IT : Where assessee was sharing part of commission received as remuneration from bank in order to attract customers to improve volume of business, payment made by assessee to customers by issuing cheques in name of vehicle dealers could not be said to be payment of commission
Tuesday 4 March 2014
CIT(A)’s order validating levy of interest by AO in pursuance of Setcom’s order can be challenged be
IT : CIT(A)’s order validating levy of interest by AO in pursuance of Setcom’s order can be challenged before ITAT
Cenvat credit can be used for payment of ST under reverse charge even after April 18, 2006
Cenvat Credit : Even after deletion of Explanation below rule 2(p) of CENVAT Credit Rules w.e.f. 19-4-2006, recipient of GTA services was 'person liable to pay service tax' and 'provider of taxable service' under rule 2(r); therefore, said service amounted to output service and Cenvat Credit could be used for payment of tax thereon
ITAT rightly dismissed appeal of revenue on grounds which weren’t raised earlier before CIT(A)
IT : Where revenue filed a miscellaneous application under section 254(2) before Tribunal and ground raised in application was not made out anywhere, Tribunal was justified in not entertaining said application
Sec. 40A(3) disallowance casts onus on AO to prove that payment was actually made in cash
IT : Where Assessing Officer having found that assessee had paid an amount of Rs. 18.22 crores in cash to six parties disallowed 20 per cent of such payment under section 40A(3), since it was not proved by Assessing Officer that payment was actually made in cash, impugned disallowance was not justified
Challenging a part of unreasonable settlement order won’t treated as dissecting such order, rules HC
Excise & Customs : Assessee may challenge a part of settlement order, which is unreasoned and discriminatory, before High Court under writ jurisdiction and challenging such part would not amount to dissecting such order
CAT nods to creation of an association of finance firms as it doesn’t result in trade cartel
Competition Law: Formation of an association and creation of a Model Hire Purchase Agreement by auto finance business firms would not infer creation of a cartel like agreement for prosecution under section 3
No withholding from sum paid to NR for establishing a ship breaking yard in India if it didn’t have
IT/ILT : Where assessee availed consultation and supervision services from a foreign company for establishing a modern ship breaking yard, in view of fact that said company neither had PE nor any business connection in India, its income was not taxable in India and, thus, assessee was not liable to deduct tax at source while making payments to foreign company
Players Move To Increase Exports From Goa
The ban on iron ore mining has made the picture rather grim for exports out of Goa. As per the data available from Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, iron ore exports constituted around two-thirds of total exports out of Goa in FY 2012-13. Apart from iron ore, marine products, cashew and pharmaceutical products are other major contributors to exports from Goa.
"We do not see great improvement in productivity of marine products," said Shamila Monteiro, director of fisheries. "But we are focusing on improving quality. We started open sea cage culture in FY 2013-14 wherein we are breeding high quality fish varieties like cobi." The small size of Goa's shrimp farms makes it difficult to improve production like other, bigger states.
Similarly, there are anomalies in other sectors too which need to be taken care of to boost exports. "Purchasers of raw cashew nut have to pay 1% market cess," said A S Kamath, advisor to Goa cashew manufacturers association. "They have to pay this cess in Goa even when they are purchasing raw cashew nuts from other states." Others expect state help. "The government can provide financial assistance for modernization and automation to help cashew manufacturers", said Siddhartha Zantye, partner at Zantye Cashew Industries.
There are certain logistical bottlenecks which make movement of goods extremely expensive from Goa. "We have made representations so that Konkan Railway starts a container train from Goa to Nhava Sheva port," said Atul Pai Kane, chairman, Goa State Council, CII.
Pai Kane also said that there is a requirement of a shipping line carrying cargo between Goa and Mumbai. At present, the cargo from Goa takes the route through Mangalore and Cochin and finally reaches Colombo from where it is shipped to its intended designation. This makes the process very complicated and expensive. This needs to be sorted out as soon as possible to facilitate movement of goods out of Goa to other countries.
In the meanwhile, the state government and the central government have joined forces to encourage polyhouse farming in Goa. Under polyhouse cultivation, the focus would be on growing high value crops like color capsicum, gerbera, anthurium and other flowers. The state government and the central government, put together, are providing 90% financial assistance for cultivation. Polyhouse farming is still in initial stages in Goa. If encouraged, it has the potential to increase the exports of crops from Goa.
Architect Rahul Deshpande has interesting ideas to promote industry in Goa, which in turn will boost exports. He cited the example of Taiwan, which has become an animation hub for entertainment industry across the world. "In the regional plan that we had worked upon, we had allocated land for an animation hub in Goa. Local panchayats in Fonda area had even approved the allocation of land".
