Mere failure to file return of income doesn't invite concealment penalty

IT : Where no return had been filed by assessee and income was assessed on estimate basis by revenue, no penalty could be levied for concealment of income

HC quashed impugned order as reference to BIFR was a deliberate attempt to stall winding up process

CL : Where reference was filed before BIFR after passing of winding up order against company, same was nothing but a deliberate attempt to forestall process of winding up

Diamond purchased from unregistered dealer was subject to purchase tax if it was used in making jewe

CST & VAT : Karnataka VAT - Where assessee was dealing in gold jewellery studded with diamond and it purchased diamond from unregistered dealer and used same in manufacture of jewellery, once diamond was used in making jewellery, it changed into another commercial commodity and was liable to purchase tax under section 6

HC keeps coercive proceeding in abeyance on condition of payment of one-third balance tax liability

IT : Where assessee was willing to pursue remedy as provided in section 260A, coercive proceedings against assessee would be kept in abeyance for a period of two weeks on condition that assessee satisfied 1/3rd of balance liability

HSN classification has primacy over common parlance test; Ujala products held classifiable as per co

VAT/CST/Excise/Customs : Kerala VAT : Based on HSN classification, 'Ujala Supreme' and 'Ujala Stiff and Shine' are classifiable as 'Synthetic organic colouring matter-Acid Violets' and 'Polymers of vinyl acetate' respectively under List A of Third Schedule to Kerala VAT Act (tax 4%); they cannot be classified under residual entry (tax 12.5%) based on common parlance or end-use based test

Acquirer may delist target Co. after declaring his intention to delist while making detailed public

SEBI/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of shares and takeovers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2015 – Amendment in Regulations 18, 22 and Insertion of Regulation 5A

SEBI revises buy-back norms; requires acquirers to facilitate tendering of shares via stock exchange

SEBI/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : SEBI (Buy-Back of Securities) (Amendment) Regulations, 2015 – Amendment in Regulation 9

SEBI notifies revised delisting norms, casts more responsibilities on Board for approval for delisti

SEBI/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : SEBI (Delisting of Equity Shares) (Amendment) Regulations, 2015 – Amendment in Regulations 2, 4, , 8, 10, 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16, 18, 19, 27, 31, Schedule I and Schedule II; Substitution of Regulation 17 and Insertion of Regulation 25A

Government To Bring Out Strategy Paper On Boosting Textile Exports

The Commerce Ministry will soon unveil a strategy paper on ways to enhance competitiveness of textile exports. The issue was recently discussed in a meeting in the ministry.

"Competitiveness of Indian textiles exports is going down. Countries including Sri Lanka and Turkey are more competitive in the sector. The ministry is considering to bring out its own strategy paper for the sector," a senior official in the ministry said.

Textiles Ministry, too, is in the process of rolling out a National Textiles Policy, which aims to achieve USD 300 billion exports by 2024-25 and envisages creation of additional 35 million jobs.

The ministry's move, to bring out the strategy paper, assumes significance as the country's exports are in the negative zone since December 2014. Textiles exports account for over 10 per cent in the total outbound shipments and the ministry is taking every step to boost the shipments.

Falling for the third straight month, exports declined steeply by over 15 per cent to USD 21.54 billion in February. India's cotton exports have declined as its biggest market China had changed its policy on cotton imports.

According to a report, India -- the world's second-biggest producer of cotton is likely to export 7.69 million bales of the fibre in 2014-15 marketing year (August-July), down by 35 per cent from last year due to sluggish demand from China.

The government is expected to announce some incentives for the textiles sector in the foreign trade policy, which is expected to be unveiled in the second week of next month. In February, textiles exports grew by about 9 per cent to USD 1.53 billion.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sebi Faces Rs 500 Crore Service Tax Demand

India Inc has been complaining of excessive tax demand. It seems the taxman is not sparing even the regulators now.

Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has been asked to furnish its fee income details earned since 2012 till date by the service tax department. The tax department had issued several notices to Sebi to share the details for assessment of service tax liability 2012 onwards. As per initial assessment by the tax department, Sebi's service tax liability will be more than Rs 500 crore.

As per service tax department sources, Sebi, so far, was not ready to share the details. The tax department is of the view that any service which is outside negative list of service tax issued in 2012 is liable to pay tax. Service tax department issued negative list in 2012. Services of Sebi were not included in this list.

Sebi provides services for processing of IPOs, debt issues, mutual fund NFOs and other services including informal guidance to companies. None of these services is included in the negative list of services for taxation purpose. On this basis only service tax department has issued notice to Sebi officials and sought details.

However, Sebi sources have different version. They said the regulator is exempt from all sorts of taxation. According to Section 25 of the Act says Securities and Exchange Board from the date of its constitution to the date of establishment of the Board, shall not be liable to pay wealth-tax, income-tax or any other tax in respect of their wealth, income, profits or gains derived, they said.

However, sources in service tax department said that Finance Act has overriding effect on all the enactments in taxation related issues.

Sebi senior officials told Zee Business, "As per Sebi Act they have been exempted from income tax, wealth tax and all other taxes, which has been clearly mentioned in Section 25 of the Sebi Act. It's an old issue and we have clarified this issue to Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) as well. We are waiting for CBEC response."

As per service tax department sources, a senior official of Sebi's treasury department was summoned last week by the department, which is hopeful it will get fee income details this month itself. The regulator has been asked to furnish details of fee income between 2012 and 2015. Queries emailed to Sebi's communication department didn't elicit any response till going to the press.

Source:dnaindia.com

Mr Goyal Says Importing Coal Unjustified As Country Has Huge Reserves

Mr Piyush Goyal, Union Minister, said that importing coal is "unjustified" at a time when the country is sitting on reserves totalling 300 billion tonne.

Mr Goyal said that "When the country is sitting on a huge coal reserve, to import it is unjustified. The production of coal has risen from 432 million tonne to 460 million tonne and will cross 493 million tonne this year, which will be an increase of over 30 million tonne."

He said that the BJP-led government at Centre has accorded a top priority to coal and generation of power and that all-out efforts are being made to supply coal to electricity generating units across the country.

He added that "The government is also giving mines to states to meet the requirement," adding the production of coal by the Coal India Limited has gone up by seven% since the BJP government came to power last year.

Mr Goyal hailed Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), a CIL subsidiary, for pulling the loss-making company out of red and producing 38 million tonne of coal. WCL will open a new mine every month.

He said that he was surprised to know that around eight crore housewives in the country burn coal to cook food.

Earlier, he inaugurated Penganga open cast mine at Wani in neighbouring Chandrapur district. The mine has the production capacity of four million tonne. Mr Goyal also dedicated to nation Makardhokra Open Cast and Bhangegaon Open Cast mines having capacity of 2 million tonne and one million tonne, respectively.

However, Union Ministers Mr Nitin Gadkari and Mr Hansraj Ahir along with Maharashtra CM Mr Devendra Fadnavis, Finance Minister Mr Sudhir Mungantiwar and Power Minister Mr Chandrashekhar Bawankule were present on the occasion.

Source:coal.steelguru.com

Indian Steel Imports Need Urgent Government Interventions

Mr Shushim Banerjee Director General of INSDAG in his personal capacity wrote in Financial Express that recent data on steel export and import make interesting and somewhat depressing reading for steel industry.

He wrote “Total steel import of 8.13 million tonne in April-February ’15 is likely to reach a record annualised level of 8.9 million tonne in FY15 with annualised export level of 5.8 million tonne thereby making India a net importer of 3.1 million tonne. India would be spending around INR 794.8 billion for imports and earning approximately INR 620.30 billion on account of exports leaving a shortfall of INR 174.50 billion.”

