Commerce Minister rules out any relaxation in cap for SEZ lands; FDI policy review to be taken up by Cabinet next week;

PFRDA elected as Member of EC of International Organisation of Pension Supervisors;

Planning Commission advises against India signing too many preferential trade pacts;

BoA on SEZ meeting postponed to Jan 2, 2008;

2007-TIOL-726-HC-UTTRANCHAL-IT.doc

Income Tax - Non-resident company supplies spares to ONGC - also receives 5% of total receipts towards handling charges - AO applices Sec 44BB and levies 10% tax on total receitps - CIT(A) and Tribunal set aside the revenue's case - Given that the assessee itself has admitted receiving 5% of total receipts as handling charges and the total rceipts are covered under sub-section (2) of Sec 44BB as it was the receipt during the course of business - Revenue's appeal allowed: NAINITAL HIGH COURT;

2007-TIOL-725-HC-DEL-IT.doc

Income Tax - AY 1975-76 - AO levies interest u/s 139(8) - Sum of intrest reduced by Tribunal - After Tribunal's order AO passes an order u/s 154 rectifying a mistake - Corresponding increase in interest - Assessee contends increase in interest liability as a consequence of increased assessment amount - Prior to the introduction of Explanation 2 (b) to Section 139 with effect from 1st April 1985, Section 139 (8) (a) permitted only a waiver or reduction of interest and not an enhancement - Revenue's appeal dismissed: DELHI HIGH COURT;

2007-TIOL-425-ITAT-MUM.doc + share story.doc

Income Tax - Assessee deals in trading of shares - Holds talks with a non-resident company to set up a joint venture company - As per initial understanding the assessee was to transfer its stock exchanges membership cards and other assets to the JVC and the assessee was to b appointed as one of the Directors - Before the JVC could be formed the non-resident company expressed its intention not to go ahead with the formation of the JVC and paid a lumpsum amount to the assessee - AO treats the same as revenue receipt but the assessee claims it as capital receipt as compensation for termination of understanding - Since the MoU for formation of the JVC was never executed, all other conditions like non-compete fee and transfer of assets of the assessee never came into force and the profit-making apparatus of the assessee was not disturbed, the payment at best can be said to be made for the loss of business rather than the loss of source of business - CIT(A) order holding the same as revenue receipts sustainable: MUMBAI ITAT;

2007-TIOL-424-ITAT-MAD.doc

The concept of deferred income is alien to Income-tax Act - Income on its coming into existence attracts tax - The obligation to use the income in a particular manner does not remove it from the category of income: this is even if the obligation is part of the original contract giving rise to the income.

It is amply clear that income that is received or deemed to be received in the previous year is exigible to tax. The computation of such income is to be made in accordance with the method of accounting regularly employed by the assessee. There is absolutely nothing in the Act to permit the assessee to treat part of the income as deferred income and to offer it for taxation as per its own sweet will: CHENNAI ITAT;

sez07noti1912.doc + sez07noti1913.doc + sez07noti1914.doc + sez07noti1915.doc +sez07noti1916.doc +sez07noti1917.doc +sez07noti1918.doc + sez07noti1919.doc + sez07noti1920.doc

Govt notifies Directors of certain STPs to be DCs of certain SEZs;

CENTRAL EXCISE SECTION

2007-TIOL-1899-CESTAT-MAD.doc + Burmah Story.doc

Central Excise - no education cess is payable on Tea Cess - only such duties which were levied and collected as duties of excise/customs and both levied and collected by the Department of Revenue should be taken into account for calculating Education Cess: CHENNAI CESTAT;

2007-TIOL-1894-CESTAT-MUM.doc

Central Excise - Cenvat credit is admissible on Bagasse Bailing Machine - revenue appeal rejected: MUMBAI CESTAT;

2007-TIOL-1893-CESTAT-AHM.doc

Cenvat Credit - Assessee uses furnace oil as fuel for generating electricity used in captive mines - Revenue disallows credit on furnance oil used for generating power used in crusher, conveyer system and transformer - Commissioner (A) allows credit for electricity used in crusher and conveyer system but not the transformer - If the activities of the captive mines are held to be integral to the activities of the cement plant, there cannot be a justification to exclude transformer from the list of items eligible for credit - Assessee's appeal allowed: AHMEDABAD CESTAT;

2007-TIOL-1892-CESTAT-MUM.doc

In light of facts of the case, the classification of the appellant's products viz "PVC Corrugated roofing sheets, PVC rigid plain sheets", held to be under chapter 84 as parts of Pollution Control Equipments: MUMBAI CESTAT;

SERVICE TAX SECTION

2007-TIOL-1898-CESTAT-AHM.doc + gst story.doc

Service Tax - port service or Storage and warehouse service; for taxing the services under the storage and warehousing services the services must have been provided by a storage or warehouse keeper in that capacity. At the cost of repetition it may be observed that the appellant during the relevant period or prior or subsequently never projected themselves as storage or warehouse keepers, but have consistently been staking claim that they are minor port and provide services in connection with the port services. It can be noticed that the government was of the view that the service of storage and warehousing as provided by the ports were covered under the category of port services. If that be so, now it is not open to revenue to submit that for the period 16th August 2002 to 30th June 2003 the services were vivisectable and chargeable to the service tax as storage and warehousing services and subsequently they would be covered under the category of port services. It is settled law that there has to be finality in taxation matters and the revenue cannot shift its stand.

