Friday 28 June 2013

Filling the Income Tax Return form










Income Tax Return form: Around this time each year, I debate whether to do it myself or simply ask Manoj Kumar, the agent in our office, who has been doing it for me and several others for years. Embarrassed by my inability, this time I decided to take the bull by the horns and sat down to perform the seemingly-daunting task of filing my income tax return for this year.


I logged on to incometaxindia.gov.in, (you can also log on to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) and began by downloading the form. This is where you stumble on the first hurdle. Which form to download – ITR-1 Sahaj or ITR-2? The journey of demystification of filing of income tax return (ITR) thus began.

To start with, all the taxpayers who have earned income above Rs 5 lakh in 2013-14, are required to file their income tax return in the assessment year (AY) 2013-14. The government has made many amendments to the Income Tax Act 1961, in the Budget 2013-14. While filing the return, you have to keep in mind the changes. Then, you have to understand the form that you have to fill. The salaried individuals, who are required to file their returns latest by July 31, have to fill what is known as ITR-1 (though there are certain exceptions to this which have been discussed later). If you fail to file returns within the due date and any taxes are payable by you after considering tax deducted at source (TDS) by your employer,



Salary to helping hand deployed at residence of Chairman is an allowable expenditure - Gujarat HC

IT : Salary of staff deployed at residence of chairman is allowable expenditure


House panel suggests amendments to goods, services tax Bill

The Finance Standing Committee of Parliament has pulled up the Centre for not drafting the 115th Constitutional (Amendment) Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST) carefully.


The panel, which will adopt the report soon, said ideally the Bill should not include specific aspects relating to rates, exemptions, exclusions, thresholds, administrative arrangements etc.


Though the committee did not adopt the draft report in its meeting on Friday, the lack of consensus among political parties may delay the implementation of GST regime further.

“What should be included in the laws and rules should not form part of the Constitution,” the panel, headed by veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha said in the draft report.


The panel has also recommended several amendments to the Bill. The draft report said the Centre and States should arrive at a broad consensus on issues concerning the implementation and design of GST.


“A fine balance is therefore required to be maintained between the imperatives of a common market with unified tax structure vis-à-vis the fiscal requirements of States,” it said, adding that tax reform measures like GST hinge on mutual trust and co-operation between the Centre and State Governments.


It urged the Centre to carry out a credible study to evaluate the impact of GST on State revenues.


The Committee also suggested that a well-defined automatic compensation mechanism be created within the GST regime. It said a GST Compensation Fund may be created under the administrative control of the GST Council for the purpose.


The panel was against the proposed provision of GST Dispute Settlement Authority and said that such an authority would affect the fiscal powers of Parliament and the State Legislatures.

The Committee said entry tax in general should be subsumed in GST. It asked the Centre to modify the Bill to empower the States to collect entry tax for distribution to local bodies instead of leaving it to be collected by various local bodies.


Keeping in mind the autonomy of States, the panel said there could be a floor rate and a ceiling within which the States will have the freedom to have a high or a low GST rate.


“The threshold of limits of turnover etc. for exempting certain class of taxpayers like small traders, manufacturers and service-providers may also be left to the wisdom of the GST Council,” it said.





Haryana to tap e-commerce, real estate for taxes

Making a fast buck on investments in real estate and e-commerce in Haryana may become a tedious task. Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Choudhry today said a survey was being done to bring e-commerce players and realty developers, promoters, builders and joint developers under the ambit of tax.


Talking to the media on the sidelines of the launch of an online grievance portal and toll-free service of the excise and taxation department, she said about 15 e-commerce companies have been registered with the department.


She said the Centre was also considering the claim of CST compensation lodged by the state. A part payment of Rs 1,400 crore is likely during this financial year. A total of Rs 3,000 crore she said was due.

It was informed the developers, promoters, builders and joint developers are liable to pay value added tax (VAT) and need to be registered under the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003, with the concerned district sales tax office. Their liability to pay tax is on the taxable turnover relating to transfer of property in goods involved in construction of buildings. In case the plot/property owners collaborate with builders or developers by not charging for a part of that plot or constructed property, this construction amount would also be liable to VAT. They are required to file returns in Form VAT R1 or VAT R6 to avoid interest and penalties.


