CST & VAT : Where period of deferment has expired and assessee is liable to pay necessary deferred amount of tax in instalments, an order directing said payment/recovery cannot be regarded as 'revisional order' so as to require prior notice
Monday, 14 April 2014
Additional depreciation allowable on machinery installed for purpose of manufacturing milk powder
IT : Where a distinct commodity, i.e., milk powder, was emerging from entire complex process and it could not be restored to original product (Milk), plant and machinery installed by assessee for purpose of manufacturing milk powder had to be allowed benefit of additional depreciation
Application for settlement rejected as assessment proceedings before AO had expired with efflux of t
IT: Application for settlement was rightly rejected, where on date of filing application before Settlement Commission there were no assessment proceedings pending with Assessing Officer as same had expired by efflux of time
Input tax credit is available for goods destroyed in floods but only to extent of deficit in insuran
CST & VAT : Goods destroyed by flood are eligible for input tax credit; however, if such dealer is compensated by Insurance Company with respect to loss sustained, to that extent assessee shall not be entitled to input tax credit
No violation of FERA norms if appellant co. remitted salary to its employees deputed in India throug
CL: Where parent corporation seconded its employee to its branch office-appellant in India, it could not be concluded that expatriate employees of parent corporation were 'borrowed employees' of appellants and, therefore, question of appellants 'acquiring' or 'otherwise transferring' any foreign exchange as a result of parent corporation remitting funds to appellants for disbursal of salaries of employees seconded to them did not arise
Co. with odd events of restructuring to be excluded from comparable list as it impacts its profitabi
IT/ILT : Extraordinary events like merger and demerger have an effect on profitability of company in financial year in which such event takes place, and a company which is undergoing said events cannot be considered as comparable
Ministry hikes pay scale of chairpersons and members of IRDA with retro effect from January 1, 2011
INSURANCE/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : IRDA (Salary and Allowance Payable to and Other Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Other Members) Amendment Rules, 2014 - Amendment in Rule 3
Wheat Prices Jump As Ukraine-Russia Tensions Mount
Wheat prices soared 4% as fresh tensions in Ukraine compounded concerns over dryness holding back the US winter crop.Monday had been awaited with some anticipation by investors as it will bring, after the close of Chicago trading, the release of the first US Department of Agriculture assessment on progress of US corn planting, which has been slowed by cold and wet weather in the Midwest, particularly in eastern parts.
But the data event was overshadowed in early deals by the revival of concerns over the Ukraine crisis, after a deadline set by Kiev for pro-Russian activists to leave government buildings they are occupying in eastern Ukraine expired at 07:00 UK time (01:00 Chicago time).
Kiev has threatened military action if the protestors failed to leave. However, Russia, which has a mass of troops in the east Ukraine border, has urged Kiev not to use force.
With the assistant UN secretary general warning that Ukraine "teeters on the brink", the impact on grain markets, and in particular wheat, was predictable.
The Black Sea region is a huge source of wheat exports, with Ukraine the third-ranked corn exporter too, and there are concerns that the turmoil could affect production this year, as farmers are starved of credit, besides the threat of logistical hiccups and export curbs.
'Financial market risk aversion'
At Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Luke Mathews said: "This comes after Ukrainian security forces battled pro-Russian gunmen in the eastern Ukrainian town of Slovyansk over recent days.
"An escalation of the violence, and/or the implementation of more severe sanctions on Russia, has the potential to trigger a bout of financial market risk aversion.
Agritel, the Paris-based consultancy with a Ukraine office, said: "This week, markets should be focused on Ukraine.
"Tensions remain strong, which creates new worries about shipping concerns and 2014 crop production."
'Declining crop ratings'
At Phillip Futures, Vanessa Tan said: "Renewed tensions between Russia and Ukraine sparked off another round of concerns regarding wheat output in Ukraine.
"Furthermore, forecasts were released, reflecting possible further cold weather conditions in the US Plains", where drought has hurt the health of winter wheat seedlings.
"This would further worsen the conditions of the winter wheat crop which has already been experiencing declining crop ratings."
'Spotty damage'
The USDA will release its latest winter wheat condition rating later today, with the corn planting progress figure.
