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Home e-Newsletters Index Year 2012 September Day 10 - Monday

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TMI Tax Updates - e-Newsletter
September 10, 2012

Case Laws in this Newsletter:

Income Tax Customs Service Tax Central Excise



Articles

1. ARBITRABILITY OF DISPUTES RELATING TO OPPRESSION AND MISMANAGEMENT.

   By: DR.MARIAPPAN GOVINDARAJAN

Summary: The article discusses the arbitrability of disputes related to oppression and mismanagement under the Companies Act, 1956. Sections 397 and 398 allow company members to apply to the Company Law Board (CLB) if they believe the company's affairs are conducted prejudicially. These sections provide statutory rights that cannot be overridden by arbitration agreements. The CLB has exclusive jurisdiction over such matters, as it can issue orders that an arbitrator cannot. Arbitration is not suitable for disputes involving statutory rights or company management issues, as outlined by the Companies Act, which is a special act compared to the general Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

2. TRIBUNAL HAS NO POWER TO ADJUST VAT PAYMENT AGAINST SERVICE TAX

   By: DR.MARIAPPAN GOVINDARAJAN

Summary: A tribunal ruled that it lacks the authority to offset VAT payments against service tax obligations in a case involving a telecommunication service provider. The provider, contesting a service tax demand for SIM card sales, argued that VAT payments should suffice under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act. The tribunal, referencing a Supreme Court decision, disagreed, stating that the sale of SIM cards is incidental to service provision and not subject to sales tax. Consequently, the tribunal required the applicant to pay the remaining service tax and interest to proceed with the appeal, denying a full waiver of the pre-deposit.


News

1. Mandatory E-Payment of Customs Duty.

Summary: The Government of India has mandated e-payment of customs duty for importers under the Accredited Clients Programme and those paying customs duty of one lakh rupees or more per Bill of Entry, effective from September 17, 2012. Initially introduced in 2007, the e-payment system, available at major Customs locations, aims to expedite payment processes and reduce transaction costs. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has instructed Chief Commissioners to publicize this change and assist importers in adapting to the new system, which benefits taxpayers by allowing 24/7 payments and faster cargo release, while ensuring immediate tax collection for the government.


Notifications

Customs

1. 48/2012 - dated 6-9-2012 - Cus

Seeks to amend Notification no. 125/2011-Customs, dated 30-12-2011 prescribing preferential rates of customs duty for goods imported under SAARC Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) so as to reduce the number of tariff lines in the sensitive list for Non-Least Developed Countries (NLDCs)

Summary: The Government of India issued Notification No. 48/2012-Customs to amend Notification No. 125/2011-Customs, which prescribes preferential customs duty rates for goods imported under the SAARC Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). The amendment aims to reduce tariff lines in the sensitive list for Non-Least Developed Countries (NLDCs). The notification details various goods and their respective duty rates, with most goods subject to an 8% rate and specific items like crude palm oil and certain polymers subjected to different rates. The changes are intended to align with public interest and facilitate trade under SAFTA.


Circulars / Instructions / Orders

FEMA

1. 25 - dated 7-9-2012

Overseas Investment by Indian Parties in Pakistan.

Summary: The circular addresses the policy on overseas investments by Indian entities in Pakistan. It highlights that, according to the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of any Foreign Security) Regulations, 2004, investments in Pakistan were initially prohibited. However, it has been decided that such investments can now be considered under the approval route as per Regulation 9. Amendments to the existing regulations will be issued separately. Authorized Dealer Category I banks are instructed to inform their clients about this change, and the circular is issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.


Highlights / Catch Notes

    Income Tax

  • High Court Allows Shareholders to Gift Shares Back to Company Without Legal Restrictions.

    Case-Laws - HC : Shareholders of the company can gift their shares in favour of the company. - There is no bar - HC

  • Profiting from Share Sales Doesn't Mean a Company is a Share Trader.

    Case-Laws - HC : Merely because the company has earned profits by selling some of the shares, that doesn't mean that the company is engaged in shares trading. - HC

  • AO's Addition Rejected Due to Lack of Clarity on TDS Certificate Coverage and Undisclosed Income Portions.

    Case-Laws - AT : AO made addition as per TDS certificates without bringing to the notice of the assessee as to which of the income was covered under tax deducted at source certificate and which part of the income remained undisclosed - no addition - AT

  • Indian Branch's Interest Payments to Japanese Head Office Exempt from Taxation.

    Case-Laws - AT : Interest paid to Head office (Japanese banking company) by assessee (PE-Indian branch) - not chargeable to tax in India. - AT

  • Assessees must explain account credits to avoid issues u/s 68 of the Income Tax Act.

