IT : Where AOP consisted of a number of HUFs, appeal was to be filed by any of HUF as member of AOP or its Principal Officer, and not by any member of a HUF in his individual capacity
Monday 7 July 2014
Rule 18 doesn’t contemplate rebate on both inputs and finished goods, it provides for rebate on eith
Excise & Customs : Owing to use of word 'or' in Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002, rebate is not available on both inputs as well as finished goods, Rebate is available on either of two
Govt Hasn't Defined Hoarding, Traders Says
When does a 'regular stock' of vegetables turn into 'hoarding'? As the government cracks down on onion and potato 'hoarders', neither the Centre nor the Delhi government has fixed any limit on the quantity of these items that a trader can store without facing charges of hoarding.
The government is yet to define hoarding for any vegetable, including potatoes and onions, said Rajendra Sharma, former chairman of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee, Azadpur Mandi.
However, a senior government official said that now that onions and potatoes have been brought under the Essential Commodities Act, the government would fix limits on the size of stocks that vegetable traders can maintain.
Since these limits are yet to be declared, the purpose of the recent raids at more than 500 premises is not very clear. The government official said the raids were conducted to curb hoarding of items such as pulses. However, Rajendra Sharma alleged that the raids were conducted to mislead the public and show that the government was serious about controlling prices.
Sharma added that traders in the capital depend on daily supply of both the items. As these items cannot be stored for more than a week without keeping them in cold storage, hoarding is risky. If hoarding does take place, it is by traders close to areas where potato and onion is produced and by big farmers themselves who wait for an opportune time to sell the produce.
This was also proved in the recent raids when no hoarding of unreasonably large quantities of both items was found, Sharma added.
Traders at the Azadpur Mandi warned that imposition of ESMA on onions and potatoes could be counter productive. It might lead to further price rise, they said. If the limit on the amount that a trader is allowed to store is fixed low, traders would reduce the amount bought daily by them, in order to avoid ESMA will.
Traders argued that if the government wanted to control prices of potato and onion, it must prohibit exports of both items. India produced around 19 million tonnes (MT) of onions in 2013-14 as against 17 MT in 2012-13. Out of the 19 MT production, 1.5 MT were exported in 2013-14.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Investment to acquire controlling stake in a group co. and not to earn any income won’t attract sec.
IT : Where assessee made certain investment with an object of acquiring controlling stake in a group concern and not for earning any income out of investment, Assessing Officer was not justified in invoking provisions of section 14A, read with Rule 8D in order to disallow a part of incidental dividend income earned on said investment
India's Q1 Oilmeal Exports Fall By 31%
Oilmeal exports fell by 31% to 5.92 lakh tonnes during the April-June period of the current fiscal due to sharp decline in soyabean shipments to Iran, South Korea and other countries.
Export of oilmeal, used as animal feed, were 8.56 lakh tonnes in the same period of 2013-14.According to the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA), soyabean meal exports have declined sharply in the last two months due to poor supply of soybean coupled with high price led to total disparity in international market.
In June, soybean meal exports fell to 2,637 tonne, the lowest level, SEA said in a statement.As per SEA data, total soyabean exports fell to 1 lakh tonnes in the first quarter of 2014-15, as against 4.09 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.
Similarly, castor seed meal shipments fell to 1.61 lakh tonnes from 1.89 lakh tonnes and ricebran extraction declined to 10,111 tonnes from 30,410 tonnes in the review period.
However, the export of rapeseed meal rose to 3.20 lakh tonnes during April-June of this fiscal from 2.26 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, the data showed.
Oilmeal exports to Iran fell by 61% to 1.02 lakh tonnes in the first quarter of this fiscal, while shipments to South Korea declined marginally by 3.12% to 2.95 lakh tonnes in the same period.
The shipments to other countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia and Europe remained remained below 50,000 tonnes, SEA added.
Source:- business-standard.com
India Coal Imports Up By 12Pct In June 2014
According to provisional data from market operator mjunction, indicating weak prices continue to attract buyers even as a local shortage lingers, India's import of coal and coke rose 12% to 18.5 million tonnes in June from a year earlier.
