IT : Where assessee earned gain on purchase and sale of equity shares and mutual funds and its intention was to purchase shares and mutual funds for holding them as investment, gain in question was assessable under head 'short-term capital gain'
Tuesday 25 June 2013
Exp. allowed in preceding years to be allowed in current year too if facts are similar, rules HC
IT : Where in preceding year disallowances were deleted, same could be followed in current year, facts being same
Renting services are eligible for input service credit if used further for sub-letting
ST : In case of sub-letting, service tax paid on rent paid to landlord is available as input service credit subject to maintenance of documentary evidence in that regard
Report of DG is only recommendatory in nature and it’s not binding on the CCI
Competition Act : Report of DG is only recommendatory in nature and is not binding on CCI and, therefore, it is not that in every case where CCI disagrees with report of DG, it has to order further investigation
Genuine transaction can’t be alleged as a colorable device merely because it reduces the burden of t
IT : Once a transaction is genuine and traded at proper valuation, even if entered with a motive to avoid tax, would not become coloruable device subject to any disqualification
[Indian Custom Circular] : Regarding Introduction of Risk Management Systems (RMS) in Exports
Circular No. 23/2013 - Customs
F.No.450/28/2011-Cus.IV
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise
***
New Delhi, Dated 24th June, 2013
To
All Chief Commissioners of Customs/Customs (Prev)
All Chief Commissisoner of Customs and Central Excise
All Commissioners of Customs/Customs (Prev)
All Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise
All Director Generals under CBEC
Sir/Madam
Sub: Introduction of Risk Management Systems (RMS) in Exports – regarding.
Attention is invited to the Board Circular No.43/2005-Cus dated 24.11.2005 whereby Risk Management System (RMS) was introduced in Imports as a trade facilitation measure and for selective interdiction of high risk consignments for Customs control.
2. Implementation of RMS in Imports has been one of the most significant steps in the ongoing Business Process Re-engineering initiative of the department. In continuation of this initiative, the Board has now decided to introduce RMS in exports in Customs locations where the Indian Customs EDI Systems (ICES) is operational. The RMS in exports will enable low risk consignments to be cleared based on self assessment of the declarations by exporters. This will enable the department to enhance the level of facilitation and speed up the process of cargo clearance. By expediting the clearance of compliant export cargo, the RMS for exports will contribute to reduction in dwell time, thereby achieving the desired objective of reducing the transaction cost in order to make the business internationally competitive. The RMS in Exports is scheduled for implementation from 15.07.2013 onwards.
3. The RMS for exports is developed with the following components (i) ensuring appropriate control measures for proper and speedy disbursement of drawback and other export incentives (ii) effective utilization of human resources, to match the workload with the resources available (iii) ensuring proper and expeditious implementation of existing control over export under the applicable Allied Acts and Rules.
4 With the introduction of the RMS in exports, the present practice of routine verification of self-assessment and examination of Shipping Bills will be discontinued
and the focus will be on quality assessment, examination and post clearance audit (PCA) of Shipping Bills selected by the Risk Management System.
5. Shipping Bills filed electronically into ICES through the Service Centre or the ICEGATE will be processed by RMS. The RMS will process the data through a series of steps/corridors and produce an electronic output for the ICES. This output from RMS will determine the flow of the Shipping Bill in ICES i.e. whether the Shipping Bill will be taken up for Customs control (verification of self-assessment or examination or both) or to be given “Let Export Order” directly after payment of Export duty (if any) without any verification of self-assessment or examination. The RMS will also provide instructions for Appraising Officer/Superintendent, Examining Officer/Inspector or the Let Export Order (LEO) Officer, wherever necessary. The decisions communicated by the RMS on the need for verification of self-assessment and/or examination and the appraising and examination instructions communicated by the RMS have be followed by the field formations. It is possible that in a few cases, the field formations might decide to apply a particular treatment to the Shipping Bill which is at variance with the instructions received for the RMS owing to risks which are not factored in the RMS. Such a course of action shall however be taken only with the prior approval of the jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs or an officer authorised by him for this purpose, who shall not be below the rank of Addl./Joint Commissioner of Customs, and after recording the reason for the same. A brief remark on the reasons and particulars of Commissioner’s authorization should be made by the officer examining the goods in the departmental comments in the EDI system.
