Service Tax : Supreme Court dismissed SLP against order of Andhra Pradesh High Court holding that in absence of any positive inclusion of 'chit fund' business under service tax law, service tax cannot be levied thereon merely by removal of 'exclusion of cash management' from Banking and Other Financial Services
Sunday 11 January 2015
Pendency of audit against service recipient couldn't be a ground to reject VCES declaration of asses
Service-tax : Where audit had been initiated at end of service recipient and on basis thereof, department asked assessee to pay service tax vide letter issued on or after 1-3-2013, same cannot be regarded as 'initiation of audit before 1-3-2013' against assessee; hence, assessee's declaration under VCES cannot be rejected
Pre revision notice issued after 6 years of completion of assessment was barred by limitation
CST & VAT: Tamil Nadu VAT - Where for assessment year 2000-01, Assessing Authority passed assessment order on 28-12-2001 and subsequently he issued on assessee a pre revision notice dated 8-1-2008 under section 16(1)(a) proposing to revise assessment for above year, pre revision notice was barred by limitation
Reassessment was justified if made on basis of high construction cost determined by valuation cell o
IT: Reopening of assessment on basis of valuation of godown constructed by assessee, by valuation cell could not be said to be without any basis
India Wants Its Officials During Usfda Inspections At Drug Units
Perturbed by Indian drug-makers frequently running into overseas regulatory problems, the government has requested the US health watchdog FDA to allow its officials during inspections of domestic pharma units.
While Indian pharma exports continue to grow and may touch $ 16.5 billion this year, many Indian pharmaceutical companies have faced regulatory action by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the recent past for alleged violation of 'good manufacturing practices' and other irregularities at the drug facilities in different parts of the country.
In many cases, these companies have been barred from selling their drugs in the US and other countries, although Indian firms account for a significant share of generic drug market in those places.
"US FDA's increased inspections and observations (under 483) also are troubling us. The Ministry of Commerce has taken up the issue seriously. Earlier practice was that whenever they are visiting any Indian site they used to inform us. Now they started coming without any notice.
PV Appaji, Director General Pharmexcil, (Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry also said that India pharma exports may touch $ 16.5 billion this year.
"Cultural differences and body language may sometime widen the gap (during FDA inspection). We are requesting them (FDA) to allow Indian regulators also to be present during the inspections," Appaji told PTI.
Indian pharma exports have come under tremendous pressure in the recent times owing to various import alerts issued by the USA drug regulator on some of the major pharma companies.
Describing India as a nation which is of "particularly important" to US food and drug trade, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg had earlier said inspections are routine part of the regulatory process and what happens in India is consistent with what happens in the US and throughout world.
A number of other Indian drug-makers, including RanbaxyBSE 0.22 %, Sun Pharma, IPCA Labs, WockhardtBSE 1.11 % and Dr Reddy's Laboratories were also pulled up by the FDA for one or the other reasons.
The FDA imposed a ban on import of medicines produced at Ranbaxy's India-based factories into the US, the world's biggest drug market. Later, certain drugs produced at its Dewas plant were barred from export to the entire EU region for non-compliance to 'good manufacturing practice norms.
Sun PharmaBSE 0.52 % also faced regulatory heat as the FDA put a ban on import of products made at its Karkhadi plant in Gujarat. Another pharma firm which ran into rough weather was Wockhardt, in whose US facility in Illinois, USFDA found many procedural lapses.
The US health regulator also found nine possible procedural deviations in a manufacturing plant of Dr Reddy's Laboratories during an inspection last year.
Ipca Laboratories' Ratlam unit was also found to be violating good manufacturing norms by USFDA investigators.
"Last year Indian pharma exports grew by 2 per cent. This year we are expecting the growth to be in the range of 8 to 10 per cent. The USA market recovered well," Appaji said on the export performance.
India's pharmaceutical exports During April-November 2014 has been to the tune of $ 10.2 billion with a growth of nearly 5 per cent over the corresponding period of 2013.
Two-thirds of exports are made to top 25 destinations and is valued at nearly $ 7 billion. Exports to USA stood at $ 2.9 billion for the April-November period against $ 2.5 billion during the same period last year, Appaji added.
Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com
Insecticides India Eyes 20% Turnover From Exports In 3 Yrs
Agro chemicals manufacturer Insecticides (India) Ltd expects 20 per cent of its turnover to come from exports in the next two to three years.
“We are starting an export wing. Exports may contribute 20 per cent to our total sales in the next two to three years”, said Rajesh Aggarwal, managing director, Insecticides (India) Ltd.
Insecticides and agro chemicals worth Rs 15,000 crore are exported from the country every years.The size of the domestic insecticide market is estimated at Rs 15,000 crore. Insecticides (India) with an annual turnover of Rs 900 crore has six per cent market share. By the end of 2014-15, the company is eyeing a turnover of Rs 1200 crore of which Odisha would contribute Rs 17 crore.The company has a share of eight per cent in Odisha’s insecticide market.
