Capital assets would retain their status quo even on conversion of agricultural land into non-agricu

IT: Merely because co-owners applied for conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural land and land was sold within 2½ years, it could not be said that land was for business purpose because in case of investment also, same could equally happen

Delay not condonable if assessee is negligent towards pursuing appeal, CESTAT says

Service Tax : Though there cannot be presumption of deliberate delay on account of culpable negligence or mala fide, but reasons of delay explained must be acceptable to law and where assessee is negligent in pursuing appeal remedy, delay caused thereby cannot be condoned

SEBI had to respond to petitioner's request for mobilization of public funds without much delay, HC

CL: SEBI should not delay in giving approval to company for mobilization of funds from public

Exp. on development of acquired software is scientific research exp.; deductible under section 35

IT : Expenditure in respect of scientific research even if capital in nature was incurred in relation to the business carried on by the assessee. Hence, the said expenditure is to be deducted under section 35(1)(iv)

Shares held in fiduciary capacity to be excluded in determining holding-subsidiary relationship unde

COMPANIES ACT, 1956/ COMPANIES ACT, 2013 : Section 2(87) of The Companies Act, 2013, Read With Section 4(3) of The Companies Act, 1956 - Subsidiary Company or Subsidiary - Clarification as to Whether Shares Held or Power Exercisable by A Company in A Fiduciary Capacity Will be Excluded While Determining If A Particular Company is A Subsidiary of Another Company

SEBI modifies KYC Form, does away with requirement to mention details of investor’s income and occup

SEBI : Know Your Client Requirements

India Needs Ftas, Can't Have Wall Around Itself

Defending the policy of inking FTAs with different countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said India needs to connect and integrate with the world and can't have a "wall around" itself."When we look at our FTAs, we are a beneficiary, we are not a loser," Sharma told PTI in an interview.



He said that India's share in the global trade is low and to enhance the overall economic growth, the country has to increase its share by boosting exports."When we are talking of the larger economic integration of Asia and going right up to the Pacific... Can India keep itself out? India cannot insulate itself. You can not grow by having a wall around ourselves. We live in a globalised world, we have to connect and integrate," he added.



The minister said several countries are integrating with each other to enhance trade and investments between them.

"Let's not forget what is happening in the world," he said, citing examples of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Mercosur (an alliance of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay); Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) (involving nine countries including Australia, New Zealand and the US); and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).



"We are neither Pacific nor Atlantic, we are an Indian ocean country, so we also have to look at how we have our own fair share or how we have regional mechanisms and arrangements for trade and investments," Sharma said.



Besides several experts, apex body of exporters, FIEO, has said that exports to several countries with which India had signed FTAs have shown a declining trend.



According to media reports, the finance ministry too had raised concerns over the impact of these pacts on the Indian economy.



However, Sharma said: "When it comes to trade agreements, there is always a balance and then there is an inbuilt review mechanism. Let's not forget that India's share in global trade is still very low. It is little over 2 per cent.



"We need to double it at the earliest, because of economy of India's size cannot grow unless and until our share in global trade, including exports, increases."



India has so far implemented FTAs with countries like Singapore, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Asean. The country is negotiating similar pacts with several nations include Australia, Canada, European Union and New Zealand.



In 2012-13, India's exports to South Korea stood at $4.20 billion but imports have jumped to $13.10 billion, leaving a trade deficit of about $9 billion.



Similarly, India's exports to Japan stood at $6.10 billion during the period and imports were aggregated at $12.41 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $6.31 billion.



Under these pacts, tariffs have been reduced or eliminated on about 95 per cent of goods traded between two regions.

Source:- business-standard.com

Coffee Exports Rise 2.3% In 2013

India's coffee exports increased marginally by 2.33% to 312,382 tonne for the calendar year ended December 2013 as against 305,247 tonne exported in the previous year.



In value terms, the exporters earned $835.02 million, a decline of 8.20% over the previous year. Last year, the value was $909.66 million. In rupee terms, however, the exporters earned Rs 4,692.58 crore as against Rs 4,637.87 crore.



The unit value realisation was lower at Rs 1,50,219 per tonne as against Rs 1,51,938 per tonne in the previous year.



The exports were especially higher during the last quarter of 2013. Bean exports during the period (October to December 2013) went up 34.44% to 58,413 tonne as against 43,448 tonne in the corresponding period last year.