6. Board has decided to implement RMS in export in two phases. In the first phase the RMS will process the data and provide the output to ICES only up to goods examination stage. In the second phase, the RMS will also process the Shipping Bill data after the Export general Manifest (EGM) is filed electronically and provide output to ICES for selection of shipping Bills for Drawback scrutiny and Post Clearance Audit (PCA).
7. With the implementation of export RMS, a Post Clearance Audit (PCA) function will be introduced in respect of exports after the LEO is given for export consignment. The objective of PCA is to monitor, maintain and enhance compliance levels, while reducing the dwell time of cargo. The RMS will select the Shipping Bills for audit, after issue of LEO, and these selected Shipping Bills will be directed to the audit officers for scrutiny by the ICES. It may be noted that the auditors are specifically being instructed to scrutinize declarations with reference to exports incentives, duty drawback and other compliance requirements Wherever necessary, RMS will provide instructions for audit Officers. In case any possible short levies or undue claim of export incentives are noticed, the officer will issue a Consultative Letter setting out the ground for their views to the exporters/CHAs. Audit Officers should also scrutinize declarations with reference to data quality and advise the exporters/ CHAs suitably where the quality of their declarations is found deficient. Such advise is expected to be followed and will be monitored by the Local Risk Managers (LRM).
8 As in the case of Import, the national management of the Risk Management systems shall be the responsibility of the Risk Management Division. There will be a single Local Risk Manager (Admin) for a location for both import and export.
9. The implementation of RMS for exports will necessitate reorganization for staff. Board desires the Chief Commissisoner of Customs to undertake a comprehensive re-organization of the officers deployed for processing of Shipping Bills. The present appraising facilities should be right-sized in tune with the quantum of Shipping Bills coming for assessment. A separate PCA section needs to be created and sufficient staff should be diverted to the Post Clearance Audit. The strength of the staff for examination of cargo would also be required to be readjusted.
10. With the introduction of RMS in exports, the selection of Shipping Bills for verification of Self-assessment and/or examination will be based on the output given by RMS to ICES. Accordingly the examination and assessment norms contained in the Board’s Circulars No. 06/2002 –Cus dated 23.01.2002, 01/2009-Cus dated 13.01.2009 and 28/2012-Customs dated 16.11.2012 would stand modified to that extent. However, owing to some technical reasons if the RMS fails to provide output to ICES or RMS output is not received at ICES end in time, the existing norms of assessment and examination prescribed by the aforementioned circulars will be applicable.
11. To begain with, RMS in Exports will be introduced w.e.f. 15.7.2013 at ICD Mulund and ICD Patparganj. With the implementation of RMS in exports the existing facilitation scheme viz. Accelerated Clearance System vide Circular No.30/2003-Cus dated 4.4.2003. would be phased out. As the deployment of the export RMS is likely to take place in a phased manner across the ICES locations, the existing facilitation scheme will continue to be operative in each Customs station until the operationalisation of the export RMS at the station.
12. Board desires DG (Systems) to forward the detailed instruction/draft public notice to field formation separately.
13. Any difficulty in implementation of these instructions should be brought notice of the Board immediately.
Yours faithfully,
( R.P. Singh )
Director (Customs)
24X7 Customs Clearance Facility For Export Cargo
25-Jun-2013
NEW DELHI, 25 JUNE: Beginning 1 July, Customs clearance of all export goods will take place on a 24x7 basis from four major air cargo complexes/airports in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai, the Union finance ministry announced today.
Thus, all exports including those made under export incentives scheme as well as duty drawback scheme will now be able to be move out of the country on a 24x7 basis. The government expects this initiative to greatly facilitate the exporting community and boost the country’s exports by reducing dwell time and enabling exporters to meet their deadlines, a statement from the ministry said. The expansion of the 24x7 facility at the four major air cargo complexes/airports follows on the heels of similar customs clearance facility for exports made under free shipping bills, i.e. without claiming export incentives with effect from 1 June 2013 from all 13 EDI connected air cargo complexes/airports in the country.