Besides paying tax as a normal registered dealer, a composition scheme is also available for works contractors under the Haryana VAT Act. A person opting for this scheme is liable to pay vat at prescribed rate,which is four per cent at present, on total turnover of the contract value. The developers, promoters,builders, joint developers can also opt for this scheme and in their case the total turnover liable to vat would not include the amount received from the customers/buyers towards their undivided share in land.


It was made clear that there was no tax on the sale of already built up flats or buildings being sale of immovable property. Tax is levied only on those developers or builders who construct on behalf of the purchasers.


Choudhary said that the department had collected a revenue of Rs 19,703.64 crore in 2012-13 as against Rs 18,077 crore in 2011-12. It achieved all the budgeted targets despite huge slow-down in the economy and non-receipt of the CST compensation from the Central Government. This year also, the department would try to achieve its given targets, she added.

The minister said that the excise revenue alone would increase to about Rs. 3,800 crore as compared to Rs 3,240 crore in 2012-13. This unprecedented increase will be made possible by the new excise policy which has been made after having exhaustive consultations with all the stakeholders.


She said that the goal of the department is to increase revenue collection by ensuring that trade and industry thrives in Haryana. She added, "A happy tax payer is a good tax payer."


The minister was accompanied by Financial Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Rajan Gupta, Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Anil Malik and other senior officers of the Department.





No penalty under sec. 76 was leviable if ST was paid belatedly with interest prior to issue of show

ST : If service tax has been paid belatedly, with interest, prior to issuance of show-cause notice, no proceedings can be initiated by Department for levy of penalty under section 76


Purchaser's free choice of technology cannot be interfered by invoking anti-competitive provisions

Competition Act: Purchaser's free choice of technology cannot be interfered by invoking anti-competitive provisions


Ignorance of law in not furnishing sec. 92E report ruled as not a reasonable cause; penalty slapped

IT/ILT : Ignorance of law of Chartered Accountant of assessee could not be a reasonable cause for failure to file audit report regarding its international transactions and for not levying penalty under section 271BA


Start Small, Get Your Act Right

28-Jun-2013


How important is Africa in the Exim Bank’s global portfolio?



Africa is very important for us for a variety of reasons. There has been a conscious attempt both at the government level and the Exim bank level to diversify the Indian export basket in order to facilitate growth.




Indian exports have been growing (but) the share of the developed markets, i.e. Europe and the US, in our total exports used to be 65 to 70 per cent till the 90s; now it is below 40 per cent. The bulk of additional exports has gone to emerging markets — Asia, Africa and South America.



Africa is very important because we still have a very low share here [and] there is an enormous potential for increasing our exports. Of the [Exim Bank’s] overseas assets I would say 20 to 25 per cent would be Africa oriented. We do trade financing, country financing, we also help companies set up projects or buy into companies overseas.



The biggest focus here is country financing because the main player in most of the countries is the state and the infrastructure story is the most important story that is happening in Africa — not only hard infrastructure but also the soft infrastructure. Our lines of credit have gone for irrigation projects, water supply projects for setting up seed farms, for improving hospitals; it has gone in various directions.



India has just offered a $300 million line of credit to part finance a railway project connecting landlocked Ethiopia to the Red Sea port at Djibouti. What is the significance of this deal?



It is in some respects a landmark project, it is an inter-country project — linking up a landlocked country to a port and will also elevate Djibouti to a transit country with all the benefits of a transit country — it will also improve the ease of communicating between the two. One of the greatest problems Ethiopia faces is the logistical inconvenience of doing business here. This will be one of the things to alleviate this.



We have more than a billion dollars of exposure in Ethiopia in the form of projects itself; almost as large as Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, so Ethiopia is given the same prominence as SAARC countries. The biggest project we have financed is sugar.



The sugar story so far has not come into play, because the plants are just getting commissioned, but it will transform the sugar industry in this country. Almost a million tonnes of sugar will get produced here — demand here is not much, so that much sugar will get exported [and] will have a major impact on Ethiopia's export earnings.



Apart from that we have a number of private sector projects here that we have financed — a steel plant, a textile plant, a blanket farm, there is Sharpoorji Pallonji in the agriculture sector.