Asia's third-largest economy is the world's No. 3 buyer of coal from countries like Indonesia, Australia and South Africa as power plants that burn the fuel raise generation to try and meet the electricity needs of the country's 1.2 billion people.
Mr Viresh Oberoi, chief executive of mjunction, said that "We also feel that imports would continue to rise in the immediate short term because of prevailing attractive prices and possibility of further softness in international prices, mainly due to the China factor and comparatively low demand from European utilities."
China, the world's largest coal buyer, imported 24.01 million tonnes of coal in May, down 11.4% from April, figures from the General Administration of Customs of China showed.
Prices of thermal coal, used in power generation, have fallen about 40% in the last three years due to abundant supplies in Australia and Indonesia and slowing demand in Europe and China.
According to mjunction, India's imports of thermal coal, used in power generation, rose 11% to 14.77 million tonnes in June, a JV of TATA Steel and Steel Authority of India Limited.
According to mjunction's figures based on monitoring of vessels' positions and data from shipping companies, shipments of steelmaking coking coal rose 5% to 2.93 million.
India's government does not release import data regularly.Mjunction said that apart from thermal and coking coal, the total import figure includes anthracite, coke a processed form of coal and other such varieties. June shipments were the highest in 2014.
Source:- steelguru.com
India Eu Mango Import Ban Hits Dhl
A ban on import of Indian mangoes by the European Union has affected shipment volume of the ‘king of fruits’ sent via DHL Mango Express. In May, shipments from India were suspended after consignments were found infested with fruit flies.
Media reports said that annually the UK alone imports around £6.3 million worth Indian mangoes, roughly 10 per cent of the total UK mango market worth £68 million.
Due to the ban, the company delivered only around 400 shipments to global customers this year as against about 1,200 in the last couple of years, according to Rs. Subramanian, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DHL Express.
Some companies gifted the 'king of fruit' to customers overseas, he said.DHL started the Mango Express service in 2004 as a hassle-free solution, including selecting the Devgadh Alphonso mangoes, getting phytosanitary certification, packaging, documentation, customs clearance and doorstep delivery.
Mangoes are chosen on the basis of transit and clearance time to ensure the fruits are ‘ripe-in-time’ when delivered. The mango gift packs are connected via the first available flight. DHL Express Easy shipments containing mangoes are sent with either one- or two-dozen mangoes.Charges vary from ?5,000 to ?7,500 a dozen. Mangoes came free to customers as part of Express Easy Mango service, he said.
Source:- freshplaza.com
Reserve Bank Of India Initiates Swap Of Old Gold With New One
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has undertaken an excercise to swap old gold in its reserves with a new one with a view to standardise the yellow metal stock.
The central bank has asked nominated banks to give quotes for swap with the objective to optimise the management of its reserves.
The nominated banks, including State Bank of India, would import gold on behalf of RBI and subsequently the metal would be swapped.
Under the scheme, RBI would exchange relatively impure gold, including some dating back pre-independence era from its Nagpur vault and get the equivalent worth of purer yellow metal.
According to sources, the operation would standardise the gold available with RBI to global standards and the gold acquired would be delivered to its overseas custodian, the Bank of England.
The entire exercise would take place through book entry and without any cash outgo, sources said.As of June 27, RBI had a gold reserve of worth $20.79 billion while total forex reserve $315.77 billion.
The central bank is likely to offload its old gold onto the local market through nominated banks, a bullion trader said, adding import of gold would come down to that extent.
At the time, this would help in increasing gold supply without putting pressure on current account deficit (CAD), which has come under stress due to rising crude oil prices due to conflict in Iraq.
In order to check rising CAD, the government had raised import duties and RBI imposed curbs on import of gold and also laid down various pre-conditions for inward shipments of the precious metal.
Gold imports declined 72 per cent to $2.19 billion in May due to restrictions imposed by the government on inbound shipments of the precious metal to narrow the CAD.
