TIOL-DDT 850
23.04.2008
Wednesday Anti dumping duty on steel and fibre glass tapes and their parts, originating in, or exported from People's Republic of China , was imposed by Notification No. 147/2003 with effect from 04.04.2003 and has expired on 4.4.2008. The Designated Authority has initiated a review and recommended the extension of anti-dumping duty for a period of six months from the date of its expiry. But they did not suggest that the extension can be after the expiry. Now the Government has extended the notification till 3.10.2008, but this notification extending the validity is dated 21.4.2008 that is a good 17 days after the poor notification died. Board should immediately review all its existing notifications and prepare a chart showing the dates of expiry of the notifications with an alarm going somewhere 15 days before the death day. This work should be outsourced. Of course as long as the Government's irresponsible right to resurrect dead notifications is not questioned, there is hardly any need for monitoring – they can merrily continue! Notification No. 50/2008-Cus,Dated : April 21, 2008 Articles of apparel and clothing accessories from Bangladesh - exempted Government has exempted articles of apparel and clothing accessories which are of the origin of Bangladesh , as proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner, subject to a ceiling of 8 million pieces in a year and also subject to the procedure that may be prescribed by the government. Notification No. 51/2008-Cus,Dated : April 21, 2008 Budget to be enacted by month end DDT understands that the Finance Bill 2008 is to be passed by both houses of Parliament by the month end and will receive the assent of the President in the first week of May 2008. It seems the CBEC is all geared up with the notifications and instructions for an early implementation of the Budget 2008 proposals. MPs are eager to get back to their constituencies for there are many bye elections and more important things to be attended to than the union budget. Cocaine in bra – Australian Customs detects A French woman allegedly was carrying 500g of cocaine in her bra and under a wig on arrival at Sydney airport. The 25-year-old woman had her bags searched after she arrived on a flight from Hong Kong on Monday morning. A female officer from Australian Customs Service then frisked the woman allegedly finding packages hidden inside her bra. Initial tests detected the presence of cocaine, Customs and Australian Federal Police said. Another package of cocaine was allegedly found stitched into a wig which she was wearing. The woman is due to face Sydney 's Central Local Court charged with importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug. The maximum penalty for the offence is 25 years imprisonment and/or a $ 550,000 fine. 10 tips to get through US Customs 1. If you know you will have a flight connection when you land in the States, leave the flowers and produce behind. Agriculture inspection can add an hour to your re-entry time. 2. Always carry a photocopy of your passport, and keep it separate from your passport. Some officials will accept the copy or at least give you an easier time if you misplace the original. 3. Turn off your cell phone. Customs and immigration officials are strict on that rule; in fact, they will confiscate your phone and not return it if they catch you using it. The reasons for this are unclear, but can you imagine the sound of 500 people on their cell phones at the same time? What a nightmare. 4. Don't make wisecracks or jokes to the officials; it makes you look like you are trying to hide something. 5. Read your customs forms carefully, and fill them out as soon as you get them. There is a complete guide to filling out your forms along with a list of contraband items in the back of your in-flight magazine. 6. If you are unsure about whether to declare something, declare it. The “Gee, I didn't know ...” excuse won't work. 7. Don't make a scene if the wait gets long or your bags get a thorough going-over. You definitely won't make your connecting flight if you are sent to secondary screening. 8. If you are uncomfortable with an agent of the opposite sex searching through your luggage, ask for an official of the same sex. It's a standard request and perfectly legitimate. 9. Don't put any fruit in your bag during your vacation if you can help it. You may have eaten that sack of mangos a week ago, but the persistent aroma will have the fruit dog all over your bag and you will be delayed in the agriculture inspection. 10. Leave any compromising photos or videos of you and a partner at home. They could be confiscated as pornography and wind up on a “wall of shame” in some back office. Jurispruden tiol – Tomorrow ' s cases  Income Tax Investment allowance - Diagnostic Centre or Hospital cannot be treated as industrial undertaking by any stretch of imagination; Sec 32A benefits not allowable: Delhi HC TO encourage economic activities in the country the Income Tax Act has a provision to allow deduction for investment allowance. Every business entity which has set up a manufacturing plant has availed the benefits of such allowances under Sec 32 of the Act. But, it has also been experienced that in the face of lack of a clear-cut definition of manufacture in the Income Tax Act, all sorts of 'industrial undertakings' which claimed to be involved in the business of manufacture of an article or a thing took benefits of this provision. In the present dispute settled by the High Court, the assessee owns a diagnostic centre and installed an X-ray machine which he treated the same as an industrial undertaking and claimed deduction as he also qualified as a small-scale undertaking. However, the High Court preferred to differ with the views taken by several High Courts on this issue except the Bombay High Court and held that before it is seen that whether the assessee qualifies the financial conditions laid down in the relevant Section, what should first be determined is that whether the assessee is an industrial undertaking or not? And, going by the expression industrial undertaking used in the I-T Act and not in the context in which it is used in other laws like the Industrial Disputes Act, a hospital or a diagnostic centre which may manufacture an article or thing but cannot be considered as an industrial undertaking. Therefore, such business entities are not eligible for benefits of Sec 32A. Customs Can Commissioner of Customs restrict DEPB credit on ground of export over-valuation? Cestat sets aside Commissioner's order as it is the job of DGFT CAN the Commissioner Customs pass an order restricting the DEPB benefit? How to draw samples of an export / import consignment? Well, this case throws some light on these elementary issues. The Customs officers found an exporter filing shipping bills for export of ‘Dyed and printed fabrics made from 100% polyester filament yarn'. On examination the goods were found to be printed polyester fabrics of inferior quality. The samples drawn from consignments were found on test to be not 100% polyester fabric. The weight per sq.m of fabrics was found to be around 50 gms. Market enquiries revealed that none of the consignments conformed to be declaration as regards value. As against the declared unit price Rs. 183/- per yard, enquires revealed the unit price of similar fabrics in the local market to be within Rs. 25/- to Rs. 30/- per metre. Error in calculating duty – Refund admissible – Section 154 is independent of Section 27 of Customs Act, but doctrine of unjust enrichment applies – Matter remanded by Tribunal THE appellant discharged the duty liability by paying the same at the rate of 50% instead of paying 5%. Subsequently, they filed an application for the refund of excess duty which after being rejected traveled upto the Apex Court when they submitted that they would make an application for rectification of the clerical error under Section 154 & accordingly the Civil Appeal was disposed. This application for rectification under Section 154 was allowed by the adjudicating authority but the refund claim was rejected as being time barred by invoking the provisions of Section 27 of the Customs Act. The Commissioner(Appeals) too upheld this order. While upholding the order of the lower authority, the Commissioner (A) held that the provisions of section 154 do not override those of section 27 of the Act. See our columns tomorrow for the judgements Until Tomorrow with more DDT Have a nice day. Mail your comments to vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com |
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