But weather has not been too favourable. While there was rain over the weekend in some southern Plains areas that need it, "amounts were 0.10-0.50 inches", said weather service MDA, hardly a soaking.
It was cold too, with "snow amounts in western Nebraska, and Colorado 1-4 inches".
And there is more to come.
MDA noted that "cold temperatures tomorrow and Tuesday morning may result in some spotty damage to late-jointing or early-heading wheat in southwest Kansas, western Oklahoma and west Texas".
And as for precipitation prospects, the six-to-10 day outlook "is drier versus Friday's outlook", the US-based weather service said.
Prices soar
As an extra prop for prices, Taiwan purchased 92,550 tonnes of US wheat, in another sign of demand in the market after Egypt's 230,000-tonne order on Friday.
Indeed, Egypt's purchase is looking well-timed but, in being purchased solely from the Black Sea region, including Ukraine for the first time in three months, not entirely risk free.
Wheat for May stood up 3.6% at $6.77 a bushel in Chicago as of 09:45 UK time (03:45 Chicago time), having touched $6.89 ½ a bushel earlier.
Kansas City hard red winter wheat for May was up 2.7% at $7.39 ¼ a bushel.
'Planting progress is key'
Corn gained too, although less so, standing 1.0% higher at $5.03 ¼ a bushel for May, with attention more focused on the USDA planting progress data due later.
"Weather and corn planting progress is key," US Commodities said, quoting expectations that the data will show 4% of corn has been planted, compared with about 5% typically by now, although another survey quotes a figure of just under 3%, compared with an average of 7%.
Whatever, the outlook was hardly mega positive for farmers, with MDA noting that "scattered showers and cool temperatures will stall fieldwork this week" in the Midwest.
"Rain and snow showers, mostly rain, will favour southern and eastern crop areas this week," of up to 1.25 inches of rain and 3 inches of snow, MDA said.
In the Corn Belt, it is in the western areas, not the eastern ones, which actually need rain.
New crop December corn added 0.8% to $5.03 a bushel.
Soybeans vs corn
That was enough to make ground over new crop November soybeans, which added just 0.3% to $12.16 ¼ a bushel.
That reduced the soybean: corn ratio, viewed as a key indicator of which crop farmers will lean to in spring sowings programmes, to below 2.42:1, if a figure still in the oilseed's favour.
(The neutral ratio is generally reckoned at about 2.0-2.25:1, depending on who you speak to.)
Benson Quinn Commodities noted, on the demand side that while "the western [US] processor is said to have extended ownership this week on uptick in producer selling with Wednesday's contract rally highs, the eastern processor remains a firm bidder on tight pipelines".
Of course, the market remains overshadowed by the concerns over Chinese defaults on import orders.
But at least palm oil, another oilseed of which China is also a big buyer, eased some concerns in rising 1.2% to 2,647 ringgit a tonne in Kuala Lumpur, helped by improved Malaysian exports for the first 10 days of the month.
Brazil rains
Among soft commodities, arabica coffee suffered a little more profit-taking, shedding 0.6% to 200.10 cents a pound in New York for May delivery and by the same to 202.30 cents a pound for July, encouraged by the prospect of rains for Brazil's main coffee-producing state, Minas Gerais, where drought has badly hurt trees.
This week a band of rain will bring precipitation of 1-2.5 inches to areas including the southern third of Minas Gerais, WxRisk.com said.
It will then move this weekend into northern Minas Gerais, although "the data clearly shows these rains weakening significantly", the weather service said.
'Catastrophically tight'
New York cotton gained 0.8% for July to 91.19 cents a pound despite the threat to world economic prospects from the Ukraine crisis, besides soft recent economic data from China, the top producer, importer and consumer of the fibre.
"Cotton markets remain susceptible to any further bearish economic news emanating from China or the eurozone, or any risk aversion caused by Black Sea tensions," CBA's Luke Mathews said, adding that "record Indian cotton production and strong exports will maintain pressure on global values.
"Nonetheless, US cotton futures should continue to draw some support from the catastrophically tight US cotton balance sheet."
The USDA last week cut its estimate for domestic year-end stocks to a 23-year low of 2.5m bales.
