Imposition of penalty on failure of assessee to produce books didn't violate principles of natural j

CST & VAT : Kerala VAT - Where in spite of time provided by department assessee failed to produce books to establish that imposition of penalty was not required, order levying penalty could not be said to be in violation of principles of natural justice

Financial crises owing to criminal breach of trust by sub-agent was reasonable cause for non-payment

Service Tax : Where assessee had fallen into financial crisis on account of criminal breach of trust committed by their sub-agent and criminal proceedings were pending against such persons, same was a reasonable cause for failure to pay service tax in time and therefore, penalty under section 76 was required to be waived

Branded Edible Oil Export Support Price Reduced To $900/Tonne

The government today further reduced the minimum export price (MEP) of edible oil in branded consumer packs of up to five kg to USD 900 per tonne, a move which would help in boosting outward shipments of the commodity. Earlier, the MEP was USD 1,100 per tonne.

“MEP on export of edible oils in branded consumer packs of up to 5 kg has been reduced to USD 900 per tonne,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

The country which meets 50 per cent of edible oil demand through imports, exports small quantities of groundnut, sunflower and rapeseed oils to cater to expatriate demand.

To ensure domestic supply and contain price rise, India banned export of unbranded edible oils in 2008 and extended it year after the year. The country imports about 9 million tonnes of edible oils annually.

On October 9, 2013, the MEP was reduced to USD 1,400 per tonne. Earlier in 2013, the government had fixed an MEP of USD 1,500 per tonne to ensure that the low priced edible oils are not allowed to be exported.

Source:thehindubusinessline.com

Jsw Steel Slashes Capex By 20 Per Cent For Fy15 To Rs 6,000 Crore

JSW Steel has cut capex plans by 20 per cent this year becoming the latest victim of a global commodity price plunge that has spooked global markets and threatened the growth prospects of many countries. The Sajjan Jindal-led steel firm will spend only Rs 6,000 crore for the year ending March versus the earlier estimated Rs 7,500 crore.

Seshagiri Rao, JSW steel's joint managing director and group CFO told ET that all capital expenditure plans will be reviewed in May this year but added that the firm is sticking to its goal of producing 40 million tonnes of steel by 2025. "Apart from iron ore prices, it will depend on Indian demand situation and government initiatives with regard to curtailing imports because there is dumping happening into India," Rao said.

A sharp slowdown in China has caused global commodity prices to tumble to multi-year lows with iron ore and coal prices falling to five year lows recently. Crude oil, which had ruled over $100 per barrel till June last year, has also fallen steeply hurting profitability at global oil majors and threatening growth prospects of oil exporting countries such as Russia and Venezuela.

Oil major Cairn India said recently said it will cut its capex plans in light of the worrisome crude price scenario. Indian iron prices have generally been lower than global prices.

The crash in international markets, however, has not been accompanied by a fall in local prices due to scarcity of the raw material thanks to mine closures. This has placed Indian steel companies at a disadvantage. Also, the global steel price fall and overcapacity in China has hurt margins of local players forcing them to consider conserving cash.

While international prices for 62 FE quality iron ore fell by half in the last one year to about $68.68 (Rs 4,218) per tonne, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) price for 64 FE iron ore rose 14 per cent to Rs 3,607 per tonne during the same period, according to JSW Steel. Higher FE (ferrous) content demands better prices. This has hurt JSW Steel far more than its biggest competitors — Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India, which get cheaper ore from captive mines. Besides, the government has not restricted cheap import of steel from China and Russia, which in turn has put pressure on the selling price.

However, analysts view this as just a deferment of capital expenditure and expect the spending to be back once demand picks up in the second half of 2015. They expect iron ore prices to fall and foresee the government putting some tariff barriers to restrict imports.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Assessee couldn't file appeal to dispute cost of acquisition after voluntarily giving his consent to

IT : Where assessee had voluntarily given his consent to cost of land, he could not filed appeal against it under section 246A later on

No penalty for suppression of facts due to non-appearance of few creditors when all had given loan c

IT: Where during post survey assessment, assessee was successful in getting confirmation letters from everyone, merely because it could not produce some of creditors, penalty could not be levied

Cotton Import From India: Proposed Five Percent Duty To Hit Exports Hard: Bilwani

The country's export of value-added textile will plunge from existing $11.49 billion if the government slapped additional duty on import of cotton yarn from India, exporters said on Thursday. Talking to Business Recorder, Chairman Pakistan Apparel Forum, Muhammad Jawed Bilwani expressed concerns over the proposal to place further duty on import of cotton yarn.

