News Update

EV Revolution: Lessons for India to learn from US and China!London court green-signals auction of luxury apartment of fugitive Nirav ModiGovt consults RBI; finalises borrowing plan for first half of FY 2024-25Gadkari says Farmers’ protest is politically-motivatedVP calls upon women entrepreneurs to be 'Vocal for Local'America offers USD 10 mn bounty for information on ‘Blackcat’ hackers after UnitedHealth gets hitI-T- The order of the ITSC can only be reopened in cases of fraud or misrepresentation: HC8 persons including Hezbollah militants killed in Israeli strike on LebanonI-T - Income so surrendered on account of investment in excess stock during course of survey cannot be brought to tax under deeming provisions of section 69B: ITATMacron pillories EU-South Africa trade deal; calls it ‘really bad’ in BrazilI-T-Power of revision need not be exercised where facts do not reveal any lack of enquiry by AO into relevant issue & when twin requirements of order being erroneous as well as prejudicial to Revenue's interests, are not satisfied: ITATThailand’s Lower House okays Bill to legitimise same-sex marriageI-T -Penalty u/s 271(1)(c) cannot be imposed where an assessee claims deduction u/s 80P while being ineligible therefor, but being under the bona fide impression of being eligible for such benefit : ITATYellen warns China against clean energy dumpingCus - Enhancement of declared value of imported goods is not tenable, where Department adduces no material to show how the enhanced value was computed & where no cogent rationale is made out for rejecting declared value: CESTATMilky Way’s central black hole - Twisted magnetic field observedCus - Assessee has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that goods in question imported under air way bills/bills of entry were in fact filed by him and hence the only natural corollary available to Revenue is confiscation of same: CESTATSmall investors help Trump Media’s valuation skyrocket to USD 13 billionST - When the facts are in the knowledge of department subsequent SCN alleging suppression cannot be issued and entire demand was found beyond normal period of limitation: CESTATFM Nirmala Sitharaman declines to contest LS elections as she has no fundsST - Tripura State Rifles not required to pay Service Tax under heading of Security Services, as it is is not engaged in business of providing security services: CESTATJustice Ritu Raj Awasthi joins as Judicial member of LokpalCX - Clandestine removal alleged based on consumption of raw inputs and heightened electricity usage - Tax demands based on third party statements but without permitting cross examination of deponents; case remanded to allow this exercise: CESTAT
 
APTF, Jakarta - A Tax Event to remember

SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

By Sumit Dutt Majumder

THE Asia Pacific Tax Forum (APTF) is an annual event that is held every year in one of the countries of the Asia Pacific region. The APTF is organized by the International Tax and Investment Centre (ITIC), the NGO based in Washington D.C. With the assistance of certain organizations of the host country, APTF brings together the taxmen, tax experts and academicians from across the world for having free flowing discussions and debates on the key issues of both direct and indirect taxes that are topical. The experiences of taxmen from different countries are also shared, and this leads to enrichment of knowledge and information.

Last year, the APTF, 2015 was held in Delhi when the international experts like Prof Sijbren Cnossen, the VAT expert, Mr Dave Hartnett, former Chief of Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Dr Jeffrey Owens, formerly of the OECD had addressed the forum and participated in Panel Discussions. This year the APTF 2016 was organized by ITIC in Jakarta. It was hosted by the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, and other local hosts that included INDEF, the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, Mercu Buana University etc. It was the largest meeting of APTF that ITIC has been holding for the past 13 years. It was attended by over one hundred international delegates from both Government and non-government organizations from the Asia Pacific region.

The APTF, Jakarta was inaugurated by the Vice President of Indonesia, H.E. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla. In his keynote address, the Vice President noted that taxation was critical for the government to develop infrastructure, and that there was a need for balance so that the taxes were not too high to ruin investment. He highlighted the importance of technology and critical data analysis in a digital economy. The inaugural session was also graced by the Finance Minister of Indonesia, Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro. In his opening remarks, the Finance Minister of Indonesia explained how in the current context the tax issues have become more important in a globalized economy. He expressed concern on 'profit shifting' from Indonesia and lack of exchange of information. He noted that tax on sale of goods and services, advertising revenue, air-travel and 'BEPS' were the key issues before Indonesian economy.

The opening ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on the 'Fiscal Policy Challenges of Middle Income Status' which was chaired by Mr Daniel Witt, President ITIC. As many countries in the Asia – Pacific region graduate to middle income status, Mr. Witt asked the panelists to explain what concerns and challenges should the broad fiscal policy address. This was followed by a panel discussion on 'Wider Stakeholder Community in Tax Reforms'. Recognizing that fiscal policy of a country is influenced by a much wider group of stakeholders than just tax professionals, a range of stakeholders were brought together as panelists to give their perspectives on how the tax policy is to be viewed and how considerations other than purely technical ones can impact the policy decision-making process. This author was one of the four panelists in that lively discussion which, inter alia, stressed the importance of such engagement to get a 360 degree perspective on different tax policy issues.