Source:- agrimoney.com
The Future Of Electric Cars In India
Since the last few years, the use of Electric vehicles as a successful transport option is catching up very fast with our times, and we hear from the automobile industry that we are almost there. The battery is now thoroughly tested and completely reliable. Governments are now seeing the huge benefits of moving away from oil. The automobile industry is realizing that the future of vehicles lies in the electronic vehicles and it’s time for the combustion engine to take a backseat. People want to buy vehicles that do not burn a hole in their pocket, for which the Government must introduce incentives that encourage people to buy electric vehicles.
The dependence on the fuel powered internal combustion engine, that run on diesel and petrol has raised serious environmental concerns. Developing countries need to import their oil from other nations which exposes consumers to volatile fuel prices. India has been seriously thinking about the ‘going electric” option. In January, this year the ministry of heavy industries unveiled the Draft Action Plan for Electric Mobility 2020 that aims to have almost 7 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020. To meet this vision the Government will have to proactively participate in the development of the EV ecosystem.
The internal combustion has been around for more than hundred years now and incumbent automobile producers face a gargantuan challenge of adapting to this all new engineering transition. It offers automobile manufacturers a great opportunity to develop power train technologies and usher in a brand new era in the industry.
There are 3 types of vehicles powered by electricity: electric vehicles (EV), the hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), and plug-in-electric vehicles (PHEV). According to a US department of energy estimate, all these 3 vehicles are capable of thwarting foreign petroleum usage and cost less to refuel per mile than combustion engine vehicles.
Electric Vehicles are propelled by a battery powered motor. The battery is charged by plugging the vehicle into the electric grid. This can be done either at home or a public charging station. HEV’s are powered by an internal combustion engine and also carry electric power in the battery. The battery is charged through regenerative braking and the combustion engine. The battery absorbs energy that is lost during braking and uses the electric motor as its generator. PHEV’s (Plug in electric vehicles) are powered by conventional fuels; diesel or petrol as well as the electric power stored in the battery. The battery is charged by plugging into an electricity source. The battery can also be charged by the internal combustion engine or regenerative braking. Since PHEV’s run both on fuel and electricity, they may be preferable for driving long distances, in case a charging station may be hard to find.
PHEVs and EVs have a downside story too. They are expensive to manufacture as their technology is new and they possess two engines, of which only one is used to power the wheels. Globally, light duty HEV, PHEV, and EV models are becoming available a number of automobile makers, with newer models expected to be release in the near future. One EV car is the Nissan Leaf, which needs to be recharged to keep it. Chevrolet is soon launching Volt, which is a PHEV. This car will cost close to $33,000 in the US, which is around $8,200 more than the Nissan Leaf. The Volt is much costlier, but gives a 340 miles range compared to the Nissan Leaf.
According to a recent study, an average Indian household drives around 19300 km per year. That’s about 1,600 km per month. This converts to about 402 km per week and close to 64 km per day. Once this distance is covered, the Volt’s battery level drops under 30 per cent, then the internal combustion engine (ICE) pushes it’s power on board to the car. That adds approximately another 480 kms to the car’s range, in case one wants to use the Volt for more than just commuting to work and back. Industry experts say that in future, the internal combustion engines onboard PHEVs may become more efficient, smaller in size and use other alternative eco safe fuel.
The advantages of EV’s seem to outweigh its disadvantages. The advantages are energy efficiency, environment friendliness, performance benefits (quiet, smooth operation and stronger acceleration), reduction of energy dependence as electricity is a domestic energy source.
Some of disadvantages EVs face is its driving range. (EVs can only go about 150–250 kms before recharging—gasoline vehicles can go over 400 kms before refuelling.), longer recharge time, battery cost and the heavy weight of the battery.
Currently research is on to improve battery technologies and increase driving range and decrease recharging time, weight, and cost. These will be the deciding factors of the future of electric vehicles on our roads.
Experts say that future of transportation in India has to be in electric mobility, the sales of electric cars in the US and countries of the European Union are steadily increasing. There is a lot of talk about the possibility of producing bio-fuels but such fuels can never replace diesel and petrol, though it is said that bio-fuels produce less carbon, they release a good amount of nitrous oxide that is more harmful than carbon, not to mention the large area of land required to produce bio-fuels, which makes it a completely unviable option.
