AO to conclude reassessment after considering the revised return filed by assessee during assessment

IT: Where assessee had inadvertently offered higher income in his return but during assessment proceeding assessee filed revised computation of his total income to show that he had lower income than declared in return, Assessing Officer must compute income on basis of revised computation of income

Wto’S Bali Package Mixed Bag For India

The final text of the World Trade Organisation agreement at Bali is a victory for the WTO, which lives to fight another day, and industry, but it is not clear whether India’s 60 crore farmers will benefit. The final text on the food subsidy says a permanent solution would be found within four years and, till a final solution is found, members of the World Trade Organisation “shall refrain from challenging through the WTO dispute settlement mechanism... of the agreement on agriculture in relation to support provided for traditional staple food crops in pursuance of public stock holding programme for food security purposes...”



In effect, the problem has been postponed for four years and only time will tell whether India will get justice. For instance, the Agreement on Agriculture did not address the issue of the base period of 1986-88 as the reference year for calculating whether India oversteps the 10 per cent subsidy cap. Those prices were very low and should be changed to those around 2010 or later as inputs like fertilisers, pesticides, etc. have increased the cost of wheat and rice.



Another lacuna at the Bali ministerial meet was the failure to discuss the huge subsidies that the American and European farmers get from their governments. These subsidies are trade-distorting. Agriculture-related subsidies in developed countries increased from $350 billion in 1996 to $406 billion in 2011. Unless this is tackled, India’s exports of agricultural produce can never get a fair deal. For instance, the US in 2005 subsidised its cotton farmers to the tune of $4.6 billion, or `27,000 crore, and the Indian cotton farmer has to compete with lower US cotton prices. Brazil had filed a case with the WTO against US cotton subsidies that America lost. The dispute panel allowed Brazil to put countervailing duties. To circumvent this, America provided $147 million to Brazil every year. Why is India not able to make such deals?



Having said this, the trade agreement signed at the Bali ministerial is great for Indian industry as it seeks to lower trade barriers and speed up the passage of goods through customs. Transaction costs are expected to come down significantly through e-transactions and countries will reportedly get funding support for implementing electronic data interfaces.

Source:- asianage.com

Uk Woos Indian Investment In Textile Sector

Indian companies can invest in the textile sector in the United Kingdom which on a path of recovery after being revived by the government, Vince Cable, UK's Secretary of State (Cabinet Minister) for Business, Innovation and Skills, said today.



The government is encouraging efforts being taken to revive the textile industry, and Indian companies can also invest in the sector, Cable told reporters here.



"The textile industry had virtually died and there were hardly any mills that were operating in the UK. But that is changing now," he claimed.



"We are beginning to get high-quality wool weaving in Yorkshire and man-made and cotton fabric as well as garment assembling in Lancashire," he said.



The government has created a regional growth fund of about 3 billion pounds for firms investing in the UK, he said.



"The companies have to demonstrate that they are creating jobs. They can get funding through competitive bidding, which would help them in training and skill development," he added.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

Iran, India Meet To Discuss Oil Exports, Payments

Indian and Iranian officials are meeting this week to discuss how to unlock the first oil payments to Iran since the United States and other world powers eased sanctions last month in exchange for curbs to Tehran's nuclear programme.



Last month six world powers and Tehran reached an interim deal that provided limited relief to Iran from economic sanctions, opening the way for some oil payments to resume.



The deal is a chance for Iran's new leadership to revive the country's economy, plagued with high inflation and a weakened currency since being cut off from the global financial system after sanctions were imposed in 2012.



The West believes Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb, while the Middle Eastern nation says its nuclear programme is for power generation.



India and Iran are to discuss how to restart oil payments in foreign currencies, including a plan to process partial payments for oil in euros through a Turkish bank, two government sources said.



A delegation of Iranian officials led by Gholamali Kamyab, deputy governor at Iranian Central Bank, is in India until December 13. The group met officials of the finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday.



Arvind Mayaram, a senior official at India's finance ministry, said that for now, India would not release dollar payments it was holding back from Iranian imports.



He said the meeting had mostly focused on the implications of the new deal on issues of insurance - a problem for shipping under the sanctions - as well as ways to increase oil imports from Iran and exports from India.



Iran had asked Indian refiners in mid-October, before the deal was reached with world powers, to resume paying for oil imports in euros through Turkey's Halkbank HALBK.IS but the refiners are still seeking direction from the Indian government.



"We have not received any request either from Iran or India. If one of the parties wants to pay the bill via Halkbank we will be pleased to process that payment," a senior Turkish government official said.



India started settling 55 percent of its payments for Iranian crude in euros through Halkbank in mid-2012. The rest was settled in rupees through India's UCO Bank.