He insisted that such industries will help in providing opportunities to educated youth of the state who often have to move out of Goa and head to other parts of the world.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Reassessment not valid where disallowance made by AO was deleted by appellate authorities on merits
IT : Where addition pertaining to expenses had been deleted on merit, there was no reason to re-open assessment
RBI asks banks to accept e-Aadhaar as an ‘officially valid document’ under anti-money laundering rul
BANKING : Know Your Customer (KYC) Norms/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Standards/Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT)/obligation of banks under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 - Recognising e-Aadhaar as an ‘officially valid document’ under PML rules
India Notifies Incentive For Raw Sugar Exports
India late on Monday notified an incentive of 3,300 rupees per tonne for production of raw sugar for exports as the world's second biggest producer of the sweetener tries to bring down its stockpile by promoting exports.
A cabinet committee on economic affairs last month approved the proposal and mills had been awaiting the notification.
Indian mills traditionally produce white sugar, but a global glut has made exports difficult. Exports of raws from the South Asian nation will eat into the share of top suppliers Brazil and Thailand.
The government will provide incentive for export of 4 million tonnes of raw sugar produced in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 sugar marketing years, that run from October to September, the notification said.
The incentive of 3,300 rupees will be applicable for exports in February and March. From April onwards, the incentive will be recalculated after every two months depending on the rupee-dollar exchange rate, it said.Mills need to pay incentives to make cane payments to farmers, it added.
Source:- in.reuters.com
India's Scrap Imports Declined 27.6% During Jan-Nov
The latest import statistics indicate that India’s scrap imports declined sharply year-on-year during the eleven-month period from January to November in 2013. Also, the scrap imports by the country dropped drastically during the month of November year-on-year and month-on-month.
The total scrap imports by the country during the initial eleven months of the year declined sharply by 27.6% year-on-year. India imported 5.38 million tons of scrap during the period.
During the period from January to November, 2013, South Africa was the largest scrap exporter to India. However, the total scrap imports from South Africa declined by 13.1% year-on-year to 846,000 tons. In second place was the UK with total exports falling by 37.2% to 753,000 tons. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the third largest scrap exporter to India. The country’s total scrap exports from the UAE amounted to 714,000 tons, down 15.1% year-on-year.
The country’s scrap imports from the US witnessed a sharp fall of 48.9% year-on-year during the eleven-month period. India’s scrap imports from the US totaled 540,000 tons during the period.
Source:- metal.com
Silver Imports Seen Falling On Easier Gold Curbs
Shipments of silver to India are set to fall from last year's record level as investors anticipate an easing of curbs on gold imports, and as a looming election draws off "black money" that may have been invested in the precious metal.
Lower silver demand in the world's biggest consumer could weigh on prices, which have recovered almost 10 percent this year after a 36 percent slump last year, the biggest annual drop in almost three decades.
India accounts for about 20 percent of world silver consumption, mainly for jewellery, but also for investment as an alternative asset.
Imports nearly tripled in 2013 from a year earlier to a record 5,478 tonnes, spurred by curbs on gold imports and cheaper prices, but are expected to fall sharply if the government relaxes its unpopular restrictions on gold.
"People had bought a lot of the metal at lows of 45,000 Indian rupees per kilogram and now prices have increased, and with lesser gold curbs there could be a 25 percent fall in imports," said Ashok Goyal of OP Chains Ltd., a silver trader in Agra. Silver currently sells for nearly 50,000 rupees a kilogram.
To curb a ballooning trade deficit, India last year hiked its import duty on gold to a record 10 percent, and tied domestic gold consumption to exports of gold jewellery.
But Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said last month he would keep keep the current account deficit below $45 billion as against $88 billion last year and is expected to review the gold curbs by mid-March ahead of an election expected by May.
"Silver jewellery fabricators are going slow re-stocking, and also with elections approaching the market is short of idle cash, which again points to a lower turnover of stocks, resulting in a slowdown of imports in coming months," said Sudheesh Nambiath, India analyst with Thomson Reuters GFMS.
India has almost doubled its election-spending limit to 7 million rupees per candidate in bigger states, but analysts say total spending is estimated to be much higher and most of the funds will come from illegal or "black money", which may otherwise have been invested in gold or silver.
Any easing of curbs on gold imports could remove about 2,000 tonnes of demand for silver from investors as an alternative asset, industry experts said.
Importers of the precious metal, who made only narrow margins during last year's sales boom due to abundant supply, will also look to cut costs as demand eases.
"Last year, silver business was a survival tactic for us... For most of us in the metal business it was a way to stay afloat. It was a turnover game rather than an income generator," said a senior official with a foreign bank importing silver from Hong Kong, Zurich and London.
Importers are expected to cut costs by shipping the metal by sea, rather than air, halving import costs to 5-6 cents an ounce. Silver currently costs $21.25 an ounce.
Source:- in.reuters.com
HC can waive off arbitrarily high pre-deposit amount as it may deny appeal to assessee
Service Tax : Indiscriminate denial of power of waiver of pre-deposit would result in a situation where an aggrieved party would be indirectly told "pay or perish" such a denial cannot be sustained and may be relaxed by High Court
India Raises Import Tariff Value Of Gold And Silver
India has raised its import tariff value of gold and silver mainly on volatility in the global markets. The tariff value is revised on a fortnightly basis after analysing the global price trend.
