Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Swimming pool of hotel couldn't be treated as plant and machinery for depreciation purposes

IT: A hotel is not entitled to depreciation on swimming pool at rate of 33.33 per cent by treating it as plant and machinery


Findings in adjudication which weren't disturbed in revision continued to be final and binding on de

Service Tax : Where a finding in adjudication that services are exempt, is not disturbed/challenged in revision, same continues to be final and binding on department and no demand can be raised contrary to said finding


Sec. 54F: Original cap gain to be taxed in year of sale of new asset (investment) and not in year of

IT: Where investment was made by way of purchasing a plot to avail exemption under section 54F, but after a year said property was sold, capital gain tax would be levied in year of sale of said property and not in original year of capital gain


Act of ICSI of prohibiting associate members from contesting elections of regional council isn't arb

Company Secretaries Act: Action of ICSI in barring 'Associate Members' from contesting and getting elected to Regional Councils is not arbitrary, illegal and violative of article 14 of Constitution


Deeming fiction of sec. 50C won't apply in case of transfer of leasehold rights in land or building

IT : Provisions of section 50C do not apply in case of transfer of leasehold rights in land or building


VAT penalty could be levied for non-maintenance of books even when Rules in this regard have not yet

CST & VAT : Delhi VAT - Where Assessing Authority had imposed penalty upon assessee under section 86(14) for violation of section 59 and Tribunal observed that since rules under section 59(2) had not yet been framed, penalty action was not justified, in terms of language of section 59, Tribunal's observation was not correct


HC bailed out applicant accused of cheating as it wasn't a scheduled offence under PMLA when complai

PMLA : Where complaint under PMLA after investigation had already been filed before offence punishable under section 420 of IPC was included in Part-A of Schedule, provisions curtailing discretion of Court in matter of grant of bail, as found in section 45 would not be applicable


Payment for pre-clinical research was FTS as payer had right over patents and gained knowledge in re

IT/ILT: Where assessee had entered into agreement with a UK company and a Netherlands company for conducting pre-clinical research studies, since it had rights over patents, secret knowledge etc., attained during course of conducting research, services received by assessee fulfilled definition for 'technical services' as per provisions of section 9(1)(vii) and also definition for these technical services as per relevant DTAA with UK and Netherlands


High Court couldn't deny sec. 10(23C) relief by quoting faulty reasoning of AO from Supreme Court's

IT : Supreme Court sets aside High Court judgment denying exemption u/s 10(23C) by quoting non-existing passage from Supreme Court judgment


RBI directs bank to submit data of NR deposits in XBRL platform; discontinues old format

FEMA/ILT : Non-Resident Deposits - Discontinuation of Submission of Stat 5 and Stat 8 Returns


India Optimistic About Boosting Poultry Exports To Japan

Japanese companies are reported to be exploring the potential of joint ventures with Indian businesses for the processing and importation of poultry products.



India exports poultry products mostly to Oman, Germany, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, according to Economic Times of India. It also ships small quantities of egg powder to countries such as Japan.



Japan imports 880,000 tonnes a year, or more than one-third of its poultry product consumption of 2.21 million tonnes, mostly from China, Brazil, the US, Thailand and the Philippines.



India's poultry sector that currently reports insignificant exports is hoping for major orders from Japan, one of the world's largest importers of poultry products.



India is the world's second-largest egg producer, with 65 billion eggs a year, and the third largest broiler chicken producer, with 3.8 million tonnes of poultry meat with a total market size of about INR90 billion. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2014, it earned exports worth INR5.65 billion.



A delegation of Japanese companies, led by Mayekawa Manufacturing, visited India in February and expressed interest in exploring joint ventures with local partners for processing poultry products and importing them, given the cost advantages in the subcontinent.



During the visit, Mayekawa Chairman Yoshiro Tanaka told Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu that his group has alliances with 24 Japanese companies looking to invest some US$9 billion (INR563 billion) in India's food processing sector. Mayewaka makes cooling and freezing systems as well as compressors for refrigerators and heat pumps.



The Indian poultry sector has been reporting a healthy growth of 12 to 15 per cent a year on the back of a rapidly growing middle class and rising incomes. Exports have been low owing to cost disadvantages and global concerns over the quality of Indian poultry products following frequent bird-flu outbreaks.



An unnamed senior executive at a large poultry company told Economic Times: "Thanks to mushrooming global quick-service restaurants like KFC and McDonald's, apart from local QSR brands, the Indian poultry industry had-over the last decade or so begun adopting global quality standards."



Some of India's poultry players that have made large investments in world-class processing technologies include Venky's, Suguna, Godrej, Amrit and Sneha Farms.



National Egg Coordination Committee coordinator, K.V.S. Subba Raju expressed regret that Indian poultry product exports suffered on account of concerns that were blown out of proportion on bird-flu spread and subsequent quality issues, falling to less than INR6 billion last year from a high of over INR15 billion a few years ago.



Sneha Farms Managing Director, D.D. Ram Reddy, who controls more than one-fifth of the market share in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with over INR14 billion in annual sales, is excited over the fresh business opportunity from Japan.



He said: "We are currently setting up a modern chicken-processing unit near Hyderabad at a cost of INR750 million. We will now explore options on joint ventures with the Japanese importers who have shown interest in Indian poultry products."



According to K. Ravindran, COO of Kolkata-based Amrit group, India will have proximity advantage - which means lower logistics cost - over Brazil in Japan's poultry market. The Amrit group is currently setting up its largest export-oriented processing unit near Kolkata, he said.



Acknowledging the feed stock advantages that Brazil has, being one of the world's largest producers of maize and soybeans, NECC's Subba Raju told Economic Times that India's poultry players have the potential to give tough competition to Brazil if the input costs were contained.


Source:- thepoultrysite.com





Biased Import Policy Of Some Countries Towards Indian Exporters

Government monitors the measures/actions being taken by countries including the WTO member countries which Government considers as inconsistent with the existing agreement or otherwise, and take up the matter in the appropriate forum in case the measure impacts India's exports.


India has taken up such issues either at the bilateral level or multilateral level (under WTO Committee meetings or the WTO Dispute Settlement System). In the recent past, India had taken up such matters with the importing countries and had been successful in such matters to a large extent. A few of them are:-



(i) Successful negotiation leading to replacement of the inconsistent EU Regulation 1383/2003 by EU Regulation 608/2013 on the issue related to seizure of Indian drugs in transit.



(ii) Result oriented outcome in trade remedial actions such as the withdrawal of safeguard duty by Turkey on cotton yarn, safeguard duty by Egypt on cotton fabric and cotton yarn etc. Amongst the major success in recent times, one of them of significant interest is the WTO ruling in India's favour is related to a WTO Dispute filed by India against the exorbitant inconsistent Countervailing Duty (CVD) measures imposed by the United States on certain steel products.



The Government has also initiated and taken measures under Trade remedies discipline on account of unfair trade, if any, by the exporting country, within the ambit of WTO agreement.



This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today..


Source:- business-standard.com





Government Foregoes Rs 28K Cr Revenue To Boost Exports From Sezs

The government has foregone Rs 27,956 crore revenue during the last three financial years to boost exports from special economic zones (SEZs), Parliament was informed today.



The tax foregone - customs duty and central excise duty including rebate - under the SEZ scheme was Rs 10,440 crore in 2013-14.

It was Rs 9,363 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 8,153 crore in 2011-12, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.



As per the SEZ Act and the rules, SEZ units and developers are eligible for customs, central excise and service tax exemption on procurement of raw materials for manufacture of finished goods meant for exports as also duty free procurement of capital goods.



The minister also informed that the government has provided incentives under - Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojna, Focus Product Scheme, Focus Market Scheme and Served from India Scheme - to boost overall exports.



Under these schemes, it has provided incentives worth Rs 15,537 crore, Rs 11,865 crore and Rs 8,610 crore in 2013-14, 2012-13 and 2011-12 respectively.



Similarly, Rs 21,799 crore were disbursed in the last financial year under the duty drawback scheme. It was Rs 17,422 crore and Rs 12,331 crore in 2012-13 and 2011-12 respectively.



"The benefits provided under various schemes have facilitated the exports from India and made them more competitive," Sitharaman said.



In 2013-14, India's exports stood at $314.4 billion as compared to $300.4 billion in 2012-13 and $306 billion in 2011-12.She also said that a monitoring system is in place to ensure proper utilisation of the said rebate and incentives.



Replying to a separate question on SEZ, the minister said that as on February 28, 37 zones have been de-notified by the commerce ministry.



"Reasons given by developers for seeking de-notification include economic meltdown, poor market response, non- availability of skilled labour force, lack of demand for space, changes in fiscal concessions regime for SEZs," she added.



So far approval has been given to 436 proposals for setting up such zones, out of which 347 have been notified as on date. Presently, a total of 199 SEZs are operational.


Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com





India's Exports Up 0.88 Per Cent In April-February

India's exports grew marginally by 0.88 per cent to USD 286.58 billion during the April- February period of the current fiscal, government said today.



India's merchandise exports was USD 284.07 billion in the same period in the previous year and "there has been a marginal increase of 0.88 per cent in exports during April- February. ... The downward trend is muted," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman said during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha.



Replying to a supplementary, she said the government was taking several steps to raise the export kitty further.



India's imports during April-February also went up by 0.70 per cent to USD 411.80 billion, Sitharaman said.



The export of main commodities or sectors that have registered a decline during the April-February period of 2014-15 as compared to the same period last year were petroleum products, gems and jewellery, electronic goods, spices, iron ore, tobacco and tea among others.



The Minister said primary reasons for decline in exports are muted global demand, stagnation and deflation problem in the European Union and fall in the prices of crude oil.



The fall in global demand was due to the slowing down of world trade, while the fall in global crude oil prices had led to a decline in exports of petro products which contribute around 19 per cent of India's total exports.



"EU countries, which account for nearly 16 per cent of India's exports are facing problems of stagnation and deflation. The appreciation of Rupee against the Euro has also adversely impacted India's export to EU countries.


Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com





Rupee Gains Against Dollar On Sustained Of Selling Of Usd

The rupee strengthened by three paise to 62.67 against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange in early trade today on sustained selling of the Greenback by exporters.



Besides, early gains in domestic equity markets and the dollar's weakness against other major currencies overseas also helped the rupee to log gains, forex dealers said.



The rupee had closed 11 paise higher against the American currency to 62.70 yesterday amid a good show by stocks and on selling of dollars by banks and exporters.Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 70.59 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 28,806.97 in early trade today.


Source;- economictimes.indiatimes.com





Transportation of earth is, prima facie, a part of 'Site Formation related services' and not GTA ser

Service Tax : Transport of earth, which is carried out during 'excavation and loading, levelling and compaction' work, is, prima facie, a part of 'Site Formation related services' and not Goods Transport Agency's Services


No denial of sec. 80-IA relief just because project wasn't awarded soley to assessee but to its join

IT : Assessee would be entitled to deduction under section 80-IA, even if project was not awarded solely to assessee but to joint venture with assessee


CLB can't decide validity of transfer of property without impleading the party concerned

CL: CLB has power to decide even question as to whether a transferee of a right, title and interest in an immovable property, is a bona fide transferee for a valuable consideration, without notice or not, however, it should not have decided same without impleading party concerned


Exp. incurred on issuance of convertible debentures is in nature of capital expenditure

IT : Expenditure on issue of convertible debentures is directly related to expansion of capital base of company and is a capital expenditure


Tribunal rightly directed Commissioner to accept assessee's request for composition of offence: HC

CST & VAT : Delhi VAT - Where Commissioner had rejected assessee's application made under section 54 for composition of offence punishable under section 50(1)(a) and (j) on plea that adequate composition amount had not been offered and Tribunal had allowed assessee's request for composition on modified terms and remitted matter to Commissioner issuing directions that he may consider for composition of offence, Commissioner was bound by said mandate


No reassessment to disallow sec. 33AC relief due to change of opinion that shipping wasn't main busi

IT : Where Assessing Officer allowed assessee's claim for deduction under section 33AC while completing assessment under section 143(3), he could not subsequently initiate reassessment proceedings merely on basis of change of opinion that assessee's main business was not operation of ships and, thus, deduction was wrongly allowed


IRDA stipulates maximum penalty of 1 crore on insurer for agent's default; issues norms on appointme

INSURANCE : Guidelines on Appointment of Insurance Agents, 2015


Registration fee paid to SEBI was allowable as revenue exp., rules Gujarat High Court

IT : Amount of registration fee paid to SEBI was allowable as revenue expenditure under section 37(1)


Grounds finally disposed of in first round of litigation couldn't be raised by department in second

Excise & Customs : Where, in first round, Commissioner (Appeals) had disposed of all grounds of revenue and remanded matter for verification and no appeal was filed thereagainst by revenue, then, in appeal against order passed in pursuance of said remand, department cannot raised same grounds as were earlier disposed of.


Appellate authority is empowered to allow additional, bona-fide, ground raised by assessee

IT: Additional grounds claiming market development/advertisement expenses raised by assessee before appellate fora being bona fide required to be considered on merit