TIOL-DDT 2782
09 02 2016
Tuesday
THE CBDT Chairman Atulesh Jindal has in a D.O letter to his Principal Chief Commissioners says:
1. Centralised Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) is a citizen-centric initiative for online receipts and redressal of public grievances. It is one of the key result areas being constantly monitored by the Government at the highest level.
2. Currently around 1600 public grievances are being registered every month in the centralized grievance cell at CBDT.
3. The Hon'ble PM while reviewing the status of pending grievances with the CBEC in the last PRAGATI Meeting (held on 27.01.2016) had directed for early redressal of public grievances within the timelines prescribed by the Government.
4. The total number of grievances pending in all jurisdictions in CBDT as on date is 7863 out of which 81 grievances are pending for more than one year and 1696 grievances are pending for more than six months.
5. Considering the fact that our Citizens' Charter clearly lays down that all grievances should be disposed off within a period of two months, it is obvious that the overall progress on disposal of grievances is unsatisfactory and that in spite of repeated instructions from the Board from time to time, a large number of grievances have not been disposed off within the prescribed timeline of 60 days from the date of their receipt.
6. The grievances are required to be redressed within a maximum period of two months of their receipt. Further, if the finalization of a decision on a particular grievance is expected to take longer than two months, an interim reply is required to be given with reasons for delay in redressal of the grievance.
7. After redressal, the position may also be upgraded simultaneously on CPGRAMS.
The Chairman wants an action taken report in respect of grievances pending within for more than six months to be sent to him by 15th February, 2016.
Redressing of grievances is a long dream; the least the babus can do is to reply to the grievance - that your grievance is under active consideration meaning the file is being traced.
CBDT Chairman's D.O. F. No. Dir.(Hqrs.)/Ch.(DT)/39(2)/2015/93007; Dated: February 05 2015
Order requiring Petitioner to deposit Rs.600 crores as a condition for de-sealing of premises is preposterous & an abuse of power: High Court
FOR your kind information this is not a Central Excise/Customs/Service Tax case but a Delhi VAT case.
Read further -
On 15.03.2013 (Friday) the Value Added Tax Officer (VATO) arrived at the premises of the petitioner at about 5.30 p.m. and demanded important documents. The representative of the petitioner stated that he would provide those documents but that would require some time as information had to be culled, collated and reconciled. Moreover, the office of the petitioner had shifted from Okhla Industrial Estate to Nehru Place and the bulk of documents were lying in boxes.
The VATO was not willing to buy this plea and consequently passed a sealing order dated 16.03.2013 at 01.35 am in respect of three premises.
In response to the application made by the petitioner for de-sealing the premises, by an order dated 18.03.2013, the VATO permitted de-sealing but as a precondition to de-sealing under Section 60(4) of the DVAT Act, 2004, required the petitioner to deposit a sum of Rs.600 crores.
Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the Delhi High Court and in its order dated 19.03.2013 while prima facie agreeing that that the demand for Rs.600 crores was 'preposterous and cannot be sustained in law' and that "the security that is required for de-sealing in terms of Section 60(4) has, prima facie, no reference to the expected tax demand" ordered that the premises be de-sealed immediately and asked the petitioner to deposit a sum of Rs.5 crores.
The petition was heard recently and the High Court picked holes in the action taken by VATO by observing -
+ Sealing the three premises of the Petitioner was only on account of the failure to produce the records as demanded by the notice dated 15th March 2013 issued u/s 59 of the DVAT Act. This certainly was not in accordance with the requirements of Section 60 of the DVAT Act.
+ The deployment order was not in respect of the two addresses and yet those were sealed. How this was possible without a fresh deployment order being issued is unexplained.
+ The order (of sealing) has been passed not by the Commissioner but by the VATO. There is nothing to indicate that the VATO was authorised to do so by an order issued in Form DVAT 50 as on 15th March 2013.
+ The de-sealing order simply totals up the turnover figures for 2011-12 and 2012-13, deducts 25% therefrom in terms of Rule 3 (2) of the DVAT Rules 2005 and arrives at a figure of Rs. 124.11 crores towards tax and approximately Rs. 31.02 crores as penalty. It then adverts to the assessment order for 2008-09 (under challenge) and in terms of the rectified assessment and penalty orders, the demand created worked out to Rs. 614.60 crores.