Though advocates of bio-fuel talk about making use of wastelands, they tend to forget that only 35 percent of the 60 million hectares of wastelands is cultivable, and even this land does not produce enough yield that may make it a good option for investment; but at the same time India has great potential to produce electricity.
The future of electric vehicles in India does not look very bright at the moment. Though the Government has set up the NEMMP (National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020), there needs to be much more awareness about EV’s. Mahendra Reva, a modestly priced electric car has not been able to catch the fancy of consumers. The introduction of Government incentives may change the picture slightly. Consumers need to learn about the various benefits of owning an electric vehicle.
A few years back, at the launch of Mahindra’s Rewa the company showcased certain technologies that could make our lives more energy efficient. One such technology is Quick2Charge, a petrol pump format for charging an electric vehicle (EV). If large oil corporations would adopt this, it would allow an EV-owner to charge his or her car for 15-minutes to go at least 25 km. This makes for a lot of waiting time but at the same time one can save up to Rs. 60,000/- in fuel costs. This certainly makes the wait at the charging station worthwhile.
The Government also needs to work on developing a national strategy to facilitate more charging stations. With fuel prices soaring to an all time high, it is high time that we embrace a technology that is affordable, creates no pollution and safeguards the environment for our future generations.
Source:- theindianrepublic.com
Uganda, With Uranium, Oil And Gas, Seeks India's Help
Uganda, sitting on a "pile of uranium", is seeking India's knowhow to develop its reserves and open up new vistas of energy cooperation between historically linked countries, a visiting Ugandan minister has said.
Ephraim Kwamuntu, Ugandan minister of water and environment, said his country was keen on mutually beneficial cooperation with India to develop energy resources.
"Uganda is sitting on a pile of uranium, for instance, and Indian knowhow would be very useful in accessing this," Kwamuntu said in an interview. "We have uranium, oil and gas. Here, India with its knowhow and expertise can help," he added.
Explaining that Uganda had to increase manifold its energy generation capacity to achieve the status of a middle-income country, Kwamuntu said India had a lot to offer in this regard.
"The sun is directly overhead in equatorial Africa, yet in Uganda only 14 percent of the population has access to electricity. The remaining 86 percent go to bed with sunset. What would you expect about this population," the minister asked rhetorically.
Uganda has been in talks with India about accessing its uranium reserves and for India training its engineers in this area. Uganda's planning minister had earlier led a business delegation to India that held talks with the Confederation of Indian Industry on developing Uganda's uranium sector, among others.
With nuclear energy becoming an important source in India's potential energy mix, and with its own comparatively modest reserves, India has been discussing uranium purchase from various African countries.
On the other hand, with Africa emerging as an important supplier of uranium, many countries of the continent have shown interest in doing business with India. These include South Africa, the only African member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Namibia, which produced 4,000 tonnes of uranium in 2012. India has signed a uranium agreement with Namibia as well as a protocol in 2011 for supplying the mineral.
Other uranium-rich African countries keen to cooperate with India include Tanzania, Malawi, Mali and Niger.
Kwamuntu explained that there was both the experience and the technology aspects to cooperation with India, whose technology "is more applicable to our situation than the advanced technology of the Americans".
"We have a lot to learn from India, which is now almost a superpower. But we know where it has come from. It has come from where we are. So we can learn from your experiences about how you transformed a country that was also once food insecure," the minister told reporters.
The use of English and similar legal systems were some of the other commonalities which facilitated cooperation, he pointed out.
"A number of our students come down here to study. Many Ugandans who have gone onto leadereship roles have trained in India. Prime ministers, ministers, permanent secretaries - the whole lot have been students who studied here (India)," Kwamuntu said.
Pointing out that Uganda's relations with India go beyond mere trade to historical and cultural links, building on which Ugandan Indian have established themselves in every sector of the economy.
"In the history of Uganda, industrial development started when the British (colonists) imported a lot of Indians to come construct a railway line from Mombasa port on the Indian Ocean, inland. When the railways completed, the Indians never went back and went on to become the pillars of industry in our country," Kwamuntu said.
