TIOL-DDT 2858
01 06 2016
Wednesday

IN DDT 2846 16 05 2016, I wrote, "The Finance Act 2016 came into existence on 14th May 2016 and silently slipped into history unsung unheard. For some strange reason, the Government does not give too much publicity to such State Secrets."

16 days after the enactment, the CBEC informs,

The Finance Bill, 2016 received the assent of the President on 14.5.2016. Consequently, Finance Act (28 of 2016), 2016 has been published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part II, Section 1.

Certain amendments made in the Union Budget 2016-17 have come into force from the date when the Finance Bill, 2016 received the assent of the President of India. As a result, these amendments have come into effect from 14.5.2016. Some of these include notification Nos. 13/2016-ST, 14/2016-ST and certain entries in notification Nos. 9/2016-ST and 10/2016-ST, all dated 1.3.2016.

The above may be taken note of. This issues with the approval of the competent authority.

It took the Board more than 15 days to inform the world that the Finance Bill has been enacted. Maybe the approval from the mysterious competent authority took time.

How does an assessee know that the Finance Bill has become the Finance Act and that the provisions which were to come into effect from the day the President gives assent to the Bill, have indeed come into force? Are the assessees expected to appoint an agent in the Rashtrapati Bhavan to inform them when the President signs the Bill and if this is not allowed, they should wait outside Rashtrapati Bhavan from the day the Rajya Sabha passes the Bill, to find out when the President signs it.

Ignorance of law is not an excuse for the assessee; it may be for the government.

CBEC Instruction in F. NO. B-1/19/2016-TRU., Dated: May 31, 2016

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme Rules, 2016 Notified

ON the Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, DDT mentioned yesterday,

Hopefully, the CBEC has not altogether forgotten about it.  Rules are to be made for carrying out the provisions of the Scheme, form and manner of declaration is to be prescribed and all this has to be done by today for the scheme is to become operational tomorrow.

Perhaps, today evening the notification and Circular would be issued.

Yes, The Board has indeed issued the Notification for the Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme Rules, 2016, yesterday evening.

The Scheme comes into effect from today.

1. The Scheme is applicable to disputes pending before the Commissioner (Appeals) in matters relating to Customs, Central Excise or Service Tax, as on 1.3.2016

2. Duty, interest and 25% of the penalty has to be paid.

3. Immunity is granted from proceedings under the respective Acts.

4. The amount paid under the Scheme will not be refunded

5. It is not applicable in Search and Seizure cases.

6. The Declaration has to be filed on or before the 31st day of December, 2016.

CBEC doesn't seem to be too enthusiastic about the Scheme; there is hardly any publicity.

Notification No.29/2016-Central Excise (N.T.)., Dated: May 31, 2016

Customs -Warehousing Bond - security - CBEC Instructions

SECTION 59 of the Customs Act as amended by Finance Act 2016 requires an importer of goods filing a bill of entry for warehousing to submit a Bond in a sum equal to thrice the amount of duty assessed on the goods to be warehoused. The bond can be for a single consignment ora general bond to cover multiple imports by an importer within a specified period.

Sub-section (3) of section 59 prescribes that the importer, shall, in addition to the execution of a bond, furnish a security. The Board has issued instructions on the security to be furnished.

Board has decided that the requirement for security under section 59 (3) shall be dispensed in the following cases:

(i) Imports by the Central Government, State Government or a Union Territory administration or their undertakings;

(ii) Machinery, equipment and raw-materials imported for manufacture and installation of power generation units;

(iii) Project imports;

(iv) Petroleum products;

(v) Machinery, equipment and raw materials imported for building and fitment to ships;

(vi) Goods used in the units operating under manufacture-in-bond scheme (section 65);

(vii) Goods warehoused for supply to diplomats;

(viii) Goods warehoused and sold through duty free shops;

(ix) Goods warehoused for supply as ship stores/airlines stores;

In all other cases, security shall be obtained as follows:

Security for transit

The importer shall obtain comprehensive transit risk insurance policy to cover the transit of goods, equal in sum to the duty involved on the goods, in favour of the President of India.

However, in certain cases, such as, liquid bulk cargo being transported through pipelines, the requirement of transit insurance may be waived.

