Service Tax : Adjudicating authority imposing penalty under section 78 need not spell out option to pay reduced penalty in adjudication order itself and adjudication order cannot be regarded as invalid.
Monday 4 January 2016
HP didn't abuse dominance in market of laptops as there were other prominent brands available in rel
Competition Act: Where there were other prominent brands of laptops available in India, it appeared that consumers in India had adequate choice and OP-computer manufacturer/seller did not enjoy a position of strength, hence no contravention of provisions of section 4 was made out against OP
No disallowance of actual exp. for computing MAT just because it was shown as deferred revenue exp.
IT: SLP dismissed against High Court's ruling that no disallowance of actual expenditure for computing MAT just because it was shown as deferred revenue expenditure for shareholders
Revised monetary limits for filing appeal also applicable on all pending appeals before HC/CESTAT: C
EXCISE : Reduction of Government Litigation – Providing Monetary Limits for Filing Appeals by Department Before CESTAT/High Courts and Supreme Court – Clarification
Methyl parathion and cartap hydrochloride are covered under Entry No. 38B of Schedule B of Haryana V
CST & VAT: Haryana VAT - Methyl parathion, cartap hydrochloride, acephate, acetamiprid, imidacloprid, pretilachlor, paraquat dichloride and carbendazim sold by assessee were covered under Entry No. 38B of Schedule B of Haryana VAT Act
Co. rendering marketing support services to its AE can't be compared with a Co. involved in marketin
IT/ILT: In case of assessee rendering marketing support services to its AE, a company involved in marketing could not be accepted as valid comparable while determining ALP
President clears new Juvenile Justice Act, 2015
CORPORATE LAWS/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015 [2 OF 2016]
President clears amended Act enforcing stringent action against persons involved in crime against SC
CORPORATE LAWS/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Scheduled Castes And The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention Of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 [NO.1 OF 2016]
Sweden Can Provide Clean Tech To India: Swedish Consul General
With deteriorating air quality becoming an area of concern, Sweden said it is keen to provide clean technology solutions to the country.
"Sweden has many years of experience in the field of clean technology. The much debated air quality, for example, could benefit from Swedish solutions," Consul General of Sweden Fredrika Ornbrant told here.
Sustainable transport, an important part of the 'Smart City' concept, is another area where Swedish companies are strong, she said.
The Scandinavian country also has experience in decreasing emissions from coal-based thermal power plants, she added.
She said the disease profile is changing in India and many other countries, as they grow richer.
"Swedish companies have good technologies and know-how to meet the changing demand in health care," she said.
However, hurdles like import regulations, restrictions and customs duty impact companies negatively, especially in the life sciences, health care, automotive and heavy vehicles sectors, she said.
"A survey conducted by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce India found that 60 per cent of the respondent companies consider cost structure to be a competitive disadvantage, as regulations, inverted duty structure and trade barriers contribute to additional cost of operations," she said.
Exports and imports of goods between India and Sweden amounted to slightly over USD 2 billion in 2014.
Ornbrant said the trade between the two countries gained momentum last year after two years of decline.
In fact, Indian exports to Sweden has picked up more than vice-versa, as there was an increase of 11 per cent in Indian exports of goods to Sweden between January to September in 2015, while the increase of Swedish exports to India during the same period was 6 per cent, she said.
"However, services are not included in this figure. Indian export of services like information technology to Sweden is strong. We have around 20 Indian IT companies in our country," she said.
Swedish industry body Business Sweden estimates that around 10,000 people in India are supporting Swedish companies with IT services, the Consul General said.
On the other hand, Sweden exports engineering products, automotive and telecom equipment, pulp and paper and chemicals to India.
"Swedish high voltage equipment, for example, is contributing in electrifying India. The main Indian exports of goods are apparel and garments, machineries, vehicle parts, metal works and pharmaceuticals," she added.
Source:- auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com
India’S Auto Exports Take A Hit In December
India’s automobile exports seem to have been facing the heat of the global slowdown as the growth rate in the overseas sales has witnessed a sharp reduction in the past two months.
