CIT(E) notifies as prescribed authority wef Nov 15, 2014 for granting approval to religious/charitab

IT : Section 10(23C)(iv)/(v) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 - Exemptions - University/educational Institutions/hospitals - Prescribed Authority - Supersession of Notification No.75/2014 [F.No. 196/26/2014-ITA.I]/SO 3026(E), Dated 1-12-2014

Revenue couldn’t complain of genuineness of Sec. 10(23C) relief if prescribed authority was satisfie

IT: Where authority was satisfied with regard to essential requirements or ingredients of section 10(23C)(via), it was not open for revenue to complain

MAT stat is liable to interest under section 234B and 234C, rules Gujarat High Court

IT : Assessee was liable to pay interest under sections 234B and 234C in respect of tax determined on basis of book profit under section 115JA

Loans and advances to employees are outside the purview of Sec. 186 of Companies Act, 2013, MCA clar

COMPANIES ACT, 2013 : Section 185, Read with Section 186 of the Companies Act, 2013 - Loan to Directors, Etc. – Clarification with Regard to Sections 185 and 186 – Loans and Advances to Employees

Department rightly denied input stage rebate as assessee didn’t follow prescribed procedure in this

Central Excise : Where necessary declaration describing inputs to be used with input-output ratio was not made, Excise Authorities had no opportunity to verify said ratio; hence, assessee could not be granted input-stage rebate even if rebate was as per standard input-output norms (SION) under Foreign Trade Policy

Painting of residential premises not covered under 'commercial or industrial construction services'

Service Tax : Services of painting of residential premises, prima facie, may not fall under category of 'commercial or industrial construction services', as they are not associated with premises which are used for commerce or industry

Depreciation allowable even though asset was written off in books without adjusting block as it had

IT : Where certain assets forming part of block of assets were converted into stock-in-trade by deducting nominal value of Rs. 1 from block of assets and whenever same were sold surplus was offered for taxation, depreciation on said asset could not be disallowed by reducing value of same from block of assets

Keyman Insurance Premium paid by firm for its partners was allowable as business exp.

IT : Where partnership firm obtained insurance policy on life of two partners, expenditure was incurred for benefit of firm and same was allowable under section 37(1)

Repair and maintenance during warranty period can't be regarded as 'exempted service' for Cenvat pur

Cenvat Credit : Repair and maintenance during warranty period where customer was not charged anything on value of goods incorporated in service cannot be regarded as 'exempted service' for Cenvat Credit purposes

SC: Lessor rightly demanded transfer fee from respondent-Co as it transferred industrial plot to fam

CL: Where respondent-companies' shareholders transferred their company/shares to new shareholders for material financial gains, without taking written consent of lessor i.e. appellant-corporation, this adversely affected aims and objectives of appellant-corporation and amounted to transfer of interest, hence, appellant-corporation rightly issued notice demanding transfer fee

Co. having related party transactions of more than 15% is excludible from list of comparables

IT/ILT : Comparable having RPT at more than 15 per cent should be excluded from comparable list as 15 per cent is cut off mark for applying RPT filter

CBDT authorizes CIT(E) to act as prescribed authority u/s 10(23C) with effect from Nov 15, 2014

IT : Section 10(23C)(vi)/(via) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 - Exemptions - University/educational Institutions/hospitals - Prescribed Authority - Supersession of Notification No. 76/2014[F.No. 153/41/2007-TPL]/SO 3027(E), Dated 1-12-2014

India Manages To Defend Raw Sugar Export Subsidies At Wto, For Now

India has managed to ward off criticism at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for its raw sugar export subsidies by once again claiming that it has not made any payments under the programme. However, the country’s defence is unlikely to work for long as subsidy payments are slated to kick-off soon.

The Food and Public Distribution Ministry was recently sanctioned the first tranche of subsidy payment due to exporters for last year, a Food Ministry official told BusinessLine.

“While no export subsidy payments have yet been made for the period between February (when the incentive scheme had been announced) and September 2014, the Ministry has now been sanctioned ?200 crore (around $32 million) to be paid out to raw sugar exporters for the period,” the official said.

