ST : Pre-cooked eatables like Biscuits, Namkin, etc. sold as such and on which VAT has been paid are not includible in value of outdoor catering services
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Complete auction not to be set aside if it wasn’t possible to identify some custom’s seized goods so
CL : For laxity of customs department to segregate confiscated goods, auction sale of plant, etc. as a whole, could not be set aside
Sum incurred on staff deployed at residence of Chairman of Co. is an allowable expenditure
IT : Expenses incurred towards salary and perquisites to staff deployed at residence of assessee-company's chairman is considered as expended wholly for purpose of business
Import Inquiries To Protect Processors
PROMPTED by a request from SPC Ardmona for safeguard measures, the federal government has asked the Productivity Commission to undertake two six-month safeguard inquiries into the impact of imports of processed fruit and tomatoes on Australian producers.
The inquiries will be undertaken in accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) safeguard investigation procedures.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and a group of Labor backbenchers in manufacturing seats are to write a new election policy to address the decline in manufacturing and food processing.
"We will be exploring policy issues further," NSW Labor MP Stephen Jones said, but declined to provide details.
Closures and proposed job cuts in the food-processing sector have also caused concern among MPs in regional areas.
Mr Rudd identified manufacturing and food processing among his key economic concerns in his leadership victory speech on Wednesday night, and in his first address to parliament on Thursday.
Specifically the Productivity Commission is to report on:
# whether conditions are such that safeguard measures would be justified under the WTO Agreement
# if so, what measures would be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate adjustment
# whether having regard to the government’s requirements for assessing the impact of regulation which affects business, those measures should be implemented.
The Commission is to consider and provide an accelerated report within 3 months on whether critical circumstances exist where delay in applying measures would cause damage which it would be difficult to repair. If such circumstances exist, the Commission is to recommend what provisional safeguard measures would be appropriate.
A final report will be provided within six months.
The Commission will consult widely, hold hearings and call for submissions for the purpose of the inquiry.
The Commissioners conducting the inquiry are Productivity Commission Chairman, Peter Harris (Presiding) and Paul Barratt (Associate Commissioner).
Who should participate in the inquiry?
The Commission invites all interested individuals and organisations to register an interest in the inquiry and you can also participate by lodging written submissions and/or through appearance at public hearings or other discussion forums.
Source:-www.northqueenslandregister.com.au
Jewellery Exports May Dip By 20% In Fy14 On Less Stocks: Gjepc
Jewellery exports are likely to be hit and decline by up to 20 per cent in FY14, due to limited availability of gold inventory in the domestic market following the government's steps to curb demand, according to export promotion body GJEPC.
"It is difficult to get stocks for manufacturing jewellery and if the current situation prevails, it is going to hurt the exports by 15-20 per cent this year," Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Chairman Vipul Shah said.
Even as the US market is picking up, the rise in input costs as well as the interest rates will make it difficult for exporters to ship their products at competitive rates, he said adding this may result in hitting their margins.
To discuss this situation, GJEPC is meeting the Commerce Ministry officials on Monday, he said.
India exported USD 39 billion worth various precious gems and jewellery in the 2012-13 fiscal, according to GJEPC data.
Meanwhile, the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) has taken steps to help curb gold imports by issuing a circular to its members to stop selling bars and coins.
"We have requested our members and affiliated members to help the government to reduce gold import by not selling bars and coins. We have got positive response from our members and the result of this will be seen in the July imports," GJF former Chairman Bacchraj Bamalwa said.
About 150 tonnes gold is used for coins and bars by jewellers, he said.
In July, the imports is likely to decline by 30-40 per cent compared to July, 2012, when the imports stood at around 60 tonnes, he said.
Bamalwa said if the government does not take any steps and the current situation continues, it will have a heavy impact on the industry.
"It is very difficult to restock as it is difficult to get gold in the market. The premium has also gone up to USD 20 in the open market from USD 1," he said.