During April- November 2015, the country’s auto exports grew by just 2.61%, much less than the growth rate of 5.78% witnessed during April-October period.
Analysts say that the steep fall in the export of commercial vehicles and two-wheelers seems to have led to the negative growth trend of the sector in the past two months.
“Passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three wheelers and two wheelers registered a growth at 4.30%, 15.22%, 10.46 % and 0.52% respectively in April- November 2015 over April- November 2014,” said the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
During April-March 2015, the country’s overall automobile exports grew by 14.89% over 2014 when the overseas sales in the commercial vehicle category went up by 11.33% but three-wheelers and two-wheeler sales grew by 15.44% and 17.93% respectively.
On Monday, Bajaj Auto released its December sales data for motocycles and commercial vehicles, according to which, the exports of these two segments fell by 12% last month as compared to the figure of December 2014.
The company’s overall global shipment of motorcycles and commercial vehicles during April-December 2015 saw a fall of 3% with the export of 14,07,082 units against 14,51,474 exported during the same period in 2014.
Tata Motors, on the other hand, said that its exports last month stood at 4,557 units, up 15% from 3,958 units exported in December 2014.
“The company’s sales from exports were 4,557 nos., in December 2015, higher by 15% compared to 3,958 vehicles in December 2014. The cumulative sales from exports for the fiscal are at 40,901 nos., were higher by 12%, over 36,626 nos., sold last year,” Tata Motors said in a statement on Monday.
Source:- thedollarbusiness.com
Oil And Gas | India’S Energy Sector Looks Sturdy In 2016
India’s energy sector has a lot going for it as it powers into 2016.
The country’s robust economic growth coupled with oil prices languishing at more than 40% below the previous year’s average, has boosted refined products demand by nearly 9% in the January-October period. That’s a growth rate unmatched in the past 15 years.
While that rate of increase might moderate, India’s oil products demand is expected to remain firmly on an upward trajectory, rising two-and-a-half-fold to 10 million barrels per day (b/d) by 2040, the biggest rise projected for any country, according to the International Energy Agency.
The Paris-based energy policy advisor to the OECD countries cites the 100 Smart Cities mission and the manufacturing boost expected from the Make in India campaign as factors that will drive the country’s oil appetite in the coming years.
The state-owned players in India’s refining sector, apart from benefiting from the captive and fast-growing domestic market, have also been freed of the yoke of diesel subsidies since October 2014, and are on their way to phasing out liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidies too.
Shedding the LPG subsidy burden is crucial as the oil marketing companies push the cleaner burning cooking fuel into rural India, looking to boost the country’s household penetration to 85% from the current 65% over the next five years. The concurrent decline in kerosene use by households would also whittle down the subsidy burden.
Meanwhile, protecting the export markets in an environment of rising competition from overseas suppliers and anemic demand growth will likely be an uphill task for refiners like Reliance and Essar.
India’s oil product exports declined 7.4% from a year ago in the first 10 months of 2015 to around 1.25 million b/d, setting it on course for the first annual decline since 2008-09.
In the coming months, as India’s refiners and marketers profit from burgeoning gasoline demand on the back of strong car and two-wheeler sales and an expected resurgence in energy consumption growth led by manufacturing, they do need to become more environmentally responsible.
Air pollution in Delhi, world’s most polluted city according to the World Health Organization, has gone off the charts this winter. While some of the components of the pollution, such as dust, and smoke from the burning of agricultural stubble in farms, might be harder to tackle, India’s emission standards can be fast-tracked.
India’s private refiners currently export the cleanest of their fuel, which meets Euro 5 standards, while selling lower quality product at home. The major public sector refiners, Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, will need to upgrade their refineries to accelerate the transition to cleaner fuels.
The outlook for the upstream sector is bleaker in comparison, given the depressed oil and gas prices, and expectations of “lower for longer,” though the state-owned producers do get reprieve from the fuel subsidy sharing burden.
