Section 11B applies to refund of duty and not to refund of penalty

Excise & Customs : Refund of penalty arising out of appellate order of Commissioner (Appeals) is not governed by provisions of section 11B, as same applies to refund of 'duty' and not to refund of 'penalty'

Fee paid to advocate for seeking bail of driver of assessee was disallowable

IT : Where assessee-company's share capital with reserves and surplus was far in excess of amount invested in securities fetching exempt income, interest could not be disallowed under section 14A

HC didn't interfere with order of appellate authorities as assessee had already substantiated its de

IT: When assessee established his claim for depreciation same was to be allowed

CBDT announces guidelines for NGOs seeking Sec. 11 exemption on providing relief to earthquake victi

IT : Section 11, read with Section 12AA, of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 – Charitable or Religious Trust – Exemption of Income from Property Held under – Standard Operating Procedure (Sop) for Making Application for Claim of Tax Exemption under Section 11(1)(C) in Respect of Remittance of Money/relief Articles by Indian Ngos/charitable Organisations for Earthquake Hit People in Nepal

Vietnam Rice Exports Decline Sharply In May 2015

Vietnam's rice exports have declined sharply in May 2015 reportedly due to a decline in export demand and stiff competition from India and Thailand. While share of Vietnam's rice exports to Asian, American and Australian destinations declined in May 2015, its share of exports to Africa and Europe increased during the month.

Vietnam has exported around 526,133 tons of rice in May 2015, down about 21% from around 668,177 tons exported in April 2015, and down about 10% from around 585,346 tons exported in May 2014.

Asia accounted for around 375,569 tons (about 71% of total rice exports by Vietnam in May 2015) in May 2015. Month-on-month, Vietnam's rice exports to Asian destinations declined about 28% from around 520,386 tons exported in April 2015. Year-on-year, they declined about 24.5% from around 497,526 tons exported in May 2014.

Vietnam exported around 84,371 tons of rice to Africa (about 16% of total May 2015 exports) in May 2015, up about 17% from around 71,993 tons exported in April 2015, and over two times from around 35,008 tons exported in May 2014, according to USDA.

Vietnam exported around 58,239 tons of rice to American destinations (about 11% of May 2015 exports), down about 14% from around 67,757 tons exported in April 2015, and up about 35.5% from around 42,961 tons exported in May 2014.

Vietnam's exports to Australia (about 0.6% of May 2015 exports) declined about 28% to around 3,391 tons in May 2015 from around 4,729 tons exported in April 2015 and increased about 4.3 times from around 797 tons exported in May 2014.

Vietnam's exports to Europe and CIS countries (about 0.8% of total May 2015 exports) accounted for around 4,563 tons in May 2015, up about 38% from around 3,312 tons exported in April 2015 and down about 50% from around 9,054 tons exported in May 2014.

In terms of grade, 5% broken rice exports accounted for around 174,132 tons (or, about 33% of total May 2015 exports); Jasmine rice exports accounted for around 114,903 tons (or, about 22% of total May 2015 exports); 15% broken rice exports accounted for around 73,940 tons (or, about 14% of total exports in May 2015); 25% broken rice exports accounted for around 3,265 tons (or, about 0.6% of total exports in May 2015); glutinous rice exports accounted for around 69,611 tons (or, about 13% of total May 2015 exports); and 10%, 100% and other varieties accounted for around 90,282 tons (or, about 17% of total exports in May 2015).

Source:- hellenicshippingnews.com

Event management service availed to train employees of back office services was eligible for credit

Cenvat Credit : Event Management Service for training of their employees, and Club House Service for meeting with foreign delegates, are eligible for input service credit in case of assessee exporting back office services

Assessee acting as mediator between AE and its customers in India couldn't be assumed to have high r

IT/ILT : Where assessee-company merely mediated between its AEs and customers /vendors in India and, it only supplied information to AEs, but TPO without foundation held that it undertook all crucial functions of its AE, and made TP adjustment, TPO had to make a fresh determination of ALP of disputed international transactions

Govt. designates City Civil court no. 22, Mumbai for issuing order for seizure of book, records u/s

SEBI : Section 26A of the Securities & Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, Read with Section 26A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and Section 22C of the Depositories Act, 1996 - Special Courts - Establishment of - Notified Special Court

Government Permits Export Of 2,095 Tonnes Of More Sugar To Us Under Tariff Rate

The government has permitted export of an additional 2,095 tonnes of raw sugar to the USA under the tariff rate quota (TRQ), which
entitles shipments to enjoy low tariff.

