Service Tax : Service tax paid on Cargo Handling Services used for export of goods is eligible for refund and same cannot be denied merely because assessee had claimed drawback of duty paid on inputs used in manufacture of export goods
Tuesday 27 January 2015
Doctrine of unjust enrichment doesn't apply to 'inter-unit' stock transfer of intermediate goods
Excise & Customs : In case of inter-unit 'stock transfer' (not sale) of intermediate goods, doctrine of unjust enrichment would not apply; hence, excess duty paid on such stock transfer can be claimed as refund by sender unit, provided recipient unit has not taken credit of such excess duty and has not claimed excess price
Industry Concerned Over Textile Policy Delay
Stakeholders have shown their concerns over the delay in approval of much awaited textile policy 2014-19, claiming that further delays may negatively affect the major export oriented sector of the country.
“The incompetent government is continuing to delay textile policy despite the lapse of more than eight months, reflecting lack of interest of the federal government in promoting the industry in the country,” said All Pakistan Textile Mills Association chairman S.M Tanveer during a joint press conference along with Group Leader APTMA Gohar Ejaz at the APTMA Punjab office in Lahore on Tuesday.
He said delay in announcement of textile policy 2014-19 further suggests that the present government is not different from the previous one, which had allocated Rs180 billion in Textile Policy 2009-14 whereas disbursed only Rs28 billion which is 15% lower of the allocation' he added.
He said both India and Bangladesh announced their textile policies and registered 2008-2013 a growth of 94% and 160% respectively in exports against merely 22% of Pakistan during 2009-14. The world textile exports also grew by 45% on an average during the same period, he said.
While dubbing the federal textile ministry as "toothless" and "failed" ministry, he said an undue delay in announcement of textile policy 2014-19 has already left Pakistan far behind against the region counterparts, he added.
He said today 30% of the industry capacity is non-operational, exports are stagnant and no new investment has taken place since 2006.
He lamented that the government had no focus on the growth of textile industry and the textile policy, therefore, has been delayed by almost last eight months.
According to him, the proposed textile policy for 2014-19 speaks about allocation of Rs60 billion, which is a drop in the ocean and government should enhance it to Rs200 billion at least.He said the goals set in the proposed textile policy 2014-19, double textile exports, $1 billion investment per annum, employment creation, raw material availability of both cotton and man-made fiber are not possible to meet with such a meagre allocation.
While putting forward proposals for much-awaited textile policy 2014-19, chairman APTMA has sought guaranteed uninterrupted electricity and gas supply, Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) for BMR and greenfield projects, cotton production target of 20 million bales, MMF availability on competitive price, new investment, incentives on domestic consumption of textiles and clothing and immediate liquidation of pending refunds of textile industry.
Group leader APTMA said the overloaded subsidies for textile industry in India has made Pakistan's textile industry uncompetitive. Pakistan's flagship textile industry is facing the fate of national hockey team due to inattentive attitude of the government.
According to Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), the businessman of the country is waiting for the relaxation to the textile sector due in new textile policy, so that losses of the sector could recover and it starts contributing to national exchequers but delays in the announcement of new policy was discouraging.
Stakeholders are expecting new schemes like complete settlement of all outstanding refund claims, rationalisation of refund regime, establishment of Exim Bank, duty free import of textile machinery and reduction in mark-up rate for export refinance, as announced by the government from time to time.
According to officials, around Rs 80 billion were earmarked in the federal budget for textile package; however, after a lapse of six months, these schemes could not be initiated.
Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) Chairman Sohail Pasha expressed concerns that the country has, according to him, failed to exploit GSP Plus status given by European Union to its full potential.
He said last textile policy, which expired on June 30, last year, failed to reach the envisaged textile exports target of $25 billion, and the exports merely remained at a level of around $13.5 billion only.
Source:- nation.com.pk.
Steel Ministry Seeks Increase In Basic Customs Duty To Deter Cheap Imports
The steel ministry is set to seek a sharp increase in peak rate of basic customs duty on steel products to 25% from 10%, a measure that it wants to be announced in the Budget next month to help stem the tide of cheap imports from China and, more recently, Russia. The ministry also wants sops to make exports of Goa's low-grade iron ore feasible. It has already asked the finance ministry for an immediate increase in duty to 10% from 7.5% for flat products and to double it to 10% for long steel.
