CBEC introduces new scheme for speedy disbursal of pending refund claims of service exporters

ST : Rule 5 Of The Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 - Refund Of Cenvat Credit – Speedy Disbursal Of Pending Refund Claims Of Exporters Of Services Under Rule 5 Of Said Rules

No Swachh Bharat Cess if payment for services is received prior to Nov 15, 2015; Govt. clarifies

EXCISE : Clarifications on Swachh Bharat Cess

Protest letter can be filed even before superintendent of proper officer

Excise & Customs : Where duty has been paid under protest and protest was filed before Superintendent, same is substantial compliance for purposes of extension of time-limit to seek refund; non-filing of protest before Assistant Commissioner would not be fatal

Option of alternative service-tax rate is also available in case of Swachh Bharat Cess

ST/INDIAN ACTS & RULES : Service Tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2015 – Amendment in Rule 6

Even an oral contract is enough for invoking provisions of sec. 194C

IT : Provisions of section 194C can be invoked where aggregate of payment to a particular contractor in an assessment year exceeds Rs. 50,000 and, it is not necessary that any single payment has to be in excess of Rs. 50,000

Reverse Charge mechanism shall be applicable for purposes of Swachh Bharat Cess

ST : Section 68 of the Finance Act, 1994 - Payment of Service Tax - Notified Taxable Services under Section 68(2) – Applicability of Notification No. 30/2012-St, Dated 20-6-2012 for Purposes of Swachh Bharat Cess Mutatis Mutandis

Swachh Bharat Cess is leviable only on abated value of taxable services

ST : Section 119 of the Finance Act, 2015 - Swachh Bharat Cess - Exemption to All Taxable Services From Payment Of Such Amount Of Swachh Bharat Cess Leviable Under Section 119(2) Of Said Act, Which Is In Excess Of Swachh Bharat Cess Calculated At Rate Of 0.5 Per Cent Of Value Of Taxable Services – Amendment In Notification No.22/2015-St, Dated 6-11-2015

CBDT to set-up a 'Taxpayers' Lounge' at Pragati Maidan Trade Fair, Delhi

IT/ILT : CBDT to Set up A Taxpayers' Lounge at India International Trade Fair, 2015 to Highlight Various Taxpayer-Friendly Initiatives taken by Income-Tax Department

Exp. Incurred by hotel to renovate rooms and conference hall held as revenue exp.

IT: Expenditure incured by a hotel on renovation is revenue expenditure

Co. having huge variation in profit margin from that of assessee-co. is excludible from comparables

IT/ILT: Where there is huge variation in profit margin of comparable company from that of assessee-company, said company should be excluded from comparable list

Transfer of chemicals from tankers into drums doesn't amount to manufacturing

Excise & Customs : 'Tankers' cannot be regarded as 'bulk packs'; therefore, receiving chemicals in tankers and transferring same to drums cannot be regarded as 'repacking from bulk pack to retail packs' and hence, said activity cannot amount to manufacture

Interest income of finance co. not taxable as other sources of income if it was held as business inc

IT : Interest income of finance co. not taxable as other sources of income if it was held as business income in earlier yrs

Retro amendment in sec. 115JA can't be deemed as reasons to believe that income has escaped assessme

IT: Retro amendment in section 115JA can't be deemed as reasons to believe that income has escaped assessment

Courses in Mass Communication, Management & IT are vocational courses; exempt from service tax

Service Tax : Courses in : (i) Mass Communication, (ii) International Business Management, (iii) Telecom Management, (iv) Information Technology, (v) Management Studies, (vi) Geo-informatics and (vii) Operational Management are 'vocational courses' and exempt from service tax

No TDS on interest paid to NR on FCCBs when borrowed sum was utilized by payer for its overseas busi

IT/ILT: Where assessee issued FCCB to foreign investors and remitted interest to them, since said money was utilized for overseas business of assessee, no income could be said to have accrued or arisen in India in hands of non-resident investors and, therefore, no TDS was deductible

Transfer of stock from warehouse of SEZ unit to branch in DTA is liable to Tamil Nadu VAT

CST & VAT: Tamil Nadu VAT - Where assessee set up a unit in SEZ area in Tamil Nadu for trading and wherehousing services for mobile phones, etc. and during year it purchased goods from another company located in same SEZ area and supplied them to its branches in other States by way of stock transfer, levy of purchase tax on inter-State stock transfer effected by assessee was justified

High Court can't dismiss appeal by considering monetary limit if matter had cascading effect: SC

IT: Instruction No. 3 of 2011, dated 9-2-2011 providing monetary limit should not be applied by High Court ipso facto, particularly when matter had a cascading effect

No denial of credit on capital goods which was used by job-worker to manufacture semi-finished goods

Cenvat Credit : Semi-finished goods removed under job-work without payment of duty do not amount to "exempted final product" under Rule 6 of Cenvat Rules; hence, credit of capital goods exclusively used in such job-work cannot be denied

No penalty on basis of ad-hoc additions without producing any clinching material indicating concealm

IT: Imposition of penalty upon assessee under section 271(1)(c) on basis of ad hoc and estimated disallowance/addition, without bringing any clinching material suggesting concealment of income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income, was not justified

Issue of time barred demand can't be raised for the first time before Tribunal

Service Tax : Where issue of demand being time-barred was not raised before adjudicating authority and Commissioner (Appeals), same cannot be raised for first time before Tribunal