There is considerable interest in India and China’s differing approaches to investing in Africa. Is the Indian Exim bank considering commodity-secured loans like those offered by China?



The difference is related to the structure of the two economies. The Chinese economy, to a very large extent even now, is a public sector controlled economy.



India after 1991 has become a private sector story.



China Exim acts at the behest of the public sector, often at the explicit guarantee of the public sector. Because you can take a scale commitment on the public sector of a different order; the number of companies in India of a similar size would be few, on those few companies we are able to take scale commitments.



But none of the Indian companies have that ability to sell one thing for another. If you want a mine in exchange for supplying trucks, then what do you do with the mine?



Each story in India is a separate corporate story: why would, say, the Railways build a railway line so that ONGC gets an Oil contract, unless the government comes in? The government will come in if there are large public sector concerns going out — So far, not so many Indian public sector concerns have gone out.



After 2007-08 they [China] faced a slowing world situation and capacity expansion investments had taken place, so they have substantial excess capacities. They have to deploy those capacities and they do marginal costing so it makes sense for them to get orders for, say, road construction or bridge construction — so much steel, cement, for which capacity has been created can be sold and in exchange you get the basic — and because they are all government companies, the element of control and the element of singular thought processes is far more in China than in India.



Indian companies have acquired large tracts of agricultural land in Africa. Has the Exim Bank actively promoted such investment?



We are going about it very cautiously because lending to agriculture is different from industrial lending. Our experience of commercial banks in Indian agriculture will not apply because the scale of agriculture that will take place here is much larger than India.



We have to keep in mind that Africa undoubtedly has the agriculture potential in terms of the climactic and land indicators. But agriculture isn’t a major activity here — even though human activity has been here much longer than in Asia. There would be a reason for that and there would be some unknown trip wires that prevent agriculture.



We want the companies that are borrowing from us to be absolutely sure they are doing the right things, as and when they start doing it we support them. We are telling everyone that you start small, you get your act right, once your act is right you go ahead.



We are doing a lot of things in indirect agriculture. We have financed irrigation and landscaping of huge tracts of land on behalf of governments, but each of those projects has also been limited in terms of reach and scale because the infrastructure to handle agriculture needs to be well in position and you can’t do it in a country where logistics is still a challenge. [Also] we don’t have enough companies in India with pre-existing credit histories of such large agriculture operations.



All banking is lending against cash flows. Cash flows can only be there if the past track record is there to justify that cash flow. Value of land is based on the use value, if there is no use value, there is no value.


Source:-www.thehindubusinessline.com





[Indian Custom Non-Tariff Notification] : Amendment Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), dated the 3rd August, 2001

Lack Of Cold Chains Hits South Gujarat Exports Hard

28-Jun-2013


SURAT: About 30 per cent of horticulture produce of south Gujarat goes waste and the region is only able to process three per cent of its total output. This is because there are not enough cold chains in south Gujarat. In advanced countries, about 70 per cent of their horticulture produce is immediately processed as per an estimate.



South Gujarat produces more than Rs 2,500 crore worth of horticulture and floriculture produce in a year. These have high demand abroad. However, the region is losing out on export revenue because of its inability to export them for lack of infrastructure. "We need infrastructure to reap the benefits from the production of these perishable items," dean, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Navsari Agriculture University, Dr N L Patel said. A horticulture and floriculture expert in Navsari Vinod Desai, who assists about 300 farmers in the region, said, "We need agro-based infrastructure. This would boost the economy of the region."



The Agriculture and Processed Food Product Development Authority ( APEDA) along with Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), Surat, held a seminar last week here to explore the possibility of setting up agro-based infrastructure to boost the export of agro products from the region.



APMC chairman Raman Jani said, "APEDA already has given subsidies to four institutions for running cold chains in central and south Gujarat. This is just the beginning." Gujarat has a strong cooperative movement. However, there is no cooperative in cold chain. "A cold chain by cooperative is a good idea. This can help in export of fruits like mango which have huge demand across the country and the world. The fruits can be stored in cold chain for at least 6 months. This would be beneficial to both the farmers and consumers," a said mango farmer from Gandevi taluka Rajesh Nayak said.


Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com





More Headache On Fiscal Deficit Front

Official data released on Friday showed the Centre’s fiscal deficit touched Rs 1.80 lakh crore in the first two months of the current financial year. The figure represents one-third of the Budget Estimate of Rs 5.42 lakh crore for the entire 2013-14.



The figures, released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), revealed in the corresponding period of 2012-13, the Centre’s fiscal deficit had stood lower at 27.6 per cent of BE.




It should be noted here that BE was quite high at 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2012-13, though it actually came down to 4.9 per cent of GDP. It was only towards the end of 2012-13, when the government started drastically cutting plan expenditure, that the fiscal deficit could be pruned to that level. Otherwise, in the initial year, it was leapfrogging. The very fact the deficit stood higher in the first two months of the current financial year when compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year, shows the government would have to seriously augment resources or cut expenditure to stick to this financial year's target of cutting fiscal deficit to 4.8 per cent of GDP.



It was primarily tax revenues that took a toll on the fiscal deficit. For April-May, tax revenues stood at Rs 36,030 crore, which was just 3.1 per cent of BE of Rs 8.84 lakh crore. In the corresponding period of 2012-13, tax revenues had constituted 5.3 per cent of BE.



Pulled down by higher refunds, corporate tax collections were just Rs 3,232 crore in the April-May period, sharply lower by 68 per cent over Rs 10,137 crore in the corresponding period of 2012-13.



In fact, corporate tax collections were negative Rs 2,136 crore in the first month of this financial year, as refunds were higher than mop up.



Similarly, excise duty could fetch only Rs 6,808 crore to the government kitty in the first two months of the current financial year, 63 per cent less than Rs 10,820 crore a year ago.



Besides, an almost negligible amount was carried forward for the first two months of the current financial from last year out of Rs 40,000 crore pegged from direct disinvestment of government equity in public sector units in BE.



These heads pulled down revenue receipts to Rs 36,030 crore, which constituted 3.4 per cent of the Budget target of Rs 10.56 lakh crore. By this time, revenues stood at 5.1 per cent of BE in 2012-13.



Juxtaposed against total expenditure of the Centre at Rs 2.17 lakh crore, this gave us the fiscal deficit figure for the first two months of 2013-14. Expenditure accounted for 13.1 per cent of BE of Rs 16.65 lakh crore against 12.8 per cent in the corresponding period of 2012-13.



Within expenditure, non-plan head stood at Rs 1,49,046 crore in April-May, which constituted 13.4 per cent of Rs 11,09,975 crore projected in BE. By this time, non-plan expenditure had constituted 15.1 per cent in the first two months of last financial year.



Plan expenditure, which bore the brunt of the government's expenditure compression measures, was at Rs 68,309 crore, 12.3 per cent of BE of Rs 5,55,322 crore. In 2012-13, it was 8.6 per cent of BE.



Revenue deficit, which is a gap of the government's current expenditure over current receipts, was at Rs 1,44,868 crore, 38.1 per cent of BE at Rs 3,79,838 crore. In the first two months of 2012-13, this part of deficit was at 33.8 per cent of BE.



India's current account deficit was sharply lower at 3.6 per cent of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2012-13 against 6.7 per cent in the third quarter. Though for the entire 2012-13, current account deficit was still at 4.8 per cent, it was lower than expectations of five per cent.


Source:-www.business-standard.com





‘Balance Of Land Trade In Favour Of India’

Saturday, June 29, 2013 - Islamabad—India exported to Pakistan worth Rs 50,000 million, whereas exports from Pakistan to India stood at Rs 9000 during last five years. Vice President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Pakistan chapter, Iftikhar Ali Malik after reviewing the volume of Pak-Indo trade told APP on Friday that during the period 2007-2008 to 2012, India exported to Pakistan worth Rs 50,000 million newsprint, vegetables, soyabean, spcies etc while Pakistan exported dry fruit, cement, salt, rock salt, raw gypsum, soda ash etc to India only valued at rupees 9000 million.



He said that the land balance of trade was five times in favour of India during the last five year at Wagha border, Lahore. He further said in view of above facts and figures, the balance of trade is straightaway five time in favour of India. Mr.Malik said that according to agreement, both countries can export to each other 137 items at zero duty except 5 % custom duty and 16 % sale tax on the poly propylene granules.