"Increasing peak rate will allow the government to change duty to meet market demands without going to Parliament," said a ministry official, requesting not to be named. The Centre can easily meet this demand, the official said, pointing out that the World Trade Organisation's peak import duty for steel is 40%.In the interest of domestic steelmakers, the ministry led by Narendra Singh Tomar could also ask for steel to be included in the negative list of free trade agreements with Asian countries, the official said.
A simultaneous waiver of the 2.5% import duty on raw material for steel such as coking coal, dolomite, limestone and scrap and nickel used in stainless steel is also being sought, according to industry executives. This is besides the duty waiver being sought on imported LNG that will benefit gas based steelmakers such as Essar and Wellspun.
The companies that stand to benefit could not be reached for comment. The mines ministry expects a significant improvement in domestic iron ore supplies in 2015-16, following the promulgation of an ordinance that will allow several shut mines to resume operations.
Tomar, who holds the combined charged of mines and steel ministries, had earlier told ET that the government's first objective is to meet the domestic requirement for raw material, in line with the 'Make in India' programme. "In case there is surplus production then we might look at incentivising exports. In some cases such as that of low-grade iron ore fines, where there is no domestic demand, a case can be made," the minister had said.
Relief may be in the offing for Goa's iron ore miners. A 30% export duty is in place for iron ore although the international price of the critical steel input has crashed to its lowest in five years. Goa's miners say they do not have a domestic market for their ore, 90% of which is of less than 58% grade FE and unused in domestic blast furnaces.
Withdrawal of the export duty is, therefore, critical to resumption of mining that was banned for two years due to regulatory issues. The mines ministry has asked the finance ministry to consider a differential duty instead of a flat 30%. This could be discussed in a meeting between the representatives of ministries along with Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com
AO to fix ALP of reinsurance commission considering comparative analysis of risk factor in reinsuran
IT/ILT : Where assessee furnished additional evidence necessary in comparative analysis of risk factor in reinsurance business, matter was to be remitted to Assessing Officer
Question of law has to be answered by HC once a reference is called at its instance even when tax ef
IT : Once a reference is called at instance of High Court, question of law framed has to be answered on merits and it cannot be disposed off merely because tax effect is minimal
India's Silver Imports See 15% Jump In 2014
According to the most recent data published by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S) under the Indian Customs Department, the Silver imports by the country surged higher by 15% during the entire year 2014. This is when compared with the previous year. However, the standalone import figure for the month of Dec ’14 declined sharply over the previous month.
According to the quick estimates provided by the Customs Department, the country’s Silver imports amounted to $182.31 million during Dec ’14. This equates to nearly 348 tonnes, sharply down by 72% when compared with the Nov ’14 Silver imports of 1,254 tonnes. The Silver import prices averaged at $16.3 per ounce during the month of December last year. The figures for the month of Dec ’14 are provisional and are subject to change. The official import figures will be announced later.
The Silver imports by the country during the entire year 2014 totaled 7,063 tonnes. The imports reported an increase of nearly 15% year-on-year when compared with the yearly imports of 6,125 tonnes during 2013.
The investment and jewelry demand for Silver has witnessed sharp jump during 2014. There was an obvious switch in demand from gold to Silver, mainly on account of bearish gold forecasts and anticipated pick up in Silver’s industrial usage demand.
The recent data published by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) indicates that the total Silver bar imports by the country in December 2014 amounted to INR 15.68 crores (USD 2.50 Million). The imports jumped higher by 9.73% over the previous year. However, the imports were marginally down by 0.3% when compared with Nov ’14.
Source:- metal.com
TP method accepted by ITAT couldn't be rejected by TPO in later years in absence of change in circum
IT/ILT : Where CUP method adopted by assessee in respect of freight expenses had been accepted in earlier assessment years, in absence of any change in circumstances, TPO could not make addition to assessee's ALP during relevant year by adopting TNMM
Medical records of an individual are personal information; excluded from purview of RTI Act
RTI Act : Information relating to medical records of an individual would be personal information which is exempt from disclosure under section 8
Declared custom value can't be enhanced on basis of values declared in 'National Import Data Base'
Excise & Customs : Declared value cannot be rejected only on ground that it appears to be very low compared to value available in NIDB data, without any other material
Now, Cbec Forms Teams To Hunt For Companies Evading Taxes
On the lines of income tax surveys of entities suspected of evading taxes, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has set up as many as 40 audit commissionerates across the country tasked to audit accounts of companies and survey their other operations to detect any tax evasion.