But the Halkbank route was halted in February this year when fresh sanctions prevented Iran from repatriating cash earned from oil it has been able to sell, crippling its economy by choking off its biggest revenue stream.



Since then Indian refiners have been withholding payment for 55 percent of their Iranian oil imports, while Iran scouted for an alternative way to receive that money in hard currencies such as the dollar and the euro.



At the end of November Indian refiners owed about $2.2 billion for partial payments to Iran, refinery sources said. About $3 billion worth of rupees, paid by refiners are lying in Tehran's account with UCO Bank, Arun Kaul, chairman of the bank said after the meeting.



India is Iran's second-largest buyer but its oil imports from the OPEC member plunged to about 170,000 bpd in the April-October period, a decline of about 40 percent from a year ago, tanker arrival data made available to Reuters showed.



A finance ministry official said this week India would continue to settle part of its oil payments in rupees through UCO Bank until receiving further information on the lifting of U.S. and EU sanctions on Iran.



India wants to fix its trade imbalance with Iran, tilted now in favour of Tehran because of oil purchases. New Delhi wants to boost its exports to the Islamic nation by letting Iran pay for goods in the billions of rupees it has in UCO Bank.



Indian exports to Iran are expected to touch $6 billion in the year to March 31, 2014, almost double last fiscal year's $3.2 billion, said Ajay Sahai, director general, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).



He said the rupee trade mechanism had helped exports of agricultural commodities, pharmaceutical and auto components to Tehran. An industry delegation will visit Iran next week to push up exports, industry sources said.

Source:- in.reuters.com

India Considers Importing More Iranian Crude Recent Deal Expected To Ease Sanctions On Tehran

India is exploring the possibility of increasing crude-oil imports from Iran, following a recent deal between Tehran and world powers that is expected to ease sanctions on Iranian crude, an Indian official said.



While sanctions on Iran's sales of crude oil are yet to be eased, observers say the deal is likely to lead to a gradual loosening of existing restrictions on dollar-based payments that would enable importers such as India to buy more crude from Iran.



India and Iran presently have a barter trade system in place to bypass payment problems caused by the Western sanctions. Under an agreement last year, India pays for about half its crude-oil imports from Iran in Indian rupees instead of U.S. dollars.



Indian and Iranian officials had detailed discussions on the possibility of increasing crude-oil imports from Iran, India's Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told reporters after a meeting with an Iranian delegation in New Delhi.



Iranian officials who attended the meeting declined to comment.



Iran was the second-largest supplier of crude oil to India until around two years ago, before the sanctions were imposed. Iranian crude supplies have gradually declined in line with a U.S. requirement that India and some other countries—including China and South Korea—steadily diminish their purchases.



India is likely to import around 11 million metric tons of crude oil from Iran in the current year ending March 31, about 15% less than the previous year. Imports from Iran are expected to start rising after six months, when Western sanctions on Iranian crude sales are expected to be eased, some observers say.

Source:- online.wsj.com

Gold Price Slips Rs 30, Silver Price Jumps Rs 830 On Fresh Buying, Global Cues

10-Dec-2013

Snapping a six-day losing streak, silver prices surged by Rs 830 to Rs 44,300 per kg here today on buying by industrial units amid a firm global trend. Gold price also slipped Rs 30 to Rs 30,725 on subdued demand at higher levels.



Traders said fresh buying by industrial units and coin makers along with higher global trend mainly led the recovery in silver prices.



Silver in Singapore, which normally sets the price trend on domestic front, added 0.5 per cent to USD 19.95 an ounce.



They said falling demand at prevailing higher levels mainly pulled down gold prices to trade marginally lower.



On the domestic front, silver ready recovered sharply by Rs 830 to Rs 44,300 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 610 to Rs 44,630 per kg. The white metal had lost Rs 1,600 in the previous six trading sessions.



Silver coins also spurted by Rs 1,000 to Rs 83,000 for buying and Rs 84,000 for selling of 100 pieces.



However, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity declined by Rs 30 each to Rs 30,725 and Rs 30,525 per ten grams, respectively. It had gained Rs 255 yesterday.



Sovereign held steady at Rs 25,200 per piece of eight gram in limited deals.

Source:- financialexpress.com

Rupee Snaps 5-Day Gain, Down 29 Paise Vs Dollar

The rupee snapped its five-day rising streak against the American currency and fell by 29 paise at 61.33 per dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on fresh dollar demand from importers.

Besides an increased demand for the dollar from importers, a mixed trend in the American currency against other overseas currencies and a lower opening in the domestic equity market also put pressure on the rupee, forex dealers said.