He said that under Afghan transit trade to India, a total of 2425 trucks load of dry fruits, pulses crossed to India through Wagha border during the last nine month. Iftikhar said that Pakistan and India, with the support of their private sector, must take historic steps to normalize bilateral trade relations and fully ensure balance of trade.



He said that South Asia is the fastest growing region in the world but also one of the least integrated while the region’s trade with the rest of the world is growing rapidly, intra-regional trade is merely 5 per cent of its total trade. He said that despite being natural trade and investment partners, the volume of trade between Pakistan and India, the two largest economies of the region, has been extremely low.



He said that for instance, total trade between Brazil and Argentina amount to US$33 billion in 2010,almost 15 time more than the current Pak-Indo trade of little over US$2 billion. He said that it is worth mentioning that Argentina and Brazil too have had similar turbulent past of war and fierce rivalry.



He said that bilateral trade between Pak-Indo a couple of years ago stood at an estimated US$1.83 billion.


Source:-pakobserver.net





Rupee Gains Most In 9 Months; Reform Move Helps Sentiment

MUMBAI: Indian rupee gained 1.2% in the day, its most in nine months against the dollar on inflows, limited demand for dollars from oil companies and expectation that the US Federal Reserve may not be able to reverse quantitative easing programme anytime soon.



"In the medium to long run, the rupee may stabilise on expected flows," said NS Venkatesh, head, treasury, IDBI Bank. "The impact of the restrictions on gold import and steps taken by the government to tackle policy issues in the power sector will all help the sentiment in favour of a stronger rupee. We expect the rupee to trade in the range of 57.50- 58.50 per dollar by July end," he added.



On Friday, the rupee closed at 59.39 a dollar, 1.2% or 74 paise, stronger from its previous close. The rupee touched an all-time low of 60.73 a dollar on Tuesday, having lost more than 10% since May this year, on fund outflows.



Foreign investors have pulled out over $5 billion from Indian debt this month. This fund ouflow was triggered by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's comments that the Fed may go slow on bond purchases or its quantitative easing programme, which has so far fuelled the rush of capital flows into riskier assets from emerging countries.



But currency dealers do not expect the quantitative easing to taper off anytime soon, given the weak fundamentals in US economy and that raising interest rates may stall the process of US recovery.



"The markets have been rattled by Fed's comments on stopping bond purchases, but QE 3 may not taper off immediately," said Mohan Shenoi, head, treasury, Kotak Mahidnra Bank. "For the US economy to enter into a self-sustaining upward spiral, it has to reach a growth rate of 2.75% to 3%. However, current economic growth of US is at around 2% this quarter. So, at first sight it appears to us that the US is not yet in a position to enter into such a self-sustaining spiral," he said.



Shenoi expects the rupee to trade in the range of 58-60 a dollar in the near term.


Source:-economictimes.indiatimes.com





'Kerala Leads In Ppp-Based Port Projects Under Bid: Assocham

KOCHI: With two projects worth over Rs 5,500 crore, Kerala is the frontrunner among states that have projects under bidding in the public-private-partnership (PPP) model in the ports sector, said a study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).



As per the report titled 'Port Developments in India', the Kerala projects represent a share of 40% in value terms. While two projects worth over Rs 6,200 crore are under construction in the state, one completed project, worth over Rs 700 crore, has been put to service delivery, the study said.



"Out of the total 881 PPP projects worth over Rs 5.4 lakh crore taken up across India, 62 projects in the port sector worth over Rs 82,000 crore are in different stages of implementation," said D S Rawat, secretary general of Assocham, while releasing the study.



"While there are 31 completed port projects worth over Rs 24,700 crore, about 21 PPP projects in the port sector with a share of 52% worth over Rs 43,000 crore are under construction, eight projects worth about Rs 14,000 crore with a share of about 17% are under bidding," said Mr Rawat. "Of the remaining, one project is in the expression of interest stage (EOI) and one has been cancelled."



Gujarat accounts for the lion's share with over 50% of the total completed PPP projects in the ports sector, said the study. Kerala garners 2.8% in the completed projects category following Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.



In the under construction category, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and the Union territory of Pondicherry are the regions with maximum share, ranging from 7% to 16% of the PPP projects, worth over Rs 2,900 crore -Rs 6,700 crore.



