Taiwan, India Agree Temporary Import Duty Waiver

Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has announced that it has been agreed with India that, under a reciprocal arrangement, goods imported temporarily into either country for marketing purposes may qualify for duty-free importation.

The agreement was originally signed in March 2013 between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India and the India-Taipei Association, and came into effect on April 1 this year, after the completion of the both sides' legal procedures. Carnets simplifying the customs procedures for the temporary imports are to be issued by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

To claim exemption, the goods must be imported for the purpose of participating in exhibitions and international fairs, the investigation of market conditions through research, the holding of marketing seminars, the generation of business on visits, and other such temporary business activities.

It is hoped that the arrangement will provide advantages for businesses in both countries, by reducing their export costs and competitiveness. There should be a substantial increase in Taiwan and India's bilateral business contacts, and an expansion in bilateral economic and trade relations.

Source:-tax-news.com

India's Thermal Coal Imports Rise 22% In Fiscal 2013-14 At Key Ports: Ipa

India's 12 major state-owned ports handled 71.6 million mt of thermal coal imports during fiscal 2013-14 (April-March), up 22% year on year from 58.6 million mt, according to data released Thursday by the Indian Ports Association.

Coking coal imports increased 18% year on year to 33.1 million mt in fiscal 2013-14, the data showed.

Paradip port on India's east coast received the most thermal coal last fiscal year at 25 million mt, up 19% year on year. Mormugao port on the west coast received the most coking coal at around 7.5 million mt, up 13.6% year on year, according to the data.

The 12 ports are Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, VO Chidambaranar (Tuticorin), Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Kandla.

Source:- platts.com

Extend Anti-Dumping Duty On Raw Silk Imports From China

Batting for domestic silk producers, apex industry body ASSOCHAM has recommended extension of anti-dumping duty on imports of raw silk from China till December 2015 in order to boost country's raw silk production.

"India's silk industry is an employment oriented sector as it provides jobs to over 7.6 million people across 51,000 villages operating over 3.28 lakh handlooms and over 45,800 powerlooms with over 8.14 lakh weavers," noted a study titled 'Future of Indian Silk Industry,' conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

In January 2003, Government of India had imposed an antidumping duty on imports of Mulberry Raw Silk (not thrown) of 2A grade and below from China which remained in force until January 2008 and was subsequently extended till January 2014 after a sunset review.

"Clocking compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about eight percent, India's total silk imports have increased from over USD 124 million in 2000-01 to about USD 312 million 2012-13 with raw silk alone comprising for about 73 percent of these imports worth over USD 227 million," highlighted the ASSOCHAM study.

China is biggest exporter of raw silk to India accounting for almost 99 percent of exported raw silk worth USD 224.5 million as of 2012-13, highlighted the study carried out by the ASSOCHAM Economic Research Bureau (AERB). "Raw silk imports from China have grown at over seven percent CAGR during 2000-01 and 2012-13."

Consumption of raw silk in India is likely to rise together with growth in per-capita income which rose from Rs 24,143 in 2004-05 to Rs 39,961 in 2013-14 and also due to increase in consumption expenditure on clothing, it added.

"Supply shortages is the prime issue being faced by Indian silk industry (weaving in particular) as there is a shortfall of over 5,000 metric tonnes (MT) resulting in dependence on silk imports to fulfill domestic needs," said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing the chamber's study.

"Silk import restrictions have two facets; one is concern of sericulture farmers opposing cheap Chinese raw silk imports threatening their livelihood, while the other issue is of the weaving community which requires raw silk to meet the rising demand," said Rawat. "Thus there is a need to strike a balance between the two warring sections of the industry by periodically reviewing the import policy for raw silk taking into account balanced interests of both sericulturists and export manufacturers."

In its study, ASSOCHAM has also highlighted that inconsistency in quality of domestically available silk makes it difficult for use in powerlooms thereby affecting the weaving process which results in dependence on imported raw material.

Besides, silk also faces threat from the competition that seems to be emerging from synthetic fibers such as polyester, it added. “A focused and planned silk promotion campaign could help get back the interest of the consumers.”

With a view to improve silk production in India, the ASSOCHAM has suggested that state governments to promote tie-up of weaver cluster with raw silk production units for establishing close linkage between forward and backward sub-systems resulting in greater efficiency, more so as sericulture and silk industry is highly scattered and unorganized.

