30.05.2014
Friday
ABOUT 540 new Members of Parliament are to take oath as the Central Legislators of the country. What do these Hon'ble Members get from the taxpayer for having consented to serve them? Here are some of the facilities for bearing the burden of representing the people in Parliament.
A Member of Parliament is entitled for a salary of Rs. 50,000 per month. Additionally he gets a constituency allowance of Rs. 45,000. He also gets an office expense allowance of Rs. 45,000.
He gets a daily allowance of Rs. 2,000 whenever he is attending parliament or a committee. He need not actually attend the proceedings - all that is required is he has to sign the attendance register.
When he travels to attend the parliament or any other business as a Member he is entitled to a travelling allowance of 125% of the airfare.
He is entitled to a First Class AC train ticket to travel anytime by any train anywhere in India -spouse included.
He is entitled to a rent free accommodation in Delhi. He gets a free telephone each in his constituency and Delhi with 50,000 free calls a year. He also gets two mobile phones with national roaming facility - free.
He gets medical facilities as are available to senior officers of the Government.
Not really much - to keep democracy running - after all each one represents over a million people and we have to provide them certain basic facilities, at least as much as those enjoyed by our senior babus.
The other day I saw a Commissioner of Central Excise traveling in Executive class in an Air India flight and yesterday there was a Commissioner of Service Tax telling the Press that he has frozen the bank accounts of Air India, for failure to pay Service Tax.
'Effective Representation before ITAT'- Seminar at NADT
THE National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT), Nagpur is organizing a two day Seminar on "Effective Representation before ITAT" on 17th and 18th of June, 2014. The programme is meant for the officers of the rank of JCIT to CIT.
The objective of the programme is to
(i) enhance competence and capacity building of the officers in this significant area and to
(ii) attain maximal levels of efficiency and effectiveness while they appear on behalf of the Department in judicial forums.
The Seminar will try to address issues relating to
(i) legislative intent and tax jurisprudence,
(ii) construction and interpretation of statutes,
(iii) law of evidence,
(iv) advocacy skills,
(v) case studies and their import,
(vi) judicial information system within and outside the department,
(vii) working of the ITAT and Courts and other ancillary aspects.
It is really laudable that NADT is undertaking such a programme as effective representation before ITAT is a real concern in the Department.
Though a minor error, the letter from NADT mentions interpretation of statues, not statutes. It is this kind of callous attitude that makes lifeless statues of vibrant statutes. In any case interpreting a statue is far more difficult than interpreting our statutes. This exercise of interpretation of statutes, especially the tax ones, has created mountains of tax jurisprudence, which is again studied and interpreted. Why do we give so much importance to legislative intent, when we all know that legislature hardly deliberates on the law and the so called legislative intent is the opinion of a very highly placed officer in the North Block of the rank of Under-secretary? Why can't we simply ask him what he really meant?
But that is not the way LAW is interpreted and understood - we need all the courts and the confusion - at least for the survival of the clan of lawyers - after all they have no cadre review!
In two days, the NADT plans to impart “advocacy skills”. Though I cannot say that some people are born with advocacy skills, there is absolutely no doubt that advocacy skills can be acquired in two days.
And after all this intensive training, will they be posted to ITAT?
Hopefully they would be, because the letter addressed by the Principal Director General (Training), NADT requests the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax to 'nominate at least two to three officers of the rank of CsIT/Addl.CsIT/JCsIT who are posted or are likely to be posted as Departmental Representatives (DR) at ITAT in your region'.
Lucky few?
Incidentally, such a Seminar was also conducted last December and it seems that the same was a resounding success necessitating the need to hold another one in six months! See DDT 2237.
NACEN may consider following in the footsteps of the NADT.