The rupee had gained 9 paise to close at four-month high of 61.04 against the dollar in yesterday's trade on selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid heavy capital inflows.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex fell by 90.40 points, or 0.43%, at 21,164.86 in early trade today.

Source:- dnaindia.com

Govt Considering Restructuring Of Import Duty On Edible Oils

The government is considering the proposal to restructure import duty on refined edible oils and crude (vegetable) oils, Parliament was informed today.



In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Food Minister K V Thomas said: "A proposal for restructuring of import duty on edible oils, which includes change in import duty structure on refined edible oils and crude oils, is currently under consideration of the government."



India is the world's second-largest importer of cooking oil.



At present, the import duty on refined oils is at 7.5 per cent. In January this year, the government imposed a duty of 2.5 per cent on crude (vegetable) oil from zero duty earlier.



Industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) has been demanding a hike in import duty of refined oils to 12.5 per cent to curb imports and protect domestic refineries.



Thomas said there was an increase in import of refined edible oil in the marketing year 2012-13 (November-October), while the import of crude palm oil during the period remained more or less same, as compared to previous marketing year (2011-12).



According to the data tabled in the House, the import of refined edible oil has increased to 2.23 million tonnes (MT) in the marketing year 2012-13 as against 1.57 MT in 2011-12. While, imports of crude palm oil has marginally decreased to 5.88 MT in 2012-13 from 5.99 MT a year ago.



Edible oil imports rose to 10.39 MT in 2012-13 from 9.98 MT in the previous year, while the imports of non-edible oils increased to 2,93,534 tonnes during the period under review, from 2,11,098 tonnes in 2011-12, as per the SEA data.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

No investigation in order to check dominance of patry doing business in compliance with SC's order

Competition Law: Investigation is not to be ordered in case opposite party was producing iron ore and selling same in compliance with orders of Supreme Court

CBDT calls for speedy disposal of electoral trust applications; releases check-list for electoral tr

IT : Standardization of process of filing application for approval of an electoral trust

HC upholds sanctity of reassessment notice if not barred by time and issued after recording reasons

IT: Where notice issued for reassessment was not time-barred and, further, Assessing Officer had recorded detailed reasons for reopening, reassessment was held valid

Assessment to be made at correct tax rate even if assessee has made excess collection of tax

CST & VAT : If assessee has, inadvertently, collected tax at a rate higher than that leviable, assessment should be made at rate actually applicable; however, excess collection cannot be refunded back to assessee

Order of amalgamation doesn't transfer tenancy rights from transferor-company to transferee-company

CL : Where order of amalgamation wasn't served on landlord by the transferee company and landlord continued to issue rent receipts in the name of (dissolved) transferor company though he accepted rent from transferee company, no right of tenancy was created/transferred in favour of transferee company. Tenancy is a non-transferable object that could extend to others either by an explicit contract or by statute. In the instant case, there us neither any statute law to support transfer of tenancy o

Division of States divides tax burden: Corporations formed after division of States to pay tax in sp

IT: Division of States divides tax burden: Corporations formed after division of States to pay tax in specified ratio

ITAT allowed consultancy charges incurred to establish new business with existing common management

IT : If there is continuity of business with common management and fund, then even if assessee has started a new line of business in relevant year, payment made for carrying out such running of new business has to be allowed as business expenditure

If show cause notice doesn't invoke charges of suppression no evasion penalty is called for

Excise & Customs: Where provisions relating to suppression of facts, etc., envisaged under proviso to section 11A and section 11AC have not been invoked in show-cause notice, no evasion penalty can be levied

'Ferrari' still a 'new Car' for custom purposes if its previous booking was cancelled prior to sales

Excise & Customs : Where a car originally booked by a foreign buyer is not sold to him owing to cancellation of booking, but, is directly sold, for first time, in India, said car is to be regarded as 'new car' and is eligible for concessional rate of duty under Notification No. 21/2002

Hospitals wholly or substantially funded by Government get sec. 10(23C)(iiiac) relief automatically

IT: Exemption under section 10(23C)(iiiac) is automatic for Hospitals which are wholly or substantially funded by Government of India or a State Government

Revenue supposed to verify agreement between parties and relevant tax treaty to bring payment within

IT/ILT: To decide whether payment made by assessee to its subsidiary of USA amounted to 'fees for technical services' or same was reimbursement of expenses, it was necessary to look into agreement between assessee and its subsidiary and also whether services rendered fell within ambit of 'technical service' as per DTAA

Non-filing of Form 3CEB in response to sec. 142(1) notice won't allow reassessment after four years

IT: Non-filing of document, viz., Form 3 CEB, in response to notice under section 142(1) will not, by itself, without anything more entitle Assessing Officer to take action to reassess an assessee in respect of an assessment year after expiry of four years from end of relevant assessment year