These 13 air cargo complexes/airports are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Cochin, Calicut, Coimbatore, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Nashik, Vizag and Thiruvananthapuram.
The extension of clearance facility for imports and exports has been under the consideration of the government for some time. Last year from 1 September 2012, the Customs began functioning on a 24x7 basis to clear select export consignments under free shipping bills as well as identified import consignments which were facilitated by its electronic risk assessment system.
Source:-www.thestatesman.net
Rupee Near Record Low; Dealers Watch For Rbi
The rupee was weaker in early trade on Wednesday, with dealers watching for central bank intervention as the currency closes in on its record low.
At 9:02 a.m., the rupee was at 59.78/79 to a dollar versus Tuesday's close of 59.66/67. It had hit a record low of 59.9850 last week.
Source:-in.reuters.com
Uncompetitive Imports Call For Relook At India's China Trade Policy
KOLKATA: Is India enriching China and allowing it to occupy our land?
A study shows India pays more for goods from China that it could buy from elsewhere at a lower price since the era of cheap Chinese goods appears to be coming to an end. The land of dragons has struggled to keep its cost competitiveness going because of rising wages, land prices and taxes. The ascent of the renminbi or yuan has also made the world's largest manufacturer more expensive. The Sino-Indian bilateral trade took off during the last decade to nearly $70 billion (about 4.2 lakh crore) at the end of 2012 and is expected to touch $100 billion (about 6 lakh crore) in 2015. It certainly looks impressive, but the magnitude of uncompetitive imports calls for a relook at the bilateral trade policy, argues Prof SK Mohanty, who did a study on Sino-India trade relationship on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India.
The volume of uncompetitive imports from China rose from $4.49 billion in 2007 to $7.15 billion in 2008, but declined to $6.6 billion in 2009. The relative size of this to total imports was very high, ranging from 18.6% in 2007 to 25.4% in 2008. In fact, nearly one-third of 3,876 items imported by India in 2009 proved costlier.
"It is a matter of concern as the share of uncompetitive products in total is increasing over a period of time. They are both in terms of the number of products imported and also in value terms," says Prof Mohanty of Research and Information System for Developing Countries in the study titled 'India China Bilateral Trade Relationship'.
Uncompetitive imports call for relook at India's China trade policy
Uncompetitive imports are concentrated in four sectors -- chemicals, textiles, base metals and machinery with about 75-80% share of total uncompetitive imports during 2007-09. Imports of minerals, plastics, gems & jewelleries, and automobile parts from China have also turned out to be uncompetitive. The combined share of these eight sectors exceeded 93% of total uncompetitive imports during 2007-09.
Many believe the rising labour cost in China is to be blamed primarily. In fact, China is gradually withdrawing from the lower end of the textile sector, and if the trend continues, the production base of textiles and clothing will slowly shift to other countries, as has been the case with the textile industries of a number of East Asian countries in the past.
This could prove a blessing for India which has a large textile sector. Prof Mohanty suggests India should start preparing itself by getting into partnership with foreign firms to establish production centres on its shore for mass production of garments. "The Chinese phase-out from the garment industry may be an opportunity for India to replace it in the global market in a phased manner."
The automobile industry both in India and China has expanded rapidly during the last two decades and India enjoys a competitive edge in auto components, small-cars and two-wheeler segments. However, the study showed that India's imports from China in these product segments are turning out to be uncompetitive, and imports of these products can be managed efficiently from other competitive suppliers. India is also emerging as competitive player in the niche area of auto designing, which is related to the IT sector.
Source:-economictimes.indiatimes.com
RPM was most appropriate if items bought from AE were sold to unrelated parties
IT/ILT : Where assessee buys products from its AEs and sells to unrelated parties without any further processing, RPM is most appropriate method to determine ALP
Coconut Exports Up 26% This Year
25-Jun-2013
Export of coconut and coconut products (other than coir and coir products) reached a record Rs 1,050 crore in 2012-13. Total export registered a grew 26 per cent in value and 32 per cent in volume, compared with the previous financial year, according to the Coconut Development Board (CDB).