Storage Service: the storage and warehousing services must be provided by the storage and warehousing keeper in relation to the storage and warehousing of the goods. The person should be known as storage and warehousing keeper in the common parlance and anybody would be free to engage such provider for the services of storage and warehousing. In other sense, it should be open to any person to approach the keeper for the purposes of storage and ware housing. In the present case, no storage and warehousing services are provided to the public at large and the same are exclusively meant for exporters and importers who use the port facilities.

Food for a paying guest, laundry in a hotel and storage service in a port - what is the relation? Taking an example from common life, if a person is rendering a paying guest accommodation and also provides food to the resident, can that person be held to be providing the services of Restaurant, when such food providing is only restricted to the paying guest and not to any independent person, who can come at any point of time and enjoy the food facility. Similarly, if a hotel provides services of washing and ironing of clothes to its resident guests, can it be called as a laundry or a dry-cleaning service provider? The answer to both the above propositions would be an emphatic 'NO'. Applying the above analogy to the fact of the present case, it has to be held that the appellant is a minor port which was leviable to tax w.e.f . 1.7.03 and any incidental services of storing the goods in terms of legal obligations of Rule 42 of the Major Port Trust Act, cannot be separately made liable to tax as storing and warehousing services. .

Incidental storage facility does not make the port a warehouse: The clarifications issued by the Board leads to inevitable conclusion that incidental storage facility provided by the port would be covered by the definition of port service and not by storage and warehousing service. The circular dt . 1.8.02 also provides that the essential test for taxing the service under storage and warehousing is as to whether the premises are given simply on rent or security of the goods is also provided. The terms of agreement entered by the appellant with its promoter clearly laid down that user shall use facility at users own risk and shall take proper insurance cover for the product brought for storage. As such, it comes out clearly from the record that the appellant is not providing any security cover to the stored goods. The security of the goods has been made an integral part of the storage service as clarified by the Board

A new service - effect of: if a particular service has been made liable to service tax with effect from a particular date, without any change in the definition of earlier categories, it cannot be held that the newly entered service was covered under any pre-existing service category. The appellants were registered w.e.f . 1.7.03 and they also started paying tax as minor port with effect from that date. The definition of storage and warehousing keeper did not underwent any change w.e.f . 1.7.03, thus indicating that the two services were distinct and separate services and in as much as the appellants was accepted as port, when registration was granted without any objection by the Revenue authority, he cannot be held to be a storage and warehousing keeper for the period prior to 1.7.03.:AHMEDABAD CESTAT;

2007-TIOL-1897-CESTAT-JAIPUR.doc

ST - Business Auxiliary Service - Assessee markets financial products of banks and earns commission - Revenue raises demand and levies penalty under various relevant Sections - Commissioner (A) sets aside the case on the ground that the tax is leviable only on a 'commercial concern' and the assessee being a 'proprietorship firm' is not covered - Going by the definition of 'concern' the assessee's commercial activity is very much covered under the tax net - matter remanded for deciding the same on merits: JAIPUR CESTAT;

CUSTOMS SECTION

2007-TIOL-1896-CESTAT-DEL.doc

Customs - Stay / Dispensation of pre-deposit - benefit of exemption under Notification 21/2002 Cus to ' da vinci Surgical system' as " fibre optic endoscope" - from the product literature, it is seen that the same is not a fibre optical endoscopic system but a composite surgical system in which endoscope is part of the system only - The benefit of notification which is fibre optical endoscope is not available to the whole of the surgical system - pre-deposit of entire duty demanded ordered: DELHI CESTAT;

2007-TIOL-1895-CESTAT-BANG.doc

Customs - EOUs- duty foregone on the imported goods and indigenous goods demanded on the ground that the capital goods are shared with another unit - there is a fundamental law in invoking the conditions of the Notification 52/2003 Cus and 22/2003 CE as the goods were imported / procured under Notification 140/91 Cus and 1/95 CE - the impugned order has no merit - appeal allowed: BANGALORE CESTAT;

ddt 11 dec.doc

Education Cess - A very educative discussion;

Poor rich politicians - AP CM pays Rs. 12, 491 as Income Tax;

Ice cubes.doc

Mr PC, redefine fiscal discipline and re-work budgeting!

2007-TIOL-222-SC-CT.doc + sc story.doc

Works contract tax - TDS - inter-state sales - Section 35 of the Chattisgarh Act allowing tax deduction at source is constitutionally invalid: SUPREME COURT;

Scheme for Extending.doc

Govt notifies interest-free loan scheme for sugar mills;

mbuzz134.doc

Maruti Suzuki: Fifth exciting model to be unveiled in Jan, 2008;

mbuzz133.doc

E-governance award: Agriculture to be a focus sector;

mbuzz132.doc

Sugar mills get financial assistance to improve liquidity position;

mbuzz131.doc

Red Ribbon Express sensitises 50000 people about HIV;

mbuzz130.doc

GAIL signs gas cooperation agreement with Government of Puducherry;