The subsidy payments, claimed by 80 sugar mills from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, is likely to be paid out from March 15, according to industry officials.

Several WTO members, including the European Union, Australia and Colombia, were critical of India for announcing export subsidies for raw sugar in February last year, accusing India of going against the understanding reached at the WTO’s Bali Ministerial meeting in December 2013, which said all export subsidies would be reduced and gradually eliminated.

Since India is a major producer of sugar and also exports from time-to-time, these countries claim that such export subsidies distort the world market.

In the WTO committee of agriculture meeting last week, many countries questioned India about the recent announcement of increasing raw sugar export subsidy to ?4,000/tonne in 2015 from ?2,277-3,371/tonne between February and September 2014.

India’s representative reiterated the argument made in the last meeting that it was not answerable on the subsidies, as no payments had been made yet. On the EU’s question about its intention to give payments in the future, the Indian representative said it was only providing facts.

India had earlier defended its raw sugar export subsidy programme on the grounds of encouraging sugar producers to diversify from refined to raw sugar.

“This is a valid justification for our subsidy programme and we will reiterate it if our small subsidy payments are questioned,” a Commerce Ministry official told BusinessLine.

Last year, the Centre had announced a subsidy for exports of raw sugar up to 4 million tonnes to help the cash-starved industry clear cane arrears to farmers that have crossed ?14,500 crore.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association estimates production at 26 million tonnes in the current marketing year, against last year’s 24.3 million tonnes. Domestic demand is pegged at 24.8 million tonnes for this year.

Source:- thehindubusinessline.com

Pesticides Issue Cleared, Tea Exports To Iran Will Rise This Year

Exports of premium Indian orthodox tea to Iran are expected to double this year as both countries have sorted out the pesticide issue that hurt shipments, said industry executives. Tea planters are aiming to export 30 million kg to Iran in 2015.

The countries have set up a joint working committee comprising representatives from both countries to facilitate tea trade, said Azam Monem, vice-chairman of Indian Tea Association. "The committee is responsible to remove technical obstacles and facilitate trade. We have been able to communicate to the Iranian government and all stakeholders in tea trade there that Indian tea is not at all harmful," he toldET.

Representatives of Indian tea trade and government officials recently visited Iran to improve trade ties between the two nations and clear the air following allegations that shipments from India contained traces of pesticides.

Representatives from Iranian tea trade are scheduled to visit India next month. The countries have signed a MoU whereby the Islamic nation has agreed to import 30 million kg of tea from India this year. India's efforts come at a time when Sri Lanka and Kenya are trying hard to enter the Iranian market.

According to Tea Board figures, Iran imported 12.20 million kg between April and December 2014 at Rs 267.30 per kg. For the whole year, the industry is expecting to achieve 16 million kg of tea exports. India's total tea exports slipped to 141.83 million kg in the first nine months of the current fiscal year from 166.36 million kg in the corresponding period of the previous year. Iran is a major export market for Indian tea. The country is ready to pay higher prices for quality teas. Orthodox tea, produced through hand-processing or using machines that mimic hand-rolling, is used in most specialty tea (the other variety, CTC, is machine-processed).

In 2014, India was not able to produce good volumes of orthodox teas as a long, dry spell affected tea leaves. "This in turn has left an impact on our exports to Iran," said Monem. Iran's annual consumption is around 120 million kg.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

India's Feb Natural Rubber Imports Jump 42 Pct Y/Y - Govt Source

India's natural rubber imports in February jumped nearly 42 percent to 28,806 tonnes from a year earlier as lower prices in the world market prompted tyre makers to raise overseas purchases, a government official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

The south Asian country imports natural rubber from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.Natural rubber price in the Indian market was nearly a third higher than Malaysia or Indonesia in February, said a Kochi-based dealer.