He wrote “Too much steel is available in the global market, sometimes below the marginal cost of Indian producer which has resulted in total steel exports to be marginally lower compared to last year. Value added products like downstream categories in the flats fetch higher realisation at specific markets.”

He added “Hopefully Indian pleas with WTO to open up US market for its HRC exports would receive a positive response from the world body in FY16.”

He also said “Exports of coated products have gained acceptance in markets of the US, the UAE, Spain, Italy and Iran. This can be further enhanced to achieve both volume and margin. It is revealed that India is a net importer in bars and rods where large scale imports of Boron-coated wire rods and TMT primarily from China (enjoying export rebates) and Ukraine have made things pretty difficult for the domestic producers.”

He wrote “It is unfortunate that in spite of creating massive capacities in long products, India has emerged as a net importer in this category. As regards to rerollable scrap and semi-finished steel (major exporters: Indonesia, the UAE and Korea) the imports of more than 0.6 million tonne need detailed analysis.”

He said “India imports plates to the extent of nearly 1 million tonne. Apart from special profiles in boiler, ship breaking and over dimensional grades, Indian producers are capable of meeting most of the demand. The net import of more than 2 million tonne in HR/CR (from Korea and Japan under CEPA followed by very cheap imports from China and Ukraine) is an issue that needs urgent government policy interventions in putting in place appropriate measures to deal with unfair trade practices and imports under the garb of free trade.”

He wrote “Indian manufacturing is reeling under some deep rooted ailments. What is damaging for steel industry is rising imports of steel containing engineering and consumer durable goods mostly from China. Easy and cheaper availability of intermediates and processed goods from abroad has made assembly operations an essential ingredient in manufacturing thereby killing the value addition component. The malaise is fast spreading and ‘Make in India’ programme must squarely face the same.”

Source:steelguru.com

India Still To Pay $8.8 Billion To Iran For Oil Imports’

Iranian Trade Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said that India still to pay $8.8 billion to Iran for oil imports.

Iran and Western powers are in talks to reach a framework agreement ahead of an end-March deadline to curb Tehran’s most sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for a gradual end to sanctions on the OPEC member.

India refiners settle 45 per cent of Iranian oil payments by depositing rupees in Tehran’s commercial banks’ account with UCO Bank, and withhold the remaining 55 per cent. Iran taps funds in the rupee account to import goods from India.

The balance in Iranian commercial banks’ accounts with UCO BankBSE -1.21 % was 178.955 billion rupees ($2.86 billion) as of March 16 while refiners owed Tehran $5.943 billion as on Feb. 28, Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

Source:hellenicshippingnews.com

India’S Feb Crude Imports Fall 16.4% On Year To 3.58 Mil B/D: Shipping Data

India’s crude oil imports in February fell 16.4% year on year to 13.69 million mt, or an average 3.58 million b/d, according to shipping data obtained by Platts. Imports in February were down 21% from January.

Saudi Arabia was India’s top crude oil supplier in the month, but the volumes supplied fell 16.3% year on year to 2.95 million mt (772,366 b/d), the data showed.

Imports from Iran plunged 62.3% year on year to 382,242 mt (100,065 b/d). The drop in Iranian crude imports followed a government directive sent to refiners in January.

New Delhi told refiners to stop importing Iranian crude at least until mid-February, as the country was preparing to welcome US President Barack Obama as a special guest for the Republic Day celebrations held on January 26.

Imports from Iraq and Angola also suffered double-digit drops year on year. In contrast, imports from second-largest supplier Venezuela, Nigeria and the UAE saw double-digit growth. In the first two months of 2015, India imported a total 30.94 million mt of crude oil, down 1.25% year on year.

Saudi supplies fell 12.55% year on year to 6.14 million mt over January-February, while Iranian supplies fell 41% year on year to 1.54 million mt. The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, a division of India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, released official crude import data for February last week.

