SARFAESI : Bank’S Prior Approval for Change in Shareholding
Tuesday 24 February 2015
Issue of adjusting excess duty on finalization of provisional assessment was referred to third membe
Excise & Customs : Issue 'whether, in case of provisional assessment, excess payment of duty is to be adjusted against short-payment of duty, for determining demand' stands referred to Third Member
Mistake in rectification order is rectifiable by Tribunal
IT : A mistake from any source, be it parties or Tribunal, as long as it becomes part of record, would require examination by Tribunal under section 254(2)
Exp. for increasing share capital is revenue exp. when capital is utilized to purchase trading stock
IT : Where assessee incurred certain expenditure for increase in share capital, in view of fact that entire incremental share capital was used for purchase of trading stock, expenditure in question was to be allowed as revenue expenditure
Rectification order passed by ITAT after 4 years was valid as it took time to dispose of petition of
IT: Where Tribunal took its own time to dispose of petition filed by assessee for rectification order and passed said order after 4 years, was well within time limit as specified under section 254(2)
Renting furniture and other facilities along with office space is taxable as renting of immovable pr
Service Tax : Prima facie, renting of office space along with furniture, network, cabins and other facilities to work as an office is covered under 'renting of immovable property services' and is liable to service tax; CESTAT directs making of pre-deposit
Assessee eligible for concessional tax on diesel as it manufactured hot mix material for constructio
CST & VAT: U.P. VAT - Where assessee, a works contractor, was engaged in manufacture of hot mix material by cement, diesel oil, furnace oil and lubricants, which was used in construction of roads, and it made an application for issuance of form 'D' as per circular dated 14-1-2008 for purchase of diesel oil and furnace oil at concessional rate of tax for purposes of manufacturing hot mix material, assessee was manufacturer of a taxable goods entitled for form 'D
Sugar Mills To Struggle To Export Raws Despite Subsidy
Indian mills are likely to struggle to export raw sugar, despite a government subsidy to boost shipments, as global prices remain weak with large supplies from top producer Brazil set to flood the market soon.
Lower exports by India, the world's biggest consumer of sugar, should take some pressure off benchmark New York prices that are mired near a 5-year low of 14.08 cents per lb.
"Not only are the prices unfavourable, most refineries in the world have sufficient stocks, with the pipeline being full. I do not see our exports going beyond 500,000 tonnes," said Dharmender Bhayana, managing partner at Sugrain Trading LLP.
India, which traditionally produces white sugar, exported nearly a million tonnes of raws in 2014.
"We have nearly missed the bus as the government took a long time to approve the subsidy. There is plenty of sugar and supplies from Brazil will arrive in April," Bhayana added.
After months of indecision, India last week decided to give mills a subsidy of 4,000 rupees ($64) a tonne for exports of up to 1.4 million tonnes of raw sugar to help cut stockpiles after five years of surplus output.
But given a premium for Indian supplies, traders do not see this subsidy helping much in terms of boosting exports.
Indian raw sugar is being quoted at $350 per tonne free on board for exports, versus $330 quoted for Brazilian supplies.
To help mills, India's top sugar-producing state of Maharashtra is considering an extra 1,000 rupees ($16) per tonne subsidy for exports of raw sugar.
Maharashtra, which accounts for more than a third of India's sugar production, is likely to approve the incentive in a week, said a government source who declined to be named as he is not authorised to talk to the media.
Global prices need to rise to make Indian raws attractive, but that looks unlikely in an oversupplied market, said a Delhi-based trader with an international firm.
"We are not very sure if Iran would import as much as it did last year because sanctions are gradually easing. Iran may turn to Brazil also," the trader added.
Iran had bought 500,000 tonnes of Indian raws in 2014, paying with the rupees it received for oil from India amid curbs on dollar trade with Tehran due to sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme.
In the absence of export deals, Indian mills could turn to the local port-based refineries of Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd, EID Parry and Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd. But prices remain an issue.
"Mills are willing to sell raw sugar at 20,000-20,5000 rupees a tonne which is considered high and needs to come down to 19,000-19,500 rupees for refiners to buy from mills," said a Mumbai-based trader who works with an international company.
Source:- in.reuters.com
India Begins Exporting Buffalo Meat To Russia
Rosselkhoznadzor has sent an expert to India to assess the quality of buffalo meat, destined for export from India to Russia, according to information on the agency’s website.
He will oversee the preparation and shipment of buffalo meat to Russia, as well as become acquainted with the raw material base of the Indian companies that are planning to export this meat.
Deliveries of buffalo meat from India to Russia were approved during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi in mid-December 2014.
Four Indian companies were given the right to export buffalo meat to the Russian Federation –N68 Fair Exports Pvt. Ltd, N121 Frigerio Conserva Allana Limited, N23 Frigorifico Allana Limited, and N42 Amroon Foods Pvt. Ltd.