    Case-Laws - AT : A credit in the assessee's books of account, signifying a receipt, or a liability, has to be satisfactorily explained, to keep section 68 at bay. - AT

  • 16-Port Switch, Batteries, UPS, and More Classified as Capital Nature for Computer Accessories Purchase.

    Case-Laws - AT : Amount paid for purchase of switch 16 port used in plugging, batteries, UPS, flexible pipes, 44 ports to enable use of computer are in fact computer accessories & are of capital nature being items of enduring nature - AT

  • Unaccounted Bank Deposits Recognized as Sales Proceeds Not Fully Treated as Undisclosed Income by Assessing Officer.

    Case-Laws - AT : Unaccounted deposits in bank account & sale proceeds - once the deposit in the bank has been accepted by the AO as unaccounted sales proceeds, then, the entire amount cannot be treated as undisclosed income - AT

  • Compensation for agency loss is revenue receipt; compensation for restrictive covenants is capital receipt.

    Case-Laws - AT : Receipt of Compensation - termination of rights - Capital or revenue - any compensation received for the loss of agency is a revenue receipt, whereas compensation which is attributable to restrictive covenants is a capital receipt - AT

  • Revenue Can Add Unexplained Cash Credits to Estimated Income in Tax Cases, Allowing Further Scrutiny of Finances.

    Case-Laws - AT : Unexplained creditors - nowhere it was held that when business income was estimated by the Revenue then the Revenue is precluded from making addition on account of unexplained cash credit. - AT

  • Charitable Institutions Can Claim Depreciation When Calculating Funds for Charitable Use; Escorts Ltd Decision Not Applicable.

    Case-Laws - AT : Decision in Escorts Ltd not to be applicable to the situation where depreciation was claimed by a charitable institution in determining percentage of funds applied for the purposes of charitable objects.- AT

  • Charitable Trust Advancing Hinduism Must Register u/s 12AA for Tax Recognition and Compliance with Income Tax Laws.

    Case-Laws - AT : Charitable Trust - advancement of Hinduism - Trust or institution whether engaged in charitable or religious if is found to be carrying on its activities, are to be registered u/s 12AA - AT

  • Minor Tax Return Errors Shouldn't Block TDS Credit if Form AS26 is Accurate; Assessing Officer Must Notify for Corrections.

    Case-Laws - HC : Once the amount is correctly and rightly reflected in Form AS26, small or technical mismatch in the return should not be a ground to deny credit of the amount paid, in such cases, if the AO feels that benefit of TDS reflected in AS26 should not be given, he should issue notice to the assessee to revise or correct the mistake - HC

  • Assessees can respond to TDS credit issues; Assessing Officer must review responses before adjustments.

    Case-Laws - HC : Difficulties in receiving credit of Tax Deducted at Source - The assessees must be given an opportunity to file response or reply and the reply will be considered and examined by the Assessing Officer before any direction for adjustment is made. - HC

  • Legislature Clarifies Difference Between "Total Income" and "Gross Total Income" for Chapter VI-A Tax Deductions.

    Case-Laws - HC : Deduction under chapter VI-A - The Legislature by using the phrases “total income” and “gross total income” has tried to differentiate between the two - HC

  • Court Rules Machinery Replacement Costs as Capital, Not Revenue Expenditure; Not "Current Repairs.

    Case-Laws - HC : Disallowance expenditure towards replacement of machinery - Revenue OR Capital - not amounting to "current repairs" and to be not allowed as revenue expenditure - HC

  • Depository and Dematerialization Costs Deemed Allowable Business Expenses in Income Tax Ruling.

    Case-Laws - HC : Expenditure on Depository Services and Dematerialisation of share certificates - the expenditure was allowable as normal business expenditure - HC

  • High Court Rules AO's Rejection of Tax Deduction Certificate u/s 197 Invalid Due to Misapplication of Rules.

    Case-Laws - HC : Non issuance of Tax Deduction Certificate (TDC) u/s 197 - AO had rejected the application as the assessee had violated the provisions of TDS and proceedings under Sections 276B and 271C of the Act were pending, but none of these grounds validly form part of reasons for rejecting an application filed by an assessee under section 197(1) read with Rule 28AA of the Rules. - HC

  • Court Rules Valuation Officer's Report Cannot Solely Reject Tax Books, Requires Additional Evidence for Discrepancies.

    Case-Laws - HC : The report of the Valuation Officer cannot form the foundation for rejection of the books of account - HC

  • Court Invalidates VO Reference Due to Lack of Evidence on Unaccounted Investments in Building by AO.

    Case-Laws - HC : Reference to VO is not valid as the AO has not brought any material on record to establish that the assessee had made any unaccounted investment in the construction of the building in question - HC

  • Court Rejects Books of Accounts but Decides No Trading Addition Needed Despite Higher Gross Profit Rate.

