Payment received in INR through foreign bank to be deemed as convertible foreign exchange to avail e

CENVAT: Where assessee, a provider of rent-a-cab service and outdoor catering service, claimed refund of cenvat credit against export of service, payment received by assessee in Indian rupees through foreign bank was receipt of payment in convertible foreign exchange and further above services would qualify as input service

No reassessment could be made merely on basis of audit objections

IT : Where while sending proposal for approval of reassessment, Assessing Officer maintained that audit objection raised by audit party that assessee being contractor, depreciation on dumper, lorries, etc. could not be allowed at rate of 30 per cent but at 15 per cent, was not acceptable, but he recorded said objection as reason to believe, re-assessment was not valid

CLB was justified in directing removal of director's who were wrongfully retaining control over co's

CL: Where son with a view to defraud his father collided with directors of father's old company and claimed possession of company's properties, CLB was justified in directing removal of directors of old company to handover charge of company's properties and assets to its newly appointed directors

Now persons having no loan can avail non-fund based facilities like LCs and BGs from banks

BANKING : Non-Fund Based Facility to Non-Constituent Borrowers of Bank

International Financial Services Centers can now open foreign currency current accounts

BANKING : Setting Up of IFSC Banking Units (IBUS) – Permissible Activities

RBI modifies prudential norms for classification, valuation and operation of investment portfolio by

BANKING : Prudential Norms for Classification, Valuation and Operation of Investment Portfolio by FIS – Amendment in Master Circular DBR.No.FID.FIC.3/01.02.00/2015-16, Dated 1-7-2015

Rent for displaying client's advertisement on own billboards isn't taxable under advertisement agenc

Service Tax : Where assessee : (a) took certain prominent places in city on rental basis, (b) installed infrastructure/boards thereon, (c) displayed advertisement of clients in form of billboards thereon, and (d) collected rent for such display, then, said rental could not be charged to service tax under 'advertising agency's services'

No denial of sec.10B relief even in case of reconstruction of business if new machinery was used for

IT: Where Assessing Officer disallowed assessee's claim for deduction under section 10B on plea that assessee was formed by reconstruction of business of one 'F' and Commissioner (Appeals) allowed claim of deduction holding that there was no transfer of old plant and machinery by 'F' to assessee and manufacturing activity carried on by assessee was by use of new plant and machinery, since said findings had not been rebutted by revenue, order of Commissioner (Appeals) deserved to be upheld

Sum received by 'Subrata Roy' from his firm can't be deemed as dividend even if such firm indebted t

IT: SLP dismissed against High Court's order wherein it was held that amount advanced to assessee-partner by firm could not be taxed as deemed dividend merely on ground that some amount lying in firm's account was collected by firm on behalf of company of which assessee was a MD-cum-shareholder

Acts done by a director or MD by misusing office couldn't be deemed as valid

CL : The benefit of Section 290 of the 1956 Act (section 176 of the 2013 Act) is generally available to third parties who enter into transactions with a company not knowing what the internal structure and mechanism of the company is

Order of TPO couldn't be used as basis to make reassessment when reference to TPO itself was void

IT/ILT: Reference under section 92CA made to TPO where there was no assessment pending was invalid and bad in law, hence, order of TPO pursuant to illegal reference could not be used in reassessment proceedings by Assessing Officer and therefore reassessment proceedings based on illegal reference were held to be void ab initio

Trusts claiming sec. 80G exemption should maintain proper accounts, says Karnataka HC

IT: Trusts or organizations, which claim exemption under section 80G and perform their duties to further their aims and objects, are duty bound to maintain proper accounts

CIT(A) can't make sec. 14A disallowance on ad-hoc basis without following method prescribed under ru

IT: When assessee itself admitted that a disallowance had to be made with regard to expenditure for earning of income which was exempted from taxation under Act, such expenditure had to be computed not on ad hoc basis by estimating same but as per method prescribed under rule 8D(2)

HC upheld additions as assessee failed to show that entries found in seized docs were recorded in re

IT: Where assessee failed to justify his stand that there was no unaccounted sale as indicated in seized documents, addition made on basis of seized documents was justified

Transport Ministry is Line Ministry to certify excise exemption on goods required for execution of h