Source:-www.indianexpress.com
India Losing Ground In Pepper Production, Exports
June 30, 2013
India is fast losing its status as a leading producer and exporter of pepper, also known as "black gold", as production and cultivated area of this spice variety have dwindled.
Grown mostly on the slopes of Western Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, cultivation base of pepper has come down sharply in the last decade hitting production and export. According to pepper growers and traders, factors ranging from vagaries of climate to afflictions wilting pepper vines, contributed to fall in production and shrinkage of cultivated area.
Statistics of the International Pepper Community (IPC) show the area under pepper cultivation in India dwindled from 218,670 hectares in 2001 to 182,000 hectares in 2010. In contrast, the cultivation base and production in countries like Vietnam and China increased during the period, giving stiff competition to India.
With the cultivated area shrinking steadily in India, pepper production also fell to 50,000 tons by 2010 from 79,000 ten years ago. In Kerala alone, area under pepper cultivation fell from 172,182 Ha to 85,335 Ha in a single year from 2010-11 and production plummeted to 37989 tons from 45267 tonnes, according to the state's Economic Review.
According to Spices Board, export of Indian pepper in 2012-13 came down by 40 per cent compared to the previous year. While the country shipped 26,700 tonnes of pepper in 2011-12, exports fell to 16,000 tonnes in 2012-13. Ironically, this happened in a year when the export of spices from India marked a record 22 per cent growth crossing Rs 10,000 crore mark as per the Spices Board figures.
"This certainly is a worrying trend, which requires some urgent measures to support farmers. We have certain schemes for pepper under the National Horticulture Mission," a Spices Board official said. According to farmers, who mostly grow pepper as an inter- crop, production suffered from afflictions like root-wilt and slow-wilt and also price fluctuation, forcing them to abandon the enterprise in prime pepper areas like Wayanad and Idukki.
According to market analysts, despite the reputation for its high quality, Indian pepper has been facing stiff competition from countries like Vietnam where cultivation is taken up on commercial scale and the inputs, including labour, are cheaper.
"It is time that we took some pro-active steps like promotion of pepper as a mono crop by providing institutional support to farmers," said Philip Kuruvilla, chairman of World Space Organisation, a platform for all stakeholders of the spice industry from producer to processor. "It is true that pepper has been grown as an inter-crop in Kerala. But strategic shift is necessary to arrest the downtrend," Kurivilla said. Pushing high value produce like organically grown pepper could also boost export, he said.
"We have to identify new areas for increasing the cultivation base and promote good farming practices like organic method. But this would require institutional support for farmers in the interim period ," he said. According to Spices Board, distribution of disease- resistant planting material is the thrust of the rejuvenation project. "Many of the indigenous varieties of pepper vines conducive to our geographical and climatic conditions have disappeared over the decades.The present ones are prone to be easily afflicted by the diseases. So, it is important to make available planting material to the farmers," Spices Board sources said.
Source:-www.business-standard.com
Govt Cuts Tariff Value Of Gold With Fall In Global Rates
NEW DELHI: The government on Saturday slashed the import tariff value of gold at $401 per ten grams and that of silver to $604 per kg as prices of the precious metals fell in the international market.
Tariff value -- the base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing -- of gold and silver stood at $421 per 10 gram and $606 per kg, respectively earlier.
The notification, issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs ( CBEC), has come a day after gold prices fell by Rs 1,150 to hit 23-month lows of Rs 25,650 per 10 grams in the national capital tracking weak global cues.
India, the largest gold consumer in the world, imported 860 tonnes of gold in 2012. In the first three months of 2013 calendar year, import stood at 215 tonnes.
Gold import is expected at 350 tonnes in the current quarter, but is projected to decline to about 150 tonnes as the government has recently increased the import duty on gold to 8 per cent from 6 per cent.
