30 09 2015
Wednesday
WHEN goods are imported in a container, should customs duty be paid on the container? Obviously yes, because the container is also imported. But by Notification No. 104/94-Cus dated 16.03.1994, Government has exempted containers which are of durable nature provided that the importer, by execution of a bond in such form and for such sum as may be specified by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs binds himself to re-export the said containers within six months from the date of their importation and to furnish documentary evidence thereof to the satisfaction of the said Assistant Commissioner and to pay the duty leviable thereon in the event of the importer's failure to do so.
The JN Customs has increased the amounts of bonds to be executed in view of variation in costs and the prevailing market conditions etc.
The revised rates with immediate effect are:
1. 20' Plain Container :Rs. 70,000/-
2. 40' Plain Container :Rs. 1,35,000/-
3. 20' Reefer Container :Rs. 2,50,000/-
4. 40' Reefer Container :Rs. 4,00,000/-
5. 20' Tank Container :Rs. 4,50,000/-
6. 40' Tank Container :Rs. 6,00,000/-
The Continuity Bonds executed henceforth with the revised amount shall, inter-alia, contain the following details:
(i) The concerned party should intimate to the Customs Container Cell, JNCH, the number and identification particulars of the containers to be moved outside the Customs area. The bond for such movement should be for specific individual container or a general bond covering a large number of containers.
(ii) The importation of containers without payment of duty on furnishing continuity bond will be subject to the condition that the container will be re-exported within six months from the date of their importation.
(iii) The concerned Steamer Agent will furnish the evidence of re-export within 30 days from the date of re-export of the container.
(iv) In any particular case the aforesaid period of six months may on sufficient cause being shown be extended in terms of Standing Order No. 12/2011 dated 22.02.2011 for such further period as may be deemed fit.
Is there any real control over the movement of imported containers and do they really get exported within six months?
JN Customs House Public Notice No. 72/2015., Dated: September 28,2015
Drawback of Safeguard Duties
CBEC clarifies that Safeguard Duties which are leviable under Section 8B or Section 8C of the Customs Tariff Act are rebatable as Drawback in terms of Section 75 of the Customs Act. Since Safeguard Duties are not taken into consideration while fixing All Industry Rates of drawback, the drawback of such Safeguard Duties can be claimed under an application for Brand Rate under Rule 6 or Rule 7 of the Customs, Central Excise Duties and Service Tax Drawback Rules, 1995. This would necessarily mean that drawback shall be admissible only where the inputs which suffered Safeguard Duties were actually used in the goods exported as confirmed by the verification conducted for fixation of Brand Rate.
Where imported goods subject to Safeguard Duties are exported out of the country as such, then the Drawback payable under Section 74 of the Customs Act would also include the incidence of Safeguard Duties as part of total duties paid, subject to fulfilment of other conditions.
Board had issued a similar clarification in respect of refund of anti dumping duty as drawback vide Circular No. 106/95-Cus, dated 11.10.1995.
CBEC Circular No. 23/2015-Customs, Dated: September 29, 2015
Income Tax Returns - Due Date - P&H High Court directs extension
THIS government is unfortunately made to do things which it normally should have done at the first instance, only after prolonged agitations and litigation. If the Government concedes to Public Demand at the beginning, a lot of tension, litigation and bad publicity in India and abroad can be avoided. But the bureaucracy seems to be bent on bringing disrepute to the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister.
There has been a strong demand, especially from chartered accountants for extending the due date for filing income tax returns of those who are mandatorily required to get their accounts audited. Writ petitions were filed, not with much success in several High Courts. But yesterday they tasted success in the Punjab & Haryana High Court.
The only question for consideration before the High Court in this case was whether keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case and the genuine hardship of the assessees, the date for filing of returns for the assessment year 2015-16 for certain categories of assesses including companies, firms etc. whose accounts are required to be audited in terms of Section 44AB of the Act, is to be extended beyond 30.9.2015.