EXCISE : Reference Regarding Proper Certificate Under Notification No.108/95-C.E., Dated 28-8-1995

Income-tax SetCom has no right to direct a special audit: Delhi High Court

IT : Income Tax Settlement Commission has no right to direct a special audit u/s 142(2A) in the course of settlement proceedings under Chapter XIX-A of the Act as assessment of the type contained in section 143(3) is outside the purview of settlement proceedings

Filament Yarns Export From India Falls

In November 2015, all types of filament yarns export aggregated 28 million kg worth US$46 million. Filament yarns include polyester, nylon, polypropylene and viscose filament yarns and were exported to 73 countries during the month. Around 88 per cent of filament yarns were of polyester, of which, DTYs were the largest at 72 per cent.

About 982,000 million kg of viscose filament yarns were exported in November to 24 countries from India valued at US$4 million. During the month, 230,000 kg of VFYs were exported to Japan. It was followed by Germany and Egypt.

26.7 million kg of polyester filament yarns were exported worth US$40 million. Brazil and Turkey continued to be the major importers of polyester filament yarns, followed by South Korea. The three together accounted for 40 per cent of polyester filament yarn exports. Brazil was also major importer of polyester DTYs and Turkey was major importer of PFYs.

Sri Lanka was the major importer of nylon filament yarn in November with volumes at 47,000 kg worth US$0.28 million. In value terms, USA and Italy were the other largest markets for nylon filament in November, worth US$0.23 million.

Polypropylene filament yarns were exported to 12 countries in November with volumes at 160,000 kg worth US$0.32 million. Spain was the major importer of PP yarns. Djibouti and Bangladesh were the other major importers of PP filament yarns in November.

 

Source :.yarnsandfibers.con

Poor Offtake From Iran, Nigeria To Dent India’S Rice Exports

 

India’s rice exports for the current financial year are headed for a decline, both in value and volume terms, over the previous year on reduced purchases by large buyers, such as Iran and Nigeria, and drop in realisations.

Latest export trends suggest that total rice shipments – basmati and non-basmati – have declined 7.3 per cent in volumes and 18 per cent in value terms for the April-November period over the corresponding period last year.

While basmati shipments were up 23 per cent in volume terms, realisations were down 13 per cent in rupee terms and 18.5 per cent in dollar terms, on account of decline in grain prices.

Non-basmati rice shipments dropped by a fifth in volume terms and by a fourth in rupee terms. This was largely on account of stoppage of imports of parboiled rice by Nigeria due to the foreign exchange issue in the African nation.

Exports drop

“Going by the current trend, our exports may see a decline. We may end up shipping 10.5-11 million tonnes (mt) of rice, both basmati and non-basmati put together this year,” said Rajen Sundaresan, Executive Director, All India Rice Exporters Association. India had exported a total of 11.92 mt rice in 2014-15.

Basmati shipments to Iran, the largest buyer of the Indian aromatic rice variety in recent years, have dropped 25 per cent to 3.9 lakh tonnes during the April-October period of the current financial year against 5.18 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

Iran, which had stopped issuing fresh import permits for basmati in November 2014, began issuing new permits from December 2015, Sundaresan said.

As a result, basmati shipments were likely to pick up in the coming months. However, the quantum of permits issued by Iran so far could not be ascertained.

“Our basmati shipments, in volume terms, may increase by about 10 per cent this year, while in value terms there could be a decline of 20-25 per cent on lower realisations,” said AK Gupta, Director, Basmati Export Development Foundation.

Competing countries

Non-basmati rice exporters, who rely mainly on the African markets, are not optimistic about the outlook for exports in the absence of demand from Nigeria and the firming trend in domestic prices. “The market is not very buoyant because of low prices in countries, such as Pakistan and Vietnam,” said BV Krishna Rao, Managing Director of Pattabhi Agro Foods Pvt Ltd, a large rice exporter in Kakinada.

Rao said Indian rice is not competitive in the global market compared to rice from Thailand and Pakistan. The Centre should provide some incentive to rice exporters to help maintain their market share, he added. Rao expects the overall non-basmati shipments to be in the region of around five million tonnes this year.