"The total capacity of India's nine maritime states namely - Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu as on March 31, 2007 was about 228.3 million tonnes which was expected to add about 337.4 million tonnes during 2007-12 and the total capacity realized as on March 31, 2011 was 418.3 million tonnes thereby adding about 190 million tonnes during the first four years of the XI plan," observed Rawat.



"There is an urgent need to modernize India's ports as the existing ports are plagued with a plethora of problems like congestion, poor connectivity, accessibility and lack of adequate facilities," said Rawat. Considering that India's port infrastructure is not at par with the global standards, it poses severe challenges to the country's trade in terms of higher costs and turnaround time at ports, he added.


Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com





Retention money isn’t an income of contractor if it has got no rights on it till satisfactory comple

IT: Where assessee was awarded a contract and in terms of contract certain amount was withheld by contractee towards retention money for satisfactory execution of contract, retention money did not represent assessee's accrued income


Exports From Sez Up By 31% To Rs 4.76 Lakh Crore In 2012-13

28-Jun-2013


New Delhi: Exports from special economic zones (SEZs) grew by about 31 percent year-on-year to Rs 4.76 lakh crore during 2012-13.



Shipments from these zones stood at Rs 3.65 lakh crore in 2011-12.




Out of 389 SEZs notified, 170 are operational, Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES) said in a statement.



It said that these exports are helping in reduction of the widening current account deficit (CAD).



CAD, which is the difference between the outflow and inflow of foreign currency, touched a record high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 on rising gold and oil imports.



During 2012-13, SEZs have attracted a total of Rs 2.36 lakh crore investment and provided direct employment opportunities to over 11 lakh people, it added.



However, it said inconsistent tax Policy, especially with the introduction of minimum alternate tax (MAT) and dividend distribution tax (DDT), has discouraged investors.



"If the income tax benefit is not given to SEZ developers and units, the growth of sector will remain a dream not fulfilled," it said.



The council hoped that the Finance Ministry will revisit the tax provisions related to SEZ on the back of declining Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and escalating CAD.



Further, it said in order to gather more investment in the zones, EPCES would organize road-shows in countries like the US, Dubai, Indonesia and Africa in the coming months.



"The objective of the road-Shows is to convey positive signals to the international investment community. During these shows, EPCES will organise conferences and buyer-seller meets," it said


Source:-zeenews.india.com





RBI brings NBFCs at par for private placements; restricts number of subscribers to 49

NBFC : Non-Banking Financial Companies Acceptance of Public Deposits (Reserve Bank) Directions, 1998 - Amendment in Paragraph 2


Import of gold against suppliers or buyers credit shall be on 100% cash margin and docs against paym

FEMA/ILT : Import of Gold by Nominated Banks/Agencies


NBFC Acceptance of Public Deposit Directions amended; only bonds compulsorily convertible into equit

NBFC : Raising Money Through Private Placement by NBFCs-Debentures Etc.


Entities with related party transactions in excess of 15% of total receipts are withdrawn from compa

IT/ILT : Turnover filter of Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 200 crore is justified for selecting comparables


One in four urban Indian rates retirement planning as priority

MUMBAI: With Indians continuing to put their family first, retirement planning is quickly gaining ground as financial priority as nearly 24 per cent of urban consumers are readying for their old age, a recent survey said.

"Nearly a quarter of respondents or 24 per cent say retirement is their key financial priority, representing a 140 per cent increase from 2012. In 2012, only 10 per cent categorised it as a key priority," according to 'Trends and Insights Survey into Financial Goals of Indian Consumers' released on Friday by Ameriprise India.


Ameriprise India commissioned leading market research firm TNS India to design and execute this study in India.


Nearly 700 working professionals across six cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune were surveyed to represent sample of upwardly-mobile urban Indian professionals.


Many of those surveyed have opted to put big-ticket family purchases like travelling, buying secondary homes or cars-on hold to make way for retirement planning, it pointed out.


The change is seen across age groups, with even the youngest respondents in the age group of 28-33 years are giving increased importance to retirement, with 24 per cent rating it as a key priority.


"The increasing emphasis on retirement planning among Indian consumers is a welcome and encouraging trend," Ameriprise Financial President, Financial Planning and Wealth Strategies, Kim M Sharan said.