India's CAD, which is the excess of foreign exchange outflows over inflows, touched a historic high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13, mainly due to rising imports of petroleum products and gold.A high CAD puts pressure on the rupee, which in turn makes imports expensive and fuels inflation.
Source:- businesstoday.intoday.in
Steel Industry Demands Easing Of Duty On Scrap Imports
With Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari proposing to garner Rs 100,000 crore for the development of highways in two years, steel mills are expecting a revival in demand. The scrap import is likely to pick up as the country is not producing enough ore to meet the demand.
The steel sector is demanding easing of duty on scrap import.
Import had fallen last year. Fears of ore prices shooting up due to rising steel demand may not hold true as sources said rising scrap import will help check ore prices. The latter have declined by 28 per cent this year to trade at $96.5 a tonne for delivery in China.
A slowdown in infrastructure investment in two-three years hit the sector hard. The steel demand in India grew 0.6 per cent in 2013-14 despite an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of five per cent. The demand grows in 1.3 multiple of GDP. By that formula, the demand should have risen by 6.5 per cent.
In a recent statement, however, Gadkari and finance minister Arun Jaitley had hinted at measures to bring the manufacturing sector on the fast track.
Given ore mining continues to face hurdles, scrap is the only substitute, which India largely imports.
"In India, mills' excitement of owning raw material has come down. Rising import of scrap would keep ore prices under check," said T V Narendran, managing director, Tata Steel, in a recent interview with Business Standard.
India imported 4.6 million tonnes of scrap from China, Taiwan and Korea in 2013-14 compared to eight million tonnes the previous year. Despite a ban on ore mining, import of scrap plunged 42.5 per cent due to an overall slowdown in steel demand and, thereby, production in India. China has increased steel production capacity to 800 million tonnes adding 50-100 million tonnes annually for five-six years.
Data compiled by the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) showed India's finished steel consumption grew by 0.6 per cent to 74 million tonnes in 2013-14. India's iron ore production is estimated at 136.4 million tonnes in 2013-14 compared to 135.8 million tonnes in 2012-13.
"The slower-than-expected growth in steel demand can be attributed to lower demand from consumer sectors. But the future growth would depend on government measures in the coming Budget. With lots of free trade agreements signed with countries, scrap is imported at two per cent duty which needs to be increased at least to 10 per cent to bring the steel sector on track," said Neeraj Singhal, managing director, Bhushan Steel, one of the largest secondary steel manufacturers in India.
"Once investment in infrastructure projects starts coming, demand of raw material will also increase proportionately," said Amitabh Mudgal, president (marketing and corporate affairs), Monnet Ispat.Iron ore production in India is likely to grow 14 per cent to 155 million tonnes in 2014-15.
Source:- business-standard.com
Animal Rights Groups Say Production Is Cruel.
India has banned the import of foie gras, a government notice said, after animal rights activists complained that the method used to produce the duck liver delicacy was cruel.
“Import policy of the item ‘foie gras’... is revised from ‘free’ to ‘prohibited’,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in the notice on its website.
An Indian government official could not immediately say on Friday (July 4) how much of the gourmet food the country imported.
But animal rights groups said the delicacy was being increasingly promoted by upscale restaurants in the country.
"Fancy restaurants across India are pushing sales of foie gras on their menus – that’s why we were seeking the ban,” Animal Equality India spokeswoman Amruta Ubale told AFP.
Animal rights campaigners object to foie gras because it involves the forced feeding of birds to engorge their liver, a process activists say is painful for the creatures.
A number of countries such as Denmark, Finland and Germany have banned the production of foie gras, the rights group said.