However, producers such as state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and private-owned Cairn India are being weighed down by a fixed $10/barrel cess they need to pay on top of royalty and other taxes, which is severely crimping their revenues and drying up funds available for upstream investment even faster.
The government, in the process of overhauling the exploration and production contract regime in a bid to attract foreign investment, needs to heed its upstream players’ request to switch to an ad valorem tax, which would be a percentage of the sales price.
India’s decision to adopt a world markets-linked formula to price domestic gas from November 2014, just as the rates were tanking globally, was an ironic twist of fate for its producers, who were forced to accept a cap of $4.20/mmBtu through years that saw US benchmark Henry Hub touch $13/mmBtu and spot LNG prices in North Asia spike to $20/mmBtu, as assessed by Platts.
If ONGC is reluctant to develop its substantial reserves in the Krishna Godavari basin deep waters owing to doubts on the commercial viability at current gas prices, how can one hope for foreign explorers to dive in, especially as a major new rival upstream frontier opens up in the geologically more lucrative Iran?
Several upstream reforms are underway, such as the move to a uniform licensing policy, which enables companies to explore and produce all kinds of hydrocarbons from a single block; an open acreage system, which allows companies to bid for blocks throughout the year instead of waiting for licensing rounds; and clearing the way for ONGC and Oil India to surrender marginal fields for open bidding that they deem uneconomical because of the fuel subsidy sharing mechanism, are all encouraging, provided they are managed smoothly, communicated clearly, and implemented consistently.
On balance, though, in the current price environment, India’s biggest selling point when it comes to exploration dollars is the access to a sizeable and fast-growing end-user demand. When it comes to gas, which is what India seems to have in its reservoirs, aside from the price, developing the downstream market and having the distribution infrastructure in place are equally critical ingredients.
Source:- livemint.com
India Cuts Import Tariff Value On Gold
The Indian Government today has announced cut in import tariff value for gold . However, import tariff value on silver has been increased.
The import tariff value of gold has been reduced marginally by nearly over 0.5%, in accordance with prices of precious metals in the international market. Meantime, tariff value on imported silver has been increased marginally by less than 1.0% for the first fortnight period of the current month.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) issued notification in this regard lowering the gold import tariff value to $345 per 10 grams. The import tariffs are being reduced from the existing $347 per 10 grams. Meanwhile the import tariff value of Silver has been raised from $448 per kilogram to $452 per kilogram.
The government move to cut the import tariff value is in primarily on account of declining gold prices in the global and domestic markets. The precious metal has been trading in a narrow range for the past one week.
Meanwhile, gold prices rose marginally by 0.2% in Singapore to $1,070 per Oz. It must be noted that gold prices had plunged by nearly 10% during the entire year 2015, ending the year with a third straight annual loss. The sharp fall in yellow metal prices was mainly attributed to the US monetary policy decisions and rising strength in dollar.
Meantime, gold in India rebounded on the first trading day of 2016. The prices were up by Rs 120 per 10 grams to Rs 25,510 per 10 grams on revival of demand from retail buyers and jewellers. However, Silver held steady at Rs 33,300 per kg on static demand from industrial users and coin makers.
Tariff value is the base price on which the customs duty on imported gold or silver is calculated and it further helps prevent under-invoicing.
Source:- metal.com
Rupee Falls Most In 9 Weeks To Trade At 66.57 Against Us Dollar
The Indian rupee on Monday weakened 0.7%, its steepest fall in nine weeks, against the US dollar, tracking losses in the local equity and Asian currencies.
At 2.20pm, the rupee was trading at 66.57 a dollar, down 0.66% from its previous close of 66.14. The local currency opened at 66.27 dollar and touched a low of 66.58, a level last seen on 17 December.
India’s benchmark equity index, BSE Sensex, was trading at 25,607.52 points, down 2.12% or 553.38 points.
Most Asian currencies fell after Chinese factory data disappointed investors, while tension in the Middle-east sent crude oil higher. South Korean won was down 1.3%, Malaysian ringgit 1.02%, Singapore dollar 0.72%, China offshore spot 0.71%, Taiwan dollar 0.68%, Indonesian rupiah 0.65%, Philippines peso 0.4%, China renminbi 0.39% and Thai baht 0.26%.