Source:-in.rbth.com
Assam Govt mandates e-filing of import declarations
CST & VAT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Assam Value Added Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 2014 – Amendment in Sections 75 and 77
Steel Industry Hit By Weak Demand, Firms Seek Import Barriers
The steel industry has been passing through challenging times with rising input cost and falling demand. The margins of steel companies are squeezed with its inability to pass on the rising input cost to end user due to falling demand.
The shortage of iron ore has led to higher prices in the e-auction even as the key raw material prices in the international markets are hitting a new low.
The cost of coal is expected to go up with companies bidding for 21 coal blocks put on auction. With the rising production cost, steel producers are banking on the Government thrust on ‘Make in India’ programme to boost steel demand.
Goutam Chakraborty, Research Analyst, Emkay Global Financial Services, said the industry has sought the government to increase import duty to 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent as there has been a steady increase in import.
“The industry also wants a cut in export duty of low grade iron ore of 55 per cent to 58 per cent grade, specially to revive mining in Goa, but it would not help much even if it comes through as price of high grade iron ore itself has fallen sharply in the international markets,” he added.
Indirectly, he said, the steel industry would benefit from any sops provided to boost infrastructure and real estate spending.
Though the Reserve Bank of India has signalled softer lending rates, banks seem not comfortable toeing the line. The recent cut in repo rates has not led to lower rates for corporates. Investment in infrastructure projects and demand for housing will get a boost, if the lending rates are reduced. Steel demand will go up with the revival in infrastructure and real estate projects.
From being a net exporter of steel last fiscal, India has turned out to be a dumping ground for major steel manufacturing countries. In the first 10 months of this fiscal, imports were up 69 per cent to 8.1 million tonnes against 4.8 million tonnes in the same period last year. In 2014, imports from China alone were at 2.83 million tonnes against 1.25 mt, an increase of 128 per cent. China, with production capacity of 1,116 million tonnes, accounts for 49 per cent of global output and has surplus capacity of 200 mt.
Last year, steel consumption in China was down 3.4 per cent, but it managed to maintain a production growth of 1.5 per cent.
Countries such as Europe, the US, West Asia, South-East Asia and India are the major markets for exporting countries. Demand in West Asia has remained sluggish due to sharp fall in oil prices, while Europe is struggling to recover from the economic crisis. With the US imposing anti-dumping duty on steel imports, India and South-East Asia has become the preferred markets for China.
In a bid to encourage export of low value steel products, China offers incentives ranging from 13 per cent to 28 per cent of the value of shipments. In contrast, the production cost in India has gone up steadily due to high iron ore prices and coal prices. Iron ore prices in the international markets have fallen 50 per cent in the last one year, while it was 14 per cent in India.
Source:- thehindu.com
Budget 2015: Govt May Consider Import Duty Cut On Gold
With decline in gold imports, the government may consider 2-4 per cent reduction in import duty on it in the forthcoming Budget, a move that could help boost exports and manufacturing of gems and jewellery, sources said.
The industry has already sought reduction in customs duty on gold to 2 per cent, from 10 per cent now."Gold imports are declining continuously. Gems and jewellery sector contributes significantly in the country's total exports. On account of this, we are expecting a cut in the import duty. But it is up to the Finance Minister to take the final decision in the Budget," said a source.
The government may consider cutting the duty by 2-4 per cent, sources said.Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last month hinted that the gems and jewellery sector, which employs about 3.5 million people, may get some incentives in the Budget.
The issues including the import duty related to this sector were widely discussed recently at a 'Make In India' workshop and a presentation was given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on it by Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher.
The ministry suggested that import duty on gold and silver be reduced to 2 per cent from the current 10 per cent.
Gold imports in December declined sharply to 39 tonnes, from 152 tonnes in November. Exports of gems and jewellery too declined by 1.2 per cent year-on-year to USD 2.66 billion in December.
The sector is one of the 25 thrust areas identified under the 'Make in India' programme. The campaign aims at attracting domestic and foreign investments to boost manufacturing and create jobs.
The All India Gems and Jewellery Federation has suggested that the customs duty should now be reduced to help check the smuggling of the precious metal.The government had raised the import duty on gold to contain the widening current account deficit.
Source:- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Jnpt Planning To Build Satellite Port At Vijaydurg Or Dahanu
State-run Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s busiest container gateway near Mumbai, is planning to build a satellite port at either Vijaydurg or Dahanu in Maharashtra for at least Rs.10,000 crore.
JNPT and the Maharashtra government will hold 75% and 25% respectively in the proposed project, port chairman N.N. Kumar said in an interview on Sunday. “At both Vijaydurg and Dahanu, there is natural draught of 20 metres to receive bigger ships. A feasibility study for a satellite port has been completed internally. At present, there is only one big port in Maharashtra—JNPT—despite the fact that there is large industrial growth taking place in the state,” Kumar said without disclosing the project’s time frame.
JNPT’s proposal comes at a time when the growth of the Indian economy is projected to touch 7.4% in the current fiscal year compared with 6.9% last year based on a new way of calculating gross domestic product (GDP). At this level, it is estimated to be on par with China, the fastest growing major economy in the world. It is also the first time that the economy is projected to be bigger than $2 trillion; India’s GDP is estimated to be $2.1 trillion in 2014-15, according to official data.
With the first three quarters’ economic growth numbers at 6.5%, 8.2% and 7.5% respectively, the data assumes that in the fourth quarter (January to March), GDP will grow at 7.5%. However, merchandise imports in January fell 11.4% to $32.2 billion while non-oil imports rose 3.45% to $24 billion.
“Maharashtra needs a large multi-purpose port considering the way the export-import trade is growing. At present, there is no big multipurpose port. JNPT is focused on containers while Mumbai Port is handling more on only liquid cargo. You need to handle coal and other cargoes for power plants and other industries for the Maharashtra state,” Kumar said.
Mumbai Port, India’s oldest harbour, has not scaled up efforts to handle more cargo, as it is situated within city limits. Interestingly, JNPT was built to de-congest the 143-year old Mumbai Port. JNPT was built in 1989 outside Mumbai city near Nhava Sheva island. Mumbai port, once considered the country’s premier harbour, has about one-third of the total employees across all 13 major ports of India, but handles only 10% of the total traffic of these ports.
“JNPT is also getting congested. Once it builds its fourth container terminal, JNPT will get its entire waterfront exhausted. If JNPT has to grow as entity, it has to look outside for growth like any other company,” said Atul C. Kulkarni, an independent maritime consultant.Kulkarni said the government has given its port authorities guidelines to look out for further growth, as the market is growing.
“Nothing stops JNPT in joining hands with another government entity or a private company to augment cargo handling facilities and to invest in a port outside Nhava Sheva.”
JNPT’s Kumar said funding should not be a problem for the port as it has got sufficient reserves. He said the proposed port will cater to entire Maharashtra, upper part of Karnataka, southern part of Gujarat and some parts of Goa.
At present, three big ports of Gujarat—Mundra, Pipavav and Kandla—are competing with Maharashtra ports for the cargo of western India hinterland.Agents of leading shipping lines said cargo from Maharashtra often go to private sector ports in Gujarat due to congestion at JNPT. They said both Mundra and Pipavav in Gujarat are non-major ports or not under the control of centre, allowing them to fix their own rates unlike state-controlled major ports.“The proposed satellite port is not to compete with other existing ports in Gujarat. There is sufficient cargo for everyone.
Source:- livemint.com
Rupee Opens Higher At 62.05 Per Dollar
The Indian rupee on Wednesday strengthened against the dollar, tracking gains in the local equity and Asian currencies markets.
Traders are cautious ahead of the railway budget on Thursday and national budget on 28 February. Also traders will keep an eye on annual economic outlook survey on Friday.
The local unit opened at 62.05 per dollar and touched a high of 62.03—a last level seen on 10 February. At 9.11am, the home currency was trading at 62.02, up 0.28% from previous close of 62.20.
The Sensex Index rose 0.33% or 96.46 points to 29,101.12 points.Major Asian currencies were trading higher against the dollar after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen suggested the Fed would not rush into raising interest rates, Reuters reported.
Janet Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee that the US central bank was preparing to consider interest rate hikes “on a meeting-by-meeting basis, it added.The South Korean won was up 0.68%, Taiwan dollar up 0.53%, Malaysian ringgit 0.53%, Philippines peso 0.28%, Japanese yen 0.24%, Indonesian rupiah 0.23%, Singapore dollar 0.07%. However, China offshore spot was down 0.15%, Thai baht 0.11%, China renminbi 0.06%.\
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.707% compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.718%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 1.35%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $3.25 billion from local equity and $5.05 billion from bond markets.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, trading at 94.358, down 0.15% from the previous close of 94.493.