"Madhvanis are an Indian company huge in manufacturing and sugar. There are a whole range of Patels with a number of investments. There are also a lot of Ismailis (followers of the Aga Khan)," the minister said of Indian-origin people who play a major role in Uganda's economy.
Source:- smetimes.in
Gold Stocks Regain Their Shine
Gold stocks are back in vogue, with miners of the precious metal rising 25 per cent more than the ASX’s biggest companies this year.
But doubts linger about how much further the rally can go.Gold prices hit a three-week high, rising 0.6 per cent to $US1328.30 an ounce, on Monday amid increased fears about tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
So far gold prices have bounced about 10 per cent this year compared with the S&P/ASX 200 Index rising 1.4 per cent.
ANZ head of commodity research Mark Pervan attributed much of the gains to a steep sell off among gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which sold about 30 per cent of their holdings late last year as US bond yields hit 2 1/2 year highs.
''So gold prices come off about 25 per cent last year,'' Mr Pervan said. ''But that's completely unwound now. We have seen a fair bit of momentum taken out of the US bond markets.''
Bond markets rallied amid increased speculation US would soon raise interest rates as the Federal Reserve hit full throttle on tapering it's asset buying program. But all has not gone to plan this year, with a wave of poor US economic data and the Fed suggesting it might not be as eager to trim its stimulus.
However, while the gold price has bounced thanks to ''opportunistic buying'' from India and China, Mr Pervan said ETF holdings ''haven't really taken off''.
Instead, he said the has been a swing back into equities, after ETFs knocked the momentum out of the gold equity markets for much of the past decade.
''With the volatility around ETF value ... or holdings last year probably has caused investors to re-weight a little bit more into equities.''
UBS commodity analyst Daniel Morgan agreed, and said the rise in ETFs over the past decade had diminished investor appetite for gold equities.
''Since that time I think there has been a spotlight on the other risks of owning a gold equity. You have got the production risk, the geological risk, you might have the sovereign risk depending on where your deposit is. All sorts of other risks other than the gold price. And the gold equity premium that people used to talk about a couple of years ago seems to have been eroded,'' Mr Morgan said.
But the pair differed on how much more gold could bounce. Mr Morgan said UBS's target was an average price of $US1300 an ounce this year, falling to $1200 in 2015.
However, Mr Pervan said ANZ was ''reasonably optimistic'' that gold could add another $US100 an ounce to finish the year about $1450.
But he said that forecast hinged on the strength of the US recovery.
''The market is pretty fickle when it comes to US interest rate outlook. It only needs one or two months of good US data and everyone is talking that interest rates are on the way up again.''
But he expected concerns about's China's economy to ease in the second half of the year, which would support commodity prices.
Mr Pervan said while Chinese authorities have been cautious in stimulating their economy, he expected some kind of program.
''The Chinese story is a little bit glass half empty. The market is concerned about the way they are tackling shadow banking and growth targets.
''But China has still got a massive amount of activity to do. This is probably just a road block at the moment that they are dealing with, and then they will get back on to the train and away it goes again.
''I'd be careful not to do discount the China story, that's for sure.''
Newcrest, Australia's biggest gold producer, was trading 0.3 per cent higher to $10.78 on Monday afternoon. Meanwhile Medusa had firmed 0.8 per cent to $1.95 and Resolute had gained 1.6 per cent to 62¢.
Source:- smh.com.au
Contributions made towards benevolent fund created for benefit of employees allowable as deduction
IT: Contribution made by assessee/employer towards benevolent fund created in favour of employee is entitled to deduction under section 40A(9)
Assessee was liable to VAT on sale of goods instead of job worker manufacturing goods under assessee
Sales Tax: Where assessee was holder of brand name 'Cryptm' and it had permitted a manufacturer viz. 'B' to use its brand name and further 'B' manufactured confectioneries in above brand name and supplied same to assessee, who effected sale of confectioneries, assessee was liable to pay tax under section 5(2) of Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 on sale of confectioneries
India Readies Iron Ore Re-Entry
Iron ore exports from India are likely to exceed 25 million tonnes in 2014-15, a growth of over 60% compared to last year. In 2013-14, iron ore exports clocked 15.13 million tonnes, a decline of 19% over the previous year.