Earlier, 8,424 tonnes of raw sugar has been notified for export to the US under this quota."Additional quantity of 2,095 MTs (tonnes) of raw cane sugar to be exported to the USA under TRQ up to 30.09.2015 has been notified," Director General of Foreign Trade said in a public notice.

TRQ is a quota for a volume of exports that enters the US at low tariffs. After the quota is reached, a higher tariff is applied on additional imports.

The additional quantity of the sweetener was allowed to the country for the US fiscal year 2015 (October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015).

The DGFT also said that a certificate of origin, if required, for export of preferential sugar to the US, shall be issued by additional director general of foreign trade, Mumbai.

In April, the Commerce Ministry allowed that any trader or entity can export sugar to the European Union and the US under the TRQ.

Earlier, the government had designated Indian Sugar Exim Corporation, formed by two sugar associations -- ISMA and NFCSF -- to
export the sweetener to the EU and the US under the TRQ. The quota for the EU is 10,000 tonnes.

India's sugar production is estimated to cross 28 million tonnes in the 2014-15 marketing year (October-September), against 24.3 million tonnes the previous year. The total annual demand is pegged at only 24 million tonnes.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

No-denial of registration to a trust due to non-commencement of charitable activities

IT : Where Commissioner rejected assessee-trust's application of registration on ground that assessee had undertaken very limited charitable activities and funds available with assessee was also very scanty, in absence of any activity report filed by assessee, matter was to be readjudicated

AO can't make adjustment of Custom duty refund under sec. 143(1) by treating it as revenue receipt

IT : Where assessee-company claimed deduction on refund of custom duty, as nature of receipts was debatable, Assessing Officer was unjustified in determining same as revenue receipts by prima facie adjustment

Indian Poultry Industry Demands Soybean Imports To Compete With Us

The Indian poultry industry has demanded permission to import at least one million tonnes of soybean meal, to help them deal with the impending competition of cheaper imports of chicken legs from the United States.

Producers think this will help the poultry industry to get cheaper raw material and reduce its cost of production, which is three times the cost of production of US chicken legs, reports the Economic Times.

As India lost its World Trade Organisation battle against the import of US chicken legs, the poultry industry expects to see the impact of the ruling in 12 to 18 months.

"The cost of processed chicken in India is $3/kg while the cost of the imported chicken leg from the US will be $1/kg," said Amit Saraogi, chairman of the feed manufacturer's organisation CLMFA of India.

The cost of Indian soybean meal is higher than the global soybean meal because productivity is much lower there than the productivity of countries like the US, which have genetically modified soybeans.

The Indian poultry industry, which is growing at 7 per cent to 8 per cent per annum, is worth Rs 80,000 crore (800 billion), 65 per cent of which is poultry meat while 35 per cent is accounted for by eggs.

Chicken breast is considered as the premium product in the US and chicken legs are considered just a by product. However, chicken legs are the main product for Indian market. Representatives of the corn industry also expressed a need to import raw feed material.

Source:thepoultrysite.com

India's Push To Curb Steel Imports Could Hit Its Small Mills

Steps by India to protect its large steel makers from a flood of cheap imports  could end up closing scores of small, local firms that process the metal, industry analysts and executives said.

These processors currently buy imported steel at up to 20 percent below India's pricier, domestic steel, turning it into finished steel products for industrial use.

But after months of lobbying by its largest steelmakers such as JSW Steel Ltd and Tata Steel Ltd, India last month raised duties
on some steel imports by up to 2.5 percentage points, with more increases expected.