The country exported 58,000 tonnes of activated carbon worth Rs 550 crore, constituting 50 per cent of the total export earnings. Good quality shell-based activated carbon has great demand in North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and West Asia.
In view of the economic revival and trade increase, India is doing much more trade with American countries in addition to the traditional markets. Coconut shell-based activated carbon is notified under the focus product scheme of the Union government and becomes eligible for a two per cent export incentive from January 1, 2013. Ever since the government had notified the CDB as an Export Promotion Council for all coconut products from April 1, 2009, exports saw an average annual growth of 35 per cent.
The board currently has around 1,000 registered exporters. It aims to achieve Rs 5,000 crore worth coconut product exports by the end of the 12th five-year Plan.
Source:-www.business-standard.com
Chandy Gets Clean Chit In Palm Oil Import Case
25-Jun-2013
KOCHI: The Kerala high court Tuesday gave a clean chit to chief minister Oommen Chandy in the palm oil import case, dismissing a petition filed by CPM veteran VS Achuthanandan and former bureaucrat and legislator KJ Alphonse.
The two petitioners had approached the high court to set aside the verdict of the Thrissur vigilance court in May last year that accepted a report giving a clean chit to Chandy by a vigilance probe team.
The vigilance probe team had concluded that Chandy had no role in the import of palm oil.
Alphonse was an independent legislator supported by the Left during 2006-11.
The import of 15,000 tonnes of palm oil was undertaken in 1992.
The case was registered in 1999 when the CPM, led by EK Nayanar, was in power. The vigilance department had earlier submitted a report that there was nothing in the case that could indict Chandy.
Former chief minister K Karunakaran, then food minister TH Mustafa and bureaucrats PJ Thomas and Jiji Thompson were charged with causing a loss of Rs.2.32 crore to the exchequer by importing palm oil from Malaysia at an enhanced price.
Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Export incentives from vendor for goods purchased for export can't be deducted from cost of goods so
IT/ILT: Where assessee entered into international transactions of export of finished goods to its AE and it had purchased finished goods from one 'G' for export to AE, export incentive received in respect of such purchases from 'G' was not deductible from cost of goods sold to AE, whereas assessee would be entitled for deduction of rebate received from 'G' from cost of goods sold to AE
Royalty paid to parent Co. on AE sales couldn’t be disallowed if similar payment on non-AE sales acc
IT/ILT : Where TPO accepts arm's length nature of royalty paid to AE(foreign parent company) on third party sales as a % of sales, he can't disallow royalty paid to AE at same % on AE sales on the ground that no benefit was derived from royalty on AE sales as AE sales are sale by assessee to itself. Such disallowance can't be made unless TPO able to demonstrate that royalty was already included in price of purchases made by AE from assessees
Income from production of hybrid seeds from basic seeds is agricultural income and is exempt from ta
IT : Income from activity of production of hybrid seeds from basic seeds would be agricultural income exempt under section 10
Sum collected to be regarded as inclusive of service-tax if invoice doesn’t show the tax separately
ST : Where service tax was not shown separately in invoice, sums collected by assessee were to be regarded as cum-tax and service tax was to be determined by making back calculations
Employees' contribution of EPF and ESI is allowable if remitted before the due date of filing return
IT: Employee's contribution under EPF and ESI Act, remitted after due dates prescribed under said statutes, but before extended due date for filing return under section 139(1), is allowable as deduction
Customs Circular No 22/2013 dated 24-06-2013
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise and Customs
Circular No. 23/2013-Customs
New Delhi, Dated 24th June, 2013
To
All Chief Commissioners of Customs /Customs (Prev)
All Chief Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise
All Commissioners of Customs /Customs (Prev)
All Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise
All Director Generals under CBEC
Sir/Madam
Sub: Introduction of Risk Management Systems (RMS) in Exports–regarding.
Attention is invited to the Board Circular No.43/2005-Cus dated 24.11.2005 whereby Risk Management System (RMS) was introduced in Imports as a trade facilitation measure and for selective interdiction of high risk consignments for Customs control.
