TIOL-DDT 73
14 03 2005
Monday

As per section 7 of the Customs Act, the Board can appoint customs ports which alone shall be the Customs ports for imports and exports. By Notification No. 62/94-CUSTOMS (N.T.), dated the 21st November, 1994, several ports have been appointed. Now Hazira(Surat) is added to the list. - NOTIFICATION NO. 21/2005-CUSTOMS (N.T.), Dated : March 11, 2005

But this notification No. 62/94 has been giving me the jitters for the past decade. Sl. No. 2 of the table to the Notification is as follows:-

TABLE

So the two very important ports in Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada are not really full-fledged ports. Kakinada is only for loading of export goods and unloading of only Petroleum products. And the largest operating port in India, Visakhapatnam, as per this notification is only for export. That is ‘no import’ from either port, except of course Petroleum products in Kakinada. The notification specifies several ports like Kandla, Mangalore, Cochin, Nhava Seva, Paradeep, Madras. And all these ports are for the purposes of “Unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods or any class of such goods.” Why then this discrimination against Visakhapatnam and Kakinada? Beats me! Of course there is another Notification which is not yet rescinded - Notification No. 77 – cus dated 19.5.1973, which also appoints Visakhapatnam and Kakinada as ports but only for the shipment and loading of goods.

So, as per the law, imported goods cannot be unloaded at Visakhapatnam and imported goods other than Petroleum products cannot be unloaded at Kakinada. But I have personal knowledge that imported goods are being unloaded at both these ports for any number of years.

It is a genuine doubt that I have been carrying for the last decade or so as to why these ports are not declared as ports for unloading imported goods and how they have functioned as import ports all these years. In the beginning, I was afraid to ask; May be I would be considered a stupid fool to ask such elementary questions. Slowly I took courage and started asking people. My colleagues in Central Excise were of no help. I asked friends in Customs. They were more helpless. “It should be somewhere, search and thou shalt find”, said many. I searched and found – nothing. Can somebody help in solving this mystery?

Exemption from CVD – Notification No. 21/2002 – cus amended

The Notification No. 21/2002 which fixes the effective rates of duty for various commodities have been amended to withdraw the CVD exemption in excess of 16% for certain commodities required for radio paging, mobile radio etc,. This has no eefect on the rate of duty as CVD is any way 16% only. - NOTIFICATION NO. 29/2005-CUSTOMS, Dated : March 11, 2005

Inputs used in mines – ropeway?

Today we are carrying three Tribunal judgements and an article on the controversial issue of inputs used in mines. As can be seen from our earlier stories, the credit is being disallowed because of the faulty way, the rules have been amended and the Supreme Court not being told that Board had instructed that the assessee can have his own other unit as a job worker. It was a misplaced comma that caused the damage. Now the Tribunal has allowed credit for ropeways and conveyor belts connecting the mine and the factory. Credit is allowed if the mine is not owned by the manufacturer or if the mine is connected to the factory! We ask a question, “will credit be allowed if the mine is under the factory?

Is FICCI a club, liable to pay Service Tax?

What the FM did not tell them! The FM had a comfortable meeting with the members of the FICCI after the budget, but the wise Minister did not tell them that he has brought their famous organisation under the Service Tax net. As per the proposed amendment to the Act, Taxable Service will include

(zzze) to its members, by any club or association in relation to provision of services, facilities or advantages for a subscription or any other amount;

"club or association" means any person or body of persons providing services, facilities or advantages, for a subscription or any other amount, to its members, but does not include—

(i) any body established or constituted by or under any law for the time being in force; or

(ii) any person or body of persons engaged in the activities of trade unions, promotion of agriculture, horticulture or animal husbandry; or

(iii) any person or body of persons engaged in any activity having objectives which are in the nature of public service and are of a charitable, religious or political nature; or

(iv) any person or body of persons associated with press or media;

Now Let us see whether FICCI fits the bill.

So FICCI and all such organisations will be taxed after the Finance Bill is enacted.

Until Tomorrow with more of DDT

Have a Nice Day

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