CA Terminal: 12/17/14

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Reassessment quashed as it was made merely on basis of suspicion as per info provided by Enforcement

IT: Where AO recorded that all cash collected against sales of tickets by agent of airlines were duly recorded, he could not reopen assessment merely on basis of information of Enforcement Directorate that source of cash was not substantiated

No rectification as taxability of NR's fee on services given to clients extending operations to Indi

IT/ILT : Issue of taxability of receipt in hands of non-resident for providing professional legal services to its clients whose operations extended to India, being debatable, not to be rectified

E-rickshaws imported in completely knocked down condition without battery don't require “type approv

Excise & Customs : E-rickshaws imported by assessee CKD condition and without battery and later, assembled in India, cannot be treated as 'new vehicle'; hence, there is no requirement of production of 'type approval' certificate from Auto Mobile Research Association of India or any other agency

Sec. 54EC deduction available even when part of consideration was invested in REC bonds prior to tra

IT : Even though prior to transfer of property, assessee invested part of consideration received on sale of property in REC bond, said amount would qualify for deduction under section 54EC

Dividend income was taxable as income from other sources when shares were held for trading purpose

IT: Where assessee-company was in business of purchase and sale of shares, dividend income from shares held as stock-in-trade, would be 'Income from other sources'

Contract for service and not nature of levy determines whether service provider or recipient would b

Service Tax : It is contract, and not nature of levy, which will determine which party, service provider or recipient, is liable to bear burden of service tax

ITAT directs TPO to make TP adjustment after examining variation in quantum/method of depreciation o

IT/ILT : Matter be remanded back to file of Transfer Pricing Officer for proper verification of claim of assessee regarding huge difference in amount of depreciation between assessee-company and chosen comparable case and also difference in method of providing of depreciation in said two companies

Disputes relating to oppression/mismanagement couldn’t be referred to for arbitration

CL: Disputes would not be referred to arbitration where subject matter of petition related to rights of members and relief in pursuance of statutory provisions as provided for in sections 397 to 403

No sec. 194C TDS on freight paid to transporters when assessee was acting as agent on behalf of his

IT: Where assessee made payment for carriage of goods on behalf of his principal, in absence of separate agreement between assessee and transporters, assessee would not be liable to deduct tax

CBDT lays guidelines for notifying semiconductor wafer fabrication units under Sec. 35AD

IT : Income-Tax (Fourteenth Amendment) Rules, 2014 – Insertion of Rule 11-OB and Form 3CS

Asia Rice Markets Subdued; India Prices Ease On Weak Rupee

Rice prices were little changed in Thailand and Vietnam as buying declined ahead of year-end holidays, traders said on Wednesday, while prices in India edged down after its rupee currency sank to a 13-month low.

"It's almost New Year so the market is quiet," a Bangkok-based trader said of trade in Thailand. "It is like this every year...the market tends to go quiet as companies close down."

The Indian rupee hit 13-month lows on Tuesday as markets in the region tumbled on fears over the health of the global economy. "Due to a slight drop in paddy prices and a weak rupee, exporters are reducing prices," said B V Krishna Rao, managing director of Pattabhi Agro Foods Pvt Ltd, a leading Indian exporter.

Indian 5 per cent broken rice was quoted at $390-$400 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) at Kakinada port, against around $405 FOB last week.

"Since Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan are quoting lower prices, Indian sellers have no choice but to follow them. Right now Indian exports are subdued, but from mid-January exports will pick up," Rao added.

The price of Thailand's benchmark 5 per cent broken rice has remained within the range of $410-$415 a tonne FOB since it first eased from $420 in mid-November. It was quoted at $413-$415 on Wednesday.

Thailand's government has about 17 million tonnes of rice in stockpiles and only a tenth of it is of standard export quality, according to the latest audit. The stocks were built up under the previous government's rice-buying scheme and has kept

pressure on the global market ..

In an effort to sell off those stockpiles, the government will sign an agreement to sell rice to China on Friday, Arkom Termpittayapaisith, deputy minister of transport, told reporters on Wednesday. Details of the deal have not

been made public. The government will also open a tender to sell 400,000 tonnes of rice on Monday.