The government has increased the tariff value of crude palm oil to $854 per tonne from $852 per tonne earlier. The base price of refined palm oil has been kept unchanged.
Tariff values of crude palmolein, RBD palmolein were also raised to $875 a tonne and $878 per tonne, respectively.
However, the base price of crude soyabean oil has been reduced to $1020 per tonne from $1043 per tonne earlier.
Meanwhile, the gold prices today recovered by Rs 780 to Rs 26,430 per 10 grams due to revival of buying by stockists at attractive lower levels amid a rebound in global markets.
Silver also staged a strong comeback by jumping Rs 1,990 to Rs 41,000 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.
Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com
On payment by sister concern on behalf of assessee after deducting TDS, no liability arises on reimb
IT/ILT : Where sister concern made payment of purchase price on behalf of assessee and deducted TDS on payment, reimbursement of purchase price, if involves no margin or profit or value addition, is not liable to TDS
Pawars' shift to equity to help reach important financial goals
A review of Pawars' portfolio after a year of laying out a financial plan for them shows that they have added new goals, shed inhibitions about equity investment, and are on the right course.
One of the common misconceptions about financial planning and equity investment is that these are the prerogatives of the rich. On the contrary, when the income and surplus are low, it's even more important to invest wisely.
When the Pawars approached us a year ago, their portfolio lacked direction and had the usual set of problems: high percentage of debt, inadequate health and life covers, and almost zero equity investment. The silver lining was their high rate of saving.
Despite paying both rent and a home loan EMI, the couple was saving about 20% of their income, with the amount set to rise after they moved into their house in a few months. As we review their portfolio after a year, we find that the Pawars have tweaked their goals, but thanks to their impressive savings and implementation of the recommendations, they are set to achieve all their important objectives.
The original plan
When the Pawars approached ET Wealth for help with their financial planning, it was easy to see why. Arjun, 34, lives with his wife, Dnyaneshwari, 30, who is a homemaker, and their 2-year-old daughter, Sayee, in a rented apartment, in Mumbai. Working with a telecom company, Arjun earned Rs 55,000, and after accounting for their expenses, they were left with a surplus of Rs 10,963.
They were not investing this money and it was set to rise to Rs 17,643 after they shifted to their own house at Navi Mumbai. They had been paying a home loan EMI of Rs 14,900 for this house. Despite having four insurance policies, the couple had a meagre cover of Rs 9 lakh, while they depended on Arjun's employer for health cover.
Their goals included saving Rs 55,000 for their daughter's school needs; this was met by withdrawing Rs 50,000 from their cash balance of Rs 1 lakh and investing it in a one-year bank fixed deposit. Other goals included building a corpus of Rs 50 lakh for Sayee's college education, Rs 2.5 crore for her marriage, and Rs 3 crore for their retirement.
Our suggestions
To begin with, we asked the Pawars to beef up their insurance, suggesting a family floater policy worth Rs 2 lakh, which would cost Rs 4,000 a year. We also recommended a term plan of Rs 1 crore, which would cost Rs 11,000 per annum. They wanted to save Rs 3 crore for their retirement, and Sonia Chadha of SKP Securities said that the monthly contribution of Rs 3,000 to the EPF and Rs 1,000 to the PPF would suffice.
While they followed the suggestion on insurance, they have not started investing in the PPF and Chadha believes they should do so immediately, raising the amount as and when their income increases. Though the Pawars were asked to continue with the Ulips, they surrendered these, receiving Rs 2.8 lakh as surrender value.
More importantly, they have revised their goals as the Pawars are planning a second child and want to build an education and marriage corpus for the baby. So, now they want to save Rs 22.6 lakh for their daughter's education and Rs 41 lakh for her marriage. They also want Rs 26.9 lakh for their future child's education and Rs 1.5 crore for marriage.