He alleged that the government was supporting the spinning textile sector to create more financial miseries for value-added textile manufacturers and exporters. "There is already a 5 percent import duty on the import of cotton yarn which the industry wants the government should withdraw to facilitate the apparel textile export to the world markets," he added.

"Again this proposal for imposing additional duty at the behest of some large spinners having integrated units will greatly hamper the cost of doing business of the vital value-added textile sector whose exports earnings are $11.49 billion more than spinners," he maintained.

Showing reservations, he said that the government continued to ignore the 'vital' textile stakeholders while taking decisions on imposition of duties. "Why the vital stakeholders are not being taken on board before deciding such crucial matters," he questioned. "The government is always misguided to impose additional duty on cotton yarn import from India, which inflict harm value-added textile sector, he said, adding that the move will hit hard the efforts to improve country's exports.

"Since the value-added textile sector will be unable to import cotton yarn from India owing to the current 5 percent import duty and the proposal of additional import duty, as it will greatly increase their cost of doing business and make it tough for them to face global competition while in turn will enable the spinners to increase their sales locally at prices they demand," Bilwani said.

He said that textile exports of Bangladesh stood at $24 to $25 billion despite depending on cotton yarn import, while Pakistan was struggling to compete with it on the global markets being a cotton-growing nation. "All over the world export of raw material is greatly discouraged and restricted while import of raw of material is always allowed just because of value-addition and earning of more foreign exchange. In comparison to this, in our country most unfortunately it is the opposite and essential raw material for value-additions is allowed to be exported," he added. He said that the value-added textile sector should be allowed with duty-free import of raw material without any hurdle.

Source:brecorder.com

Rupee Trades Marginally Lower At 61.77 Per Dollar

The Indian rupee on Friday weakened marginally in the afternoon trading session against the dollar, tracking the weak local equities markets, even as currencies in the region were largely up against the dollar.

At 2.05 pm, the rupee was trading at 61.77 per dollar, down 0.05% from its previous close of 61.74. The local currency opened at 61.71 per dollar and fell to 61.80 in the day.

India’s benchmark Sensex was trading at 28,818.84 points, down 0.11%.

Since 29 January, the Sensex has fallen over 800 points, as investors avoided taking long positions ahead of the Delhi assembly polls on 7 February. According to Bank of America Merill Lynch Equity Strategy report dated 4 February, a loss in Delhi polls for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could provide an excuse for a correction.

Most of the Asian currencies were trading higher against the dollar. The Malaysian ringgit was up 0.69%, Taiwanese dollar 0.17%, South Korean won 0.14%, Japanese yen 0.14%, Chinese renminbi 0.13%, Indonesian rupiah 0.13%, Thai baht 0.13%. However, Philippines peso was down 0.11%, Singaporean dollar fell 0.1% against the dollar.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond stood at 7.701% compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.702%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has strengthened 2.06% against the dollar, while foreign institutional investors have bought $2.75 billion from local equity markets and bought $4.40 billion from debt markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 93.659, up 0.10% from its previous close of 93.569.

Source:livemint.com

Recognition of revenue by developer only on registration of sale deeds wasn't a valid method under s

IT : Recognition of the revenue from sale of plots by assessee only when the registration of the sale deed has been done by the assessee in favour of the buyer is not a recognized method of recognizing the revenue under AS-7. This method is neither project completion method nor percentage of completion method. The method adopted by the Assessee, therefore, cannot be regarded to comply with the ingredients as laid down u/s 145 of the Income Tax Act. Sec. 145 of the Income Tax Act

FPIs can re-invest coupons in Govt. securities even if investment limit in Govt. securities is fully

FEMA/ILT : Foreign Investment in India by Foreign Portfolio Investors

Govt. constitutes high level committee for monitoring CSR implementation by Cos

COMPANIES ACT, 2013 : Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 - Corporate Social Responsibility - Constitution of a High Level Committee to Suggest Measures for Improved Monitoring of Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility Policies by Companies under Section 135

No penalty if there was no mala fide intention of assessee in not disclosing interest liability writ

IT : Where there was no mala fide intention on part of assessee in not showing interest written off by bank, penalty under section 271(1)(c) was not leviable

RBI unveils guidelines for implementation of 'Countercyclical Capital Buffer'

BANKING : Guidelines for Implementation of Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCCB)