TIOL-DDT 2890
18 07 2016
Monday

DDT raised this question in DDT 2880 01 07 2016.

This question was raised in a meeting of the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) of Hyderabad Central Excise Zone held on 30.06.2016. The question asked was:

Kindly advise whether Balance Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess lying in PLA account can be used for payment of Basic Excise duty. The procedure for doing this and if it cannot, then what can be done with this amount paid to the Government directly by the assessee but lying unutilized .

The Department replied that as per the existing provisions, the balance education cess and secondary & higher education cess lying in PLA Account cannot be utilized for payment of duty of excise. A Commissioner stated that the unutilized amount of education cess and secondary higher education cess can be sought as refund under Section 11B of Central Excise Act, 1944 and Chief Commissioner concurred with the said view and stated that refund can be granted .

But why can't they allow this amount to be used for payment of excise duty instead of applying for a refund, getting a SCN and then going through the grill of litigation? Can't the department just adjust this amount in their accounts - after all the money has gone into the Consolidated Fund of India? Is it ease of doing business?

Balance 50% of Education Cess

IN the same meeting, a question was asked:

In April 2015, it was clarified that Balance 50% Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess on capital goods received in the factory of manufacture of final product in the financial year 2014-15 could be used for payment of Basic Excise duty. Please advise If there is a time limit to do this or this facility is without a time cap.

The Chief Commissioner replied:

As per Notification No.12/2015-Central Excise (NT) dated 30.04.2015, credit of balance fifty percent education cess and secondary higher education cess paid on capital goods received in the factory of manufacture of final product in the Financial year 2014-15 can be utilized for payment of the duty of excise specified in the First schedule to the Excise Tariff Act. As such no time limit is prescribed in the said Notification and is effective from the date of amendment i.e. 30.04.2015.

Imported Containers -Time Limit for Export

WHEN goods are imported in a container, should customs duty be paid on the container? Obviously yes, because the container is also imported. But by Notification No. 104/94-Cus dated 16.03.1994, Government has exempted containers which are of durable nature provided that the importer, by execution of a bond in such form and for such sum as may be specified by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs binds himself to re-export the said containers within six months from the date of their importation and to furnish documentary evidence thereof to the satisfaction of the said Assistant Commissioner and to pay the duty leviable thereon in the event of the importer's failure to do so.

Provided further that in any particular case, the aforesaid period of six months may, on sufficient cause being shown, be extended by the said Assistant Commissioner for such further period, as he may deem fit.

Now, the Commissioner of Customs, JN Customs has decided that in general an imported container may be granted extension for a period of 3 months from the end of 6 months of landing of the container from a ship by the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner for the reasons to be recorded in writing. The extension beyond 9 months may not be granted as a matter of routine. However, incase of genuine difficulty further extension of a period not exceeding 6 months maybe granted by the Joint/Additional Commissioner and further extension of 6 months at a time beyond 15 months may be granted by the Commissioner on merit of each case and for the valid reasons to be recorded in writing. In case of failure to seek extension by giving valid reasons, the imported containers shall be subject to payment of applicable duty, interest & penalty.

The Commissioner directs all concerned to strictly comply with the above instructions failing which, bond will be enforced to recover the Customs Duty along with applicable interest under Section 142 read with Section 143 of the Customs Act,1962. In addition to the above action, penal action may also be initiated in accordance with the Customs Act, 1962.

The notification says that the period of six months may be extended by the Assistant Commissioner. Now can the Commissioner amend this notification to stipulate various authorities for different periods? The Commissioner can certainly exercise the powers of the Assistant Commissioner, but he cannot abrogate the powers of the Assistant Commissioner.

In DDT 2695 30 09 2015, I asked, "Is there any real control over the movement of imported containers and do they really get exported within six months?"

The CAG in its Report No. 13/2015 observed,

The Container Movement Facilitation Centre (CMFC) is responsible for the monitoring of re - export of containers. The present system in the CMFC to know the status of re - export is that they need to verify the entire Main Line Operators (MLO) wise list of containers for each vessel with the IGM number. As the entire process is done manually and each vessel carries a large number of containers belonging to a number of MLOs the entire exercise is very time consuming and cumbersome. It is pertinent to point out that in Chennai Sea Customs on a monthly average about 60 IGM numbers are registered and more than 40000 containers are imported. The situation is worse if the status of a particular container is to be ascertained from the system with the help of a IGM number and container number as it involves verifying every container out of the entire list of containers which runs into hundreds of pages.

Lack of proper monitoring of the re - export of empty containers resulted in the accumulation of the containers causing undue strain on the scarce storage facilities available with the custodians .

JNCH Facility Notice No. 102/2016., Dated: July 12, 2016

FTP -Hazardous Wastes - Govt Amend Import Policy

GOVERNMENT has amended the Import Policy regarding Hazardous Wastes consequent to the Notification GSRNo.395 (E) dated 04.04.2016 by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change notifying the new Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016.

The revised Para 8 (B) of General Notes Regarding Import Policy of ITC (HS), 2012, Schedule - I (Import Policy) reads as:

Imports of Hazardous Waste shall also be subject to the provisions of Chapter III of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, (These rules can be accessed from the website of Ministry of Environment and Forests -http://envfor.nic.in). Accordingly, hazardous waste (including substances containing or contaminated with such hazardous wastes) as specified in Schedule VI of Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 shall be 'Prohibited' for imports, notwithstanding anything contained in this ITC (HS).

There is no change in the Policy except change in the name of the Rules and a Chapter Number.

DGFT Notification No. 14/2015-2020., Dated: July 14, 2016

As Parliament Monsoon Session starts Today, ASSOCHAM appeals to Political Parties to come on board on GST Bill

ASSOCHAM states:

At this point of time when the macroeconomic risks like rebound in inflation both at the CPI and WPI barometers and continuing slowdown in the industrial growth along with global geopolitical headwinds are rising, the passage of the GST Bill can be a strong antidote for any such negative news flow.

While the implementation of the law would still be far away since ratification of at least half of the State Assemblies would be required, the main hurdle remains in the Rajya Sabha where the composition of the House strength is fractured, making it imperative for a wider political consensus on the issue.

The good part is that the Congress Party has been showing inclination to come on board. We appeal to the principal Opposition to leave aside its wider political difference with the government and support the most important tax reform for the country.

The GST alone can add to the Gross Domestic Product by at least 1.5 percentage points. Moreover, the kind of sentiment lift it would create would be phenomenal for the global investors both in the financial markets as also the inflows through the foreign direct investment with the positive consequences on a whole lot of parameters like current account stability also reflected in the currency movement.

Decrease in Tariff Value of Oils

GOVERNMENT  has decreased the tariff value of all the oils. The Tariff value of Brass Scrap has been increased. Gold, Poppy seeds and areca nuts remain unchanged while silver sees a small reduction.

Notification No. 101/2016-CUSTOMS (N.T.)., Dated: July 15, 2016

Until Tomorrow with more DDT

Have a nice Day.

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