2. Implementation of RMS in Imports has been one of the most significant steps in the ongoing Business Process Re-engineering initiative of the department. In continuation of this initiative, the Board has now decided to introduce RMS in exports in Customs locations where the Indian Customs EDI Systems (ICES) is operational. The RMS in exports will enable low risk consignments to be cleared based on self assessment of the declarations by exporters. This will enable the department to enhance the level of facilitation and speed up the process of cargo clearance. By expediting the clearance of compliant export cargo, the RMS for exports will contribute to reduction in dwell time, thereby achieving the desired objective of reducing the transaction cost in order to make the business internationally competitive. The RMS in Exports is scheduled for implementation from 15.07.2013 onwards.
3. The RMS for exports is developed with the following components (i) ensuring appropriate control measures for proper and speedy disbursement of drawback and other export incentives (ii) effective utilization of human resources, to match the workload with the resources available (iii) ensuring proper and expeditious implementation of existing control over export under the applicable Allied Acts and Rules.
4. With the introduction of the RMS in exports, the present practice of routine verification of self-assessment and examination of Shipping Bills will be discontinued and the focus will be on quality assessment, examination and post clearance audit (PCA) of Shipping Bills selected by the Risk Management System.
5. Shipping Bills filed electronically into ICES through the Service Centre or the ICEGATE will be processed by RMS. The RMS will process the data through a series of steps/corridors and produce an electronic output for the ICES. This output from RMS will determine the flow of the Shipping Bill in ICES i.e. whether the Shipping Bill will be taken up for Customs control (verification of self-assessment or examination or both) or to be given “Let Export Order” directly after payment of Export duty (if any) without any verification of self-assessment or examination. The RMS will also provide instructions for Appraising Officer/Superintendent, Examining Officer/Inspect or or the Let Export Order (LEO) Officer, wherever necessary. The decisions communicated by the RMS on the need for verification of self-assessment and/or examination and the appraising and examination instructions communicated by the RMS have be followed by the field formations. It is possible that in a few cases, the field formations might decide to apply a particular treatment to the Shipping Bill which is at variance with the instructions received for the RMS owing to risks which are not factored in the RMS. Such a course of action shall however be taken only with the prior approval of the jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs or an officer authorised by him for this purpose, who shall not be below the rank of Addl./Joint Commissioner of Customs, and after recording the reason for the same. A brief remark on the reasons and particulars of Commissioner’s authorization should be made by the officer examining the goods in the departmental comments in the EDI system.
6. Board has decided to implement RMS in export in two phases. In the first phase the RMS will process the data and provide the output to ICES only up to goods examination stage. In the second phase, the RMS will also process the Shipping Bill data after the Export general Manifest (EGM) is filed electronically and provide output to ICES for selection of shipping Bills for Drawback scrutiny and Post Clearance Audit (PCA).
7. With the implementation of export RMS, a Post Clearance Audit (PCA) function will be introduced in respect of export s after the LEO is given for export consignment. The objective of PCA is to monitor, maintain and enhance compliance levels, while reducing the dwell time of cargo. The RMS will select the Shipping Bills for audit, after issue of LEO, and these selected Shipping Bills will be directed to the audit officers for scrutiny by the ICES. It may be noted that the auditors are specifically being instructed to scrutinize declarations with reference to exports incentives, duty drawback and other compliance requirements Wherever necessary, RMS will provide instructions for audit Officers. In case any possible short levies or undue claim of export incentives are noticed, the officer will issue a Consultative Letter setting out the ground for their views to the exporters/CHAs. Audit Officers should also scrutinize declarations with reference to data quality and advise the exporters/ CHAs suitably where the quality of their declarations is found deficient. Such advise is expected to be followed and will be monitored by the Local Risk Managers (LRM).
8. As in the case of Import, the national management of the Risk Management systems shall be the responsibility of the Risk Management Division. There will be a single Local Risk Manager (Admin) for a location for both import and export.