Source:- :in.reuters.com

Tribunal rightly directed GTA to make pre-deposit on its failure to show payment of ST under reverse

Service Tax : Where assessee, a goods transport agency, could not prove payment of service tax under reverse charge by consignor or consignee, Tribunal order directing pre-deposit by assessee-GTA was valid

MAT companies are liable to pay advance tax; default in its payment would trigger sec. 234B interest

IT : An assessee covered by provisions of sections 115JA and 115JB is under obligation to pay advance tax and delay or failure to pay said tax would result in levy of interest

Retracted statement of partner on alleged shortage of goods doesn't prove clandestine removal of goo

Excise & Customs : In absence of evidence of clandestine removal, confirmation of demand of duty based upon alleged doubtful shortages read with statement of authorised person recorded at time of search of factory itself, which stands retracted later, is bad

Rent of premises where job-work is undertaken is eligible for input service credit

Cenvat Credit : Where assessee was undertaking job work in rented premises and was clearing final products therefrom on payment of duty, assessee was entitled to credit of service tax paid on renting services

Tribunal can’t impose conditions for considering stay application; it has to decide stay application

CST & VAT: U.P. VAT - Where against order of assessment, assessee filed appeal before Tribunal along with stay application and Tribunal by an order required assessee to deposit 10 per cent of disputed tax within 25 days, whereafter stay application would be considered, what had been done by Tribunal was not contemplated in statute

CESTAT dismissed appeal as assessee didn't appear even after five adjournments

Excise & Customs : Where, an assessee, who had been granted five adjournments had sought further adjournment, CESTAT dismissed appeal for non-prosecution opining that assessee is not interest in pursuing appeal

ITAT lashes out at TPO for making TP additions without selecting any comparable to justify additions

IT/ILT: Where TPO had not even brought a single comparable to justify arm's length percentage of royalty either under CUP or TNMM , approach of TPO in estimating royalty at 2 per cent as against 3 per cent as claimed by assessee being in complete violation of TP provisions had to be struck down

Entertainment tax subsidy granted to cinema halls is capital receipt, rules Delhi High Court

IT: Entertainment tax exemption subsidy granted to assessee engaged in business of running of multiplex cinema halls and shopping malls is capital receipts

Toned milk is 'pasteurised milk'; eligible for exemption under Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act

CST & VAT: Tamil Nadu VAT - Where assessee was in business of sale of toned milk in tetra pack and it pointed out that product was pasteurised toned milk and at no stage of pasteurisation, preservatives or additives were added to milk, toned milk in question was pasteurised milk falling under Entry No. 6 of Part B of Third Schedule to Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act

No sec. 254 rectification on basis of info procured in survey subsequent to order passed by ITAT

IT : Where material and information relied upon by revenue had been procured subsequent to passing of order by Tribunal, there was no mistake rectifiable under section 254(2)

Registration granted to trust couldn't be revoked due to amendment in definition of 'charitable purp

IT: Where activities carried on by assessee trust were in accordance with objects of trust, registration could not be cancelled; unless assessee falls within section 2(15) excluding first proviso, assessee would not be entitled to exemption

[Central Excise Tariff Notification] : Seeks to amend notification No. 12/2012-CE, dated the 17th March, 2012 so as to make necessary changes in the specified entries therein.

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)

New Delhi, the 4th March, 2015

Corrigendum

G.S.R. (E).- In the notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 12/2015-Central Excise, dated the 1st March, 2015, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 142(E), dated 1st March, 2015,

(i) in page 45, in line 25, for "52" read "52A";

(ii) in page 47,

a) in line 34, for "51" read "52";

b) in line 38, for "52." read "52A.".