Retirement is a complex and often an intimidating issue to navigate, but research shows that having a financial plan in place can inspire confidence and make for a smoother path to this major life transition, she added.





Additional deprecation allowed in year of putting to use only and not afterwards; Cosmo Film’s case

IT : In terms of clause (iia) of section 32(1), additional depreciation is available in year in which machinery is new and first put to use and not for any succeeding year


Rectification proceedings can continue under sec. 74 even if appeal is pending

ST : While seeking condonation of delay before Tribunal, assessee cannot claim benefit of time spent in proceedings under section 74, rectification proceedings under section 74 can be continued even while an appeal is pending and, therefore, such proceedings did not affect assessee's right of filing appeal


Freight charges not to be disallowed for TDS default if self-declaration was filed by transporter

IT : Disallowance of freight charges for non-deduction of TDS when assessee had already filed Form 15J was not justified


Aadhaar number not a must for EPFO members

NEW DELHI: Now EPFO's over 5 crore members need not necessarily have Aadhaar numbers to avail the benefits of PF body's schemes as these are excluded from Centre's Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme.

"The schemes under EPFO and ESIC have been excluded from the list schemes identified for implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer," a Labour Ministry letter to EPFO's Central Provident Fund Commissioner stated.


Subsequently, the EPFO head office issued an office order to discontinue submission of monthly report on the progress of the work under the DBT scheme by regional offices.


At present, the money is transferred through NEFT and cheques. The scheme was excluded from the DBT scheme mainly because it was for distributing subsidies and grants and PF money is not a subsidy, an official explained.


Earlier this year in January, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has asked the field staff to ensure the collection of data (Aadhaar) in respect of member joining on or after March 1, 2013 on a monthly basis and in respect of existing members by June 30, 2013.


According to the office order issued then, in case an employee does not have the Aadhaar number, the employer can issue an Enrolment Id (EID) as per the guidelines of the body. This EID would be converted into Aadhaar number later on, the order had said.


The body had also decided to seek the Aadhaar numbers of its pensioners through the banks.


Later in February this year, after drawing flak from unionist for the move, the PF body decided to put on hold the decision to make it mandatory for new members joining EPF scheme to provide Aadhaar number as credential for enrolment from March 1, 2013.


The EPFO order circulated in February had observed that getting the Aadhaar was a time consuming process and the ( UIDAI) scheme covers only 18 states.


The remaining states are covered by the Register General of India under the National Population Register which would be digital database of country's residents.





A non-resident shipping co. filing its return through an agent in India under sec. 172 will not be s

IT/ILT : Where assessee had made payments towards shipping business of non-residents through resident agents, who filed returns under section 172 on behalf of principals, no deduction of tax was required to be made as per provision of section 194C


INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUANL : KOLKATA BENCHES: KOLKATA WEEKLY BENCH CONSTITUTION FROM 01.07.2013 TO 05/07/2013

[unable to retrieve full-text content]INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUANL : KOLKATA BENCHES: KOLKATA WEEKLY BENCH CONSTITUTION FROM 01.07.2013 TO 05/07/2013 {ad} For more information...


CBDT prescribes docs and form in respect of transactions with notified jurisdictional area under Sec

IT/ILT : Income-Tax (Eighth Amendment) Rules, 2013 - Insertion of Rule 21AC and Form No. 10FC


Sale of land subjected to cap. gains in prior years couldn’t be subjected to business income in curr

IT : Where profit on sale of land was taxed as capital gain in preceding assessment year, same could not be disputed to be as business income in current assessment year


Stay of demand couldn’t be granted if ST collected by assessee wasn’t remitted to the revenue

ST : If assessee has collected service tax from customers but has not remitted same to department, no stay of demand can be granted, as assessee has played a fraud on exchequer and any leniency would send wrong signals


RBI/2012-13/557 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.122 dated 27-06-2013

Reserve bank of India

A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 122


June 27, 2013


To


All Scheduled Commercial Banks which are

Authorised Dealers (ADs) in Foreign Exchange/ All agencies

nominated for import of gold


Madam/Sir


Import of Gold by Nominated Banks /Agencies


Attention of Authorised Persons is drawn to our A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 103 dated May 13, 2013 & A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 107 dated June 04, 2013 on the captioned subject in terms of which, it was decided to restrict the import of gold on consignment basis by banks, nominated agencies/ premier / star trading houses who have been permitted by Government of India, to import gold only to meet the genuine needs of the exporters of gold jewellery. Further, it was advised that all Letters of Credit (LC) to be opened by Nominated Banks / Agencies for import of gold under all categories will be only on 100 per cent cash margin basis and imports of gold will necessarily have to be on Documents against Payment (DP) basis. Accordingly, gold imports on Documents against Acceptance (DA) basis will not be permitted.



