“It is a common practice for businesses to incur expenses towards gifts, free samples, promotional material, etc., on certain occasions like festivals and events, to promote their brand and grow their business … This ruling reaffirms the commonly understood principle that if an expenditure has been incurred for the furtherance of business interests, then it should be allowed as a deduction,”

Vikas Vasal
Partner, Grant Thornton India LLP

This article appeared in Economic Times on 06th March, 2019.