[F. No. 334/5/2015- TRU]

(Pramod Kumar)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

COMPAT quashed appeal alleging abuse of dominance as it was filed with ulterior motive to coerce opp

Competition Law : Where informant filed information against OPs alleging abuse of dominant position by imposing unfair and discriminatory price in purchase or sale of goods and sole object of information was to coerce OPs to extend term of agreement which stood terminated, information being motivated and no case of abuse of dominance being made out, appeal was to be dismissed

No invocation of extended period against assessee when department had dropping his earlier proceedin

Excise & Customs : Where proceedings for earlier period are dropped by department, assessee may have a bona fide belief for subsequent period that duty/tax is not payable; hence, since all facts are already within knowledge of department, department cannot invoke extended period of limitation

ITAT rejected internal CUP method applied by TPO following its earlier order as facts remained uncha

IT/ILT : Following Tribunal's order for preceding assessment year rejecting internal CUP method applied by TPO on identical facts and remitting matter to Assessing Officer, issue of TP adjustment for relevant assessment year was remitted to Assessing Officer for fresh adjudication

Tribunal had to reconsider imposition of penalty as it failed to appreciate peculiar facts of case

CST & VAT : Uttar Pradesh VAT - Where Tribunal had not considered whether goods in question was taxable and further, demand notices were served on assessee company instead of receiver appointed by High Court, issue of imposition of penalty was to be reconsidered

No revision by CIT to make sec. 68 addition if AO had obtained confirmation of parties in support of

IT: Where assessee furnished confirmations from all debtors and creditors having balance in excess of one lakh in their bank account which was duly verified by Assessing Officer, impugned revisional order passed by Commissioner on ground that a case for addition under section 68 was made out, was not sustainable

Pre-deposit ordered by Tribunal without considering plea of undue hardship wasn't justified

Excise & Customs : Where Tribunal passed stay order directing full pre-deposit : (a) without even considering merits and financial hardship and (b) that too, in non-appearance of assessee where it was not established that assessee had received notice of hearing, Tribunal order was 'prejudiced' against assessee and was set aside

No VAT liability on assessee as it had raised bill only for labour charges and not for materials

CST & VAT : Karnataka VAT - Where assessee, a sub-contractor, raised bill for certain amount, which was only labour charges, assessee was not liable to pay tax on said amount under section 15

Bank issuing letter of credit was liable to seller for purchase price when seller had furnished rele

UCP - Letter of Credit has effect of creating a bargain between banker and vendor of goods, a deemed nexus between seller and Issuing bank, rendering latter liable to seller to pay purchase price or to accept a bill of exchange upon tender of documents envisaged and stipulated in LC

HC stayed pre-deposit as revenue already had 25% of demand in the form of refund dues of assessee

IT: Where 25 per cent of demand was already with revenue in form of refund due to assessee, condition to deposit 50 per cent of demand for stay of assessment order pending disposal of appeal was not proper

Credit of additional excise duty on textile articles can't be used to pay BED

Excise & Customs : Accumulated credit of Additional Excise Duty (Textile and Textile Articles) cannot be used to pay Additional Excise Duty (Goods of Special Importance) or Basic Excise Duty; however, assessee can claim refund thereof as per law

Sec. 10A : Exp. incurred in foreign currency to provide technical services abroad is excludible from

IT: Expenses incurred in foreign currency on telecommunication charges and providing technical services outside India should be excluded from total turnover for purpose of computation of deduction under section 10A

Liability to pay duty is on supplier for inputs sent to jobworker and received by him within 180 day

Cenvat Credit : Liability to pay duty in respect of goods moved under Rule 4(5)(a) is on supplier of goods and not on job-worker even if said goods are not included in Notification No. 214/86

ICAI to re-adjudicate disciplinary proceedings against CA as he was held guilty ex-parte and was den

CA Act : Where a CA was held guilty of professional misconduct by Disciplinary Committee of CA institute without hearing him when he sought adjournment on medical grounds, matter was to be readjudicated

CIT(A) couldn't accept comparables chosen by assessee without allowing TPO to examine them

IT/ILT : A potential comparable having more than 25 per cent of related party transactions is to be ignored

Interest received on FDR was taxable as business receipt if FD was made in connection with finance b

IT : Where after passing special resolution of shareholders, assessee company started business of financing and investment along with trading in chemical, interest received from bank FDR and commission from sister concern was to be assessed as income from business and not as income from other sources