Tejinder Narang, a grains trade analyst, said a depreciating Thailand currency (baht) will pose a challenge to Indian exporters, who are already battling a firming trend in domestic rice prices. “Lack of demand from Nigeria is bound to impact Indian exports,” he added.

Source :.thehindubusinessline.com

Sitting fee of part-time members of SEBI increases from Rs 1,000 to. Rs 10,000 per board meeting

SEBI/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : SEBI (Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairman and Members) Amendment Rules, 2015 – Amendment in Rule 19B

Eia To Test Food Procured By Southern Naval Command

KOCHI: Henceforth the food and other products procured by Southern Naval Command will be tested by  Export Inspection Agency (EIA), Kochi under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Laboratory testing of Provisions was exchanged between S K Saxena, Director (Insp and QC) Export Inspection Agency (EIA), Kochi and Commander Kamalender Sharma, Base Victualling Officer, Naval Base at a function held here on Wednesday.

Calling the agreement as ‘historic’,  S K Saxena said that EIA will ensure that the food products the Naval Base get is of national standard. The Navy has been sending samples to Laboratories in Mumbai and Chennai for quality checking. But the entire exercise used to take many weeks to get the final result. With the new arrangement the Naval Base hopes to get the test results in less than a week.

The Export Inspection Council of India (EIC) was set up in 1963 as an apex body to provide for sound development of export trade through quality control and pre-shipment inspection. The EIC is assisted in its functions by the Export Inspection Agencies (EIAs) located in  Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai having a network of 37 sub-offices and laboratories to back up the pre-shipment inspection and certification activity. “Since 2009 we were on the lookout of testing laboratories to check the quality of our food items. Our aim was to make sure that the food is safe to eat. Earlier we used to send samples to many locations in the country. But all our search has finally been zeroed in on EIA Kochi. We have 70 dependent units in the country and our annual procurement comes to around Rs 50-60 crore. With the new association we hope to get test results soon and will be of mutual benefit,” said  Commander Kamalender Sharma, Base Victualling Officer, Naval Base.

Saxena said that the facility is exploring ways to associate with more institutions in the country. “Our mandate is to make sure quality control of products, especially food products. This is our first association with Armed Forces to provide testing services. The country imports products worth $410 billion and exports $310 billion. The country imports $45 billion worth food products and exports $32 billion. Seafood, Buffalo Meat and Basmati Rice are the major contributors in the export basket. The government now plans to increase exports hence quality control is very important,” said  Saxena.

 Jayapalan G, Deputy Director In-charge, EIA-Kochi and Lt Deepak Poonia, Naval Base, Kochi were also present.

Source :newindianexpress.com
 

Sea Demands Cut In Oilseeds Import Duty To 5-10%

NEW DELHI: Industry body SEA has sought slashing of import duty on oilseeds like mustard to 5-10 per cent from 30 per cent to boost edible oil supplies to local markets and oilmeal crushers.

A sharp decline in domestic oilseeds output and crushing has encouraged edible oil imports, while discouraging exports of oilmeal, it said.

In fact, export of oilmeal -- used as animal feed -- has dropped by 85 per cent to 59,818 tonnes in December 2015, as against 4,10,178 tonnes in the year-ago period, it added.

"The Association has pleaded with the central government for reducing the import duty to 5-10 per cent from the current 30 per cent on high oil content oilseeds like rapeseed/mustard and sunflower seed," Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

The reduction in import duty on oilseeds will reduce import of edible oils, larger availability of oilmeals for local consumption by feed industry and export, it said.

Further, the oilseeds imports will not have any adverse impact on the farmers as they are protected with an assured minimum support price by the government, it added.

Stating that "alarming" decline in oilseeds production and crushing has hit India's oilmeal exports, SEA said the overseas sale of oilmeals has almost come to a "standstill".

As per the latest data, India's oilmeal exports declined by 48 per cent to 9,63,442 tonnes in the April-December of this fiscal from 18,62,283 tonnes in the year ago period.

"Soybean crushing is very much reduced due to continuous disparity and high price of domestic market affecting overall domestic availability of both oils and meals. The capacity utilization is at the lowest," SEA said.

The industry is passing through a very tough time and many plants are closed down or operating at very low capacity due to disparity in crushing and export, it said.