Besides, the state governments may also facilitate establishment of weaver centers to empower and enlighten the producers with latest information on research and development, technological advances, new designs to impart technical skills related to weaving techniques and conducting feasibility studies to identify new potential mulberry centers may also help to boost production and further improve both productivity and product quality.

There is a need to undertake wide-scale educative initiatives to disburse the information amid weaving community as they are mostly unaware of welfare schemes provided to them by the State and Central Governments, ASSOCHAM has further suggested.

Source:- smetimes.in

India's Mar '14 Gold Imports Likely To Be On Higher Side: Gjf

The gold imports by the country during March are expected to jump higher from February levels, noted the country’s biggest jewellery trade body. According to Haresh Soni, Chairman, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF), the RBI’s decision to grant gold import licenses to five new banks will take the country’s gold imports in March to higher levels.

Earlier, during mid-March, the RBI had allowed five domestic private sector banks to import gold as part of easing stringent rules of import. The gold import permissions were being granted to HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank. According to Haresh Soni, these five banks have wide presence across India. The competition arising out of the entry of new banks may result in state-owned agencies clearing off their stock against orders.

The gold premiums in India declined sharply on hopes of increased supply of the precious metal. The premiums fell to as low as $25-$30 per troy ounce, a fall of nearly 85% from the peak of $160 during December last year.

Haresh Soni also urged the government to ease the pressure on legal gold imports into the country to save the struggling gems and jewellery industry.

Industry sources view the RBI’s decision as the first step towards easing of strict gold import norms. The country’s Finance Minister, P Chidambaram had announced during a press briefing that the government may consider further relaxations on 80:20 norms after necessary consultations with the RBI.

Source:- metal.com

Rupee To Weaken Slightly Over Next Year - Reuters Poll

The rupee's recent rally is set to reverse course later this year as upbeat sentiment ahead of a general election wears off and economic growth remains slow, a Reuters poll found.

Still, the rupee will not lose much and is expected to trade at around 60.61 to the U.S. dollar in a month before weakening further to 62 in a year, Thursday's poll of 30 currency strategists showed.

Expectations that the pro-business opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win the election and, in turn, attract more investment is in part responsible for the benchmark BSE Sensex hitting a new lifetime high of 22,620.65 on Thursday.

The rupee reversed last year's losses of more than 11 percent against the U.S. dollar and has gained over 3 percent so far this year. It hit an eight-month high of 59.57 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.

That is well above the near-18-year low of 68.80 that it hit last August when a sell-off by investors battered the rupee along with other emerging market currencies.

That sell-off was mostly in reaction to the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to taper its massive stimulus programme, which made investors dump riskier assets, including the rupee, combined with a slowdown in India's economic growth to a four-year low.

While investor sentiment has since improved, strategists do not expect the rupee's strength to continue.

"The kind of (rupee) appreciation we are seeing today is more because of foreign institutional investment flows which are fairly gung-ho because of elections and what they perceive would be a strong, favourable government inclined towards economic growth," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings.

"Right up until the time when the election results come out, things will remain positive. Then, I think we will probably get back to reality and see what kind of a government comes in and how differently are they able to do things."

Indeed, the new government will be faced with the same challenges as the current one - high inflation and borrowing rates, weak industrial production and muted demand.

The ruling Congress-led coalition government has been under severe criticism for its inaction over pursuing key reforms, which has hurt economic growth and investor sentiment.

Traders have also speculated that the Reserve Bank of India has been buying dollars recently to shore up its foreign exchange reserves and possibly capping the currency's strength.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan told a TV channel on Wednesday that a "substantial" strengthening in the rupee to 45 or 50 per dollar could hit exports, but added that the central bank was fine with a "certain amount of leeway" in the currency.

On Tuesday, the RBI left its key repo rate unchanged at 8 percent and said it would keep rates on hold in the near term if inflation eases further.

The Fed will likely raise its key interest rate in the second half of 2015, according to top Wall Street economists polled by Reuters. That will also help the dollar gain and, in turn, push the rupee lower.

"Over time, the Fed's policy shift is supportive of the dollar and that's the most important reason why we see some weakness in the rupee," said Nick Bennenbroeck, head of currency strategy at Wells Fargo Securities.