Department couldn’t allege suppression on assessee while issuing subsequent notices on same issues

Excise & Customs : Where all relevant facts were in knowledge of authorities when first show-cause notice was issued, while issuing second and third show-cause notices on same and similar facts, department cannot allege suppression of facts by assessee

Assessment order quashed as revenue failed to prove that it was dispatched in time with demand notic

IT : Where on basis of available evidence appellate authorities came to conclusion that assessment order was passed after period of limitation, no substantial question of law arises for consideration

Provision not in force during relevant period, cannot be used to deny credit

Cenvat Credit : Where notification restricting credit was not in force during relevant period, credit could not be denied to assessee

Non-supply of docs relied upon by deptt. to prove clandestine removal of goods results in denial of

Excise & Customs : Where demand of clandestine removal was based on railway documents and statements of witnesses, non-supply of said documents and not allowing cross-examination of said witnesses would violate principles of natural justice; hence, matter was remanded back

No reassessment alleging understatement of closing stock if all material facts were disclosed at ass

IT : Where assessee had disclosed all material facts pertaining to closing stock, reopening of assessment on ground of understatement of closing stock was not justified

Refund had to be granted in cash and not by way of re-credit when factory of assessee was closed dow

Cenvat Credit : Where assessee's factory is closed, refund of amount paid by assessee by using credit, must be granted in cash and not by way of re-credit

RBI relaxes loan norms on low-cost housing; allows addition of stamp duty/other charges in Loan-to-

BANKING : Review of instructions on housing loans

Brought forward loss not to be reduced while computing sec. 80-IA relief if it was set-off against o

IT : Where assessee was engaged in generation of power and its carry forward losses had already been set off against other income of business enterprise, deduction under section 80-IA was to be allowed

Tribunal dismissed appeal on assessee’s failure to submit proof of mandatory pre-deposit

Excise & Customs : Where assessee failed to submit proof of mandatory pre-deposit as per section 35F(iii), as amended by Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014, his appeal could not be entertained by Tribunal; hence, appeal was dismissed for said non-compliance

No denial of bad-debts claim merely because assessee doesn't have license to conduct money lending b

IT : Merely because assessee does not have license to conduct money lending business, could not be ground to deny deduction of bad debt in respect of amount lent in ordinary course of this business

Unabsorbed research exp. claimed as revenue exp. can’t be carried forward if hit by Sec. 79

IT: If assessee did not capitalize scientific research expenditure and claimed it as revenue expenditure, any unabsorbed portion of such research exp. would be in nature of business loss and not in nature of unabsorbed depreciation - Therefore, it would be subject to restriction imposed under Section 79 in case of closely held company

No sec. 14A disallowance when investment was made out of sale proceeds of shares and not from borrow

IT: Where assessee purchased shares from his own funds which were shown as investment and valued at cost price, income earned on sale of those shares was taxable as 'short term capital gain'.

Assessee can't claim interest on interest on income tax refund, says Kerala High Court

IT: Assessee cannot claim interest on interest on amount that are due to him by way of refund

Demanding security equivalent to maximum penalty to release seized goods wasn’t justified, says High

CST & VAT : U.P. VAT - Where Assessing Authority seized goods of assessee under transport and demanded security equal to 40 per cent of value of goods for releasing same, demand of security equivalent to maximum percentage of penalty was unjustified at stage of seizure

HC didn’t accept argument of penalty wavier as it was raised for the first time before it

CST & VAT : Kerala VAT - Where, contentions raised before High Court were not raised before the lower authorities, High Court's judgment levying minimum penalty equal to amount of tax needed no interference

No penalty on appellant alleging violation of FEMA norms when he had explained all remittances

FEMA : Where all remittances made by appellants had been explained and there was likelihood that appellant company had utilized remittances for import as claimed by it, violation of provisions of FEMA had not been established and impugned order imposing penalty was to be quashed

TPO couldn't determine ALP at Nil merely because assessee didn't derive any benefit from services re