The other important issues on the Direct Taxes that came up for deliberations were follows :

(a) Panel Discussion on a presentation by Prof Lee Burns of University of Sydney on the "Action Plan for BEPS" and the critical issues it raises for both tax administrators and taxpayers in the Asia – Pacific region. The importance of Automatic Exchange of Information was also discussed.

(b) The break out session on "Increasing Tax Revenue from Personal / Individual Income Tax" was chaired by Mr. Wayne Barford, formerly of Australia Tax Office.

(c) A discussion on "Tax Incentives in the Asia Pacific Region" highlighted the need for balancing the national revenue raising requirements in a global context. The discussions were facilitated by Mr Hafiz Choudhury.

(d) A session on "Improving Tax compliance in the AP Region, Enforcement and Tax Amnesties" reviewed the reasons for tax amnesties, the components of a successful tax amnesty and typical challenges etc.

(e) A Panel Discussion on "Tax Rulings" within Regional Economic Arrangements examined future developments in international direct tax in the context of regional integration.

The Important issues in Indirect Taxes deliberated among the panelists were as follows:

(i) "Long Term Policy Approaches, Regional Integration and External Developments Need for Coordination in "Indirect Taxes". The Presenters in this session were Mr Michaal Evans From University of Melbourne and Mr. Oliver Salmon from Oxford Economics. While Mr Evans framed the discussion on the overall approach to indirect tax policy, Mr Salmon addressed more specific Excise and Customs Duty issues. He also stressed the need for design of tax policy to meet the goals of individual countries and preserve the tax sovereignty of the nations. The session was chaired by this author.

(ii) The breakout session on "Development of Excises and Other Product Specific Taxes" was chaired by Mr. Danial Witt. The session considered strategies to expand the excisable goods tax base, and covered the policy considerations for best practices of indirect tax policy design. It concluded that the main goal for an excise or specific product tax was the correction of negative externalities and not revenue. Besides, the tax administration and the systems efficiency needed to be improved first, before seeking to broaden the tax base.

(iii) There were two sessions dedicated to VAT/ GST issues. One was a panel discussion on "Cross-border VAT/GST issues in Regional Economic Arrangements". The other was a session on "Advanced Issues in GST". The following subjects were deliberated upon:

(a) Complexities arising from VAT / GST on Telecommunications, Financial Services and Construction.

(b). VAT / GST on the digital economy.

(c) Issues of VAT / GST Coordination amongst the countries within a Trade Bloc in Asia-Pacific Region like ASEAN and also within a federal country like India which is a Union of States.

It was concluded that increased cooperation and coordination and more region level efforts would be essential for efficient functioning of the VAT/ GST revenue administration.

The sessions were chaired by Mr Hafiz Choudhury and the panelists included Mr Michal Evaus, Prof Haula Rosdiana, Mr. Ma Sivaseson of Malaysian GST Administration and this author.

One important feature of APTF, Jakarta was that the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), India, was represented in the APTF after five years. Ms Neerja Shah, Member, CBEC, actively participated in the deliberations, and addressed the Forum on the Indirect tax policy and administering of indirect taxes in India with special emphasis on Excise. While explaining the Excise collection system, she informed that the standard rate of Central Excise duty in India was 12.5% and that there were certain tax exemptions granted in public interest which are based on various factors. She also informed that in India, the indirect tax collection is just above 5% of the GDP. She also gave a broad outline of the GST that will be implemented in India from 1 st of April, 2017. Before concluding, she also briefly explained various Customs reforms undertaken in India in the past few years so as to facilitate the ease of doing business. Some of these reforms related to "Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade" (SWIFT), Risk Management System (RMS), Authorized Economic Operators (AEO), Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRA) etc.

Summing up, the APTF Jakarta was a successful event with many different take-aways for all classes of stakeholders. Participants also witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement on joint research and education programs between ITIC and Mercu Buana University, and also the launch of the sixth edition of the book "Customs Valuation – Law and Practice," written by this author, by Prof Didik Rachbini of INDEF and Mr. Daniel Witt, President ITIC.

(The author is former Chairman, CBEC and Senior Advisor to ITIC, Washington D.C. He is also engaged with a EU Project in India on GST)

(DISCLAIMER : The views expressed are strictly of the author and Taxindiaonline.com doesn't necessarily subscribe to the same. Taxindiaonline.com Pvt. Ltd. is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage caused to anyone due to any interpretation, error, omission in the articles being hosted on the site)

 


POST YOUR COMMENTS
   

AR not Afar by SK Rahman

TIOL Tube Latest

Shri Shailendra Kumar, Trustee, TIOL Trust, giving welcome speech at TIOL Awards 2023




Shri M C Joshi, Former Chairman, CBDT




Address by Shri Buggana Rajendranath, Hon'ble Finance Minister of Andhra Pradesh at TIOL Awards 2023