For storage

Goods, other than sensitive goods mentioned in para (b) below, permitted to be warehoused, will be subject to the following requirement of security under section 59 (3):

(i) for the initial period of one year, there shall be no requirement of furnishing any security;

(ii) any extension in warehousing period beyond one year will be subject to the importer or owner furnishing a security by way of a bank guarantee for an amount equivalent to 25% of the sum of duty plus interest accrued thereon during the preceding period;

(iii) any extension in warehousing period exceeding two years will be subject to the importer or owner furnishing a security by way of a bank guarantee for an amount equivalent to 50% of the sum of duty plus interest accrued thereon during the preceding period;

(iv) any extension in warehousing period exceeding three years will be subject to the importer or owner furnishing a security by way of a bank guarantee for an amount equivalent to the duty involved and interest accrued thereon during the preceding period;

The Board has further decided that henceforth the period of warehousing shall be extended by the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs at the port of import. Accordingly, the security to be furnished by the importer or owner of the goods shall be furnished at the port of import where the bill of entry for warehousing was filed.

CBEC Circular No. 21/2016-Customs., Dated: May 31, 2016

Clearance of Warehoused Goods - Filing of Ex-bond Bill of Entry - CBEC Instructions

SECTION 68 of the Customs Act requires the filing of a bill of entry (ex-bond bill of entry) for clearance of any warehoused goods for home consumption. At present, the ex-bond bills of entry are being filed with the Commissionerates having jurisdiction over the warehouses and in large number of cases, manually.

Board has decided that the importer or owner of the warehoused goods seeking to clear goods for home consumption under section 68 shall henceforth file ex-bond bills of entry on ICES and the customs station of import shall assess the Bill of Entry for clearance of the warehoused goods for home consumption.

The importer or owner of the goods shall produce a copy of the assessed ex-bond bill of entry with the order for clearance of goods for home consumption given by the proper officer, to the jurisdictional bond officer assigned to the warehouse, for permitting clearance of the warehoused goods. Upon the importer or owner producing the ex-bond bill of entry for home consumption, the bond officer shall permit the removal of goods from the warehouse for home consumption.

The Board has already issued a circular providing that the bonds to be executed by the importer while filing a Bill of Entry for warehousing shall be executed at the customs station of import itself. Furthermore, with the imminent introduction of the system of providing a warehouse code at the into-bond bill of entry stage (circular no. 19/2016-Customs), the warehouse where goods are to be deposited will also be available in EDI.

With the introduction of EDI based monitoring, the systems managers at the customs stations will be able to identify Bills of Entry where the initial period of warehousing is near expiry for initiating necessary action.

Board says these measures are expected to leverage the benefits of automation for facilitating trade; it will enable the department to monitor the permitted period for which goods remain in the warehouse; provide a single point for the importer or owner to seek extension of the warehousing period; and pay duties online.

The new procedure will come into effect from 15th June 2016.

CBEC Circular No. 22/2016-Customs., Dated: May 31, 2016

Anti-dumping duty imposed on Methylene Chloride

THE Central government had imposed provisional Anti-dumping duty on "Methylene Chloride" also known as "Dichloromethane" (tariff item 2903 12 00 of the CTA, 1975) originating in, or exported from, the People's Republic of China and Russia by Notification 58/2015-Cus (ADD) dated 8th December 2015.  This notification was effective for a period not exceeding six months.  The designated authority in its final findings has recommended imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on the subject goods, originating in, or exported from, the subject countries, in order to remove injury to the domestic industry.

And so, the Central Government has yesterday issued a notification imposing anti-dumping duty on the subject goods imported from the subject countries and which would be valid for a period of five years from the date of imposition of the provisional anti-dumping duty, that is, the 8th December, 2015.

Notification 21/2016-Cus (ADD) Dated: May 31, 2016

Anti-dumping duty imposed on Methyl Acetoacetate

THE Central government has imposed Anti-dumping duty on 'Methyl Acetoacetate' [Chapter 29 of the CTA, 1975] imported from the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.

The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be effective for a period of five years.

Notification 22/2016-Cus (ADD) Dated: May 31, 2016

Decrease in Tariff Values of Gold and Silver

GOVERNMENT  has decreased the tariff values of all the oils except crude soyabean. Tariff values for Brass scrap, Gold, and Silver see a decline. There is no change for poppy seeds and areca nuts.

Notification No. 78/2016-CUSTOMS (N.T.)., Dated: May 31, 2016

Until Tomorrow with more DDT

Have a nice day.

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