  1. It is clarified that, consequent upon the issue of above instructions, import of gold against suppliers/buyers credit, as also import of gold on unfixed price basis has to necessarily observe the discipline stipulated relating to cash margins and Documents against Payment (DP) basis. In other words, AD Category I Banks are required to ensure that credit in any form or name is not enabled for import of any form of gold. Import of gold on loan basis may, however, continue to be allowed since the scheme envisages that the nominated banks/nominated agencies can import gold on loan basis for on-lending only to the exporters of jewellery in sync with the non-applicability of the above restrictions to exporters of gold jewellery.

  2. AD Category I Banks are advised to strictly ensure that foreign exchange transactions effected by / for their constituents are compliant with these instructions.

  3. All other instructions relating to import of gold issued from time to time shall remain unchanged.

  4. The above instructions will come into force with immediate effect. ADs may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.

  5. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under Section 10(4) and Section 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 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/2012-13/557


Customs Notification No 68/2013 (NT) dated 27-06-2013

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

(Department of Revenue)

(Central Board of Excise and Customs)


Notification No. 68/2013-Customs (N. T.)


New Delhi, 27th June, 2013

6 Ashadha, 1935 (SAKA)


S.O. … (E).– In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Board of Excise & Customs, being satisfied that it is necessary and expedient so to do, hereby makes the following amendment in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), dated the 3rd August, 2001 , published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S. O. 748 (E), dated the 3rd August, 2001, namely:-


In the said notification, for TABLE-1, TABLE-2, and TABLE-3 the following Tables shall be substituted namely:-


“TABLE-1





































































S. No.Chapter/ heading/ sub-heading/tariff itemDescription of goodsTariff value US $ (Per Metric Tonne)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
11511 10 00Crude Palm Oil852 (i.e. no change)
21511 90 10RBD Palm Oil859 (i.e. no change)
31511 90 90Others – Palm Oil856 (i.e. no change)
41511 10 00Crude Palmolein866 (i.e. no change)
51511 90 20RBD Palmolein869 (i.e. no change)
61511 90 90Others – Palmolein868 (i.e. no change)
71507 10 00Crude Soyabean Oil1043 (i.e. no change)
87404 00 22Brass Scrap (all grades)3930(i.e. no change)
91207 91 00Poppy seeds4395(i.e. no change)

TABLE-2


TABLE-3





















S. No.Chapter/ heading/ sub-heading/tariff itemDescription of goodsTariff value (US $ Per Metric Tons )
(1) (2) (3) (4)
1080280Areca nuts1613”

[F. No. 467/01/2013-Cus.V]


(S.C.Ganger)

Under Secretary to the Government of India


Note: - The principal notification was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-3, Sub-section (ii), vide Notification No. 36/2001–Customs (N.T.), dated the 3rd August, 2001 , vide number S. O. 748 (E), dated the 3rd August, 2001 and was last amended vide Notification No. 67/2013-Customs (N.T.), dated the 25th June, 2013, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-3, Sub-section (ii), vide number S. O. 1842 (E) dated, the 25th June, 2013.


HC dismisses petition seeking extended time for demand notice as AO already ordered for stay of reco

IT : Where Assessing Officer issued on assessee demand notice under section 156 on 20-2-2013 directing it to pay tax due within 15 days of service of notice and assessee filed writ petition challenging impugned notice, since Assessing Officer himself had granted stay of recovery of tax upto 31-7-2003, purpose of filing petition was served out


Interest paid to holding co. for allowing the credit period for payment is an allowable exp.

IT : Usance interest paid by assessee-company to its holding company for allowing credit period of 180 days for payment of goods imported by assessee was allowable as business expenditure