The results of 'non-intrusive' audits are encouraging. "In the Chennai zone we have collected over Rs 130 crore in the previous financial year (2013-14) and this financial year up to December the additional tax mop up from undisclosed income was Rs 79 crore," said service tax commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Agarwal. Agarwal also holds the additional charge of the Large Taxpayers' Unit (LTU) in Chennai.
A list of tax evasion cases detected by the audit units nationwide was not available. Each of these commissionerates is headed by a commissioner-level officer and comprises of at least 200 officials in the ranks of inspector and above.
Two audit commissionerates have been created at LTU audit commissionerate at Delhi which will have jurisdiction over companies registered with LTU Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore, while LTU audit commissionerate at Mumbai will have jurisdiction over companies registered with LTU Mumbai and Chennai. The LTU has also helped the revenue department in keeping tab on big corporates and activities of their front entities.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Rupee Opens Lower At 61.49 Per Dollar
The Indian rupee on Wednesday weakened in the opening trade against the dollar, tracking losses in the Asian currencies markets.
The local currency opened at 61.49 per dollar. At 9.06am, the rupee was trading at 61.47 per dollar, down 0.11% from its previous close of 61.41.India’s benchmark equity index, Sensex, was trading at 29,542.98 points, down 0.09%.
Most of the Asian currencies were trading lower against the dollar. The Singapore dollar was down 0.95%, Malaysian ringgit 0.51%, Thai baht 0.4%, South Korean won 0.36%, Philippines peso 0.25%, Indonesian rupiah 0.21%, Japanese yen 0.15%, China offshore 0.11%.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond stood at 7.703% compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.707%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has strengthen 2.51% against the dollar, while foreign institutional investors have bought $1.24 billion from local equity markets and bought $2.91 billion from debt markets.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.292, up 0.29% from its previous close of 94.022.The US Federal Reserve starts a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday which will be keenly watched by investors as it is the first such meeting after last week’s multi-billion dollar bond buying announced by the European Central Bank (ECB) and easier policies announced earlier by Canada and Switzerland.
Source:- livemint.com
No disallowance due to TDS default if TDS was deposited before due date of filing return
IT : If tax deducted at source is paid on or before due date for filing of return of income, no disallowance under section 40(a)(ia) could be made
HC couldn't make revision against order of Tribunal condoning delay in filing appeal under UP VAT Ac
CST & VAT : U.P. VAT - No revision can be made by High Court against order of Tribunal condoning delay in filing appeal
Usance charges paid to NR on import purchases would be considered as an interest; liable to TDS
IT: Usance charges paid to non-resident on import purchase by assessee would be considered as interest and liable to TDS
Receipt of share application money via banking channel couldn't be held as unexplained
IT: Where share application money received by assessee-company from another company was through proper banking channel, addition made on account of unexplained share application money was unjustified
Writing off debts in accounts is enough to claim deduction of bad debts; no need to prove their irre
IT : Where debts were irrecoverable in accounts of assessee even though no evidence was produced by assessee to show that debt had actually become irrecoverable, bad debts claimed would be allowed
Aluminium dross and skimmings aren't manufactured goods; decision of larger bench of CESTAT reversed
Excise & Customs : Aluminium dross and skimmings and similar non-ferrous metal dross and skimmings which arise as a by-product in process of manufacture of aluminium/non-ferrous metal products are "not manufactured goods" and hence not liable excise duty; Tribunal decision described as having taken a view that no reasonable person and no adjudicating body would take
Rent paid on premises for installation of mobile towers is eligible for credit
Cenvat Credit : Rent paid to install mobile towers, which are used for boosting signals to provide telecom services, amount to 'input service' for telecom companies; hence, service tax paid on said rent is eligible for credit
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