The growth in exports this year would mainly come from Goa, where the Supreme Court has allowed auction of around 15 million tonnes.
The Apex Court is also expected to pave way for resumption of mining in the current year. The Court is set to pass an order on the recommendation of CEC for a cap of 20 million tonnes production per annum on April 15.
In 2014-15, the projected growth in exports is mainly due to the movement starting from Goa. If the total 15 million tonnes of iron ore is sold and evacuated from Goa, then India’s exports could go up by at least 15 million tonnes by the end of the current fiscal to take the tally to 30 million tonnes.
“On the contrary the delay in the auctions and the upcoming monsoon season is likely to delay the exports from Goa. Also, the restricted movement of iron ore from Odisha to Vizagwould be another hurdle in increasing the exports this year,” said Prakash Duvvuri, head of research, OreTeam Research.
However, exports of low-grade iron ore from Goa might be affected if the Chinese government strictly enforces its recent environment legislation that prevents usage of low grade iron ore in steel making. According to experts, the high silica and alumina content in iron ore requires steel mills to use excess coal and energy for conversion into steel. So, the steel mills might avoid importing low-grade ore with Fe content below 46-48%.
“The new pollution control regulation from China will not be applicable to ore from Goa because traditionally Goan ore is above 48% Fe. Export of ore from other countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Iran to China might be affected because these countries export very low-grade iron ore,” Duvvuri said.
Glen Kalavampara, secretary, Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association said Goan exporters have been by and large exporting 50% and above grade ore. So, the Chinese regulations will not affect their chances. “We have exported below 46% in the past but not much. The exporters have entered into long-term supply contracts with Chinese mills and they may not be impacted much,” he said.
Source;- macrobusiness.com.au
Stamp Duty Collection Up But Fails To Meet Target
The state revenue department again failed to meet the target of Rs 5000 crore set for collection of stamp duty and registration of properties fee in the year 2013-14. Ironically, stamp duty collection actually went up in this period by Rs.324 crore but it fell short of the target by Rs 267 crore.
In 2013-14, the revenue department could collect Rs 4733.75 crore in contrast to its earnings from stamp duty in 2012-13 when it had collected just Rs 4409 crore. In both years, the target for stamp duty collection was Rs 5,000 crore.
In fact, 2013-14 is the third consecutive year in which the state government has not increased (from Rs 5000 crore) the target for stamp duty & registration fee collection while the targets for Value Added Tax (VAT) and other taxes have been increased substantially. The government has also decided not to increase the stamp duty & registration fee target in the financial year 2014-15 also.
In 2013-14, the state government earned the maximum - Rs 1190.74 crore - from stamp duty in Ahmedabad district, though the collections in the district declined substantially in comparison to Rs 1390 crore collected previous fiscal. The second highest stamp duty & registration fee collection in 2013-14 was from Surat (Rs.659.48 crore) while Vadodara was third (Rs 280.57 crore). Rajkot district was fourth with Rs 258.62 crore collection and Bhuj was fifth with Rs.91.26 crore collection. Collections in Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara in 2013-14 have risen slightly compared to the previous fiscal. The lowest collection was registered in Dangs district which could collect only Rs 0.17 crore.
According to official figures for stamp duty and property registration fee collected, the size of the state's real estate industry has touched the Rs 80,220 crore against Rs 76,271 crore in 2012-13. This does not reflect under-valued property transactions undertaken for evasion of stamp duty and other taxes.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Unpaid taxes of Private Co. could not be recovered from its director if he wasn't grossly negligent
IT: Where assessee was a director of a private company and Assessing Officer to recover unpaid tax dues of company proceeded against assessee and passed an order under section 179(1) upon him, since it was established from materials on record that there was no gross neglect, misfeasance or breach of duty on part of assessee in relation to affairs of company, impugned order passed under section 179(1) was liable to be quashed
No work contract if sizeable construction was done by builder from his own funds and meager sum was
CST & VAT : Where assessee-builder had done substantial construction from his own funds on his own land and amount deposited by prospective buyers as earnest money was not substantial, such construction could not be regarded as 'work contract'
Petrol Price Cut Likely This Week As Rupee Appreciates Against Dollar
State-run oil marketing companies are likely to cut petrol prices by less than Re 1 a litre this week as appreciation in the value of rupee against the dollar has made imports cheaper. This will follow a 75 paise reduction in petrol rates on April 1.