How rupee depreciation will impact your investments and budget
The recent, sharp decline in the rupee will impact not just your planned vacation abroad or studies in a foreign country, but also your investments and budget. Find out how to counter its debilitating effect.A - Monthly budget
B - Salary
1. EQUITY
THE IMPACT: Imported commodities like fuel or medicines, or products that depend on imported inputs for their manufacturing, will become expensive.
These can include FMCG products like soaps and detergents, which use crude oil as the base, as well as cars and electronic goods, which depend on components from abroad.
YOUR STRATEGY: Rationalise your spending by slashing discretionary spends like those on entertainment and travel, and it may help cushion the hike in prices of essential items.
B - Salary
THE IMPACT: The rupee's fall may also result in shrinking pay cheques for some, especially in industries that are dependent on imports since it results in an increase in production and operation costs.
To keep their margins intact, these companies could cut costs, one of which is human resources. Hence, doling out lower increments and a freeze on hiring may be an option.
YOUR STRATEGY: IF your skill sets are aligned only to the sector you are in, a job switch may lead to an above-average hike.
C - Investments
1. EQUITY
THE IMPACT:
- It may result in an FII exodus, both from equity and debt markets.
- It could raise inflation and the RBI may not cut rates.
- A depreciation of Rs 1 against the USD increases oil underrecoveries by Rs 9,000 crore. It's a negative for oil marketing companies(OMCs) and worsens the fiscal deficit.
- While the exporters benefit, importers suffer.
- The companies with foreign debt may find it difficult to service it.
YOUR STRATEGY
- Stay with defensive sectors like IT, pharma and FMCG for now.
- Since the RBI is not expected to cut rates soon, avoid high-beta, rate-sensitive sectors like real estate and infrastructure for now.
- Since the rupee depreciation will compound asset quality issues, it is better to concentrate on private-sector banks or some PSU banks with high asset quality.
- The government may not allow OMCs to pass on the additional import costs before elections, so avoid these till there is clarity.
- The companies with high foreign debt are in a precarious situation, so steer clear of these for the time being.
- To reduce gold consumption, the government is trying to create bottlenecks for jewellers and gold loan companies. So, this is another segment worth avoiding now.
2. DEBT
THE IMPACT
- There is bound to be a delay the expected interest rate cuts by the RBI.
- The FII outflow from the debt market due to depreciation fears can raise yields; the 10-year yield has gone up in the past few days.
YOUR STRATEGY
- Do not resort to a knee-jerk strategy shift.
- Since the interest rates are expected to come down in the medium to long term, continue to hold on to long-term debt papers and debt/gilt funds.
How you can improve your credit score
Sunil Jhaveri has been negotiating a good deal for investing in a property. He is a practicing doctor with a high income and good savings. He has plans to build assets so that he can set up his own hospital in the future. However, when he approached his bank for a loan, it refused, citing a poor credit score due to an unpaid credit card bill. The episode had taken place a long time ago, and Jhaveri had completely forgotten about it. What can he do now to ensure that he is not refused a loan in the future?
Jhaveri should be aware that things have changed considerably from the time that it was easy to acquire loans and credit cards with limited documentation. Today, banks refer to the credit information bureaus to check the credit history of a borrower. If the borrower has a poor record of repayment, or instances of default, banks may refuse loans.
The need for Jhaveri to have a clean track record is even more important as he plans to take a loan for his hospital and might need more credit to build and run it. He can request for a credit score from the Credit Information Bureau. He should then initiate the process of cleaning up his record. For this, he should get in touch with the bank whose credit card payments he had defaulted on, and seek a negotiated settlement.
He should also request the bank to notify the bureau because his credit score will be modified only after this. He can then go back to the bank for fresh loans.
Jhaveri should keep in mind that good credit habits are immensely helpful while applying for loans today. He can avoid any delay in processing if he has a good credit history and score. As a professional with varying income levels, and the need for loans to move ahead in his profession, this becomes even more important to establish his credentials with his lenders.
The content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions by Girija Gadre and Arti Bhargava.
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