India's steel imports had jumped around 70 percent to over 9 million tonnes in the year to end-March, with a surge of cheaper purchases from China accounting for about a third of the total. Imports soared 55 percent in April-May. The duty hike, along with proposed steps to tighten quality controls on steel imports, should curb shipments into the country this year, industry experts said.

While that should help large steelmakers, it will pile more pressure on small steel processors, already grappling with faltering demand as the real estate sector slows. Often family-run, these firms account for almost 60 percent of the India's overall
steel sector, according to one industry body.

"If imports get reduced, the integrated steel mills will start charging higher prices, irrespective of international price trends ... secondary steel producers will not be able to survive," said Mohan Gurnani, President of the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra, which represents over 750 small associations and traders. Steel ministry officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Morgan Stanley estimates that the 2.5-percentage point duty hike could potentially boost Tata Steel earnings per share by 14 percent next year, Steel Authority of India's (SAIL) by 33 percent and JSW Steel by 30 percent.

"Import orders should reduce meaningfully from here as traders will become apprehensive of further increases in duties in some shape or the other," the bank said in a note.

India's largest steelmakers have been badly hit by high debt, interest costs and low appetite. But demand prospects are improving as the country starts a major urbanisation drive under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Indian steel consumption rose 7 percent in April-May percent, after growth of 3 percent in the fiscal year that ended in March.

The World Steel Association (Worldsteel) expects Modi's plans, including building 100 new 'smart' cities, to spur steel demand by up to around 6 percent this year..

Most analysts now expect Indian steel prices to remain steady, or rise slightly especially if  the rupee weakens further, making steel imports more costly.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Rupee Opens Lower At 63.55 Against Us Dollar

The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking the losses in Asian equity markets. The local unit opened at 63.55 per dollar. At 9.11am, the home currency was trading at 63.58, down 0.2% from its previous close of 63.46.

Most of the Asian currencies were trading lower. South Korean won was down 0.55%, Singapore dollar 0.18%, Indonesian rupiah 0.12%, Taiwan dollar 0.1% and Thai baht 0.06%. However, Japanese yen was trading up 0.29%. The Sensex was trading at 28,031.45, down 0.50% or 140.24 points.

 

It is expected that weakness in the Asian markets will also impact India which could lead to sales by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) here. Asian markets fell, especially China’s Shanghai Composite Index that lost 5.2% to 3,535.20 points. Measures to stabilize equities is failing to stop the bear-market rout as traders unwind margin bets at a record pace, Bloomberg reported.

 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 4.6%, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.5%, Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI Index fell 1.3% and Taiwan Stock exchange Weighted Index fell 2.7%.

 

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.785% compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.784%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

 

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 0.66%, while FIIs have bought $6.81 billion from local equity and $6.51 billion from bond markets.

 

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.814, down 0.05% from its previous close of 96.865.

 

Source:livemint.com

CCI hikes lump sum monthly remuneration of experts and professionals including research associates

COMPETITION ACT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Competition Commission of India (Procedure for Engagement of Experts and Professionals) Amendment Regulations, 2015 – Amendment In Regulation 6 and Schedule III

NR entities can undertake single brand retail trading of specific brand through more than one Co. in

FDI/FEMA/ILT : Consolidated FDI Policy Circular of 2015 – Clarification on FDI Policy on Single Brand Retail Trading1

CIT(A) rightly refused to admit appeal as assessee failed to pay taxes on income shown in tax return

IT : Where assessee had failed to pay tax due on income returned at time of filing return or even before filing of appeal or even at time when appeal was heard by Commissioner (Appeals), appeal of assessee could not be admitted as per provisions of section 249(4)

Cost of mandatory inspection of goods will form part of their excisable value

Excise & Customs : Where inspection of goods by a third party is a necessary condition of sale of goods, then, same cannot be regarded as secondary or optional inspection and therefore, cost thereof would form part of excisable value

CBEC releases new system for detailed manual scrutiny of service tax returns

ST LAWS/C : Return – Revised Guidelines for Scrutiny of ST-3 Returns