While the value in rupee terms went up due to rupee depreciation to touch Rs 902.27 crore as against Rs 706.99 crore a year ago, the unit value realisation was lower at Rs 1,54,463 per tonne as against Rs 1,62,720 per tonne in the same period last year because of decline in the prices globally.



The depreciation of rupee and rush to clear off carry forward stocks were seen as the main reasons for the jump in exports during the last quarter of 2013. Growers, especially small and medium, rushed their stocks as they were in need of money to meet the harvesting expenses for the current crop year. The harvest for Arabica and Robusta is progressing in major growing regions of South India, exporters said.



Ramesh Rajah, President, Coffee Exporters’ Association of India said that while the rupee depreciation helped exporters earn higher dollar revenues during the year, the lower prices in the international markets offset the gain. Over the last year, Arabica prices have declined as much as 45% to 110 cents per lb in the international markets. Huge off-year crop harvested by Brazil triggered the price crash during the last one year.



Of the total exports, Arabica beans accounted for 17.4% at 54,378 tonne, while the majority came from Robusta variety at 258,004 tonne.



Italy continued to be the main market for Indian coffee in 2013, accounting for 24.56% of the total exports. It was followed by Germany (9.76%), Russian Federation (6.58%) and Belgium (5.55%).



CCL Products (India) Ltd, Allanasons Limited, NKG Jayanti Coffee Pvt Ltd, Nestle India Ltd and Tata Coffee Ltd were the top exporters of coffee during the year.

Source:- business-standard.com

Ski lifting facilities are exempt from service tax

UK VAT: Ski lifting facilities, which involve lifting people to achieve sufficient height to ski, amount to provision of services and may be exempt from service tax under Entry 23 of Notification No. 25/2012-ST under 'transport of passengers by ropeway, cable car or aerial tramway'

Merchandise Exports Revived India's Growth In 2Nd Half Of 2013

Indian shipments logged double-digit growth in the second half of 2013, lowering substantially the current account deficit, a big worry for the Indian policymakers, and boosted hopes of revival in the economy.



Due to sluggishness in the global economy, notably Europe and the US, India's merchandise exports growth was mostly in the negative zone in The first half the year.



However, since July it has seen a significant turnaround and registered a healthy double-digit growth, except in November, when the shipments were affected by strikes at ports.



In July, exports jumped 11.64 percent after declining by 4.56 percent In the previous month year-on-year.



The good show continued and the growth surged to a two-year high of 13.47 percent in October. A sharp depreciation in the value of the rupee during that time helped in growth in shipments, which helped the sluggish economy.



The country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.8 per cent in The July-September quarter as compared to 4.4 percent growth posted in the previous quarter.



"Indian exports is leading the economy from the front contributing to 70 percent of the growth of GDP in the July-September quarter," Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) president M. Rafeeque Ahmed said.



Also, the country's trade deficit came down significantly in the second half of the year helped by higher exports and lower imports.



The trade deficit, difference between exports and imports, declined to $6.8 billion in September from the high of $20.1 billion registered in May.



For the first eight months of the current financial year, the deficit declined to $99.9 billion from $129.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year.



Ahmed said the deficit is expected to remain in the range of $140-150 billion for the financial year ending March 2014 as compared to $190.90 billion registered in the previous year.



"The first eight months of this fiscal has witnessed a nearly 23 percent decline in the cumulative trade deficit, which will considerably ease the pressure on the current account deficit and in turn make the rupee more stable," said FICCI President Naina Lal Kidwai.



The value of India's merchandise exports was $203.98 billion in the April-November period of 2013, as compared to $191.95 billion in the corresponding period last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 6.27 per cent.



However, imports in the first eight months of the current fiscal declined by 5.39 per cent to $303.89 billion as compared to $321.19 billion recorded in the same period last year.



The lower trade deficit has helped curb the current account deficit that had spiralled to a record high of $88.2 billion or 4.8 percent of the country's GDP in the financial year ended March 2013.



The current account deficit dropped to $5.2 billion or 1.2 per cent of GDP in the July-September quarter of the current year, 75 percent lower From $21 billion or five percent of GDP, recorded in the corresponding quarter of last year.



Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic adviser at the State Bank of India, said India's current account deficit is expected to come down to $40 billion or 2.2 percent of the GDP in the financial year 2013-14.



"The momentum in export growth is an encouraging sign, and we believe that this trend will be maintained, going forward, partly aided by a lower base and seasonal impact in the last quarter," Ghosh said.



Anupam Shah, head of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), Said while the fall in trade deficit is a good development for the Indian economy, it is largely a result of a steep import compression rather than a smart rise in exports. Going forward, he said, the focus should be on boosting exports, instead of putting a curb on imports.



"We must reverse this trend and focus more on export growth than import compression. The India story should be led by export drive, and not reduced consumption at home," the engineering export body chief said.



Imports have come down largely due to a series of steps taken by the government to lower gold and oil demands.



Highlights of 2013:Exports declined in the first six months of 2013 due to sluggish global demands .A sharp depreciation in the value of the rupee led to turnaround in India's exports from JulyIndia's exports posted double-digit growth in the July-October period Imports declined due to a sharp drop in gold demands Trade deficit narrowed on the back of lower imports and healthy exports Exports rose by 6.27 percent to $203.98 billion in the April-November period Imports declined by 5.39 percent to $303.89 billion first eight months of 2013-14 Trade deficit narrowed to $99.9 billion in the April-November period from $129.2 billion in the corresponding period of last year.

Source:- indiatoday.intoday.in

Cotton Imports From India On The Rise

With the fresh import of about 300,000 to 400,000 bales of cotton from India during the outgoing week, Pakistan has imported 1.1 million cotton bales from the neighboring country so far during the fiscal year, traders said on Saturday. “Pakistan is expected to import a total of 2.5 million bales from India this year,” Naseem Usman, a cotton trader, said, adding that the price of imported cotton was coming at 81 cents to 86 cents per pound.



He said that imports rose during the outgoing week because of the two factors: the recovery seen in rupee value and production of lower volume of prime quality cotton this year. Indian cotton is of high quality on the other hand.He said the recovery in rupee has made cotton import viable again. Spinning mill owners did not miss the opportunity of cheaper import and speeded the process of import from the neighboring country.



According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the rupee recovered by 3.28 percent in the last one month to date, as its value improved to Rs105.53 per dollar (closing rate of Friday) from historic high of Rs109 per dollar on September 26 in the interbank market.

Pakistan also imports high quality cotton from US and Brazil every year to produce export quality cotton yarn. Spinning mill owners, however, import higher quantity of cotton from India, as its cost and transportation time are lower than US and Brazil, Usman said.



Taqi Abbas, another cotton trader, said that import from India might slow down in the days and weeks to come due to increase in the rate of cotton.“India has increased rate of cotton to 86 cents per pound after New York cotton market (a benchmark market for cotton traders worldwide) strengthened in the last couple of days,” he said.He said Pakistan imported cotton from India at the landed cost of Rs7,200 to Rs7,300 per maund (37.324 kilogrammes) in the recent past, while the rate surged to Rs7,500 to Rs7,600 per maund since India raised the rate to 86 cents in dollar term.

He said that India, however, was not a reliable country for the import of the commodity, as it usually cancels import orders from Pakistan whenever the price of the commodity goes up at New York cotton market.



Shakeel Ahmed, another cotton broker, said that a few of Pakistani importers did not take delivery of cotton from India, when it raised its export rate, and opted to settle the deal in cash.The data by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed the country imported 52,098 tonnes of cotton in the first five months (July-November) of ongoing fiscal year, 42 percent lower than 90,285 tonnes imported in the same period last year.In rupee term, the imports fell approximately 33 percent to Rs12.37 billion this year from Rs18.45 billion last year, while in dollar term it plunged about 39 percent to $118.76 million from $194.61 million, it said.

Source:- thenews.com.pk

Coal India Sticks To Import Plan

Coal India will issue another tender for import after the first one floated on November 15 failed to attract a single participant.A senior official of Coal India said the state-run miner had not scrapped the idea of importing for domestic consumers after the disappointing outcome of the first tender.



“We have not scrapped the idea. The tender will be floated once again shortly,” said the official, adding that the process is likely to be initiated within a month.



Coal India’s first tender was worth Rs 3,000 crore for importing 5 million tonnes.