9. The implementation of RMS for exports will necessitate reorganization for staff. Board desires the Chief Commissioner of Customs to undertake a comprehensive re-organization of the officers deployed for processing of Shipping Bills. The present appraising facilities should be right-sized in tune with the quantum of Shipping Bills coming for assessment. A separate PCA section needs to be created and sufficient staff should be diverted to the Post Clearance Audit. The strength of the staff for examination of cargo would also be required to be readjusted.
10. With the introduction of RMS in exports, the selection of Shipping Bills for verification of Self-assessment and/or examination will be based on the output given by RMS to ICES. Accordingly the examination and assessment norms contained in the Board’s Circulars No. 06/2002–Cus dated 23.01.2002 , 01/2009-Cus dated 13.01.2009 and 28/2012-Customs dated 16.11.2012 would stand modified to that extent. However, owing to some technical reasons if the RMS fails to provide output to ICES or RMS output is not received at ICES end in time, the existing norms of assessment and examination prescribed by the aforementioned circulars will be applicable.
11. To begain with, RMS in Exports will be introduced w.e.f. 15.7.2013 at ICD Mulund and ICD Patparganj. With the implementation of RMS in exports the existing facilitation scheme viz. Accelerated Clearance System vide Circular No.30/2003-Cus dated 4.4.2003. would be phased out. As the deployment of the export RMS is likely to take place in a phased manner across the ICES locations, the existing facilitation scheme will continue to be operative in each Customs station until the operationalisation of the export RMS at the station.
12. Board desires DG (Systems) to forward the detailed instruction/draft public notice to field formation separately.
13. Any difficulty in implementation of these instructions should be brought notice of the Board immediately.
Yours faithfully,
( R.P. Singh )
Director (Customs)
F.No.450/28/2011-Cus.IV
RBI/2012-13/539 A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No.113 dated 24-06-2013
Reserve bank of India
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 113
June 24, 2013
To
All Authorised Dealer Category –I Banks
Madam / Sir
External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) for the low cost affordable housing projects
Attention of Authorized Dealer Category - I (AD Category - I) banks is invited to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 61 dated December 17, 2012 on the captioned subject in terms of which ECB for low cost affordable housing projects is allowed as a permissible end-use under the approval route.
- The policy regarding ECB for the low cost affordable housing projects has been reviewed and it has been decided to modify the guidelines contained in the aforesaid A.P. (DIR Series) Circular as under:
- Developers/builders should have a minimum of three (3) year’s experience in undertaking residential projects as against five (5) years prescribed earlier and should have good track record in terms of quality and delivery.
- The condition of minimum paid-up capital of not less than INR 50 crore, as per the latest audited balance sheet, for Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) stands withdrawn. However, the condition of the minimum Net Owned Funds (NOF) of Rs. 300 crore for the past three financial years remains unchanged.
- The aggregate limit for ECB under the low cost affordable housing scheme is extended for the financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15 with a ceiling of USD 1 billion in each of the two years, subject to review thereafter.
- The ECB availed of by developers and builders shall be swapped into Rupees for the entire maturity on fully hedged basis.
- Issue of fixation of spread for on-lending by National Housing bank (NHB):
Interest rate spread to be charged by National Housing Bank (NHB) may be decided by NHB taking into account cost and other relevant factors. NHB shall ensure that interest rate spread for HFCs for on-lending to prospective owners’ of individual units under the low cost affordable housing scheme is reasonable.
- Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) while making the applications, shall
- it a certificate from NHB, the nodal agency, that the availment of ECB is for financing prospective owners of individual units for the low cost affordable housing;
- ensure that cost of such individual units does not exceed Rs. 30 lakh and loan amount does not exceed Rs. 25 lakh;
- ensure that the units financed are having maximum carpet area of 60 square metres; and
- ensure that the interest rate spread charged by the HFCs to the ultimate buyer is reasonable.
- All other aspects of the scheme mentioned in the aforesaid A.P. (DIR Series) Circular would remain unchanged. Authorised Dealers may bring the contents of this Circular to the notice of their constituents and customers.
- The directions contained in this circular have been issued under Section 10 (4) and Section 11 (1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.
