Wednesday 24 June 2015

Volvo buses provided to DTC doesn't constitute deemed sale as ownership of buses remained with asses

CST & VAT: Delhi VAT - Where assessee had entered into agreement with DTC for providing two Volvo buses on hire charges and registration certificate and permits continued to be in control and possession of assessee and it remained responsible for maintenance, repairs, etc., transaction in question could not be treated as deemed sale under section 2(1)(zc)(vi)

No capital gain arose on sale of land as it wasn't treated as capital asset for other co-owners of s

IT : Where Assessing Officer made addition to assessee's income in respect of capital gain arising from sale of land, in view of fact that in case of other co-owners said piece of land was not regarded as capital asset being situated 8 Kms. away from local municipal limits, impugned addition deserved to be deleted in assessee's case as well

Sec. 10(10) relief given to SBI employee on ex-gratia received by him on 'VRS' as he satisfied condi

IT: Where assessee exercised option of voluntary retirement scheme and all conditions laid down in rule 2B were fulfilled, assessee would be entitled to exemption under section 10(10C) on ex gratia payment

India Plans To Ease Import Inspections

The Indian government has voiced plans to switch from checking 100 per cent of its imported food consignments to random inspections in a move that should reduce customs clearance times, according to the Times of India.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs has called for specified time frames for consignments to clear customs, potentially reducing clearance times from the current ten to 15 days down to as little as 12 hours.

Keith Sunderlal of Indian agribusiness consultancy The SCS Group has welcomed the news, with the move to risk-based checks of imported produce likely to reduce costs for importers, cut down on delays at ports, and increase the ease of doing business in India.

“India has being following a 100 per cent sample testing for all food imports for several years. Clearly this comes as a huge cost for importers who have to contend with delays in clearances and absorb cost of samples and tests,” Ketih Sunderlal of SCS Group said.

“Adopting a more common-sense approach, as just announced by [the Indian government], of risk-based sampling will facilitate imports and reduce unnecessary congestion at ports. We look forward to implementation of this policy.” India's total imports grew from US$450bn in 2013/14 to US$448bn in 2014/15, according to the Times.

Source:fruitnet.com



India Is Importing 500,000 Tonnes Of Wheat From Australia, Highest In A Decade, On Shortage Worries

Indian flour millers are concerned that there is not enough wheat in the market to feed the insatiable demand for pizzas and pastas in the country. That has led them to place import orders of 500,000 tonnes — or one and a half times the weight of the Empire State building in New York — of premium Australian wheat since March.

This is the biggest such purchase in more than a decade, despite excess stocks. The millers' concern stems from unseasonal rains in February and March, which might hit wheat output at a time when sales of flour-based products such as pizzas is booming. Millers in India's southern ports were the first to place the orders.

Pizzas and pastas require high-protein varieties of wheat. The millers got attractive prices for their orders, which has then prompted companies such as Cargill, Louis Dreyfus and Glencore to follow suit, said three sources directly involved in the deals.

The traders and millers could import a further 500,000 tonnes from France and Russia, where harvests are around the corner. The deals could push up benchmark prices that have already jumped on recent concerns about crop quality in the United States.

"There are strong chances French and Russian wheat will find their way to India because of attractive prices ... and if the euro goes down, I expect more French wheat coming to India," one source said.

Almost half of the quantity contracted so far -- bought at $255 to $275 a tonne -- has reached India and the rest is scheduled for July delivery, said the sources, who declined to be identified because they are not allowed to discuss trade-sensitive issues publicly.

Although rains and hailstorms wilted the Indian wheat crop, the world's second-biggest producer and consumer of the grain has large stockpiles accumulated after eight straight years of bumper harvests.

But the government is likely to draw heavily from its warehouses this year if monsoon rains, critical for farm irrigation, turn out to be deficient, thereby fueling food inflation. India's weather office has cut this year's monsoon forecast to 88 percent of a long-term average, raising fears of the first drought in six years.

Industry and government officials estimate this year's wheat output at about 90 million tonnes, nearly 5 percent lower than the 2014 harvest but still exceeding domestic demand of about 72 million tonnes.

Since wheat is largely grown in India's central and northern plains, flour millers from southern states, hemmed in by the Indian Ocean, sometimes find it attractive to import high-protein grades from Australia. But this year's unusually large volumes have surprised some.

"Other than large amounts of wheat that we're importing, we see two other significant changes," said one of the sources. "Perhaps for the first time, some imports are taking place in vessels and perhaps for the first time millers will end up buying French and Russian wheat as well."

At about $185 to $190 a tonne on a free-on-board basis, French and Russian wheat is attractive for India, another source said. High-protein wheat in India costs more than $300 a tonne and imports could ebb if prices fall to about $283, the sources said.