Vietnam's rice market was also quiet due to the approaching holiday season with the 5 per cent broken grade quoted at $390-$395 FOB on Wednesday, against $390-$400 last Tuesday.

"No one trades much at the year end," said a Vietnamese trader for a foreign company, adding that Chinese buyers had used up their quota for imports allowed this year.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Notice issued by AO for making assessment without giving 30 days for production of books wasn’t vali

CST & VAT: Orissa VAT - Provisions contained in section 42(2) of Orissa VAT Act regarding audit assessment are mandatory provisions and where a notice is issued to dealer, Assessing Officer is bound to allow to him minimum thirty days time for production of account books and documents

HC allowed re-submission of 'C' form after allowing assessee to make necessary corrections in it

CST & VAT : Central Sales Tax : Where Assessing Authority had disallowed one 'C' form furnished by assessee on ground that it was not filled with complete details and returned same, assessee was allowed to resubmit said form after making necessary corrections

New Registration Norm Threatens To Stop Export Of Organic Textile Products

Export of apparels made from organic cotton may come to a halt if the Government does not extend the December 18 deadline for mandatory registration of these products with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

The Director General of Foreign Trade, through a public notice, had made it mandatory for any product exported as an organic to be certified under the National Program for Organic Production.

Currently, export of organic raw cotton is covered under the mandatory registration with NPOP. With the recent development, all finished organic textile products such as yarn, fabrics and garments will be covered under the registration process. However, exporters are no where near getting their products registered.

RK Dalmia, Chairman, Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, said the process of registration with APEDA and attempts to convince importers to accept the certification issued by the government body will require at least one more year.

Moreover, APEDA is yet to appoint accrediting agency to issue certificate for exporters.

At present, importers insist on Global Organic Textile Standard certification for organic textile shipped from India. The transaction cost for exports will go up substantially with the process to get two separate certificates, said Dalmia.

India is the largest producer and exporter of organic textile products followed by Turkey.

“Export realisation from organic textile products is about 10-15 per cent more compared to the convention textile exports,” said Dalmia. The industry expects organic textile exports to account for about 8-10 per cent of total textile exports this year.

Export target

The government has set textile export target of $45 billion this fiscal against $39 billion achieved last year. Textile exports touched $16.7 billion in first half of this fiscal. The Government recently removed the mandatory registration of cotton and yarn export with Directorate General of Foreign Trade make exports more competitive and reduce transaction costs.

Manikam Ramaswami, Chairman, Loyal Textile Mills, said while the intention of the government to reward the organic cotton growing farmers is welcome, it has to ensure that the industry is given enough time to adapt the new policy and necessary infrastructure is established to certify organic cotton.

He said there is a mismatch in the amount of organic cotton grown in the country and the quantity of organic textile that is being exported. Once the certification process is streamlined, both the farmers and textile industry will benefit in the long run, he said.

Source:thehindubusinessline.com

Reintroduce Interest Subvention Scheme To Help Small Exporters: Fieo

The government should reintroduce the Interest Subvention Scheme with effect from the next fiscal to help exporters, particularly the small enterprises engaged in exporting, said Federation of Indian Export Organisations ( FIEO) President M Rafeeque Ahmed.

In a press statement, the FIEO chief reiterated his demand for immediate reintroduction of Interest Subvention Scheme with effect from 1st of April, 2014 as interest burden is hitting the small exporters who are losing their export competitiveness saddled with high interest rates.

Reacting to the recently released export figures for October, he said that the positive growth of 7.3% in exports in the month coming on the heel of negative growth in October is very encouraging.

According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), exports in November increased by 7.27 percent at $25.96 billion than the level of $24.20 billion during November 2013. For the period of April-November 2014-15, exports grew by 5.02 percent at $215.75 billion from $205.36 billion.

Ahmed pointed out that many of the sectors which exhibited decline in October have posted good results in November including Gems & Jewellery, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, Engineering Goods, Cotton Yarn Fabrics and made-ups, Manmade Yarn & Fabrics, Coffee, Spices, and Carpets.