Yours faithfully
(Rudra Narayan Kar)
Chief General Manager in-Charge
RBI/2012-13/539
Customs Notification No. 33/ 2013 dated 19-06-2013
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)
Notification No. 33/2013-Customs
New Delhi, dated the 19th June, 2013
G.S.R. (E). - In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby makes the following further amendments in the notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 96/2008 - Customs, dated the 13th August, 2008 , published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, vide number G.S.R. 590 (E), dated the 13th August, 2008, namely:-
In the said notification, in the Schedule, after serial number 30 and the entries relating thereto, the following serial number and entries shall be added, namely:-
| Sl. No. | Name of the Country |
| “31 | Republic of Haiti”. |
[F. No. 354/189/2005-TRU (Vol II)]
(Akshay Joshi)
Under Secretary to the Government of India
Note:- The principal notification was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, vide number G.S.R. 590 (E), dated the 13th August, 2008 and was last amended vide notification number 19/2013 - Customs, dated the 2nd April, 2013 , published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, vide number G.S.R. 198 (E), dated the 2nd April, 2013.
Online taxpayers may not need to send papers to CPC in Bangalore
Millions of taxpayers filing returns online may no longer have to send paper documents to the central processing unit here, with CBDT proposing to introduce electronic verification for such filings, a top official said.
"It (introduction of electronic verification of online income tax returns) is in very advanced stage. Some clearances, some approvals have to be taken. Amendments to the Information Technology Act will be required. Then it will go to Parliament," Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Bangalore-1 K Satyanarayana told reporters here.
The new measure, expected to be operational by September this financial year, will save taxpayers the hassle of sending paper documents by post and tracking its acknowledgement, he added.
Citing the example of how electronic verification of online income tax returns is done in USA, Satyanarayana said amendment to the Information Technology Act would be needed to introduce electronic verification of online income tax returns in India.
At present, two options are available for taxpayers to e-file ITR, either e-file ITR by affixing digital signature or without affixing digital signature.
If the digital signatures are affixed, there is no need to send ITR-V to the I-T department's central processing centre (CPC) in Bangalore. In the other case, the tax payer is required to take a print-out of ITR-V and send it to the I-T department within 120 days of e-filing.
As per the Information Technology Act, a digital signature is equivalent of a physical signature. So, anyone filing returns electronically with digital signature need not send ITR returns form for physical verification.
In 2012-13, a 31 per cent jump was seen in e-filings with 2.14 crore assessees filing returns online as compared to 1.64 crore in 2011-12.
Recently, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made e-filing mandatory for those with an annual income of Rs 5 lakh or more for the financial year and assessment year 2013-14. The tax department expects a huge surge in the number of online filings.
Satyanarayana said that the department also wants to introduce "new concept of third party validation of utilities developed for e-filing which will avoid mistakes in returns and bring uniformity in the interpretation of tax laws in filing of returns"
Tax refunds are not a mystery any more
IT Professional in Delhi had filed tax for the Assessment Year 2011-12 but he is still waiting for the tax refund for the return he filed. He has even cross checked whether he filed the returns in the appropriate manner.
This is not an isolated story; we all have our version of the story and a tale of anxiety and harassments with our hard earned money hanging midway. Taxpaying community, especially individuals are often a frustrated lot when it comes to refund of the taxes paid in advance.
Filing of tax has been a tedious task in itself and getting a refund done is even more cumbersome. The evolution of technology and its adaption in government departments and the increase of skill set, has decreased the problem of refund, however the problem still persists.
Why a tax refund arises?
The key reason why the situation of tax refund arises is due to high rate of interest on tax deductibles at source (TDS) compared to the actual tax payable. It has been seen that sometimes the income calculation of a person is higher when compared to advance tax liability, thereby generating the eligibility of reimbursement.
Further, eligibility comes into picture when the individual doesn't declare his full income to the employer. Medical insurance premiums, housing loans final certificates, interest on educational loans and LTAs are some common examples through which employee can claim tax refunds. Apart from that, Non Resident Indians are also eligible for tax refunds on the interest generated on the NRO account. The tax deducted is equivalent to 30.9 percent.