Russian wheat, however, could fall short of India's quality requirements despite a higher protein content than French wheat, said Tajinder Narang, a New Delhi-based trade analyst.

Source:huffingtonpost.in



No service tax liability on sub-contractor when full service tax was paid by contractor

Service Tax : Where there was practice of contractors to pay service tax on full value, separate confirmation of demand against sub-contractors would be unjustified, even if Cenvat credit rules may require otherwise; any such demand would be barred by principle of revenue neutrality

Second revision application against sec. 452 proceedings filed under garb of section 482 of Cr.P.C.

CL : Once revision against Magistrate's orders issuing process under section 630 of Companies Act, 1956 against petitioner was found unsubstantial by Sessions Judge, second revision application under garb of section 482 of Cr. P.C. was barred and not maintainable

Filing of petition for recovery didn't mean that payee had obtained right to receive income; HC dele

IT: Where there was no evidence on record that at any time during relevant period provisions of wages and salaries were ever made, assessee's claim for cost paid to 'H Ltd.' for wages and salaries pertained to earlier years was to be disallowed

CCI penalizes associations of film theatre owners and film distributors for anti-competitive conduct

Competition Act : Association of film theatre owners(KEFF) found guilty of anti-competitive conduct of not allowing screening of new films in theatres owned by members of rival association of film threatre-owners(KECA). Association of film distributors also held guilty for acting in concert with KEFF but reduced penalty imposed in view of mitigating factor that it succumbed to KFEF dictats to protect commercial interests of own members

Indian Rupee Down 8 Paise Against Us Dollar In Early Trade

Indian rupee depreciated by eight paise to 63.67 against US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to rise in greenback against other currencies overseas.

Dealers attributed the fall to the dollar’s gains against other currencies overseas and increased demand from importers for the US currency. However, a higher opening in domestic equity market, capped losses to some extent.

Yesterday, the rupee slipped by 7 paise to close at 63.59 on fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers on the back of a firm dollar overseas. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading 72.48 points or 0.26 per cent higher at 27,876.85 in early trade today.

source:financialexpress.com



Delay in filing refund claim due to terrorist attack is condonable

Excise & Customs : Delay of 3 days in filing refund claim caused by reasons beyond control of assessee (terror attack in city) may be condoned and refund claim may be considered on merits

Limitation Act isn't applicable for condoning delay in filing appeals in respect of Company's law ma

CL: Companies Act specifies certain period for condoning delay in filing appeals and is a special statute within meaning of section 29(2) of Limitation Act and, therefore, section 14 of Limitation Act has no application in condoning delay in filing appeals

A Co. which had outsourced most of its work couldn't be compared with a Co. carrying out work by its

IT/ILT : A company which has outsourced most of its work to third party cannot be compared to a company carrying out work by itself

Construction of onshore terminal to transport gases would attract service tax under 'Construction Se

Service Tax : Onshore terminals are meant for onshore processing of extracted fluids and gases and subsequent transport thereof through pipelines; since transport is merely incidental, same cannot be regarded as 'transport terminal' and, therefore, same cannot be excluded from scope of construction services

Failure to obtain proper sanction for reassessment notice can't be cured by resorting to sec. 292BB

IT: As per proviso to section 151(1) sanction of Commissioner or Chief Commissioner is pre-requisite condition for issuance of notice under section 148 and, therefore, notice issued with sanction of Joint Commissioner would be invalid and such invalidity cannot be cured by resorting to provisions of section 292B

Jurisdictional CCIT can himself take decision of not filing appeal in HC even if station was having

IT : Section 251 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 – Commissioner (Appeals) – Powers of – Issue of appellate order within 15 days of last hearing – Strict compliance thereof

CIT(A) shall issue orders within 15 days of last hearing; CBDT reiterates

IT : Section 143, read with section 142 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Assessment - Scope of enquiry in cases selected for scrutiny - Further steps towards a non-adversarial tax regime

Assessee was entitled to set off purchase tax on manufactured goods which were sent outside State fo

CST & VAT : Maharashtra VAT - Where assessee, a manufacturer, had dispatched manufactured goods to its branches in States of Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and branches had sold said goods, which were used in execution of works contract, assessee was entitled to set-off under rule 41D of tax paid on purchases

Insurers should pass on discount offered by hospitals to policyholders- IRDA directive

INSURANCE : Discounts on Bills Offered by Network Providers

Govt. prescribes upper limit of Rs. 4,375 on Clerkage fee payable to Counsel of income-tax departmen

IT : Guidelines for Engagement of Standing Counsels to Represent Income-Tax Department before High Courts and Other Judicial forums; Revision of Their Schedule of Fees and Other Related Matters