“We are working to expand our footprint in Odisha where our Navratna products are receiving good response, especially Lethal Super 505, Thimet, Indan Shark, Monocil and Nuvan which are very popular in the state. Going forward, we are aiming to generate a sizeable business from the Odisha market. Our newly launched products- Pulsor and Hakama will provide a fillip to our objective here”, Aggarwal said.
Insecticides (India) would soon launch its first bio-product Mycoraja in Odisha.“We are doing various awareness activities for the farmers in Odisha as well and closely work with them. We work in the direction of providing the value to the farmers and bring to them the best quality products within their reach”, said M K Singhal, general manager, Insecticides (India) Ltd.
Insecticides (India) Ltd has six manufacturing facilities- three in Rajasthan, two in Jammu & Kashmir and one in Gujarat. It has two R&D (research & development) centres in Rajasthan. It has a network of 4800 distributors and 60,000 dealers across the.
Source:- business-standard.com
India’S Coal Imports Surge 19Pct In 2014 - Mjuncction
According to online marketplace mjunction, India’s coal imports surged 19% last year to 210.55 million tonne on demand from power sector, but the ongoing coal industry strike is unlikely to cause a further spurt.
India had imported 176.97 million tonne of coal in 2013.Mr Viresh Oberoi CEO & MD of mjunction said that “Of the total imports during the year, steam coal stood at 162.96 million tonne, up 22% from 133.54 million tonne imported in 2013 whereas coking coal imports in 2014 rose to 37.06 million tonne, up 4.04% from 35.62 million tonne in 2013.”
Mr Oberoi said that “We do not see any spurt in import because of that, but import is likely to be slightly higher compared to December 2014 going by past trend.”
He said that there was also a sharp increase in imports of anthracite coal, pulverised coal (PCI), metallurgical coal and petroleum coke last year.
Source:- coal.steelguru.com
Farmers Oppose Duty-Free Imports From India
Farmers are up in arms again this time against increasing duty-free imports of agricultural commodities from India. Pakistan had opened the Wagha border for the import of 137 items way back in March 2012. This has now become a problem for domestic farmers.
Last year, vegetables and other small items worth Rs26bn were imported. This year, the first six months’ bill is Rs16bn. Pakistani farmers think, with a measure of justification, that Indian farmers are being facilitated at their cost, and have got together to resist the process.
Last week, almost every notable farmer’s body — Kissan Board Pakistan, Farmers Associates Pakistan, Kissan Ittehad, Awane Zaraat, Sindh Tas Water Council, Punjab Water Council — was part of a meeting that was called to discuss the issue. All these independent bodies with diverse views came together because the ‘issue on hand was common — concerning every farmer.’ In a subsequent press conference, these bodies demanded the withdrawal of the statutory notification, which allowed duty-free import of 137 items through Wagha border.
The main concerns of farmers are: firstly, they demand a level playing field for Pakistani and Indian farmers. Secondly, they think that SRO on duty-free imports was tantamount to informally granting India the status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) which implictly grants India transit trade facility, which Pakistan has been vowing to resist.
Local farmers claim that Indian agricultural subsidy is well over $100bn, while all farm inputs in Pakistan are taxed heavily. This creates uneven playing field. Successive governments in Pakistan have also resisted pressure from diplomatic and international financial institutions (IFI) to completely open the borders.
The farmers say that with 137 items allowed duty-free through Wagha border — the closest possible point to the India agriculture production base and Pakistan’s most populated areas — what else is left to grant to India?
The government opened borders in particular circumstances to facilitate a few items, which were in short supply in those days and were seeing local prices skyrocketing. Since crop harvesting is almost a quarterly phenomenon, sticking to one policy through statutory orders hardly makes sense. The farmers need to be heard on this point.
The farmers maintain that India had long been asking for transit trade facility, which Pakistan has been denying. Now Pakistan needs to look into the matter if this Wagha border facility, which was meant to keep prices of perishable items down in Pakistan, is being used to trade beyond Pakistan market. It may not be Indian traders but Pakistanis might be acting as the transit facilitator or Afghans might be purchasing from Pakistani market and taking the vegetables home and beyond. Otherwise, how could Pakistanis consumes Rs15bn worth tomatoes in a short season or Rs14bn beans in first six months of the current fiscal?
If farmers are collectively raising voice on this point, it merits investigation — how much is coming in, how much is consumed here and how much is going out, if any.
Such investigations are also necessary because pest would also be traded along with these perishables. The quarantine facilities on Pakistani side are almost non-existent at Wagha border. All these commodities are moving through the borders almost unchecked. Farmers from the border areas of Shakarghar, have been complaining pest attack on wheat crop for the last few years.
