Tuesday, 10 February 2015

No Sec. 234A interest on self-assessment tax paid before due date of filing of return; CBDT clarifie

IT/ILT : Section 234A of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 - Interest for Defaults in Furnishing Return of Income - Chargeability of Interest under Section 264A on Self-Assessment Tax Paid before Due Date of Filing of Return of Income


No filing of Form MGT-14 if amalgamation of Co. carried out by ordinary resolution in pursuance of a

CL: Where in case of amalgamation, compliance with provisions of Section 117 and filing of e-form MGT-14 to ROC were held not required


Mere non-registration of trademark won't disallow genuine payment of royalty by treating it as illeg

IT : Where assessee made payment of royalty to another company for use of its trade mark, merely because agreement between parties was not registered with trade mark authority, it could not be a ground to disallow payment in question


Timely service of sec. 143(2) notice is mandatory and not only a mere procedural requirement

IT : Service of notice under section 143(2) within time-limit prescribed is mandatory and it is not a mere procedural requirement


HC admits winding up of Co. as it admitted debt but failed to establish its counter claim against pe

CL : Where respondent-company admitted debt due to petitioner several times and failed to establish its counter claim against petitioner, winding up petition filed by petitioner as creditor was maintainable


HC allowed assessee to contest compounding proceedings on merits as it showed sufficient docs to est

CST & VAT : Tamil Nadu VAT - Where Check Post Officer had detained goods under transport and subsequently he issued on consignor a notice for composition of offence under section 72(1)(a), consignor was to be granted an opportunity to contest matter on merits


ITAT directs TPO to verify calculations of mean margin of comparables as per which ALP was within to

IT/ILT: Matter was to be reconsidered afresh when assessee raised a plea that if, according to subsequent calculations of Assessing Officer rectified mean margin of comparable was taken against assessee's profit margin, then ALP would be within safe harbour of +/-5 per cent


Fee charged for late filing of TDS return isn't a tax; HC upholds constitutional validity of sec. 23

IT : Section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961 does not violate any provision of the Constitution and is therefore intra vires, Constitution of India. The fee sought to be levied under section 234E of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is not in the guise of a tax that is sought to be levied on the deductor. The provisions of section 234E is not onerous on the ground that the section does not empower the Assessing Officer to condone the delay in late filing of the TDS return/statements, or that no appeal i


Indian Diesel Cargoes Head To Australia In Rare Move: Traders

Indian diesel cargoes are being shipped to Australia in a rare move as rising competition from new Middle East refineries has made it more difficult to land the fuel in India's core traditional markets in Europe and Africa.


Diesel is typically shipped to Australia from North Asia or Singapore as freight rates for the India-Australia route can cost as much as 50 per cent more, traders and shipbrokers said.


Yet several vessels have been chartered on the higher-priced route since late last year, the traders and brokers said.


Chevron, for instance, has been moving 1-2 cargoes a month to Australia from private Indian refiner Reliance Industries' facility at Jamnagar port on the west coast of India, traders said.


The Jupiter Express left Jamnagar on Feb. 7 and is on its way to Botany Bay in Sydney, Australia, carrying 35,000 tonnes of clean oil products that could be either gasoline or diesel, shiptracking data on Reuters shows.


The Ocean Pluto, a 35,000-tonne clean product tanker, left Jamnagar on Jan. 18 and arrived on Feb. 9 in Adelaide, South Australia.


Officials at Chevron and Reliance have declined to comment.


As refining capacity expands in the Middle East, India and China, imports of oil products such as diesel and gasoline into Australia have become more attractive.


Australia turned into Asia-Pacific's top diesel importer after the closure of several ageing refineries, with global oil traders such as Vitol and Trafigura's Puma subsidiary snapping up petrol stations, storage tanks and terminals to manage tanker arrivals and distribution.


"Freight-wise, it's cheaper to ship from the Middle East to (Europe), so I think the most pressure is on the Indian private refiners," a Singapore-based middle distillates trader said.