A senior executive at an oil marketing company said Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) can revise petrol rates as early as Tuesday.
"Average rupee appreciation is about 80 paise from the last price revision. International oil prices have also marginally softened. We are waiting for latest data, which are expected on Tuesday after that we will take a call," the executive said on condition of anonymity.
Executives at the three state-owned oil marketing companies said the quantum of price cut could be estimated around 60-75 paise based on available data of international oil prices and the rupee-dollar exchange rate.
According to oil ministry's data-keeper, Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), crude oil prices have softened about 46 paise and the rupee appreciated by 83 paise against the dollar compared with the last pricing cycle a fortnight ago.
"So far, we have data available up to April 10. But these averages could change in either direction after data for couple of more days are factored in," one PPAC official said.
The government has allowed IOC, BPCL and HPCL to align petrol prices with market rates, but they take tacit approval of the oil ministry before revising fuel prices.
The government still controls pump prices of diesel, a politically sensitive fuel, where companies are still losing revenue of about Rs 5.93 a litre. The oil ministry has recently suspended a Cabinet decision to raise diesel prices by 50 paise every month until its pump prices are aligned with international rates.
"We have approached the Election Commission to hold the monthly hike in diesel prices because the revenue loss on the fuel is below Rs 6 a litre. We are waiting for its reply," an oil ministry official said.
In its March 31 statement, IOC had said that it was not raising diesel rates as "the under-recovery on retail diesel is currently Rs 5.93 per litre, which is below Rs 6 per litre, the interim subsidy cap recommended by the expert group of Kirit Parikh. Hence, the issue of monthly price increase is under consideration of the government and the matter has been referred to the Election Commission. A decision regarding revision of diesel retail price shall, therefore, be taken on receipt of further advice by the government in this context."
Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com
ITAT rightly reduced sec. 80-IA relief as assessee failed to allocate certain expenditure, says HC
IT: Tribunal was right in reducing claimed deduction under section 80-IA, when assessee did not consider allocation of certain expenditure while computing deduction under section 80-IA
Tribunal turns-down request for waiver of pre-deposit as losses of appellant were insignificant to c
FERA : Where appellants had filed an application for exemption /waiver of pre-deposit of amount of penalty on ground that he had suffered losses due to confiscation of property, dispensation with pre-deposit of penalty was to be granted to such an extent so that no undue hardship caused on them
No disallowance for TDS default in payment made for V-SAT charges by stock broker to stock exchange
IT: Where there was no requirement for deducting TDS on payment of V-SAT charges paid to stock exchange, no disallowance under section 40(a)(ia) could be made
Revisionary application can be filed under sce. 264 even against sec. 143(1) intimation
IT : Where Assessing Officer processed under section 143(1) return of income filed by assessee and issued intimation accepting returned income and subsequently assessee having noticed two mistakes in above return filed a revision petition under section 264 before Commissioner seeking revision of order/intimation of Assessing Officer in relation to two mistakes, revision petition was maintainable before Commissioner
HC denies sec. 80-I relief as no positive income left after deduction of unabsorbed depreciation and
IT: Where after allowing depreciation, unabsorbed loss and unabsorbed depreciation, there was no positive income, assessee was not entitled to any deduction under sections 80HH & 80-I
Fees for excise license is to be paid as per the rate prevalent on date of consideration of applicat
Excise & Customs : Consideration of application for licence should be only with reference to rules/law (including fees payable) prevailing or in force on date of consideration of application by excise authorities and not as on date of application
Payment to sister concern couldn't be disallowed on whims of AO that it was unreasonable and excessi
IT: Where there was no material before Assessing Officer such as comparable rates etc. to come to conclusion that excessive payment was made to sister concern which warranted disallowance/ad hoc disallowance; deduction was to be allowed
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