Source:- dawn.com
Export Obligation Period For Rubber Importers Reduced
The government has reduced the export obligation period for rubber importers to six months, a move which would help stabilising domestic prices.
"Export obligation period has been reduced to six months from the date of clearance of each consignment by customs authority, wherever natural rubber is allowed as an input under Advance Authorisation/DFIA schemes," Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
Earlier the period for meeting export obligation was 18 months.
The United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI) said that the government's decision would help stabilise sagging domestic prices.
A long time window makes the monitoring mechanism cumbersome and is not in line with the spirit of the import for re-export cause. All this had added to higher than required import and retention in the domestic market, it has said.
The persistent fall in the price of natural rubber has caused concern among rubber farmers in Kerala, which accounts for more than 94 per cent of the commodity's total production in the country. Rubber price, which ruled around Rs 220 per kg in January 2011, has touched a low of Rs 123 per kg in the domestic market.
The total area under rubber cultivation in Kerala is at 5.45 lakh hectares. It is the livelihood of as many as 11.50 lakh farmers with most of them small holders having less than 1.5 hectares under rubber. Total rubber production in Kerala for the year 2012-13 stood at 8 lakh tonne.
Last year India had imported over 3 lakh tonnes of rubber and this year, it is expected to touch about 4 lakh tonnes.
Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com
Simplify Process To Avail Duty Sops: Texprocil
The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council has urged the Government to reduce the quantum of value addition and simplify the process to avail duty concession under the Advance Licensing Scheme.
Urging the Government to cut the value addition to five per cent from 15 per cent, the Council said the need for high level of value addition is discouraging exporters from using the scheme.
Introduced in 1976 with an objective to provide exporters with basic inputs at competitive price, the scheme allows exporters to reclaim duty, if they manage to add value of 15 per cent to the imported raw material. Exporters usually provide bank guarantee worth the value of import duty and get to reclaim them once they export the finished product.
RK Dalmia, Chairman, Texprocil said the Central Board of Direct Taxes should issue a circular to ensure that the Customs department strictly adhere to the time frame of 30 days as stipulated in the Foreign Trade Policy to cancel the bank guarantee and legal undertaking after the export is completed after the value addition.
The Council has suggested that Customs should normally release the bank guarantee or legal undertaking based on the Export Obligation Discharge Certificate issued by the Regional offices of DGFT. The verification procedure of the Customs, if required, should be restricted only to confirm whether the shipping bills are genuine instead of re-opening the entire details of the shipment which happened months back, it said.
Currently, said Dalmia, exporters operating under the scheme face problems on claiming concession as it is becoming increasingly difficult to make the authorities understand that the imported raw material is used in the exported item and the quantum of value addition.
Source:- thehindubusinessline.com
If these issues are addressed, the Advance Authorization Scheme will go a long way to achieve “Ease of Doing Business” and make raw-materials available for manufacturers at a competitive price thereby supporting the ‘Make in India’ programme, said Dalmia.
ITAT quashed time-barred consequential assessment order passed by AO in pursuance of revisional orde
IT : Where pursuant to revisional order, Assessing Officer passed consequential assessment order after expiry of nine months from end of relevant year in which revisional order was passed, it was to be annulled being barred by limitation
No seizure of goods as department failed to show that goods were loaded at different location to eva
CST & VAT: UP VAT - Unless evidence was brought to show that goods were loaded at location different from location shown in documents in order to evade CST, seized goods were to be released without deposit of security amount
Sum received on account of carbon credit is a capital receipt
IT : Amount received on account of clean development mechanism (carbon credit) is capital in nature
Employees not participating in manufacturing process would be excludible to find out eligibility of
IT : Where in search it was disclosed that assessee-company advanced money to its sister concern but same was not shown in its balance sheet, said advance was to be treated as unexplained investment
Development agreement with society with an object of selling flats in its name wasn't service by bui
Service-tax : Where a builder : (a) forms society to buy land and finances said purchase by extending loan to society; (b) sells building units in name of society; and (c) recovers cost of construction and other charges, etc. from society leaving no profit/loss in hands of society; builder cannot be regarded as providing services to society
ITAT directs AO to adopt TNMM on royalty paid to AE by following order passed in earlier assessment
IT/ILT : Matter relating to determination of ALP of royalty paid by assessee to its AE for using technical know-how in manufacturing automatic front axle, was to be remanded back for determining ALP of said transaction by adopting TNMM
Commercial Tax dept wasn’t abusing its dominance as it couldn’t be held as an enterprise under Compe
Competition Act: Where conduct of OPs was relatable to collection of taxes, a sovereign function, same did not fall within purview of Act and OPs in discharge of such functions could not be said to constitute 'enterprise' within meaning of term as given in section 2(h)
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