+ Then it seeks to create a demand "on the basis of same proportions" for 2009-10 to 2012-13 and arrives at a figure of approximately Rs. 2190.44 crores! It is on this basis that the VATO has ordered that as a condition for de-sealing the Petitioners three premises, it should deposit Rs. 600 crores. This figure is, therefore, based entirely on guesswork and 'projections' without any adjudication.
Terming the de-sealing order as 'preposterous' and an abuse of the power under Section 60 (4) of the DVAT Act, the same was held to be unsustainable in law and the sum of Rs.5 crores deposited by petitioner was directed to be released forthwith.
Interestingly, the case file was reported as missing by the department "despite best efforts to trace the same" and, therefore, the High Court directed the Commissioner to file a FIR and simultaneously order vigilance enquiry against those found responsible for the serious lapse.
The Commissioner was also directed to file affidavit in compliance and a further hearing was fixed to decide the costs that should be awarded to the Petitioner, Larsen & Toubro Ltd..
See 2016-TIOL-222-HC-DEL-VAT.
Fall in Collection of Income Tax - Concerned Chairman
THE Revenue Secretary observes, "The gross collection grew only by 8.13%. Chairman, CBDT needs to ask all Commissioners to achieve their target." And the Chairman in a D.O letter to the Principal Chief Commissioners exhorts them to monitor this work, giving it highest priority, so that we are able to accomplish a healthy growth rate in collections particularly in regular tax which will also indicate positive efforts on the part of the Department.
He tells them...
"In the area of net direct tax collections, the present growth rate is not encouraging if compared with the preceding Financial Year. The net collections as on 31st January, 2016 stand at Rs.5,21,853 crore indicating achievement of 65.40% of budget estimates with a growth rate of 10.87%, Looking at the overall minor head-wise growth rate, it is seen that except TDS all other minor heads are having a growth rate which is less than the growth rate of immediately preceding year at this time of the year. The main cause of concern in this regard is the decline in the regular tax collection which is showing a negative growth rate of (-)10.44% as compared to the corresponding growth of 17.25% last year, This suggests that either regular demand has not been raised due to non-completion of scrutiny assessments or adequate efforts are not being made to collect the arrear demand. This is being seen as a matter of concern by the Government.
Whereas the scope of increasing collections under the minor heads of advance tax and self-assessment tax is rather limited, there is no justification for a negative growth rate in respect of regular tax. I am sure that a large portion of the current demand raised during the current Financial Year would have fallen due by now and ready for collection. Therefore, our utmost focus for the next two months should be on collection of the collectible demand, both out of current and arrear demand."
CBDT Chairman's FTS No. 92812/2016-Ch(DT); Dated: February 05 2015
Make a correct and complete declaration for speedy assessment & clearance
IN a recent Public Notice issued by JNCH, Nhava Sheva, attention of Exporters and Customs Brokers is invited to earlier Public Notices No. 42/2010 dated 07-04-2010 and 75/2011 dated 05-05-2011 wherein it has been stressed that the declaration of correct and complete description of export goods in Shipping Bills is essential for speedy assessment and clearance of Export Goods.
Now, the Commissioner informs that a study conducted by Directorate General of Valuation showed that there was no significant improvement in data quality.
Inasmuch as it had been observed that description of goods mentioned in the Shipping Bills / invoices are either incomplete, vague or does not contain specific details such as composition, grade, configuration, denier, GSM, size, type, brand, machine / handmade or any other factor/ parameters having its bearing on the value of goods. Moreover, goods being declared of same description are having large price variation and no specific quality/reason are being mentioned in the description field to justify such price variation.
Once again emphasizing the importance of making a correct and complete declaration, the Commissioner warns the exporters/customs brokers that any deviation from the prescribed norms may lead to delayed clearance and / or cancellation of export promotion benefits as well as consequential penal actions.
As to why this could be detected only by the Directorate of Valuation is a bit surprising.