Source:- thestar.com.my
No input service credit on services of erection, commissioning and construction provided in Staff Co
Cenvat Credit : Erection, commissioning and installation, man-power recruitment and civil construction, used in employees staff colony, canteen and residence of Executive Director are not eligible for input service credit
CCI denies petition against abuse of dominance as issue of family feud was represented as a competit
Competition Law : Where opposite party was not in dominant position in relevant market of provision of school education services and dispute raised by informant was family feud arising from use of words 'Shri Ram' in brand name of respective schools, no competition issue arose and no case was made out against OP
Transactions amongst Indian residents are outside the realm of ‘International Transactions’ under se
IT/ILT : Where both assessee and its AEs with whom it had undertaken transactions were residents in terms of Indian taxation, any transaction between them would not constitute international transaction
VAT leviable on actual consideration of railway sleepers without considering free materials supplied
CST & VAT : Where assessee was engaged in manufacture of mono block prestressed concrete sleepers as per drawings and specifications issued by railways and it was supplied free of cost fastenings, malleable cast iron inserts and HTS wire to be incorporated in concrete sleepers, sale price of sleepers for purpose of levy of tax under provisions of Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 was actual consideration that was received/receivable by assessee and it alone could be basis for levy of sa
Payment of privilege fee by alcohol distributor to State Government wasn’t allowable as business exp
IT: Payment of privilege fee made by assessee, a wholsale distributor of alcoholic products, to State Government in terms of section 23A of Excise Act, 1968, was merely an application of income and, thus, it could not be allowed as business expenditure under section 37(1)
Belated appeal due to Advocate’s laxity couldn’t be condoned as I-T officers were supposed to take f
IT : Appeal filed by revenue pending for non-removal of office objection ought to be followed up not only by Advocate for revenue but also by revenue officials in-charge of initiating litigation and therefore merely because revenue's Advocate owned up mistake or lapse, delay would not be condoned automatically as departmental official must also give explanation for not being in touch with Advocate and following matter in question
Price charged for any activity not ancillary to manufacture couldn’t be deemed as price for manufact
Excise & Customs : Any income from activity not incidental/ancillary to manufacture (either in form of interest on deposits, notional or real earned on deposit etc.) would not be price for manufacture
Sum incurred for transfer of customer and HR database from predecessor to successor co. is an allowa
IT : Where in pursuance of an agreement entered into between assessee and TATA IBM, a part of business being handled by erstwhile TATA IBM was handed over to assessee company due to bifurcation of software and hardware business, expenditure incurred by assessee on processing domestic customer database and transfer of human skills in terms of said agreement, was to be allowed as business expenditure
Director won’t pay taxes of Co. if its building destroyed in earthquake and insurance claim is under
IT: Where company in which assessee was a director could not pay tax dues as its hotel building got damaged in earthquake, in view of fact that insurance claim had been raised but same was not passed by insurance company and civil disputes were still pending, it could not be regarded as a case where director i.e. assessee, failed to take measures for protecting property or interest of company and, therfore, impugned order passed against assessee in terms of section 179 deserved to be quashed
Rule 18 doesn’t contemplate rebated on both inputs and finished goods, it provides for rebate on eit
Excise & Customs : Owing to use of word 'or' in Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002, rebate is not available on both inputs as well as finished goods, Rebate is available on either of two
No denial of sec. 10(23C) relief to educational institution if it included some general objects in i
IT: Trust carrying on educational activities, cannot be denied exemption under section 10(23C) merely because object clause also contains certain generalised objects
Winding-up plea admitted against respondent-co. as it failed to repay amount covered by dishonoured
CL : Where in terms of agreement, petitioner bank credited account of respondent company immediately by amount of cheques issued by third party after charging an agreed price, in view of fact that said cheques were subsequently dishonoured when being presented for encashment and respondent failed to make good sum covered by those cheques, a case for winding up was made out against respondent-company
HC remanded case to provide an opportunity to assessee to justify its claim of reduced rate of VAT o
CST & VAT: Where assessee claimed that during period 1-4-2005 to 30-3-2007 it had sold several used cars, which were purchased by it during this period, and relying upon Notification No. FD. 300. CSL.05, dated 24-10-2005 issued under section 4(3) of Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003 admitted tax liability on sale of used cars at reduced rate of 4 per cent and lower authorities denied benefit of reduced rate of tax, matter was remanded to Assessing Authority to once again examination
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