And the High Court held:
Taking the totality of facts and circumstances of the case, it is considered appropriate to extend the due date for e-filing of returns upto 31st October 2015 for which the CBDT shall issue appropriate notification/instructions under Section 119 of the Act. Direction is also issued to the respondents to ensure that the forms etc. which are to be prescribed for the audit report and for e-filing the returns should ordinarily be made available on the first day of April of the assessment year .
Hopefully the Board will issue the directions today and not waste the Nation's money and time by approaching the Supreme Court.
Please see VISHAL GARG Vs UoI
Service Tax Return for April - September 2015
THE ACES website informs:
Assessee can e-file Service Tax Return (ST-3) for the period April, 2015 to September, 2015 now through offline or online version. The last date of filing the ST-3 return, for the return period April, 2015 to September, 2015 is 25th October, 2015. However, to avoid congestion and inconvenience in the last minute, assesses who wish to file their ST-3 for the said period are advised to start e-filing the returns immediately and not to wait till the last date. The assesses can file return either online or use the offline utility by downloading the latest version No. V1.4 from http://acesdownload.nic.in/ or from 'DOWNLOADS' Section of ACES website.
Help Desk: In case of any difficulty in accessing the ACES Application or in filing the ST-3 returns, the assesses can contact the ACES Service Desk either by sending e-mail to aces.servicedesk@icegate.gov.in or by calling up National Toll-free number 1800 425 4251. The ACES Service Desk functions on working days from Monday to Friday between 9 AM and 7 PM and on Saturdays between 9 AM to 2.30 PM. However, in the month of October, 2015, the Service Desk will remain open from 9AM to 7PM on all Saturdays and on 25-10-2015, the last Sunday of the month. Since, 21st to 23rd October,2015 are closed holidays, Service Desk will remain open on 22nd October,2015.
14 IRS Officers Missing - CBEC wants Info
MORE than four years ago in DDT 1588 13.04.2011, I reported that CBEC has circulated a list of 27 IRS(C&CE) officers who have been unauthorisedly absent from duty for a long time. It has not been possible to take necessary action against these officers for want of their present address(es). The list contains, inter-alia, the last known posting of these officers. The list was obviously wrong as I met one of the ‘missing' officers in her office a few days later.
Last year, the CBEC circulated a list of 19 missing IRS officers (DDT 2386 01.07.2014). Maybe they found 8 of those missing offices in the three years.
Yesterday the Board sent a letter to all the Chief Commissioners that 14 IRS officers are unauthorizedly absent from duty for a long time. So, maybe they found five more missing IRS officers. The date of birth of one of the missing officers is 16.12.1954. He would have retired on 31.12.2014; what is the use of finding him now?
Board wants the Chief Commissioners to provide information on the missing officers by 9th October.
In these days of satellite communication, is it difficult to find people? Normally missing Government officers are either abroad or hiding in India. It shouldn't be difficult to trace them and if you really don't want them, just leave them alone and treat them as dismissed from service after a due notice in the newspapers.
CBEC F.No. C-50/28/2015-Ad.ll., Dated: September 29, 2015.
RBI reduces Repo
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan yesterday announced the decision to:
• reduce the policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 50 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent with immediate effect;
• keep the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0 per cent of Net Demand and Time Liability (NDTL);
• continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer term repos of up to 0.75 per cent of NDTL of the banking system through auctions; and
• continue with daily variable rate repos and reverse repos to smooth liquidity.
Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 7.75 per cent.
Welcoming the decision, Finance Minister Jaitley said, this action also signals that the RBI is able to provide policy support to the real economy and help its recovery; the Government looks forward to the transmission of these cuts to the rest of the economy and will work to facilitate this transmission, including by reviewing the framework of small savings; the rate cut, combined with actions taken and planned by the Government, will help boost confidence and investment, and help realize the economy's medium-term potential growth rate.
Until Tomorrow with more DDT
Have a nice day.
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