The imported coal was aimed to bridge the demand-supply gap. Domestic demand is over 600 million tonnes a year, while CIL has set a production target of 482 million tonnes in the current fiscal. CIL produces over 80 per cent of the country’s coal.



However, the miner is likely to fall short of the target as production was affected by cyclone Phailin in October and mining activities in Odisha were disrupted in November.



Overall, in April-November the PSU missed its production target by 5 per cent.



CIL official said the restriction of participants to only public sector companies such as MMTC Ltd and State Trading Corp was one of the primary reasons for the failure of the first tender, besides issues relating to upfront payment to importers.



On whether the fresh tender will allow private players, the official said the option was being considered.



Meanwhile the trade unions of the PSU said they had just deferred and not backed off from a strike against a plan to offload a 5 per cent stake in the miner.



Trade union sources said the divestment was unlikely to take place before the general elections in the first half of 2014.



The preparations to divest a stake have been an ongoing exercise for almost a year, with roadshows held abroad to garner foreign interest in the offering.

Source:- telegraphindia.com

Some Advances Quite A Few Negatives

Looking back at 2013, the major achievement of the international trade community was the modest agreement to streamline it - allow developing countries more options for providing food security, boost least developed countries' trade and help development, at the Bali meet of member-states of the World Trade Organisation.



More important than the agreement was the commitment it signalled, however faint, to the relevance of WTO and the Doha Development Round. The estimated benefits from the agreement might be exaggerated. However, a step forward has been taken to make trade easier and eliminate some distortions.



At home, the major story was rupee depreciation, helping exports and growth revive. The customs exchange rate for exports was Rs 54.30 to a dollar at the end of last year. This year-, it is Rs 61.90 a dollar. The falling rupee helped exporters regain the ground lost when it had remained relatively steady but inflation had pushed up their costs. Towards the year end, exports were losing steam again as inflation continued to remain high. Luckily, however, the global economy started showing signs of revival. Domestic producers also got some respite as imports became costlier.



On foreign trade policy, the commerce ministry significantly simplified the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme, by merging the three per cent and zero duty schemes. The Status Holder-I Scheme gave way to an annual Incremental Export Incentivisation Scheme. Coverage under the Focus Market Scheme and Focus Product Scheme were widened. However, the curtailment of drawback rates took away any gains the exporters could get from these.



The ambiguities relating to net foreign exchange earning criteria under the Served from India Scheme, the narrow interpretation of the meaning of 'group company', payment in rupees from Special Economic Zones (SEZs) all remained unresolved. The measures to revive SEZs through easier norms for developers failed miserably, in the absence of remedial measures to address the concerns of entrepreneurs or investors who want to set up units in these.



On its part, the Reserve Bank re-wrote the rules for write-off of export proceeds and formally allowed third-party payments for imports and exports but with some unrealistic conditions. The interest subvention for exporters was restricted during the year. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) introduced a Risk Management System for exports, tried to encourage stakeholder participation and gave some clarifications on classification. The useful clarification that exemption from excise duty by way of debit to duty credit scrips will not necessitate reversal of Cenvat credit helped avoid a lot of unnecessary litigation.



The revisionary authority dealing with drawback and excise rebate appeals continued to surprise exporters, with many decisions adverse to them. The procedure for service tax exemption/refund for services provided to SEZ units and developers was simplified. Overall, CBEC seemed bereft of ideas and short of energy to improve its administration.



Looking ahead, exporters face the prospect of getting priced out of markets due to increasing costs in the domestic economy. Their best hope is a strong revival of growth, especially in developed countries.

Source:- business-standard.com

Indian Rupee Down 17 Paise Against Dollar In Early Trade

The rupee today lost 17 paise to 62.02 against the dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to month-end demand of the US currency from importers.



Forex dealers said dollar strengthening against other currencies in the global market also put pressure on the rupee but sustained rise in domestic equities capped the fall.



The domestic currency had closed higher by 31 paise at 61.85 on Friday after a rally in local equities and fresh sales of the US currency by exporters.



Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex rose by 100.86 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 21,294.44 in early trade today.

Source:- financialexpress.com

ITAT's order couldn't be reviewed due to fresh arguments raised by assessee unless there was apparen

IT : Where Tribunal had considered entire facts and case laws relied and by speaking order, rejected assessee's claim in respect of cash credit, no review could be made