Public Notice No. 14/2016 dated 03.02.2016 JNCH, Nhava Sheva
Commendation Certificate - applications invited
THE Directorate General of Performance Management, Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax has decided to award Commendation Certificates on the occasion of Central Excise Day, 2016 to be celebrated on February 24.
The criteria - Officers at the All India Level in different grades who, by their innovative ideas/continued devotion and commitment to duty, have contributed to promoting excellence in the fields of Central Excise and Service Tax administration.
The objective - Give due recognition to officers who may have contributed significantly in diverse areas such as trade facilitation, automation, enforcement, audit, infrastructure development, human resource development, personal management, secretarial work, legislation, policy making, legal, judicial and training which often remain unrecognized by way of formal awards.
The Chief Commissioners/Directors General are requested to send nominations of officers who fulfil the above mentioned criteria. Officers who feel they too deserve the commendation certificate can apply through proper channel.
It is made amply clear that at the time of sponsoring the names itself, the sponsoring authority should satisfy that the officer is really a deserving candidate for the award and also enjoys an excellent general reputation.
The above process should be completed latest by 12th February so as to enable proper screening by the members of selection committee.
Thankfully, this communication dated 8th February was uploaded on the same day on the department's website as requested by the Director General.
DDT adds -
+ Last year, 40 officers were awarded Commendation Certificates and included the AR at CESTAT, Bangalore.
+ Presumably, officers who are confident and have a gut feeling that they would be nominated for their commendable performance may not be required to make a separate application. Those who missed the bus may probably try to know the reasons with assistance of the RTI Act, 2005.
+ Are the awards viz. Commendation Certificate on Central Excise Day, WCO Certificate of Merit, Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate -For "Specially distinguished record of service" mutually exclusive?
+ And, will we be celebrating any Service Tax day?...for, this may be the last chance!
Please also see DDT 2049, 2527, 2545 & 2700.
Letter F.No. 503/16/2016 (T) dated February 8, 2016
Website back on its feet
AFTER the brief interruption caused by the hackers, the IRS officers ONLY website came back to life yesterday after the customary 'maintenance' was satisfactorily undertaken. Netizens can share their views and opinions in the Visitor's notebook. Notably, the last such laudatory post was three years ago.
Yesterday, DDT had reported about the alleged trespass!
Govt Employees while demanding VII Pay Commission do not condemn corruption - rather support it
THE Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in a recent judgement observed,
Ethics and morals have taken a back seat in modern India's scheme of things. In my considered opinion, corruption can be beaten if all work together. To eradicate the cancer of corruption the "hydra headed monster", it is now a high time for the citizens to come together to tell their Governments that they have had enough. That is this miasma of corruption. If the same continues, taxpayers' may resort to refuse to pay taxes by 'noncooperation movement'. It is surprising that the Unions of Central or State Government employees, whether politically affiliated or otherwise, make demonstrations for demanding the application of VII Pay Commission, but they do not condemn, outcast or demonstrate against their counterpart bureaucracy indulging in corruption. On the contrary, they provide support.
Let the Government as well as mandarins in the corridors of power understand the excruciating pain and anguish of the tax payers. There is an onerous responsibility on those who govern to prove to the taxpayers that eradication of corruption would not prove for them a "forlorn hope".
From jaws of death - Picture Abhi Baaki hai
PARDON my personal touch in this DDT.
I was in Nepal last week. It was a Friday evening; no DDT the next day. I was having a relaxed dinner with a friend on the first floor of his house. Suddenly he shouted, "Hila Hila". What he meant was that the Earth was shaking and everybody started running. As I was slowly climbing down the steps (I can't run because of a knee pain), I was sure I would not be able to make it to the ground floor and I was thinking of DDT as to how DDT without Vijay Kumar would report the incident. All that I longed for in the one hour we spent in the open in the chilly night was a cigarette!
Immediately on coming to know that I am alive, a revenue officer messaged me, "you are back, kyon ki picture abhi baaki hai."
That's a mother! As we were all running down from the first floor of the house to the ground floor, the lady of the house ran up to the second floor, where her child was sleeping.
Until Tomorrow with more DDT
Have a nice day.
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