Source:- livemint.com
Usage of goods for commercial purposes even after declaring them for personal usage does not call fo
CST & VAT : Kerala VAT - Even where assessee declared that purchase of goods was for purpose of own use but used it for commercial purpose and generated profit from it, penalty under section 70B could not be levied
CLB isn’t empowered to adjudicate upon validity of meeting held in stipulated time
CL: If any meeting is held by a company within stipulated time in accordance with law, CLB is not empowered to adjudicate validity of meeting
Commission held at ALP in earlier year had to be accepted in later years if facts remained unchanged
IT/ILT : Where similar commission payments were being made by assessee to an individual as per agreement and were considered at arm length in earlier years, then same could not be considered as not being at arm's length in year under consideration unless it was shown by department that facts in year under consideration had undergone a change
Co. providing engineering and geospatial services isn't comparable to a Co. offering only engineerin
IT/ILT : Where TPO made addition to assessee's ALP in respect of rendering engineering and structural designing services to its AE, in view of fact that one of comparables selected by TPO was functionally different as it was offering both engineering as well as geospatial services, only a part of impugned addition deserved to be confirmed
ITAT deleted penalty as revenue failed to point out any non-compliance regarding production of TP do
IT/ILT : Where in course of transfer pricing proceedings, revenue could not point out any specific non-compliance on part of assessee regarding production of documents maintained under section 92D(1), impugned penalty order passed under section 271G was to be set aside
HC condones delay in filing appeal as delay occurred just because person-in charge was on bed rest
Excise & Customs : Where 'delay occurred because person-in-charge was advised bed-rest' and said explanation is found to be genuine, then, condonation cannot be denied merely because Appeal was not filed immediately after resumption of duty by person-in-charge; High Court allows condonation on payment of costs
Co-operative banks to withhold taxes while making payment of interest in excess of Rs. 10,000 to its
IT: Where assessee co-operative bank had made interest payments in excess of Rs. 10,000 on term deposits to its depositors, assessee would be liable to deduct TDS on said payment
Assessee availing of area-based exemption for first time need not to reverse credit balance lying wi
Central Excise : A manufacturer availing of area-based exemption for first time is not required to reverse Cenvat Credit balance lying with him
No penalty under sec. 158BFA on admission of undisclosed income without hearing assessee
IT : A notice to assessee is a must before any penalty is imposed under section 158BFA
HC sets aside adjudication of stamp duty by Collector as he failed to ascertain the fact that proper
Stamp Act: Where respondents while adjudicating upon application of petitioner filed under section 31 had not ascertained fact that value mentioned in sale deed was less than market value and petitioner had wilfully under-valued property, with a fraudulent intention to evade proper stamp duty, impugned order passed by respondent taking recourse to section 47A was to be set aside
No invocation of extended period and imposition of penalty against recipient of service in revenue-n
Service Tax : Where an assessee is paying tax as a receiver, extended period and consequent penalty may not be invokable if situation is revenue-neutral; CESTAT remands matter back to reconsider matter on facts and law
Commissioner rightly exercised revision power as original assessment order was pre judicial to inter
CST & VAT : Kerala GST - Information received subsequent to assessment that relevant Form F was invalid, would be sufficient for Commissioner to exercise revision power
Input tax credit of purchase tax wasn’t available to manufacturer as it had sold final product outsi
CST & VAT: Tripura VAT - Where assessee purchased raw rubber after payment of purchase tax and manufactured rubber thread therefrom and sold a large quantity of rubber thread outside State either by transfer of stock or by means of inter-State sale, benefit of input tax credit was not available to assessee in respect of central sales tax collected and payable under Central Act
Area-based exemption from basic excise duty doesn't extend to EC, SHEC and National Calamity Conting
Excise & Customs : An area-based exemption from basic excise duty or special excise duty leviable under Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 does not extend to education cesses and National Calamity Contingent Duty leviable under various Finance Acts
No addition in block assessment for completed assessments unless any incriminating evidence found in
IT : Determination of 'total income' in respect of assessment years for which assessments were already completed on date of search, shall not be influenced by items of income other than those based on material unearthed during course of search
Govt. mandates e-filing of VAT returns in Daman and Diu
CST & VAT : Daman and Diu Value Added Tax Rules, 2005 - Amendment in Rule 28
Assessee is eligible for interest on belated refund after expiry of 3 month from date of filing refu
Excise & Customs : There is no provision under section 11BB that relevant date for determining interest on belated refund will be postponed in any eventuality; interest accrues from expiry of 3 months from date of refund applications and date of appellate order granting/upholding refund is immaterial
Issue of determining market value of property being converted into stock-in-trade couldn’t be decide
IT : Question of determining fair market value of property of assessee converted into stock-in-trade from investment is a question of fact which can not be determined in writ jurisdiction
ITAT allows deduction of interest as loan was utilized to acquire property for business of pre-schoo
IT : Where assessee, engaged in business of running pre-schools, took term loan and utilised it for acquiring property used for purpose of pre-schooling business, assessee's claim for deduction of interest on said loan was to be allowed
Mere incompleteness in import declaration form won't invite penalty when goods were recorded in book
IT : Where in respect of credit entries, assessee established identity of creditors by bringing on record their PAN and complete addresses and, moreover, transaction was made through proper banking channel, impugned addition made under section 68 was not sustainable
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