Bad-debts written off against provisions created thereof in earlier years would be allowable under s

IT: Where trade advances becoming unrealizable, provision was made and profit was loss account was debited in earlier year, same was to be allowed when written of in subsequent year

CIT(A) had to admit additional evidence as assessee failed to appear before AO due to doubt over his

IT: Where assessee was prevented by sufficient cause in not appearing before Assessing Officer while framing assessment due to confusion relating to jurisdiction of Assessing Officer, in such circumstances, Commissioner (Appeals) as well as Tribunal relying upon additional evidence produced by assessee were justified in deleting a part of addition made by Assessing Officer

No cap gain if profit from revaluation of fixed asset was credited to partner's capital a/c as no 't

IT : Deduction on account of bad debts was allowable to assessee since debts were outstanding since long and assessee wrote off same as irrecoverable in its books

HC nods to ex-parte assessment under UP VAT as bogus transactions were found by department during in

CST & VAT : Where entries made in accounts cannot be verified and, on investigation by department, are found bogus and fictitious reflecting a mere paper transaction, department is right in proceeding with best judgment assessment

Additions on estimated basis doesn't attract concealment penalty; HC reiterates the principles

IT: When addition is made on estimate basis, no penalty is sustainable

India To Focus On South Korea To Enhance Generic Exports

India is planning to focus its eyes on South Korean markets to push and promote its generic exports to the peninsular region. As part this initiative, the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) with the support of ministry of commerce is planning to organize an India Pavilion at ‘Korea Pharm’ from June 10-13, 2014.



Moreover, with India entering into CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) and also a signatory of FTA with South Korea, there is good scope for improving bilateral trade between the two nations particularly in the active pharmaceutical ingredients segment.



At present the South Korean pharmaceutical market is the 10th largest pharmaceutical market, globally. The industry is highly fragmented, with almost all the domestic pharmaceutical companies having a strong portfolio of generic products rather than expensive, branded drugs.



For the entire pharmaceutical industry, an increase in insurance coverage, an ageing population and favourable government initiatives are expected to drive future growth. Improved Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), changing demographics, and government support have contributed towards making the South Korean pharmaceutical industry attractive for multinational companies.



The South Korean government has signed Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the US, Europe and India that are aimed at improving the IPR framework in the country and making the pharmaceutical industry more attractive for foreign investment.



In view of ample scope to grab business in South Korea, India is attempting for second time with India Pavilion to push and promote its generics export. As part of this, Pharmexcil is organizing India Pavilion at Korea Pharm exhibition where the council will take the opportunity to exhibit India’s strengths in APIs, chemicals, and laboratory and packaging materials.



As a part of this, the council has called upon interested members from the Indian pharma industry to take part in this event and make up maximum from this opportunity to grow their export business in South Korea. “As an assistance to take part in India Pavilion, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India is also providing financial assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakhs under the MDA (Marketing development assistance) scheme for companies whose export turnover for the previous year is less than Rs. 30 crores,” informed Raghuveer Kini, executive director, Pharmexcil.

Source:- pharmabiz.com

It Sector Exports May Grow 13-15% In Fy15: Nasscom

Indian software and BPO export industry is likely to see about 15 per cent rise in revenue in FY15, according to National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

This effectively means a $15-17 billion of incremental revenue in the next fiscal year, one of the most bullish growth targets given by Nasscom in the last couple of years.

In the last fiscal, the industry clocked a growth of 10.2 per cent which was lesser than the original growth of 11-14 per cent prediction by the body.

The industry’s export revenues are estimated to touch $86 billion in the current fiscal and hover between $97-99 billion in the next fiscal. The overall industry’s revenues this fiscal are estimated to be $118 billion.

Nasscom said that concerns over the US Immigration Bill remain even as some of the more “worrisome” issues have been taken care of partly. “There are certain provisions which are a matter of concern although more worrisome concerns have been addressed to some extent,” Nasscom president and former telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar told reporters here while presenting the industry outlook for FY15.

The Immigration Bill proposes higher visa fees and enhanced audits by US agencies, which are likely to hurt the domestic IT industry. Stating that Nasscom had done its best to convince US lawmakers and the government, he said, “It is not that our concerns have vanished or disappeared.”