Source:- in.reuters.com

Case remanded to decide whether sec. 194C could be triggered on sums paid to NGOs towards mid day me

IT: Tribunal remitted issue back to Assessing Officer to determine as to whether assessee would be entitled to benefit of Circular No. 502 dated 27-1-1988 in respect of mid-day meal scheme and whether NGOs to whom payments were made were duly registered under section 12A

Winding-up petition admitted as respondent co. didn't pay agreed dues and was accused of creating fa

CL : Where respondent had not complained that goods were defective or substandard at time when goods were received, dispute raised by respondent as regards quality of goods after filing of winding up petition for non-payment of dues was not bona fide

Recovery of unpaid estate duty on gifted property out of sum received on its transfer won't attract

IT: Where settler of assessee-trust gave a property to trust which was subject to first charge under Estate Duty Act, in view of fact that on acquisition of said property entire compensation amount was appropriated for payment of estate duty arrears, and nothing remained there for utilisation of trust, there was no violation of provisions of section 13(1)(c) and 13(3) and, therefore, assessee's claim for exemption under section 11 was to be allowed

Depart. couldn't deny refund claim arising from order of Commissioner (Appeals) unless such order wa

Excise & Customs : Where Commissioner (Appeals) has held in favour of assessee, department must allow refund claim in pursuance thereof and cannot withhold such refund on ground of pending appeal, especially when Tribunal has dismissed stay application filed by revenue

No writ to challenge attachment of bank account by assessee if no objection was raised against it be

IT: Where no objection was raised and/or representation filed before Tax Recovery Officer against attachment of bank account and assessee had accepted same, assessee could urge its grievance only before Commissioner (Appeals)

Profitable Cos couldn't be excluded from comparables in later years only as these turned into loss m

IT/ILT: Where two companies had made profit in earlier years and were included as comparables in earlier years, they could not be excluded from list of comparables just for reason that for year under consideration these two concerns had incurred losses

Scrutiny notice would be valid if it was served on next working day, the last date being Sunday

IT: Notice under section 143(2) having been served upon assessee on very next working day due date being Sunday, was valid

Renting of mobile tower would attract lower TDS deduction under Sec. 194-I and not under Sec. 194C

IT: Receipts from provision of passive infrastructure services to the mobile operators amount to renting and would attract lower TDS deduction under section 194-I and not under section 194C

Firm must furnish registration certificate under partnership Act to prove its existence for VAT purp

CST & VAT : Where department had alleged existence of firm even prior to registration with department, assessee must produce its registration certificate under Partnership Act; a claim made for first time before High Court that assessee was a sole proprietorship concern, could not be accepted

SAT upholds penalty on violation of SEBI Takeover norms as appellant acquired bulk shares by acting

SEBI: Transfer of bulk shares of same rate and in equal numbers to all eight entities within two days indicated that appellants had acted in concert with each other to acquire shares/voting rights of target-company

ITAT committed apparent mistake as it passed order relying partially on a judicial precedent

IT : Where Tribunal passed impugned order relying upon only one portion of an earlier order and ignoring other portion of said order, it constituted a mistake apparent from record and, thus, assessee's application seeking rectification of Tribunal's order was to be allowed

Corresponding New Banks to ensure transfer of unclaimed dividend to earmarked a/c within 90 days of

COMPANIES ACT, 1956/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Investor Education and Protection Fund (Uploading of Information Regarding Unpaid and Unclaimed Amounts Lying With Companies) Amend ment Rules, 2014 - Amendment in Rules 2, 3 and Form 5 Inv

No writ to challenge attachment of bank account by assessee if assessee if no objection was raised a

IT: Where no objection was raised and/or representation filed before Tax Recovery Officer against attachment of bank account and assessee had accepted same, assessee could urge its grievance only before Commissioner (Appeals)

ITAT deletes sec. 40(a)(ia) disallowance as TDS was deposited by assessee before due date of filing

IT: In view of amendment made in section 40(a)(ia) by Finance Act, 2008 with retrospective effect from 1-4-2005 and CBDT Circular No. 1/2009, dated 27-3-2009, where assessee deducted tax at source from hire charges and tax so deducted was remitted to Government Exchequer beyond due date of remitting tax deducted at source but before due date of filing of return of income, said payment could not be disallowed under section 40(a)(ia)

No Dismissal of appeal by CIT(A) in haze merely due to grant of few adjournments by AO on insistence

IT : Even where Assessing Officer had accepted cause shown by assessee and granted several adjournments, Commissioner (Appeals) could not dismiss appeal in limine without going into merits on mere ground that case was already adjourned several times