Indian government has raised its import tariff value of gold from $421 per ten grams to $433 per 10 grams and silver from $663 per kilo gram to $699 per kilo gram, said the ministry of finance.
Import tariff value is the base price at which customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing. The notification in this regard has been issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).
Yellow metal is India’s second largest import item after petroleum. Government has taken several measures to curb gold shipments to address the high current account deficit.
According to the jewellers body, total gold imports are expected to be not more than 550 tonnes this fiscal due to these restrictions, from 845 tonnes in the last fiscal.
Source:- metal.com
Dgft Extends Sops For Garment Exports; Aepc Hails Move
The apex apparel exporters body, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), has welcomed the move to extend the 2 percent duty credit scrip under the Market Linked Focus Product Scrip (MLFPS) for RMG sector (2 percent Duty credit scrip, HS 61 & 62) to EU and USA for exports from 01/04/2014 till further orders.
"The incentive to RMG products, which have the highest employment intensity and potential was the need of the hour. I am sure that this decision of the Government would surely go a long way to offset infrastructure inefficiencies and other associated costs involved in manufacturing and marketing of these products," said Chairman AEPC, Virender Uppal, in his statement recently.
DGFT in its notification dated 27.02.14 amended the Chapter 3 of Foreign Trade Policy.
Chairman AEPC said, "We are at the fag end of this fiscal year and Industry captains are sprinting fast to reach the most ambitious target set for AEPC this year. With the current growth of over 16.4 percent, I am hopeful we will be cruising past USD 15 billion."
"It is noteworthy that Chapter 61 & 62 covers all the garment products and our exports to EU & USA covers almost 65 percent of our total garment exports," he added.
Uppal also lauded the DGFT for expanding the list of products for textiles and leather under the above scheme.
It is a well-timed move, which will have the far reaching benefits in terms of boosting the exports.
"High input costs and slowdown in global markets were adding to the stress. I am sure the present initiative of DGFT would certainly help in easing the pressure to a considerable extent to our sector," Uppal added.
Source:- smetimes.in
Indian Rupee Vs Us Dollar: Ukraine Volatility Hits Market
Due to the fast developing situation in Ukraine, Indian rupee opened weaker against the US dollar, dealing at 61.90 on spot.
However, a large order US Dollar inflow from a corporate helped the Rupee to attempt a recovery towards 61.80, but it could only manage 61.83/84, where demand for US Dollar from oil marketing companies got better-off. News of Russian central bank hiking interest rates to arrest a sliding Rouble, crossed wires, Rupee came under further pressure and inched closer towards 62.00 handle. Domestic equities sold-off in line with the heavy sell-off witnessed across Europe. Rupee touched a low of 62.08/09, before closing around 62.04/05 levels on spot.
Over the near-term, traders will continue to watch the geopolitics in Ukraine and also the financial market developments in China.
Inflows would continue to trickle in and hence Rupee would continue draw strong support between 62.40/60 region, but at the same time, hedging demand from importers as well as OMCs, might keep the US Dollar well supported around 61.40/70 region. Therefore, look to play the above range. For the US Dollar to break above 62.60, a substantial deterioration in global risk appetite has to occur, in which case, a run towards 63.30/50 can occur.
Source:- financialexpress.com
Genuine share application money duly assessed in hands of share applicant can’t be taxed in hands of
IT : If share application money had been assessed in hands of share applicants, then same would not be assessed in hands of assessee
No fresh investigation against BCCI for its role in cricket leagues, as that matter was already deci
Competition Law : Where Commission in its previous order had already considered all facts concerning organization of private cricket leagues in India and had passed cease and desist order against BCCI, no new prima facie case was made out and no fresh investigation was required to be ordered
Issue as to disallowance of prior period exp. and depreciation on multi-modal projects admitted as q
IT -I : Question as to whether Tribunal was right in deleting disallowance in respect of depreciation on multimodal project, was a question of law
Merchant-exporters are eligible to claim drawback of excise duty paid on local purchases
Excise & Customs : Merchant-exporters are eligible for drawback of central excise duty paid on inputs/goods procured from local market, even for period prior to issuance of Circular No. 16/2009-Cus., dated 25-5-2009
Applicant couldn’t challenge auction even when it offered highest bid if no illegality was found in
CL: Where Court confirmed sale of certain properties of company in liquidation in favour of highest bidder during auction and was satisfied about adequacy of price, mere offer for higher price by applicant could not be a valid ground to cancel confirmed sale
Trustee can’t be taxed for unexplained money of trust unless existence of trust per se was in doubt
IT : Unless trust, which was assessed for relevant income was not found to be genuine, AO could not have assessed trust's income in hands of trustee in his individual capacity
No deemed manufacture if re-labelling of pack of chemicals were made to comply with laws and not for
Excise & Customs : Where relabelling of imported bulk packs of Lubricating Oil Additives was carried out only with a view to comply with Indian laws and not for purpose of marketing in India, and there was no repacking into smaller packs, such relabelling could not amount to deemed manufacture
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