Excise & Customs : Fabricated items falling under Chapter Heading 73.08 of Excise Tariff, supplied to mega power projects are prima facie 'parts' of said projects falling under Heading 98.01 and are eligible for exemption
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
HC asks for afresh proceeding as ITAT simply allowed exp. in year of payment of TDS without consider
IT : Where without interpreting law, Tribunal, simply based on concession given by counsel, proceeded to opine that expenditure could be claimed in year of payment of TDS, matter was to be remanded
Services provided by common effluent treatment plant are exempt from service tax
Service Tax : Services provided by Club or Association in relation to common facilities set up for treatment and recycling effluent and solid waste, with financial assistance from Central & State Government, are exempt
No adjustment of excess payment of ST without intimation when amount of adjustment exceeded one lakh
Service Tax : Where assessee had made adjustment of excess service tax paid exceeding limit Rs. 1 lakh and further, no intimation was actually served on Department within 15 days' time, benefit of adjustment could not be allowed to assessee; but, penalties were waived in view of bona fide belief
Deputation of persons for exchange of Forex between licensed money changers isn’t in violation of FE
FERA : In case of exchange of foreign currency between two licenced full fledged money changers through persons deputed by them is not violative of FERA or Memorandum of FLM
No withholding taxes from freight paid to foreign shipping Co. or to its agent which was assessed un
IT/ILT: Where assessee claims that tax is not required to be deducted at source as payment of freight has been made to foreign shipping company, in such a case, assessee has to show that shipping companies to whom payments have been made are not only non-residents but also that they have been assessed under section 172
Steel Min Asks Finmin To Roll Back Duty Of Coking Coal Imports
The Steel and Mines Ministry has sought rollback of 2.5 per cent duty on coking coal imports, imposed in the last Budget, to unburden domestic steel makers.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Budget 2014-15 had imposed 2.5 per cent duty on coking coal imports, which the steel industry had said could lead to an increase in cost of steel production by Rs. 200 a tonne.
“We have written to the Finance Ministry urging to bring down the import duty to nil. However, we are yet to hear from the Finance Ministry,” a senior steel ministry official said.
“Coking coal is an essential raw material for the making of steel and our steel makers do not get them adequately from domestic sources. Hence, they have to import them from abroad. We believe the cost of raw material should always be lower,” he said.
Reacting to the Budget proposal, domestic steel makers had said that in view of the current shortage of domestic coal for both steel and power sector, increase in basic customs duty on coking coal “requires to be reconsidered”.
Indian steel makers mostly used imported coking coal for use in the blast furnace and the annual volume goes up beyond 35 million tonnes. This is due to subdued and stagnant supply from state-run Coal India Ltd.Production of one tonne of steel requires 0.8 tonnes of coking coal.
Source:- thehindu.com
India Says Not Considering Immediate Gold Import Duty Cut
The government is not considering an immediate gold import duty cut, Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters on Wednesday.
New Delhi had raised the import duty on the yellow metal last year to 10 percent to limit overseas purchases by the second-biggest bullion consumer and help trim its bloated current account deficit.However, a dramatic improvement in the deficit had raised market expectations of a duty cut.
Source:- in.reuters.com
High Agri Imports Under Govt Lens
Faced with a burgeoning trade deficit due to rising import, the ministry of commerce has identified nine agricultural commodities of which annual import constitutes more than $100 million each for action in this regard.
The commerce ministry initiative is following a directive from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).It has written to the respective sector councils and associations, seeking ways to reduce such imports. The nine commodities are vegetable oils, pulses, fresh fruits, cashew, sugar, alcoholic beverages, processed items, cocoa products and sesame seeds.
One such letter, addressed to the chairman of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) and industry bodies such as the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) and Indian Oilseeds Produce and Export Promotion Council, reads: "There is a directive from the Prime Minister's Office on institutionalising import appraisal and reducing import dependence. Department of commerce is required to prepare a policy paper containing strategy, goal, road map and outcome for reducing (such) unwarranted dependence. It has been decided that import items of a value more than $100 mn may be analysed in the first instance."
Edible oil leads the agri commodities' import basket with a 60 per cent share. Pulses (15 per cent), fresh fruits (10 per cent), cashew (six per cent) and sugar (three per cent) also contribute.
India's annual consumption of edible oil is estimated at 19.5 mn tonnes, of which around 60 per cent is met through import, largely from Indonesia and Malaysia. The dependence on imported pulses is 18 per cent of the total 20 mt of annual consumption. The import bill for edible oil was $7,250 mn in 2013-14 ($9,851 mn in 2012-13). Pulses worth $1,828 mn was imported in 2013-14, compared with $2,450 mn the previous year.
“To check import of vegetable oils, we should increase domestic production of oilseeds. At 1,000-1,100 kg per hectare (ha), oilseeds production is half of the global average. Since India’s strength lies in soybean and cotton seed, their production should be increased at least by 50 per cent in the next five years,” said Vijay Data, president of SEA.
It also recommends introduction of genetically modified oilseeds for cultivation.India is also a major importer of fresh fruits and juices to the tune of $1,273 mn (in 2013-14, versus $1,138 mn the previous year).