    Case-Laws - AT : Trading addition – rejection of books of accounts and application of higher G.P. rate – even after the rejection of books of account, no trading addition is required to be sustained - AT

  • Advance Salary Not Classified as Deemed Dividend u/s 2(22)(e) of Income Tax Act.

    Case-Laws - AT : Deemed Dividend - addition of advance salary as deemed dividend - advance was not in the nature of loan and hence cannot be treated as deemed dividend u/s 2(22)(e) - AT

  • Penalty for Quoting Invalid PANs in TDS Returns Not Applicable for Minor Breaches u/s 272B.

    Case-Laws - AT : Penalty u/s 272B - default u/s 139A(5B) - quotation of invalid PAN of deductees in TDS returns - no penalty is leviable when there is a technical or venial breach of the Act - AT

  • Court Rules Seized Unexplained Cash Justifies Assessing Peak Credit of Deposits as Taxpayer's Income in Block Assessment Case.

    Case-Laws - AT : Block assessment - seizure of unexplained cash - it would be justifiable to assess the peak credit of deposits as the income of the assessee. - AT

  • Lender's compensation treated as interest disallowed for non-deduction of TDS u/s 194A, added to taxable income.

    Case-Laws - AT : Compensation paid to lender treated as interest - Disallowance for non deduction of TDS u/s 194A - Liability for payment has neither accrued nor paid/payable in the current year therefore disallowed and added back - AT

  • Customs

  • Customs Area Subletting to Non-Vessel Operators Allowed; No Penalty u/s 117 for Appellants.

    Case-Laws - AT : Subletting of the customs area to some non-vessel operating cargo carriers - there is no restriction on the appellants not to sublet the premises - no specific contravention - no penalty u/s 117 - AT

  • Clarifying Appellate Forum Jurisdiction in Customs Cases: High Court Calls for Consistency to Avoid Legal Anomalies.

    Case-Laws - HC : Interest – territorial jurisdiction – determination of the appellate forum based upon the situs of the Tribunal would lead to a anomalous result - HC

  • Refund Claim Supported by Chartered Accountant's Certificate and Balance Sheet for Unjust Enrichment, Modvat Credit Non-Availment.

    Case-Laws - CGOVT : Unjust enrichment - Refund - Non-availment of Modvat credit, C.A. certificate to the effect that the duty incidence has not been passed on by the respondent are sufficient supporting documentary evidences for Balance Sheet as main documentary evidence. - CGOVT

  • Court Orders Release of Imported CARLVO Phones After Fixing Declaration Error Under Bill of Entry.

    Case-Laws - HC : Wrong declaration of imported goods - CARLVO Dual Sim Chinese Cellular Phones under Bill of Entry No.5256566 - goods ordered to be released - HC

  • Customs Authority Confirms No Additional Duty Owed; Assessee Entitled to Refund of Excess Payments Collected Unjustly.

    Case-Laws - HC : When the assessee authority held that the customs duty paid by the assessee was proper and no additional duty need be paid, they were under an obligation to refund this additional amount which was collected, which had no basis - HC

  • Amendment to Notification No. 125/2011-Customs: Reducing Tariff Lines for Non-Least Developed Countries under SAFTA Agreement.

    Notifications : Seeks to amend Notification no. 125/2011-Customs, dated 30-12-2011 prescribing preferential rates of customs duty for goods imported under SAARC Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) so as to reduce the number of tariff lines in the sensitive list for Non-Least Developed Countries (NLDCs) - Notification

  • FEMA

  • FEMA Guidelines: Indian Entities Prohibited from Overseas Investments in Pakistan, Emphasizing Compliance with National Policies.

    Circulars : Overseas Investment by Indian Parties in Pakistan. - Circular

  • Service Tax

  • Coal Loading and Unloading Classified as Cargo Handling Services, Not Subject to Business Auxiliary Services Tax.

    Case-Laws - AT : Beneficiation of coal activity - Business auxiliary services - Activity of loading /unloading of the coal for bringing the coal into washery fall under the category of cargo handling services - Decided in favor of assessee - AT

  • Allotment Fees Taxed as Rental Receipts: Grassroots Officers to Verify Service Tax Applicability Under Regulations.

    Case-Laws - AT : Taxability on allotment fees - Revenue brought it under the service tax to be rental receipt from immovable property - need to be tested by the officers at grass root level - AT

  • Appellants Entitled to Refund from Settlement Date u/s 11B of Central Excise Act, 1944.

    Case-Laws - AT : As stated in Section 11B of the Central Excise Act,1944, the appellants are entitled for refund from the relevant date i.e. settlement of the dispute between the parties - AT

  • Legal Dispute Over Cenvat Credit on Service Tax via ISD Invoices: Compliance with Tax Regulations Questioned.