The PPAC data, which is based on inputs from refiners and does not include crude imports by source, showed India’s crude oil imports for February fell 21.3% year on year to 12.99 million mt.

Source:hellenicshippingnews.com

Rupee Weakens Marginally Against Dollar To 62.32

After seven consecutive sessions of gains, the Indian rupee weakened marginally against the dollar on Wednesday, tracking losses in the Asian currencies market.

Traders are cautious with the approaching end of the financial year, apart from the next week having only two market working days—30 March and 31 March. Bank transactions will not take place on 1 April due to annual closure of accounts, while 2 and 3 April will be bank holidays on account of Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday, respectively. Markets are also closed on regular weekend holidays on 4 and 5 April.

At 2.47pm, the home currency was trading at 62.32, down 0.12% against its previous close of 62.25. The local unit opened at 62.32 per dollar and touched a high and a low of 62.27 and 62.36, respectively. The BSE’s benchmark equity index Sensex fell 0.26%, or 72.95 points, to 28,088.77 points.

Major Asian currencies were trading lower against the dollar. The Indonesian rupiah was down 0.56%, Malaysian ringgit 0.46%, Philippines peso 0.22%, Thai baht 0.18%, China renminbi 0.12%, Singapore dollar 0.1% and China offshore spot 0.06%. The South Korean won was up 0.34%, Taiwan dollar 0.17%, and Japanese yen 0.11%.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.77% compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.75%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has gained 1.3%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $5.62 billion from local equity and $6.70 billion from bond markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.979, down 0.22% from the previous close of 97.193.

Source:livemint.com

No penalty on works-contractor if machinery purchased from outside State was used for execution of w

CST & VAT: CST - Where assessee, a works contractor, purchased machineries from outside State against form C and Assessing Authority had imposed penalty upon it under section 10A read with section 10(d), since equipments purchased were in consonance with certificate of registration issued and they were used for execution of works contract, imposition of penalty was wholly illegal

Plea to vacate interim order u/s 397 quashed as it would've created obstacles and defeated rights of

CL: Where vacation of interim order of CLB under section 397 would create complications and might defeat rights of non-applicants, application seeking vacation of interim order was to be dismissed

CBDT unveils Central Action Plan for first quarter of financial year 2015-16

IT/ILT : Central Action Plan for First Quarter i.e. (April, 2015 to June, 2015) of the Financial Year 2015-16

Forfeiture of application money paid by an investment Co. to buy debentures is allowable as business

IT : Where assessee, a promoter of JISCO, having paid application money for acquiring non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in right issue offered by JISCO, surrendered those NCDs to UTI which paid remaining amount and got allotment of NCDs in its favour, in view of fact that assessee had subscribed to NCDs as a matter of commercial expediency for making right issue successful which was in business interest of JISCO as well as assessee, application money in question forgone by assessee was to be all

HC upheld deduction of disputed interest liability as it had crystallized on execution of supplement

IT : Where liability to pay interest as stipulated in initial agreement was disputed and liability was crystallised only on execution of supplementary agreement in current year, deduction of interest liability of earlier years would be allowed in current year

No interest and penalty on assessee just because he had paid ST which wasn't actually payable

Service Tax : Where service tax itself was not leviable, assessee cannot be asked to pay interest and penalty merely because he has paid non-payable service tax

Sec. 69 additions upheld as assessee failed to show that residential flat was purchased out of his p

IT : Where assessee's claim regarding land development expenses was rightly allowed by Assessing Officer in original return and there was no material to deviate from earlier findings, ad hoc disallowance was not justified in assessment during search

ITAT couldn’t arbitrarily curtail penalty for assessee-in-default without any tangible reasons

IT : Where Tribunal arbitrarily reduced quantum of penalty for not depositing taxes before filing return without assigning any tangible reason, matter was to be remanded to reconsider same

IRDA issues revised norms on 'Micro insurance'

INSURANCE/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : IRDA (Micro Insurance) Regulations, 2015