“The only way to contain import is to increase domestic production. Apart from focus on increasing productivity, we need to concentrate on reducing post-harvest loss and to increase cold storage capacity. Attempts made in the last two Plan periods have resulted in an increase in pulses production by three mt to 17 mt (yearly) now. That efforts need to be continued to make India self reliant in pulses in the next five-six years,” said Santosh Sarangi, chairman of Apeda.
For this, we needs to invest immensely on research and development. According to Bimal Kothari, vice-president of India Pulses and Grains Association, our average yeild of pulses is one of the lowest in the world.Abinash Verma, director-general of India Sugar Mills Association, wants import duties raised to stop a supply glut.
Source:- business-standard.com
Rupee Weakens To Near One-Month Low On Fed Worries
The rupee weakened to its lowest in nearly a month on Wednesday tracking falls in emerging markets due to worries the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates earlier than expected, although exporters' dollar sales capped broader falls.
Emerging markets tracked falls in Wall Street and a rise in U.S. bond yields after a San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank paper released on Monday showed investors underestimated the speed at which the Fed might raise interest rates.
That raised concerns the U.S. central bank could signal an earlier-than-expected rate hike at its next policy meeting on Sept. 16-17.
The partially convertible rupee traded at 60.8850/8950 per dollar, its weakest level since Aug. 14, at 12:50 p.m. The rupee had ended trade on Tuesday at 60.60/61.Traders expect the rupee to hold in a 60.70 to 61.00 to a dollar range in the rest of the session.
Source:- businesstoday.intoday.in
Service of notice even at wrong address deemed as valid service if it was received and acknowledged
Service Tax : If notices, orders, etc. addressed at wrong Plot No. are ultimately received and acknowledged by assessee, same are to be treated as validly served for purposes of section 37C of the Central Excise Act, 1944.
Advance to a screenplay writer for sale of rights of his film to be taxed in year in which he perfor
IT : Where assessee, a screenplay writer, received certain amount as advance for sale of negative rights of his film which was to be adjusted subsequently on signing formal agreement with purchaser, amount so received was to be considered as income of assessee in year in which he performed his part of work and not during relevant assessment year even if assessee was following cash system of accounting
Input tax credit of purchases made from first registered dealer and resold to another registered dea
CST & VAT : Where assessee, a registered dealer, in connection with its business had purchased plant and machinery from another registered dealer and subsequently it had resold said assets (entire undertaking) to a third registered dealer, assessee was entitled to input tax credit on purchases of assets
Income from leasing of equipment wasn’t income from house property if earlier it was taxed as busine
IT : Once department had assessed income from hiring of office equipments along with property as business income in preceding assessment year, then without anything being brought on record to deviate from said finding, revenue could not assess such hire charges as income from property
Municipalities are liable to ST on bus fee or advertisement revenue collected by them
Service Tax : Since amounts collected by municipality in name of bus fee or advertisements, etc. do not go in Government Treasury, but go to funds of Municipality, prima facie, they cannot be regarded as statutory activity and are not eligible for benefit of Circular No. 89/7/2006-ST dated 18-12-2006
Revised audit report filed after completion of assessment should be considered by CIT to allow sec.
IT: Even if revised audit report for purpose of claiming deduction under section 80-IB is filed after date of passing of assessment order, same should be taken into cognizance for examining allowability of deduction
Govt. notifies comprehensive DTAA with Bhutan
IT/ILT : Section 90 of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 - Double Taxation Agreement - Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Foreign Countries - Bhutan
Tribunal’s decision was rectifiable if it was based on presumed facts, says CESTAT
Excise & Customs : Where Tribunal, based on no records or findings, presumed erroneous facts which led to erroneous decision, then, since these facts are apparent on record, it should be rectified.
Comparables with high turnover, abnormal profits and high capital infrastructure to be excluded for
IT/ILT: Where TPO made certain addition to assessee's ALP in respect of providing customer support services to its AE, in view of fact that one of comparables selected by TPO was improper as it was earning abnormal profits on account of its huge turnover and high capital infrastructure, impugned addition was to be set aside
Extended period was not invokable if assessee had duly disclosed all details in ST-3 returns
Service Tax : Where demand is based on ST-3 returns i.e., all details were disclosed in periodical returns by assessee and figures indicated were not wrong, charge of suppression cannot be invoked and extended period cannot be invocable
‘Capital’ includes borrowed capital to compute limit on investment by trust in institute where trust
IT: Word 'capital' as appearing in section 13(4) includes not only share capital but even borrowed capital and, therefore, where investment made by assessee-trust in another institute in which trustees were directors, did not exceed 5 per cent of total capital of said Institute, assessee's claim for exemption of income could not be denied on account of violation of provisions of section 13(4)
Interior work of existing buildings isn't 'completion and finishing services'; eligible for abatemen
Service-tax : Completion and finishing services necessarily relate to new building or a civil structure; activities of repair, alteration, renovation or restoration of existing building cannot be classified as 'completion and finishing services' and benefit of abatement under Notification No. 1/2006-S.T. cannot be denied thereon
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