Eligibility Criterion:
If you are an individual whose income in the year is less than Rs. 2,00,000, then sit back and relax as you are not entitled to file income tax. The eligibility criteria is simple, you will have to calculate your tax liability according to the tax slabs of the Income Tax Act. If the taxes paid during the year were higher than the tax liability, you can get the refund. Please make sure that you have taken into account the deduction and exemptions based on the IT rules. It might also happen that you face a rejection of your refund application because of the wrong calculations of exemptions, therefore cross verify before filing the return.
Refund Status:
Income tax refunds can be checked online and the status can be known by visiting the site of income tax department and also State Bank of India dedicated mail id, which is itro@sbi.co.in. The website of IT department asks for your PAN number and the Assessment Year in which you filed the tax for the purpose of generating the refund status. State Bank of India has been assigned the duty of refunding the claims of tax payers on behalf of the IT department.
Refund Timings:
The difference between timing of offline returns and online returns are wide. The reach of online returns is not so much compared to that of offline returns in India. People are still more comfortable in going to their lawyers and Chartered Accountants for correct filing of the return and submitting the same by hand. The complications of tax calculations sometimes make this a compulsion. However, it must be noted that the refund timing vary. In case of online returns, refund process is faster and takes a maximum of six to seven months but this limit can go up to two years in case of offline returns. Sometimes, the delay is because of the change of addresses or incorrect bank account details.
Offline process is also disadvantageous in the sense that the government style of working sometimes doesn't solve the problem. You will have to visit your Assessing officer along with the documents of your income. But, it is still not guaranteed that your plea will be listened to and the next option for you in that case is to send the details to the chief commissioner of the particular area. In this case, you will have to submit the return copy. If the issue is not resolved for a long time, you can approach a tax ombudsman near you.
Refund timings have been a big issue for the Income Tax Department as many claimants have requested to ease the process and make it faster and user friendly. When you file the return on time with all the necessary documents and guidelines, you want a system that will ensure safety of your reimbursement. In all the cases, sometimes a wait of two years is too much to handle.
Income Tax refund is no longer a mystery that causes sweat beads to appear, all you have to be is bit proactive and be sure of the data entered by you. To have an instance valuation of your income tax, Investment Yogi has an Income Tax Calculator devised at your disposal.
If actual purchases couldn’t be proved, discrepancy in closing stock would be bogus and unexplained
IT : Where assessee had not produced any evidence to show actual purchases, shortage in stock could be added as bogus purchases
Matter remanded to AO as necessary material was produced by assessee before CIT(A) to justify its cl
IT : Where for claiming deduction under section 10B assessee did not produce necessary material before Assessing Officer, but produced same before Commissioner (Appeals), matter was to be remitted to Assessing Officer for passing a de novo order
Exp. incurred exclusively for business can’t be disallowed even if other persons too are benefited
IT : Merely because some other persons are incidentally benefited from expenses incurred by assessee, same would not change character of expenses from being wholly and exclusively for purpose of business
Eligibility for refund of ST paid on services used for exports to be determined from date of filing
ST : Refund under Notification No. 41/2007 in respect of service tax paid on services used for export of goods is allowable if requirements of Notification are satisfied on date of filing of refund claim, even if such requirements were not satisfied on date of export
De-facto boycott of a particular ITAT member by seeking adjournment is deemed ‘contempt of court’
IT : CAs & lawyers can't seek adjournments on the ground that objectivity of ITAT member is not beyond doubt even if petition in that behalf is pending before the jurisdictional High Court. CA/Advocate seeking adjournment for the reason that he doesn't want to appear before a particular Bench/member of ITAT commits 'contempt of court' by 'forum shopping' or 'de facto boycott' of a judicial officer. It is not open to CA/Advocate/bar association/group of ARs to seek adjournments on the ground that
Reassessment proceedings become null and void if section 143(2) notice wasn’t issued
IT : Absence of notice under section 143(2) makes reassessment null and void
INCOME-TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, MUMBAI BENCHES, MUMBAI STATEMENT SHOWING THE LIST OF THIRD MEMBER CASES PENDING AS ON 06.06.2013
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