Fruits.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":279539,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/12\/13\/know-thy-newly-appointed-supreme-court-judge-justice-dipankar-datta\/","url_meta":{"origin":369311,"position":3},"title":"Know Thy Newly Appointed Supreme Court Judge- Justice Dipankar Datta","author":"Editor","date":"December 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Former Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice Dipankar Datta, was sworn in as a Supreme Court Judge. His appointment now raises the judicial strength of the Supreme Court to 28 out of total strength of 34 judges","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Know thy Judge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Know thy Judge","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/judges-information\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Justice Dipankar Datta","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/MicrosoftTeams-image-460.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":370090,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/17\/supreme-court-section-44c-head-office-expenditure-non-resident-scc-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":369311,"position":4},"title":"Head office expenditure of non-resident, incurred outside India, even if exclusively for Indian branches, fall within S. 44-C of Income Tax Act: Supreme Court","author":"Ritu","date":"December 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Legislature has defined \u201chead office expenditure\u201d in clear and unambiguous terms to mean executive and general administration expenditure incurred by the assessee outside India, including, inter alia, travelling expenses, salaries, and other administrative costs.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"head office expenditure","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head-office-expenditure.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head-office-expenditure.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head-office-expenditure.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head-office-expenditure.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":369881,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/15\/high-court-cases-from-december-2025-weekly-roundup-on-rahul-gandhis-win-in-lok-sabha-elections-himalaya-trademark-infringement-sale-of-unlabeled-kumkum-in-erumeli-and-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":369311,"position":5},"title":"HIGH COURT WEEKLY ROUNDUP [8th to 14th December] | Rahul Gandhi&#8217;s win in Lok Sabha elections; &#8216;HIMALAYA&#8217; trademark infringement; sale of unlabeled KumKum in Erumeli; and more","author":"Editor","date":"December 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A quick legal roundup to cover important stories from all High Courts this week.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;High Court Round Up&quot;","block_context":{"text":"High Court Round Up","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/columns-for-roundup\/high-court-round-up\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"High Court from decamber 2025","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/High-Court-from-decamber-2025.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/High-Court-from-decamber-2025.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/High-Court-from-decamber-2025.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/High-Court-from-decamber-2025.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67514"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369311"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369902,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369311\/revisions\/369902"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}