IT: Where assessee had freely given statement that deposited amount belonged to him and authority had acted on same, assessee could not retract his statement
Wednesday 18 December 2013
Now, Onion Over-Supply Leads To Crisis
The government seems to be facing another onion crisis. If just a month ago it was scarcity and high prices that forced the government to almost stop export, this time abundant production and crashing prices is likely to cause unrest among onion growers ahead of the general election.
There were reports of farmers halting business in Nashik on Tuesday as the wholesale price touched Rs 9.5 per kg at Asia's largest onion mandi, Lasalgaon. Though for the past one month farmers' leaders and observers had been maintaining that the huge supply can be addressed only by substantially reducing minimum export price (MEP) for onion or scrap it altogether, the government has now reduced it by about 30%.
In November, the crisis of onion was so acute, with the vegetable selling at Rs 80 per kg, that the government almost stopped export, increasing the MEP to make overseas selling unviable. But with the wholesale price of onion now touching as low as Rs 9-10 per kg and likely to fall to Rs 5 in next one month, the government has taken a U-turn to promote export. The MEP has been reduced from $1,150 per tonne to $800.
While farmers have demanded that it should fall further to $300 so that Indian produce finds takers in the international market, experts feel the government and state agencies' failure to manage the crisis has been exposed.
"It's not something unusual that there is supply shortage between August and November every year. Steps have to be taken to ensure that the fresh kharif onion reaches markets by October. The summer crop is stored to meet the demand during lean months. The government must incentivize creating more storage space for onion. The summer crop (rabi) can be stored for longer duration," said Hari Prakash Sharma, deputy director (statistics) at the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation.
He added that the government can help provide incentives such as good quality seed and bulbs which will increase the certainty of the fresh produce reaching markets in October.
Meanwhile, there has been a huge reduction in wholesale prices in the past one month at major mandis across the country.
There were reports of farmers halting business in Nashik on Tuesday as the wholesale price touched Rs 9.5 per kg at the Lasalgaon mandi.
Source:-articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Andhra Govt Plans To Link Research Institutions, Academia And Industry
Taking a cue from the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, the government of Andhra Pradesh is mulling linking research institutions, academia and industry in and around Hyderabad under the umbrella of Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH), said state minister for major industries, sugar, commerce and export promotion J Geetha Reddy on Wednesday.
"RICH will bridge the gap between industry and academia while encouraging applied research and commercialisation. The initiative is aimed at creating an environment where innovation is encouraged and commercialisation of research is promoted and the formation of new enterprises as well as the growth of small enterprises is supported," Reddy said while speaking at the inaugural session of the TiE Entrepreneurial Summit organised by the Hyderabad chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) on Wednesday.
She also pointed out that the government would be creating a fund named, 'Research to Market Fund' to fund entrepreneurial activity. However, she did not reveal the size of the fund or the timeline for setting up of RICH or the fund.
"RICH and RMF will function autonomously but work in tandem. RICH will be the technology and innovations commercialization entity, while RMF will be the investment arm," she said, adding that the prime focus will be on sectors such as life sciences, food and agri-business, clean and green technologies, IT, manufacturing as well as precision engineering in the area of defence and avionics.
Meanwhile, addressing the summit, Andhra Pradesh governor ESL Narasimhan said that budding entrepreneurs must not only focus on making big bucks but also keep their responsibility towards society in mind.
He said there was a pressing need for innovations in the area of education and healthcare in the country and urged entrepreneurs to actively look at these segments as well.
Giving details about the summit, TES 2013 chair and Peepul Capital managing director Srini Raju said that over the course of three days, more than 100 learning and mentoring sessions with entrepreneurs would be conducted. "Through TES, we are trying to bring together venture capitalists, angel investors, small and medium business owners, service providers, aspiring entrepreneurs, foreign delegates and policy makers onto a common platform to understand the opportunities in various sectors, entrepreneurial ecosystem and get motivated from the success stories of successful entrepreneurs and leaders. We feel such a summit can provide a boost to the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem and lead all stakeholders to an inclusive growth path," TiE Hyderabad president Murali Bukkapatnam said.
Among industry experts and investors who participated in the opening day sessions were Ravi Narayan, director, Microsoft Ventures, serial entrepreneur Jorden Woods, who is also the president and co-founder of Silicon Valley Fundraising, former IIT-M incubator CEO Vijay Anand, Nishant Verman of Canaan Partners, Grant Thornton partner Mahadevan Narayanamoni and TalentSprint CEO and managing director Shantanu Paul.