While healthy growth have been witnessed in Readymade Garments and Organic & Inorganic sector, our worry has been the Marine sector which showed a decline in November, added Ahmed.

" With little push in next four months, we would be able to achieve the export target of US$ 340 billion fixed for the current fiscal. The exports have already reached US$ 216 billion and with exports of US$ 31 billion each months, we would reach the target,". the FIEo chief said.

Source:smetimes.in

India's November Natural Rubber Imports Jump 19%

India's natural rubber imports in November jumped 19 per cent to 33,156 tonnes from a year earlier, the state-run Rubber Board said, as a drop in local output and lower prices in the world market prompted tyre makers to increase overseas purchases.

The country's production in the month fell by a quarter on year to 64,000 tonnes as some farmers skipped tapping after prices fell to their lowest level in five years.

India's natural rubber consumption in the month rose nearly 12 per cent on year to 85,000 tonnes, the Board said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Even in coming months we will see higher imports. Tyre companies have already signed import deals for shipments in next few months due to lower price in Thailand and Indonesia," said George Valy, president of the Indian Rubber Dealers' Federation.

The south Asian country imports natural rubber from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

With Cheaper Imports And Lesser Local Coal To Wheel Around, Railways Stares At Reduced Freight Earnings

A massive crash in imported coal prices to below $65 a tonne in December is on course to heavily damage Indian Railways’ earnings.

Prices of Indonesian coal are now lower than the same grade of domestic coal. As a result, imports of thermal coal, used mainly for power plants, which has risen a massive 17.5 per cent from April to November, is expected to shoot up even more.

The railway earnings from coal freight are the same as it gets from its entire passenger traffic business. So, as the price of Indonesian coal touched $64.65 (Rs 3,879) per tonne in December it has alarmed Rail Bhawan. A similar grade of Indian coal at the mines now costs Rs 4,340 per tonne. Indonesian coal accounts for 70 per cent of India’s import of the mineral and even accounting for shipping and insurance charges the rates are very competitive.

While the lower price of imported coal will help the economics of power plants that run on them lined along the Indian coasts, the Railways face a daunting problem. It expects to earn Rs 44,597 crore from coal freight traffic in 2014-15, just Rs 100 crore less than its total passenger traffic earnings of Rs 44,645 crore. In seven months till October the railways have earned Rs 25,516 crore or 57 per cent of the total.

This means even in the normal course over the next five months the Railways would have had to shore up its coal freight movement. But with the pressure from Indonesian coal, this will be an even bigger challenge.

A Crisil report pointed out that the pace of robust imports is likely to continue. “Core imports expanded for a seventh consecutive month in November. Prior to this, core imports had been falling consecutively since May 2012 (except a few months). Sustained growth in core imports in the past few months suggests that a nascent recovery in domestic demand may have begun”.

While an Aditya Birla Money Equity Research report also noted that “businesses which are energy intensive, would benefit from lower coal and diesel prices”, the forecast for railways is not cheerful. The report estimates that the downward trend for international coal prices are here to stay. The problem for the Railways is that the dip in overseas coal prices has happened despite initial expectations that prices would climb as India shuttered 214 mines, following the adverse Supreme Court verdict.

Former Coal India chairman Partha Bhattacharya, however, took an optimistic note on domestic coal movement. According to him, contracting a tonne of imported coal takes time unlike oil as the market is restricted and so the importers may not be able to take advantage of the soft prices.

Coal Consumers Association of India chief G Jayaraman said for inland consumers the cost advantage of soft international prices doesn’t work.

Source:financialexpress.com

CLB could admit application u/s 340 of CrPC initiating perjury action against respondent for filing

CL : Company Law Board (CLB) is not barred from entertaining an application filed under section 340 CrPC before it, for initiating prejury action against Respondent for having filed proceedings before that very Court based on forged and fabricated documents knowing same to be forged

India Imports 38 Pct More Iranian Oil In Jan-Nov -Trade

India imported about 38 percent more oil from Iran in the eleven months to November as an easing of Western sanctions earlier in the year over Tehran's disputed nuclear activities helped boost shipments, trade sources said.