IT/ILT : TPO cannot determine arm's length price of payments made by assessee to its AE at 'NIL' for reason that assessee did not derive any benefit from services rendered by AE

No sec. 69C addition alleging payment to Petroleum Minister merely on basis of statement of his secr

IT : Where statement made by additional private secretary of 'S' before enquiry officer did not establish payment by assessee to 'S', invocation of section 69C was not justified

ITO can't act as an Excise Officer to determine quantity of production for making addition of unexpl

IT: Where Assessing Officer verified registers maintained under Central Excise Act and doubted accuracy of figures mentioned therein, he was totally unsuited for undertaking exact production of material as same was outside his purview

Benefit of SSI exemption would be available from date of application to register trade mark

Excise & Customs: As per section 23 of Trade Marks Act, registration becomes effective from date on which application was filed and hence, in case of branded goods, trademark would belong to assessee from date of filing application and SSI-exemption would be available accordingly

CESTAT set aside penalty on failure of assessee to pay ST as it had paid 25% if demand as penalty un

Service Tax : Where penalty under section 78 was paid at 25 per cent of service tax within 1 month from adjudication order, assessee could not be asked to pay any further penalty under section 76 or 78, even prior to 10-5-2008

No disallowance of interest if AO failed to prove that borrowed sum was passed on to affiliate witho

IT: In absence of any finding to effect that amount borrowed by assessee from financial institutions was straight away passed on to sister concern without levying interest, interest on borrowed amount could not be disallowed

Units located adjacent to each other with common ST registration may take credit of invoices issued

Cenvat Credit : Where two units are located adjacent to each other and have common service tax registration, practice of taking credit belonging to either of units without considering whether invoice was addressed to Head Office or to units is valid; department cannot seek segregation of credit along with separate registration

Bending iron and steel to create anchor rods won't amount to manufacture under Karnataka VAT Act

CST & VAT : Karnataka VAT - Where assessee manufactured RCC pole clamps, anchor rods, cross arms and H-frames out of iron and steel by just bending of iron and steel and supplied same to a purchaser, process undertaken by assessee could not be considered as any manufacturing activity and, therefore, levy of tax should be only at 4 per cent as declared goods

Revenue couldn't recover disputed demand when assessee had filed stay petition during pendency of ap

IT: Where assessee's appeals were pending before appellate authority in respect of assessment order and after filing of said appeals, assessee filed stay petition under section 220(6), revenue was not justified in calling upon assessee to pay demand

Sum received under bogus sale and purchase of shares was an undisclosed income: HC

IT: Where assessee could not explain receipt of alleged share transactions profits credited in his bank accounts, then sale proceeds had to be added as income of assessee under section 68

Assessee had to pay customs duty with interest as it failed to take extension for fulfilling export

Excise & Customs : Where assessee has failed to fulfil export obligation in time and has also not applied for extension thereof, demand of customs duty along with interest is valid

No insurance claim for damages as vehicle owner didn't apply for registration on expiry of temporary

Motor Vehcile Act : Where an accident had taken place, petitioner as owner of vehicle would not be entitled to claim compensation for damages in respect of vehicle when admittedly vehicle was being driven on date of accident without any valid registration

Mobile trader has to make advertisement every year to remain in limelight; such exp. is allowable as

IT: Annual expenditure incurred on advertisement to make and keep public informed and, aware as also to remain in limelight, would be revenue expenditure

Sale of Scented Supari wasn't eligible for set off under Bombay Sales Tax Rules since it wasn't liab

CST & VAT: Maharashtra VAT - Where assessee effected sale of scented supari against declaration form N-14B and claimed set off under rule 42H of Bombay Sales Tax Rules, since goods sold were not liable to tax under Bombay Sales Tax Act, assessee was not eligible for set off

AO couldn't make provisional attachment of properties without showing that assessee would not pay VA

CST & VAT : Gujarat VAT - Where Assessing Authority passed order under section 45 on assessee attaching its properties on ground that a huge tax demand was likely to arise against it for unpaid tax, since revenue had not placed any material that if ultimately any additional tax liability was finalized, assessee would not pay such taxes, resorting to such power of attachment would not be permissible