    Case-Laws - AT : Disallowance of cenvat credit of service tax paid on the invoices issued by Input Service Distributor(ISD) - AT

  • Cenvat Credit Reversal Error Corrected After Mistaken Audit Objection and Irrelevant Circular; Suo Motu Credit Approved.

    Case-Laws - AT : Erroneous reversal of cenvat credit prompted by wrong audit objection and an inapplicable circular, has been rectified by the appellants by taking the suo motu credit of the reversed amount - credit allowed - AT

  • Central Excise

  • Penalty Reduced to 25% as Appellant Paid Duty Before SCN; No Interest Quantification Found.

    Case-Laws - AT : Non payment of duty - as the appellant has paid the duty before issuance of the SCN, and there is no quantification of the interest, in that view the penalty is reduced to 25% - AT

  • Government Must Return Unauthorized Payments Made by Applicants as Voluntary Deposits.

    Case-Laws - CGOVT : Refund - Government cannot retain the amount collected without authority - amount so paid by applicant is to be treated as voluntary deposit with department and same is to be returned the way it was initially paid - CGOVT

  • Appellants Suppressed M.S. Ingots Production; Electricity Bills Reveal Discrepancy Between Reported and Actual Output Levels.

    Case-Laws - AT : Clandestine removal of goods - electricity bills disclosed the actual consumption of electricity and the Revenue has been able to show that the appellants suppressed production of M.S. ingots - AT

  • High Court Affirms Cenvat Credit Eligibility for Steel and Cement Used in Storage Tank Construction.

    Case-Laws - HC : Cenvat Credit on steel and cement purchased for constructing a storage tank – assessee is entitled to the benefit of cenvat credit - HC

  • CENVAT Credit Approved for Clearing and Forwarding Services Linked to Importation Costs of Waste Paper.

    Case-Laws - AT : Denail of CENVAT credit on clearing and forwarding services - services received are in relation to the importation of waste paper such as container charges, handling charges incurred in the port etc. thus it cannot be said that there is no nexus with the final product - AT

  • Interest on CENVAT credit is due from the date of incorrect use, not from the date of wrong availment.

    Case-Laws - AT : Interest cannot be claimed from the date of wrong availment of CENVAT credit - interest shall be payable from the date CENVAT credit is wrongly utilized - AT


Case Laws:

  • Income Tax

  • 2012 (9) TMI 199
  • 2012 (9) TMI 198
  • 2012 (9) TMI 197
  • 2012 (9) TMI 196
  • 2012 (9) TMI 195
  • 2012 (9) TMI 194
  • 2012 (9) TMI 193
  • 2012 (9) TMI 192
  • 2012 (9) TMI 191
  • 2012 (9) TMI 190
  • 2012 (9) TMI 189
  • 2012 (9) TMI 188
  • 2012 (9) TMI 187
  • 2012 (9) TMI 186
  • 2012 (9) TMI 185
  • 2012 (9) TMI 184
  • 2012 (9) TMI 183
  • 2012 (9) TMI 182
  • 2012 (9) TMI 181
  • 2012 (9) TMI 180
  • 2012 (9) TMI 179
  • 2012 (9) TMI 178
  • 2012 (9) TMI 164
  • 2012 (9) TMI 163
  • 2012 (9) TMI 162
  • 2012 (9) TMI 161
  • 2012 (9) TMI 160
  • 2012 (9) TMI 159
  • 2012 (9) TMI 158
  • 2012 (9) TMI 157
  • 2012 (9) TMI 156
  • 2012 (9) TMI 155
  • 2012 (9) TMI 154
  • 2012 (9) TMI 153
  • 2012 (9) TMI 152
  • 2012 (9) TMI 151
  • 2012 (9) TMI 150
  • 2012 (9) TMI 149
  • 2012 (9) TMI 148
  • 2012 (9) TMI 147
  • Customs

  • 2012 (9) TMI 177
  • 2012 (9) TMI 176
  • 2012 (9) TMI 175
  • 2012 (9) TMI 146
  • 2012 (9) TMI 145
  • 2012 (9) TMI 144
  • Service Tax

  • 2012 (9) TMI 205
  • 2012 (9) TMI 204
  • 2012 (9) TMI 203
  • 2012 (9) TMI 202
  • 2012 (9) TMI 168
  • 2012 (9) TMI 167
  • 2012 (9) TMI 166
  • 2012 (9) TMI 165
  • Central Excise

  • 2012 (9) TMI 174
  • 2012 (9) TMI 173
  • 2012 (9) TMI 172
  • 2012 (9) TMI 171
  • 2012 (9) TMI 170
  • 2012 (9) TMI 169
  • 2012 (9) TMI 143
  • 2012 (9) TMI 142
  • 2012 (9) TMI 141
 

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