Australia imports about 770,000 to 875,000 tonnes of diesel a month, with the volume set to rise from mid-2015 when BP


halts operations at its 102,000 barrels-per-day Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane, Queensland.


Oil giant Saudi Aramco, which has been a major term buyer of diesel from Reliance in India, reduced its import requirements for this year, one trader said. This could also be placing pressure on Reliance to explore new markets to sell excess cargoes in Australia.


Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com





No addition in block assessment if no incriminating material was found during search

IT : Where in course of proceedings under section 153C no incriminating material was found in respect of gift received by assessee and, moreover, said amount had already been considered in regular assessment, impugned addition made in respect of same deserved to be deleted


No TP adjustment of Import if proportion of certification of import value was high for transaction w

IT/ILT : Where value for import of capital goods, tools and spares covered 93 per cent of total aggregated value of import transactions and third party CUP (international CUP) analysis for same would cover 75 per cent of total aggregated value of such transactions, no adjustment could be made


Daimler Buses India Exports First Bus Chassis To Egypt

Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, and Markus Villinger, Head of Daimler Buses India were in Cairo to celebrate the first bus chassis delivered to long-time business partner, MCV. MCV will equip the 9-tonne bus chassis’ with bodies in Cairo. Finished vehicles will be sold as Mercedes-Benz-brand buses through MCV’s sales network. Export of bus chassis from India to Egypt demonstrates how Daimler is successfully exploiting its global presence, says Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses. A global production network ensures appropriate and competitive products for every market.


Karim Ghabbour, Founder and Managing Director of MCV is certain the chassis from India will ensure high quality buses, and expand product range with a high-performance vehicle to be offered at attractive terms.


The OF 9t bus chassis with front-mounted engines are manufactured at Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) plant in Chennai, and exported to Egypt. In tech terms, the chassis are similar to those used in medium-duty BharatBenz trucks also made at the DICV plant. Resultantly, Daimler could begin exports before the bus plant is completed.


Daimler’s chassis from India is especially modified for use in buses. The competitive, high-quality products are testimony to a high degree of localisation. Daimler Buses is able to offer vehicles in previously unexploited segments of the Egyptian bus market. Daimler Buses India will add more export markets in its sales network.


DICV bus plant construction is ongoing at an investment of about €50 million. Work began in March 2014, and Daimler Buses India expects to begin Mercedes-Benz and BharatBenz bus production here at the end of Q2 2015. Initial installed capacity stands at 1,500 vehicles per year, to be expanded to 4,000 units in time at the 113,000 sq mts Daimler Buses India plant within DICV premises. This is the only Daimler plant to produce trucks, buses, and engines for three brands.


Source:rushlane.com





Import Duty Leaves India's Scrap Industry 'Bleeding'

The Metal Recycling Association of India (MRAI) has urged the country's government to remove the import tax on steel scrap. Levied two years ago, the duty is having a damaging effect on the business, it was stressed at the organisation's second international conference held last week in Mumbai.


India has signed free trade agreements with a number of countries. But whereas semi-finished products can be imported duty free into the country, there is a 5% import duty on steel scrap. India is the only country in the world to have such an import tax and, as a consequence, recyclers are struggling with profitability. 'Many recycling operations are bleeding,' confirmed MRAI's president Ikbal Nathani of the Nathani Group of Companies.


And according to a Frost & Sullivan report, Indian steelmakers are losing substantial export business to competitors such as China and Taiwan as a result of the import duty. Government intervention to remove the duty will reduce the cost of secondary steel production, recyclers say.


India's annual scrap consumption is 20.4 million tonnes while its imports amount to 6.5 million tonnes per year, making it the world’s third-largest importer of scrap. India's metal recycling industry has the potential to grow 11.4% per year until 2020 - but only once the import duty and other free trade hurdles have been removed, it is argued.