Source:-indiatimes.com
No treaty relief to charterer of ship as chartering party agreement proved owner of ship as freight
IT/ILT : Where one 'P', a Netherlands based shipping company, chartered a ship, which was owned by an Iranian company, and said ship was engaged by assessee to carry goods from Mangalore to other countries and further charter party agreement executed by Iranian company and 'P' showed that 100 per cent freight charges minus 3.75 per cent commission was payable by 'P' to owner of ship and out of commission of 3.75 per cent, 2.5 per cent would go to 'P' and 1.25 per cent to assessee, assessee was a
Concessional rate of duty applies to DTA clearances made by 100% EOU up to 50% of value of same good
Excise : In case of DTA clearances of 'Turbine wheels' by 100 per cent EOU, concessional rate applies to clearances upto 50 per cent of value of export of 'Turbine wheels'; export clearances of 'Bearing Housing Assembly', which is not similar goods, cannot be considered
Presence of other builders offering residential flats in same area rules out dominance of opposite p
Competition Law : Presence of other builders of repute having similar projects in area as launched by OP rules out dominance of OP in relevant market
Car Exports To Eu May Take Another Beating
Car exports to the European Union, which saw a negative trend beginning two years ago, may face another blow starting January 2014 with the EU set to raise the current 6.5% Customs duty to 10%.
The move, which would significantly increase costs by around INR 15,000 per car, comes as part of the EU’s new policy of denying preferential tariff to exports from developing nations that have become sufficiently competitive and no longer require a tax incentive.
Meanwhile, Indian auto makers are grappling with the declining demand and profits in the domestic market.
The EU is the single largest trade bloc for car exports from India. Around 40 per cent of India’s total passenger vehicle exports (5.54 lakh units) in FY13 went to the region. Of these, 80 to 90% were small cars.
Nissan-Renault, Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki, followed by Ford and Mahindra are currently among the largest exporters of passenger vehicles from India to the 28-nation union.
The EU’s decision aims at graduating a host of exports from India such as motor vehicles, bicycles, aircraft, mineral products, chemicals, raw hides, skins, leather, ships and boats, from its Generalised System of Preferences, as imports of each of these products from India has reportedly crossed 17.5% of the overall import of the items into the EU from developing countries.
Source:- steelguru.com
Indian Farmers Lack Understanding Of Good Quality Cotton
The Government of India commissioned the Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) on February 21, 2000 to address the issues of raising productivity, improving quality and reducing the cost of production and thus provide competitive advantage to the textile industry along with ensuring attractive returns to the farmers.
The 10th Plan scheme was operational upto 31.03.2007. However, the Scheme MM III and IV of TMC were further extended in the 11th Five Year Plan for two years i.e. upto 31.3.2009 to accomplish target and completion of the projects.
In order to protect the interests of the farmers, every year, Government fixes the MSP on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Accordingly, taking into consideration recommendation of the CACP, the support price during 2013-14 for medium staple length cotton has been fixed at Rs.3700/- per quintal and for long staple at Rs.4000/- per quintal.
No specific study on difficulties being faced by cotton growers has been undertaken. However, Government of India had engaged the services of ICRA Management Consulting Service Ltd., in 2011 for assessing the impact of TMC under Mini Missions MM-III & IV.
The study interalia revealed that farmers lacked understanding of good quality cotton and have limited awareness of good harvesting, storage and transportation practices and that there is a scope for education, training of farmers in areas of best farm practices, usage of new technologies and better packing, storage and transportation practices.
Source:- fibre2fashion.com
Gold Artisans Feel The Heat In India
More than 50% of India's million-plus gold industry workforce face a bleak future as high gold prices and heavy import taxes on gold have taken the sheen off the country’s insatiable hunger for the precious metal.
These artisans could soon become jobless if the government continues with its decision to discourage gold imports into the country, say retailers. Pritam Solanki, a bullion retailer from Mumbai said he was forced to cut down his employee complement to just 20 workers from the over 50 employees he had last year.
“Our orders have shrunk massively and it has become impossible to keep people on the rolls any longer. The high prices of the raw stock of gold and the high gold premiums have led to demand coming down from several quarters,'' he said.
He added that, earlier, his store would daily get jewellery orders of around 200 grams, especially in the middle of the year, now, over the last few months, this has fallen to just 25-30 grams.
Most of artisans and goldsmiths come to Mumbai from the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, with nearly a quarter of them moving back to their villages given the lack of jobs, said goldsmiths in Mumbai.
Bengal is the leader in hand made jewellery, followed by Coimbatore in the South and Rajkot, in Gujarat, said Samar Kumar De, committee member of the Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation. He pointed out that the government could prevent high net worth individuals from parking large funds in gold bars to improve the current account deficit situation. This would help cut down imports by around 75-150 tonnes per annum and ensure employment.
“Around 2 million skilled workers are employed in about 40,000 jewellery manufacturing units across one state. They face unemployment as their main raw material, gold, is fast depleting. The restrictions and the confusion regarding gold imports have been impeding raw material supplies to the units,'' says Haresh Soni, chairman of Gems and jewellery trade federation.
He adds that raw material stocks are drying up and that artisans are sitting idle in several units due to non-availability of the raw material.
The slowdown in the jewellery manufacturing industry has meant many artisans have sought alternative employment opportunities to feed their families, said M Jain of the Mumbai Jewellers Association.
Pankaj Parekh, vice chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council noted that around 4.5 million artisans work in the jewellery manufacturing sector across the country. Of them, almost 1.5 million work for the export segment and 1 million workers tend to work on gold supplied by the grey market.
He added that between February and April, several jewellery units imported more gold than was needed, in anticipation of duty hikes and other restrictions from the government. The excess stock has pared down now, with most retailers exhausting their stock last month, forcing many companies to retrench workers en masse.
He said that the curbs in gold imports have been pushing the price higher and also encouraging smuggling, black marketing, hoarding and panic buying of the precious metal.
Industry estimates suggest that India's stringent strictures on gold imports has rendered jobles more than 500,000 gold artisans, craftsmen and salesmen across the country since June this year. Referring to the jobless figure, the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation has said that India's stiff increase in import duty has worked adversely. ``While gold consumption increased, shortage was created due to slow supply,'' said regional chairman of the Federation Mitesh Khimji.
Among several recommendations sent across to the government, the Federation has encouraged unlocking domestic gold by introducing a disclosure scheme. With an estimated 2,50,00 tonnes of gold locked in Indian households, most of this could be made available to the artisans, rather than have the country indulge in pricey imports.
EASTERN INDIA
In West Bengal too, the government's curbs to control current account deficit, has hit the industry hard. Bachhraj Bamalwa, president of All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation said more than 10 million people were involved in the trade, since the majority of the work is handmade jewellery.
"It is a labour intensive industry. Millions of artisans are dependent on this sector for their livelihood. In the absence of any duty differential between articles of jewellery and primary metal, which was 8% in the case of gold jewellery and 4% in the case of silver jewellery in January 2012, there is an apprehension that Indian jewellery makers would not be able to compete with cheaper imports,'' he said.
He added that a majority of the imported jewellery was machine made. To protect the interests of small artisans however, customs duty on articles of jewellery and of goldsmiths’ or silversmiths’ wares was increased from 10% to 15% by the Finance Ministry recently.
However, Bamalwa states that the government's move to revise upward the customs duty on raw gold has nullified this incentive. The nodal agency for jewellers has warned that the ongoing supply shortage could result in more job losses in the sector.
Source:- mineweb.com
Sania Mirja scored game point in IT return; HC confirmed true disclosure of income and deleted conce
IT: Where receipt in question was correctly mentioned in return of income, penalty under section 271(1)(c) could not be imposed
Mere denial of sec. 11 relief won’t invalidates trust registration, rules HC
IT : Mere fact that an income is not exempt under section 11 would not by itself render Tamil Nadu Cricket Association's registration under section 12AA liable to be cancelled
Revenue couldn't object to interest on refund on pretext of assessee's fault if CIT(A) allowed it as
IT: Where Commissioner (Appeals) observed that interest under section 244A was allowed on refund and same was affirmed by Tribunal, it could not be apprehended that they had not verified fact as to whether assessee was in default
A person paying duty and deemed as an assessee is eligible for Cenvat credit
Excise : Where, despite process not amounting to manufacture, by retrospective amendment of rule 16 of Central Excise Rules, 2002, wire drawing units were deemed to be assessee for certain period in respect of duty paid by them, said units were eligible for Cenvat credit as per CENVAT Credit Rules
Income from shares admitted as capital assets in previous year returns can't be taxed as business in
IT: Where shares were shown as capital balance in Income-tax return of previous year as such on sale of shares, sale proceed would be long/short-term capital gain of assessee and not income from business
India-Macedonia ink new DTAA
IT/ILT : Signing of Agreement Between Government of Republic of India and Government of Republic of Macedonia for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion With Respect to Taxes on Income
CBDT seeks to release legitimate tax refunds; relaxes time-limit for issuance of intimation in refun
IT : Section 143 of The Income-Tax Act, 1961 - Assessment - Issue of Intimation under Section 143(1) Beyond Time
Population of Municipality and not of village Panchayat decides whether asset is a capital asset or
IT : Population of Municipality and not of village Panchayat decides whether asset is a capital asset or not
Excess freight charged by assessee isn’t includible in value of excisable goods
Excise & Customs : Since transportation activity is not connected with manufacturing activity, excess recovery of transportation charges from customers cannot be added to assessable value of excisable goods
MCA exempts contribution to Electoral Trust from separate disclosures under Companies Act, 2013
COMPANIES ACT, 2013 : Section 182 of The Companies Act, 2013 - Political Contributions - Prohibitions and Restrictions Regarding - Clarifications as to Requirements of Disclosure on Part of An Electoral Trust Company of Any Amount or Amounts Contributed by it to Any Political Parties Under Section 182(3)
No extended period against assessee if exemption was withdrawn due to buyer's fault without assessee
Excise & Customs: In case an exemption availed by assessee is withdrawn due to an act of buyer, mere allegation that assessee should have taken necessary steps to ensure non-violation of condition of exemption by buyer, is not sufficient for invocation of extended period, except where violation took place by consent/knowledge of assessee
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