The next four to five months, when the Bill goes to the US Congress, will be critical, Nasscom chairman Krishnakumar Natarajan said.

‘“We continue to have a very optimistic outlook. We believe the export revenue will grow by 13-15 per cent to reach $97 to $99 billion in FY15,” Natarajan said.

Nasscom also highlighted the upcoming challenges for the sector, which includes the uncertainty in the wake of approaching general elections this year, currency fluctuation, global regulatory hurdles such as the US Immigration Bill.

Nasscom said that the estimate is the reflection of how they see the industry right now based on conversations with clients — a majority of which expect to spend higher on technology compared to this fiscal.

Natarajan said the focus of the industry is clearly on digitisation (with focus on social media, analytics, mobility and cloud) and innovation with almost 1,000 to 1,200 start-ups emerging in the country, playing across the spectrum from e-commerce to education.

Source:- indianexpress.com

Oil Imports From Canada Could Benefit Ril

Canada, the world’s third largest oil reserve (Behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela) could be India’s savior with regards to the ever-increasing oil prices.

Oil companies in India, particularly Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) could receive a shot in the arm as cheaper Canadian crude from Alberta oil sands will reach Indian shores in large quantities four years from now. The production volume right now is quite low; however, it would be ramped up by 2018 with the assistance of a pipeline from the reserve to the east coast. The oil then would be transported to India using ships.

Oil imports from Canada are seen as having a significant impact on the revenues of companies. Take the example of Mukesh Ambani’s RIL- Canadian crude can be 14% cheaper for them than the Indian basket. This could turn out to be even cheaper with proper infrastructure for transport in place. An oil ministry official explained that it costs $11-12 per barrel for the transportation of oil by rail from Alberta (located in western Canada) to export terminals on the east coast of the country, and then further shipping the oil to India. India could therefore buy this oil at around $14-15 per barrel lower than the price at which oil is procured at in other markets.

Oil output from Alberta could reach 1.1 million barrels per day. India, at present imports 3.86 million barrels, mostly from West Asia. If Indian companies can get hold of a major chunk, it could mean costs going down, leading to huge savings on oil import bill and oil subsidies. In 2012-13, India’s oil imports grew by 9.22% to $169.25 billion from $154.96 billion in 2011-12. In the current fiscal, crude oil imports are seen rising to about 196 million tonnes from the 184.795 million tonnes it imported in 2012-13, but relatively low prices have been a solace.

Canadian high commissioner Stewart Beck is aware of the huge interest firms like RIL hold in his country’s oil deposits. “It (discount) has been as high as $ 40 and probably hovering around $20-25. Reliance has the biggest refinery in the world and they very much like synthetic crude because they can develop a lot more products. The new IOC refinery is also interested in synthetic crude. You get more value from the same barrel of conventional crude,” said Beck.

Another reason why companies are pursuing oil sands is because of their nature.They are a natural mixture of sand, water, clay and a type of heavy oil called bitumen. Bitumen must be removed from the sand and water before being upgraded into crude oil and other petroleum products. What is more, the synthetic oil extracted from oil sands can help refiners develop a wider range of petroleum products.

Source:- groundreport.com

India's Trade Deficit Narrows On 77% Drop In Gold Imports

India's trade deficit narrowed in January, helped by a 77 per cent drop in imports of gold and silver while exports ticked up, improving the outlook for the country's fragile current account balance.

The trade ministry said it had recommended easing curbs on gold imports, prompted by the brighter trade picture.

The trade deficit stood at $9.92 billion last month compared with $10.14 billion in December, a trade ministry official said on Tuesday.

Merchandise exports rose 3.79 percent year-on-year to $26.75 billion, compared with a 3.5 percent annual growth in December.

Imports fell 18.07 percent year-on-year to $36.57 billion led by a 77 percent drop in gold and silver imports on the year.

India expects to keep the current account deficit down under $50 billion in the fiscal year to March 2014. The shortfall was a record $87.8 billion in the previous 12-month period which had precipitated a record fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar last summer.

Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Rupee Trims Gains; Still Up 3 Paise To 62.40 Vs Dollar

The rupee trimmed its initial gains but was still quoted higher by 3 paise to 62.40 per dollar in late morning trade on Tuesday on mild selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.