CESTAT remanded matter where test results furnished before it weren't made available to AO

Excise & Customs : Where test certificates and results were made available to CESTAT and had not been produced before adjudicating authority and appellate authority, matter was to be remanded back to adjudicating authority

No penalty alleging default in submission of TP docs when assessee had filed such docs within extend

IT/ILT: Where assessee had produced rule 10D documents within extended period, penalty under section 271G was not to be imposed

Software development Co. can't be chosen as comparable for captive service provider

IT/ILT : For computing ALP, Software product development-company cannot be selected as comparable in case of captive service provider

Mumbai customs had no jurisdiction to raise demand alleging misdeclaration when imports took place a

Excise & Customs : Where assessee imported goods at Chennai port and customs authorities at Chennai had cleared goods, Mumbai Customs House has no jurisdiction to raise demand alleging misdeclaration

ITAT condoned delay in filing appeal as assesse was prosecuting case before the wrong forum under bo

IT : Where assessee was prosecuting proceedings for approval under section 12AA bona fidely before wrong forum, a delay of 2353 days in filing appeal against impugned order denying registration was to be condoned

SEBI simplifies account opening process for individual investors trading in cash segment

SEBI : Saral Account Opening Form for Resident Individuals

HC directs AO to re-determine levy of penalty after considering ruling of Apex Court on similar issu

CST & VAT: Rajasthan VAT - Where Assessing Authority imposed penalty upon assessee under section 78(5) and Appellate Authorities deleted same, matter was restored back to Assessing Authority for deciding penalty proceedings afresh

TPO couldn’t determine ALP of services as Nil without examining docs showing rendition of services b

IT/ILT: Where TPO determined value of management fee paid by assessee to its AE at nil without considering material on record showing that AE had in fact rendered services to assessee, order so passed was to be set aside and, matter was to be remanded back for disposal afresh

No penalty under sections 76 and 77 when assessee had paid entire ST with interest before issuance o

Service-tax : Where, in a case involving evasion of service tax, assessee paid service tax along with interest even prior to issuance of notice, assessee was entitled to benefit of section 73(4A) and maximum penalty leviable could be 25 per cent of tax under section 78 and no penalty could be levied under sections 76 and 77

ITAT condoned delay of 6 years in filing appeal as delay was due to prosecution of proceedings befor

IT : Where assessee was prosecuting proceedings for approval under section 12AA bona fidely before wrong forum, a delay of 2353 days in filing appeal against impugned order denying registration was to be condoned

Income from letting out of warehouse alongwith incidental facilities was taxable as income from hous

IT : Where letting out of warehouse together with various services did not constitute a business activity of assessee, rental income therefrom was to be assessed as income from house property

Adani Ports In Talks With Essar Group To Acquire Its Ports Business

Gautam Adani led Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) is said to be in talks with Essar Group to acquire its ports business. According to multiple sources in the know, early stage discussions have been ongoing between both sides and may soon progress to a formal diligence.

Essar Ports, one of the largest private sector player by capacity and throughput, has an operational footprint on both western and eastern coast of the country and can handle liquid (mainly oil), dry bulk (mainly coal), general cargo and small volumes of container crago for specialized project equipment. Its existing aggregate capacity stands at 104 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) across its facilities in Vadinar and Hazira in Gujarat and Paradip in Orissa. The company is looking to expand capacity to 194 MMTPA by 2017. However, officials close to Essar said, the steel-to-mobile retail conglomerate, has identified two of its businesses - power and ports - and is open to divesting either one of them fully to reduce its high group level debts.

On the other hand, Adanis, in June 2014, took over Dharma Port - an equal JV between L&T and Tata Steel - for Rs 5500 crore, in what was the largest deal among private port operators in the country. APSEZ, whose market value has doubled in the last one year, is today the largest multi-port operator of India. From being a single port operator in Mundra, Gujarat, it has spread its presence across 8 ports in India. The company has an aggressive expansion blueprint to increase its annual cargo handling capacity from 108 million tonnes (as on Dec 31st) to 200 million tonnes by 2020.

