Thursday, 18 December 2014
Sum paid without deduction of tax shall not be disallowed if payee files Form No. 15G/H belatedly
No income arises on allotment of shares at concessional rate till expiry of lock-in-period on such s
No TDS on reimbursement of exp. to holding-co. when tax was already deducted by it while making paym
HC nods to capital reduction scheme approved by majority shareholders as it wasn't prejudicial to cr
Tribunal can entertain applications for rectification of mistake under service tax laws as well, rul
Mere cryptic communication on denial of refund isn't an order; HC directs department to pass speakin
No reassessment after 4 years on basis of Apex Court's decision in absence of failure of assessee to
SEBI issues consolidated circular on web based compliant system 'SCORES'
ITAT deletes TP adjustment as TPO hadn't taken any comparable for benchmarking international transac
A person couldn't be considered as member of the Co. until his name was registered in register of me
Purchase of underperforming mutual fund at higher price by trustee of said fund was allowable as bus
Railways prescribes 30 days time limit for delivering service tax certificates on customer's request
CBEC revises alpha-numeric codes for Commissionerates; increases code-string to accommodate more ord
No sec. 69 addition on basis of DVO’s report in absence of any evidence of unexplained investment
AO to reconsider whether penalty could be imposed due to incomplete declaration form accompanied wit
Department can withhold VAT refund after hearing assessee and complying with conditions to withhold
Sec. 110A of Customs dealing with provisional release of seized goods isn't applicable for Central E
Interest received from debtors isn't excludible from profits of industrial unit to compute secs.80-I
No disallowance of interest under sec. 14A if borrowed funds were used in business and not for makin
Dri Unearths Rs 29,000 Cr Coal Import Scam
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has unearthed a scam involving companies inflating the value of coal imports from Indonesia for their power plants thus siphoning money abroad.
Initial estimates by the agency pegged the overvaluation at Rs 29,000 crore in the period 2011-2014. DRI has raided over 80 shipping companies, intermediaries and laboratories across the country including, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Kerala in search of documents that show the real value of the imports. Almost all laboratories testing coal in India have been searched by the DRI to obtain the lab reports for verification of the calorific value of the imported coal.
The overvaluation also has an impact on the tariff paid by consumers here as power companies could have a higher tariff fixation based on the inflated rates. DRI is also investigating some of the public sector companies that have indulged in overvaluation. The overvaluation of the imported coal has a direct effect on the tariff fixation. In other words, the power tariff would be less - possibly Re 1 per unit - if the value of imported coal value was not inflated.
An official said that almost every importer, including the reputed corporates, have indulged in overvaluation of coal imports. DRI is learnt to have recovered documents showing the real value of the imports. Indian companies including public sector ones imported 77 million tonnes of coal from Indonesia, in the financial year 2012-13.
Industry sources estimate that around 12 crore MT of coal has been imported from Indonesia in the year 2012-14. The sources added that the imported coal from Indonesia is overvalued to the extent of at least two times the actual value declared in the country of origin.
The modus operandi adopted by the companies is that while coal imports would directly be shipped from Indonesia, the invoices will be routed through an intermediary based either in Hong Kong, Singapore or Dubai. "The inflated amount will be sent to the intermediary who, in turn, would remit the actual value to the Indonesian supplier. The overvalued component would be diverted to tax havens,'' the source said. The intermediary is either related to the importer or handles such operations on commission basis, sources said.
DRI has found that the companies did not avail of the Preferential Trade Agreement that extended concessional duties for imports from Indonesia. Steam coal imported from Indonesia attracts zero rate of duty and the companies are required to produce country of origin certificate issued by the supplier. "The companies did not avail of this facility because in such a scenario, the companies would have to produce the certificate which would carry the real value,"' the source added.
Source:timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Scrapping 80:20 Gold Import Rule: When The Govt Prevailed Over Rbi
When restrictions on gold import were imposed in August 2013 by introducing the 80:20 rule, the decision was jointly taken by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA-II) government and the Reserve Bank of India. The rule essentially mandates traders to export 20% of their all gold imports.
“Taking into account all these representations and in consultation with the Government of India, it has been decided to issue the following clarifications/modifications in supersession of all the earlier instructions,” the RBI circular issued on August 14, 2013, had said. The decision was aimed to tackle the widening current account deficit amid a worst ever currency crisis since the balance of payment crisis of 1991.
In the last week of November, while announcing that the 80:20 principle was scrapped, the central bank distanced it from the decision and acted just as a messenger.
“It has been decided by the Government of India to withdraw the 20:80 scheme and restrictions placed on import of gold,” the November 28 notification from the RBI said.
Clearly, the central bank was not a party to the withdrawal decision, as the notification clearly said it was decided by the government of India, unlike the previous statement when the decision was taken in “consultation” with the government.
Various restrictions on gold import, apart from hiking import duty, resulted in imports dropping to nearly 70% during the second half of 2013 to about 90 tonnes per quarter as against an average of 225 tonnes in the previous eight quarters, according to a report by rating agency ICRA. The move also forced a few jewellers to scale down expansion plans.
Import of the yellow metal is once again rising which could be a matter of concern for the central bank.
Gold imports surged to 151.58 tonnes in November, an increase of 38% from 109.55 tonnes a month earlier, trade ministry data showed on Tuesday.
Data released on Monday showed gold imports surged in value terms in November to $5.61 billion, helping push the trade deficit to an 18-month high.
The demand for gold jewellery witnessed a spike in recent times after RBI allowed premier and star trading houses to import bullion under the 80:20 rule in May.
A sharp rise in gold imports and a fall in export growth has already pushed the country’s current account deficit (CAD) to $10.1 billion or 2.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) during July-September second quarter, as compared to $7.8 billion or 1.7% of GDP in the first quarter ended June. RBI may have seen what is coming and was therefore not willing to scrap the restrictions completely.
Some analysts have upped their CAD projections for the current financial year. Japanese broking firm Nomura for example, now sees CAD at 1.6% of GDP as compared to 1.3% projected earlier. RBI 's comfort zone for CAD is 2.5% of GDP.
Source:business-standard.com
Rupee Strengthens 37 Paise Against Dollar To 63.25 On Fed Cues
The Indian rupee, equities and bonds rallied on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said it is in no hurry to raise interest rates.
The rupee, which fell to a more than 13-month low on Wednesday, strengthened against the dollar following stock market cues, even as a broad-based dollar rally dragged down other Asian currencies. The cabinet clearing the goods and services tax (GST) Bill on Wednesday also boosted sentiment.
At 2.01pm, the Indian rupee was trading at 63.25 a dollar, up 0.59% from its previous close of 63.62. The local currency had opened at 63.36 a dollar. India’s benchmark equity index, S&P BSE Sensex, was trading at 27,102.62 points, up 1.47%.
Asian currencies were trading mixed against the dollar. The South Korean won weakened 0.68%, Taiwan dollar fell 0.34%, China renminbi was down 0.30%, and Singapore dollar slipped 0.22%. However, the Indonesian rupiah rose 0.83%, Malaysian ringgit was up 0.46% and Japanese yen strengthened 0.10%.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond stood at 7.924% compared with its Friday’s close of 7.971%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has weakened 2.3% against the dollar, while foreign institutional investors have bought $16.84 billion from local equity markets and $26.09 billion from the debt market.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 89.131, up 0.01% from its previous close of 89.13.
The cabinet cleared the Bill to ease implementation of GST that aims to unify India into a common market by replacing taxes imposed by states and the Centre. This clears the way for the introduction of the draft legislation in the winter session of parliament, where it needs two-thirds majority in both houses to be cleared.
Source:livemint.com