India's minister of state for steel Vishu Deo Sai, who attended the MRAI conference as a special guest, confirmed to Recycling International that he will do his 'utmost to help save' the country's metal recycling industry. He promised recyclers that he will 'recommend' removal of the 5% import tax to the Indian government, which will shortly settle its new financial budget.


Source:recyclinginternational.com





India’S Trade Ministry Seeks Cut In Gold Import Tax

India’s Trade Ministry has sought a sharp cut in the import tax on gold, a top official said Monday, to help reduce costs for gems and jewelry exporters who rely on the metal as a raw material for their products.


The Trade Ministry has asked the Finance Ministry, which will decide on the proposal, to reduce the tax to 2% from 10%, the official told The Wall Street Journal. The Finance Ministry’s decision will become clear in the federal budget to be presented in Parliament on Feb. 28.


Gems and jewelry accounted for about 13% of India’s exports in the fiscal year ended last March. The sector has been hurt by a sharp increase in the tax over the past few years as the government clamped down on gold imports to control a growing current-account deficit and stabilize the rupee. The tax rate was at 2% in early 2012.


Raising the tax helped almost halve India’s gold imports to 287 billion rupees ($4.7 billion) last fiscal year, while the current-account gap declined to $45 billion from $88 billion the year before.


“We are hopeful the import duty will be cut as current-account deficit is fairly under control now,” the official said.


Lowering the tax would also check smuggling of gold and increase government revenue, said Harish Soni, chairman of the All India Gems and Jewelry Trade Federation.


Source:wsj.com





Rupee Gains On Large Dollar Inflows; Rbi Eyed

The rupee gains sharply on dollar selling by a large engineering firm. Traders say large private sector bank also seen selling greenback.


The Indian unit is trading at 61.96/97 per dollar versus its Monday's close of 62.1650/1750.The rupee can gain up to a maximum of 61.88 during session - traders.


The market is watchful of central bank stepping in to buy greenback to prevent further gains in local unit. Gains in domestic share market also boost sentiment for the unit; Nifty <.NSEI> is up 0.8 pct.


Source:business-standard.com





HC admits winding of Co. as it made bogus claim about poor quality of goods after issuance of statut

CL : Where company raised defence as regards inferior quality of goods supplied after issuance of statutory notice and failed to prove same, winding up against company was to be admitted


HC quashed ex-parte order of Tribunal as there was no malafide intention of assessee to remain absen

IT : In absence malafide intention on part of assessee to remain absent at time of hearing of appeal, impugned order passed by Tribunal dismissing assessee's appeal ex parte was to be set aside after imposing reasonable cost upon assessee


Delay was not condonable when assessee had adopted dilatory tactics to delay adjudication process

Excise & Customs : Where assessee did not participate into adjudication proceedings even after being granted various opportunities and did not even file a reply to show-cause notice, and acted with a defiant intention to delay process of adjudication and recovery; in that case, delay in filing appeal could not be regarded as bona fide and could not, therefore, be condoned


Banks to ensure that only bona-fide export advances flow into India by exercising proper due diligen

FEMA/ILT : Delay in Utilization of Advance Received for Exports


No concealment penalty on surrender of income during survey if assessee had no intention to evade ta

IT : Where survey did not result in recovery of any specific amount and figures were arrived at by way of presumptive computation, there being no intention to evade tax, no penalty was to be levied under section 271(1)(c)


HC directs Chief CIT to reconsider request for waiver of sec. 234C interest after duly considering C

IT : Matter remanded for fresh consideration where Chief Commissioner did not properly consider assessee's claim for waiver of interest under section 234C


Facility of maintaining an effluent treatment plant by co-operative society for its members wasn't l

Service Tax : Since section 65(25aa) has been declared unconstitutional in Sports Club of Gujarat Ltd. v. Union of India [2013] 35 taxmann.com 557 (Guj.), levy of service tax on a co-operative society providing facility of maintaining a common effluent treatment plant to its members, is invalid