The rupee resumed higher at 62.37 per dollar as against the last closing level of 62.43 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and firmed up further to 62.33 per dollar.

However, it trimmed its initial gains and was quoted at 62.40 per dollar at 1045 hours on some demand for the U.S. currency from banks.

It moved in a range of 62.33 and 62.44 per dollar during the morning deals.

In Hong Kong, the dollar fell further in early trade against other major currencies, as global investors awaited Janet Yellen’s first testimony as the new Federal Reserve chief, later in the day.Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 75.23 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 20,409.50 at 1045 hours.

Source:- thehindu.com

Cenvat credit on input to be reversed if they were sold in local market after being found unfit for

Cenvat Credit : Where Cenvated inputs have been removed as such from factory and sold outside in cash on claim of being unfit for use, credit taken thereon is liable to be reversed and extended period of limitation is invocable therefor

HC consents to reduction of share capital as no objection was filed either at Board meeting or befor

CL: Where reduction of share capital of petitioner-company was a commercial and business verdict approved by majority of its shareholders and, moreover, no objection was filed even after notices were published giving wide publicity, petition seeking confirmation of reduction of share capital was to be allowed

Non-availability of PAN of payee-customer was a reasonable cause for belated filing of TDS return; p

IT: Non-availability of PAN of payee-customer was a reasonable cause for belated filing of TDS return; penalty deleted

Excise proceedings can't be relied on by department to allege turnover escaping assessment under VAT

CST & VAT : Mere issuance of show-cause notice by Central Excise Department cannot lead to presumption that there was evasion of excise duty as well as evasion of VAT so as to initiate 'turnover escaping assessment' proceedings under VAT

ITAT allows assessee to prove that loss arising on jobbing transaction wasn't speculative; case rema

IT : Where assessee, a share and stock broker, apart from business undertaken for and on behalf of its clients was also engaged in trading in shares as well as jobbing on own account and Assessing Officer treated loss incurred by assessee on jobbing activity as speculative loss, matter was sent back to Assessing Officer to enable assessee to present its case of jobbing transactions as non speculative in terms of section 43(5)(c)

Debt Recovery Tribunal can execute recovery certificate against a property situated outside its juri

Banking Laws : DRT at Mumbai could get recovery certificate executed by its recovery officer in respect of property situate at Vapi in State of Gujarat under jurisdiction of DRT-Ahmedabad

Withdrawal of revaluation reserve not to be reduced from book profit if wasn't added back while crea

IT : Where revaluation reserve is created after 1-4-1997, in terms of proviso to clause (i) of second part of Explanation to section 115JB, amount withdrawn from said reserve in an assessment year commencing after 1-4-1997 would not be reduced from book profit unless book profit of such year had been increased by those reserves

HC nods to stay of demand as earlier ITAT granted stay on similar issue and facts remained unchanged

IT: Where Tribunal in earlier years on very same issue in dispute had conclusively indicated in its order that assessee had a prima facie case for stay of demand, in absence of any change in circumstances, assessee's application for stay of demand during relevant year was also to be allowed

DTA clearances by EOU in excess of permissible limits would be liable to full duty

Excise & Customs : Where assessee-EOU had made excess DTA clearances over and above permissible limit, assessee was liable to full duty thereon and mere pendency of application for further permission cannot avoid levy of duty

A comparable ceases to be so for the period it operated under extra-ordinary circumstances

IT/ILT : Transfer Pricing : A comparable ceases to be so for the period it operated under extra-ordinary circumstances

Developer of housing project need not to be owner of property as well for claiming sec. 80-IB relief

IT: For purpose of allowing deduction under section 80-IB(10), it is not necessary that assessee, a developer of housing project, should be owner of property as well

Sec. 40(a)(ia) disallowance to be considered as business profits for purposes of sec. 10A relief

IT: Amount of statutory disallowance under section 40(a)(ia) has to be considered as business profit eligible for deduction under section 10A

CLB could not interfere in internal affairs of Co. where it had complied with statutory obligations

CL : CLB would not interfere with decision of company as regards acceptance of resignation of director if company and its directors complied with statutory obligations