Data showing that manufacturing activity worsened in both China and India dragged the rupee down.
Indian manufacturing activity contracted in December for the first time in more than two years, hurt by softening domestic demand, adding pressure on the central bank to ease policy, a business survey showed on Monday. Nikkei’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, fell to a 28-month low of 49.1 in December from November’s 50.3.
The Caixin China Manufacturing PMI index decreased to 48.2 last month, below economist estimates for 48.9. That followed official figures released Friday which showed the PMI edging up to 49.7, also below estimates for 49.8. Numbers below 50 indicate deterioration.
Since 1 April till date, foreign institutional investors have sold $2.73 billion from local equity markets and bought $657.65 million from debt markets.
Meanwhile, the yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond stood at 7.773% compared to 7.73% from its previous close. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 98.087, down 0.6% from its previous close of 98.683.
Source:- livemint.com
No disallowance of interest unless AO proves that interest free loan is given from borrowed funds
IT: Where in respect of refund of fees by assessee coaching institute in cash, additions were reduced by both appellate authorities after considering various materials, same was not to be interfered
Now forex can be bought in form of postal orders or money orders
FEMA/ILT : Post Office (Postal Orders/Money Orders) – Supersession Of Notification No.FEMA 18/2000-RB, Dated 3-5-2000
Debit cards and ATM cards notified as currency under FEMA
FEMA/ILT : Definition Of Currency – Supersession Of Notification No.FEMA 15/2000-RB, Dated 3-5-2000
A Japanese Sogo Shosha entity can't be compared with a trader to make TP adjustment
IT/ILT : Where assessee earned commission from its AE for co-ordinating buyers and sellers in capacity of agent, TPO could not make addition to assessee's income by adjusting financial result of said service segment and thereupon comparing it with trading segment
President gives nod to the Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act, 2015
CORPORATE LAWS/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act, 2015 [NO.5 OF 2016]
Employee with salary upto 21,000 is entitled to bonus; President clears amended Payment of Bonus Act
CORPORATE LAWS/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Payment Of Bonus (Amendment) Act, 2015 [NO.6 OF 2016]
RBI issues new regulation for life and general insurance policies issued by foreign insurers
FEMA/ILT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : FEM (Insurance) Regulations, 2015
Domestic manufacturers can’t be forced to comply with conditions meant for importers
Excise & Customs: If 'excise exemption' is conditional upon 'customs exemption', conditions specific to customs exemption and meant for compliance by importers, cannot be forced upon domestic manufacturers; hence, excise exemption cannot be denied to domestic manufacturers for 'not complying conditions specific to importers'
“Govt. unveils draft guidelines for public issue of units of REITs”
SEBI : Consultation Paper For Guidelines For Public Issue Of Units Of Real Estate Investment Trusts
Govt. notifies the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015
CORPORATE LAWS/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Arbitration And Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 [NO.3 OF 2016]
Until reassessment on basis of first notice is completed, fresh reassessment notice can't be issued
IT : Where Assessing Officer initiated reassessment proceedings by issuing a notice under section 148, said proceedings should have been completed within time stipulated and till such time there was no occasion to initiate fresh reassessment proceedings by issuing another notice under section 148
President clears Commercial Court Act; empowers State Govt. to constitute Commercial Courts at Distr
CORPORATE LAWS/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Commercial Courts, Commercial Division And Commercial Appellate Division Of High Courts Act, 2015 [NO.4 OF 2016]
RBI notifies regulations for export or import of currency
FEMA/ILT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : FEM (Export And Import Of Currency) Regulations, 2015
RBI notifies regulations for reliasation, repatriation and surrender of foreign exchange
FEMA/ILT/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : FEM (Realisation, Repatriation And Surrender Of Foreign Exchange) Regulations, 2015
Govt. unveils draft guidelines for public issue of REITs
SEBI : Consultation Paper For Guidelines For Public Issue Of Units Of Real Estate Investment Trusts
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