Consequently, SEA said soyabean meal exports has fallen to 61,556 tonnes in April-December period of this fiscal from 4,44,736 tonnes in the year-ago period.

Export of rapeseed meal has fallen to 3,12,148 tonnes from 8,95,585 tonnes, while the shipment of groundnut meal has dropped to 606 tonnes from 2,244 tonnes in the said period.

However, export of castor seed meal rose marginally to 3,70,522 from 3,30,082 and ricebran extraction shipments increased to 2,18,610 tonnes from 1,89,636 in the said period.

India exports oilmeal to countries including South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Iran and European nations.

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Export Of Soybean Meal Decreases 97% In December Y-O-Y

KOLKATA: Export of soybean meal during December, 2015 was just 5,667 tons as compared to 1,94,012 tons in December, 2014 showing a decrease of 97% over the same period of last year, according to Soybean Processors Association (SOPA).

On a financial year basis, the export during April 2015 to December 2015 is 61,559 tons as compared to 4,31,368 tons in the same period of previous year showing a decrease of 85.73%. Soybean meal is used for livestock feed and India is a major supplier of this.

During current Oil year, (October - September), total exports during October 2015 to December, 2015 is 18,814 tons as against 3,34,508 tons last year, showing a decrease by 94.37%.

The data has been collected and compiled by SOPA based on the information received from the members, port authorities and other agencies.

 

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

India's Oil Imports From Iran Fall By A Quarter In 2015

NEW DELHI: India's oil imports from Iran fell by about a quarter in 2015 as refiners slowed purchases early in the year to keep imports within the limits of sanctions, preliminary tanker arrival data obtained by Reuters shows.

Western sanctions against Iran's controversial nuclear programme limit the Gulf country's oil exports to 1-1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), with buyers such as India curbing annual purchases to 220,000 bpd.

The annual decline came as imports in December surged nearly 70 per cent from the previous month to 233,100 barrels per day (bpd), but were still down by a third from a year ago, according to the data and a report compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.

India's December oil imports from Iran were the highest in six months.

Asian imports of Iranian oil have fallen as most of Iran's biggest crude buyers held off from increasing purchases after a July agreement that would grant relief to Iran from sanctions early this year if it curbs its nuclear programme.

India, Iran's biggest oil client after China, shipped in 208,300 bpd of oil and condensate in calendar 2015 compared with 276,800 bpd in 2014, the data showed.

New Delhi's imports of oil from Iran are expected to rise in the next fiscal year, beginning in April, when western sanctions are expected to be eased against Tehran.

Tehran was India's seventh-biggest supplier of oil in the 2014/15 fiscal year, down from the No. 2 spot before sanctions.

A drop in purchases of Iranian oil helped boost exports to India by rival producers Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Indian refiners, including Reliance Industries, have shown interest in raising imports from Iran, Mohsen Qamsari, director general for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), told Reuters.

Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining complex in India, halted imports of Iranian oil in 2010 under pressure from sanctions.

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Revenue directed to furnish cash security to get cash and silver seizure by Police

IT : Where department filed an application under section 132A for handing over of silver bullion seized by police from assessee, in view of fact that neither police nor department had gathered any information regarding ownership of silver bullion, Trial Court was justified in passing order of handing over of goods to department subject to payment of cash security

Margin earned by franchisees on sale of SIM cards/vouchers of BSNL wasn't liable to service-tax

Service Tax: Where assessee-franchisee was only engaged in trading of SIM cards/recharge coupons of BSNL and his relationship with BSNL was on principal-to-principal basis and assessee was not acting as agent of BSNL and BSNL had already paid service tax on full MRP, no service tax could be demanded from assessee

Car couldn't be confiscated from buyer once it was released on payment of redemption fine by importe

Excise & Customs : Once goods were confiscated in hands of importer and allowed to be redeemed on payment of redemption fine and penalty, same cannot be re-confiscated in hands of bona fide purchaser of said goods

Sum paid to sisters to acquire absolute title to property held as exp. in connection with transfer

IT : Where assessee received a property with clause in his mother's will providing overriding title in favour of his three sisters, payment made by assessee to his sisters for acquiring absolute title in property would be reduced as expenditure while computing capital gain on sale of said property