Iran and six powers, the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany, will resume talks on Wednesday to resolve the 12-year dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, after earlier failing to strike a long-term deal by a self-imposed Nov. 24 deadline.

An eventual deal would remove sanctions on Tehran and likely lead to another jump in Iranian exports, further dragging on global oil prices that are mired near their lowest in more than five years amid a supply glut. [O/R]

India, Iran's top client after China, imported 250,600 barrels per day (bpd) crude last month, tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources show, a growth of 14 percent from a year ago and a decline of 19 percent from October.

Private refiner Essar Oil was the biggest buyer of Iranian oil in November followed by state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd. The two are India's only regular monthly importers of Iranian crude.

Arrivals from Iran over the first 11 months of the year stood at 270,100 bpd, up 37.7 percent on year. The growth in Iranian oil imports this year was also due to the low base in 2013, when shipments were hit over April to August due to insurance problems triggered by the sanctions.

In the first eight months of the current contract year beginning April, India shipped in 35 percent more oil from Iran from a year ago at about 174,000 bpd, the data showed.

India's overall imports for November totalled 3.86 million bpd, a growth of about 6.8 percent from a year ago, the data showed. India's total crude imports for the January-November period fell 2.3 percent.

Iran's share of Indian oil imports was about 7.1 percent in the first eleven months of the year, compared with 5 percent last year, the data showed.

Overall purchases from the Middle East declined by 7.7 percent over January-November, while oil imports from Africa and Latin America rose, the data also showed.

Source:in.reuters.com

No sec. 80P relief as society failed to fulfil objective of providing credit facilities for agricult

IT : Where assessees were engaged in primary objective of providing financial accommodation to its members for agricultural purposes, however they were doing banking business and provided only nominal amount of loan for agricultural purposes, same would not be liable for deduction under section 80P

Prior to 18-4-2006 commission paid to foreign agents wasn't liable to service tax under reverse char

Service Tax : Commission paid to foreign based agent for promotion of export of pharmaceutical products cannot be charged to service tax on reverse charge basis prior to introduction of section 66A from 18-4-2006

Claim made mistakenly under wrong provision doesn't lead to denial of genuine relief under sec.10A

IT: Deduction under section 10A cannot be denied merely because at time of filing of return, claim had mistakenly been made under section 10B

Rupee Slides To 63.88/Dollar Amid Global Turmoil

The rupee weakened towards 64 per dollar on Wednesday as it slipped to 63.88 against Tuesday's close of 63.53 in opening trade. The rupee last traded above the 64 per dollar mark in September 2013. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings expects the rupee to hover between 64 and 65 a dollar in the coming days.

The weakness in the rupee has come in the wake of a global turmoil in stocks and currencies. Global risk assets have come under pressure after Russia's sharp increase in interest rates reinforced concerns about the global economy at a time when oil prices are sliding.

Global concerns have led foreign investors to pull out money from equities, putting pressure on the rupee. On Tuesday, FIIs sold cash shares worth Rs 1,247 crore, extending their selling streak to a sixth consecutive session.

Analysts and policymakers are not overly worried about the weakness in the rupee because India's domestic fundamentals continue to be strong and the country is widely seen as sturdier in the face of any sell-off in emerging markets compared with last year.

Foreign investors have purchased a net $43.4 billion in shares and bonds this year, allowing India to outperform most emerging markets.

On Tuesday, Trade Secretary Rajeev Kher said he was not too concerned about the rupee's falls to around 63 to the dollar, while a central bank official told Reuters "it is still not an alarming situation".

"India is certainly less vulnerable to the current crisis as compared to other emerging Asian economies," said Samir Lodha, managing director at QuantArt Market Solutions, citing factors such as easing inflation.

Source:profit.ndtv.com

Revisionary order of CIT accepted with directions to modify it pursuant to decision of ITAT's specia

IT: Where Tribunal upheld exercise of revisional jurisdiction by Commissioner and sent matter back to him to modify his direction regarding computation of deduction under section 10A in light of certain precedents, Tribunal was not required to go into merit of case

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