F. No. NADT/P&R/Effective Reprn. ITAT/2014-15, Dated: May 28 2014
1. Build confidence in bureaucracy and give them enough legroom
2. Promote fresh ideas
3. Focus on education, energy, health, water, roads
4. Bring transparency in Government ; e-auction in tendering
5. Evolve a system for inter-ministerial issues
6. People-oriented system in Government machinery
7. Address concerns of economy
8. Infra & investment reforms
9. Time-bound implementation
10. Stability in Government policy
ITO arrested by CBI in Uttarakhand - Bribe of Rs. 5 Lakhs
THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) yesterday arrested an Income Tax Officer, Rudrapur, District Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand) for demanding & accepting a bribe of Rs.Five Lakhs from a farmer for settling his income tax assessments. In a small place like Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, there is scope for demanding and actually getting a bribe of five lakhs of rupees.
Yes Minister!
HOW does it feel for a senior bureaucrat to take instructions from a junior inexperienced minister? It was sometime in the seventies ….. A young minister asked a senior bureaucrat whether he felt “embarrassed” taking instructions from a young minister like him. “Mr Minister, when I receive instructions from you, I do not look at your face. I look beyond your face, at the vast multitude of people of this country who have chosen you to be here”, replied the practical bureaucrat. The young Minister went on to become the President of India and this incident was narrated by President Pranab Mukherjee while addressing IAS probationers at Mussoorie last year.
The President told the future bureaucrats that civil servants facing political pressure needed to be patient and tactful in handling issues within the prescribed legal framework. At the same time civil servants should understand the compulsion of political leaders who are answerable to their constituents, in wake of the growing development aspirations.
DDT Cartoon
Jurisprudentiol - Monday's cases
 Customs
Application for COD - CESTAT at loss to understand mindset of Revenue authorities - the only reason given for delay of six years in filing appeal is ‘oversight' - applications & appeals dismissed: CESTAT
THE Commissioner of Customs, Kandla had passed an order-in-original on 31.03.2008 and dropped the proceedings initiated vide SCN dated 12.10.1999 issued by DRI against three noticees.
Revenue filed the appeal against one of the respondent M/s. National Impex Corporation before the Tribunal but appeals against the other two co-noticees was apparently missed out.
So, after six years the Revenue is before the CESTAT with two more appeals and applications for condonation of the delay.
The Revenue presumably works under the adage - better late than never.
Apprehensive that the COD applications would be rejected, the Revenue representative submitted that the two appeals have to be considered as supplementary appeals.
Income Tax
Whether if service provider fails to collect service tax from its clients but once pointed out by Audit, deposits same with interest from own account, such expenses can be claimed as eligible deduction u/s 37(1) - YES: HC
THE assessee company had not collected service tax on mechanical erection and installation of plant and machinery, structure work, piping work and works contract works for a period of time. During the audit, the assessing authorities raised certain objections and asked the assessee to furnish the reasons on why he failed to do so. The assessee failed to furnish any answers to the objection, as a result the assessee deposited service tax as specified by the authorities, with interest. When the return was filed, the assessee claimed deduction on the service tax and interest paid, as expenditure incurred for business. During the assessment, the AO concluded that the amount paid as service tax and the interest thereon, cannot be claimed for deduction as it was the outcome of infringing a provision of law.
The issue before the Bench is - Whether if a service provider fails to collect service tax from its clients but once pointed out by Audit, deposits the same with interest from own account, such expenses can be claimed as eligible deduction u/s 37(1). And the verdict goes in favour of the assessee.
Service Tax
As for same period, proceedings had already commenced against respondent through a SCN in July, 2005, there was no need to issue another SCN in July, 2007 - Revenue appeal dismissed: CESTAT
THIS is a Revenue appeal.
Your belief that the department has all the time in the world to indulge in issuing frolicsome SCNs and filing frivolous appeals would be strengthened upon going through the facts of this case. It is another thing that the departmental officers get paid for what they do but it is the assessee who has to hire Consultants and Advocates to attend to these!
A SCN 24.07.2005 was issued to the respondent for the period April 2002 to October 2003 on the premise that the respondent had collected service tax but not deposited with the department in due time and, therefore, they are liable to pay interest.
The adjudicating authority confirmed the demand of interest and also imposed penalty.
Another SCN came to be issue on 03.10.2007 for the same period i.e. April 2002 to October 2003 demanding service tax along with interest and penalty .
See our Columns Monday for the judgements
Until Monday with more DDT
Have a nice weekend.
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