Sources said, the promoters of Essar, the Ruia family, are expecting an enterprise value of over Rs 15,000 crore for the business which is inclusive of its debt of Rs 5836 crore debt, as of end-FY14. However, post its expansions in Orissa and Gujarat, analysts expect debt levels to go up to Rs 7000 crore. The current market cap of Essar Ports is Rs 5070 crore, with the stock seeing a sudden spurt of 7% in the last 24 hours of trading.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

RBI further cuts bank rate by 25 bps wef March 4, 2015

BANKING : Change in Bank Rate

India Coal Imports In February Jump From Year Ago, But Drop M-O-M

India's imports of thermal and coking coal jumped 31 perc ent in February from a year ago, as new power plants ramped up output, preliminary data from online trader mjunction showed, though purchases sank month-on-month on rising prices.

Shipments through the 31 coal-handling ports in India, which is about to unseat Japan as the world's second biggest coal importer after China, stood at 17.94 million tonnes in February compared with 13.72 million tonnes a year ago.

Imports in January this year, however, were much higher at 20.29 million tonnes, compared with initial estimates of 15.79 million tonnes, according to the data based on monitoring of vessels and information from shipping companies.

"Spot steam (thermal) coal prices remained volatile in the international markets during February while showing an increasing trend over the previous month," mjunction Chief Executive Officer Viresh Oberoi said in an email.

Prices of thermal coal for export from Australia's Newcastle port, Asia's benchmark, soared 30 per cent in January and February to over $80 a tonne at the end of last month as major miners cut production, although prices have since fallen below $70 a tonne.

India imported 13.61 million tonnes of thermal coal in February this year, 3.54 million tonnes of coking coal and 138,499 tonnes of metallurgical coke among other varieties.

Thermal coal is used for electricity generation in power plants while coking coal and metallurgical coke find use in steel making.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

Seafood Exporters See Achhe Din

Indian seafood exports are poised to cross the $5-billion-mark achieved last year with figures for 10 months to January 2015 showing a 12% rise, helped by a rise in demand in the US and Southeast Asia.

However, a slowdown in the global market may cause it to fall short of $6 billion at the end of 2015-16.Exporters say prices have slackened in recent months which could put the brakes on revenue in the next two months.

According to figures provided by the Marine Products Export Development Authority, marine product exports stood at 8,75,791 tonne valued at `28,084 crore ($4.7 billion) till the end of January this year.While the quantity increased around 5%, the value in rupee terms went up by 11% compared with the same period of the previous year. The jump is attributed to increased production and export of vannamei shrimps, frozen cuttle fish, both live and chilled.

About 85% of vannamei shrimps production is from Andhra Pradesh, where most of the farms are located.In value terms, the frozen shrimp accounts for over 68% of the total marine product exports from the country .

"Exports will definitely cross $5 billion, but it will be difficult to reach $6 billion as prices have fallen in Europe and the US markets. Movement is slow and buyers are adopting a waitand-watch policy ," said AJ Tharakan, president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India.

In 2013-14, seafood exports from the country reached a record high of `30,213 crore.Southeast Asia, which bought large amounts of shrimps from India because of a shortage following a disease affecting the farms, has recovered a bit, he added. This has led to the region to go slow on purchases.But it is still the second largest buyer of Indian seafood with a share of 26.22%, marginally below the US which accounts for 26.81%.

With vannamei shrimps becoming a money spinner in the Indian seafood exports, the focus has shifted to far med seafood products. The share of sea catch has come down in the total seafood export basket.

"The catch from the sea has also gone down due to a delayed monsoon last year. The price of fishes like tuna has slumped. On top of it, increase in diesel prices has raised the cost of running the boats," said George Joseph, CEO of Starfish Exports.A rise in export of farmed shrimp has made Visakhapatnam the top seafood exporting port of the country.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

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