Article
India’s critical minerals strategy: Wider exemption from customs duty needed to fulfil the Government’s mission
By Srinidhi Ganeshan and Shambhavi Mishra
The first article in this issue of Indirect Tax Amicus talks about India’s critical minerals strategy. It, in this regard, discusses some of the key components of the National Critical Minerals Mission, from customs perspective and notes that concessional rates of duty have not been provided for all the minerals enlisted as critical in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 or the mineral list from the Ministry of Mines. According to the authors, there is a need to harmonize the list of critical minerals to maintain uniformity, and to modify the already existing exemptions to ensure that the intended purpose is achieved.
The ‘Value Addition’ conundrum in GST budgetary support refunds
By Priyanka Kalwani, Devanshi Sharma and Aanchal Kesari
The second article in this issue of the newsletter is about the Scheme of Budgetary Support in the GST regime, which is relevant for eligible manufacturing units in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and the Northeastern States. The article discusses the recent decision of the Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh High Court which has opened pandora’s box regarding the value addition to be adopted for computation of the refund amount under the BSS. The authors raise a pertinent question - whether there is any contravention of the conditions of the Scheme where refund was granted on higher value addition rates, after due verification.
Internal Compliance Programs for export of dual-use items: Key insights from DGFT’s draft framework
By Srinidhi Ganeshan and Shambhavi Mishra
This article discusses the Internal Compliance Programs (ICPs) under SCOMET law dealing with export of dual-use items. It highlights the key considerations for entities while drafting their ICPs in line with the draft Management System Requirements. According to the authors, mere documentation is not sufficient, the entity must ensure everyone is adequately made aware of the requirements and trained in the law, to comply with the law to the fullest.
Navigating RoDTEP compliances – Filing of Annual RoDTEP Return
By Srinidhi Ganeshan and Madhur Azad
It is now mandatory for all concerned exporters (expecting a RoDTEP benefit of more than INR 1 crore in the given financial year) to file annual return (ARR), for exports made from the period FY 2023-2024. The authors believe that the requirement of filing ARR might have been introduced to ensure that transparency is maintained to show that RoDTEP is only offsetting the duties/taxes suffered on the export goods. Questioning the high threshold of INR 1 crore, the authors also advise exporters (irrespective of their volume of exports and RoDTEP claim) to maintain clear data with supporting documents.
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Ratio decidendi
- Detention of goods during transit – Final order under Section 129(3) of the CGST Act is mandatory even when tax and penalty paid within stipulated time – Supreme Court
- Blocking of ITC under Rule 86A – SC issues notice on question of negative blocking – Supreme Court
- Review of decision when a plea raised in memorandum of petition but not adumbrated and elaborated during submissions, was not considered – Supreme Court
- Secondment of expats from overseas group entities when is not liable to GST – Karnataka High Court
- Time limit for SCN and adjudication under Section 73 – Notifications Nos. 9 and 56/2023-Central Tax are illegal – Madras High Court
- Inter-State transfer of unutilized ITC in case of amalgamation/merger – GST Council and GSTN asked to develop mechanism to facilitate such transfer – Bombay High Court
- Providing opportunity of personal hearing along with SCN, without waiting for the reply, is not wrong – Calcutta High Court
- Additional evidence is admissible at appellate stage when assessee is not asked to produce said evidence in adjudication – Gujarat High Court
- Service of order – Mandatory to comply with minimum two modes mentioned in Section 169 – Patna High Court
- Rectification application under Section 161 can be dismissed without affording an opportunity of personal hearing – Madras High Court
- Penalty for absence of e-way bill – Mens rea to evade tax is sine qua non for imposing penalty – Himachal High Court
- Penalty for expiry of e-way bill in case of export goods cannot exceed INR 25,000 – Gujarat High Court
- Withdrawal of Assessment order – Period of 30 days under Section 62(2) commences from the date of uploading of Form GST DRC-07 – Kerala High Court
- Show-cause notice under Section 73, when another SCN under Section 74 was issued and order passed thereunder, is valid – Calcutta High Court
- Demand – Dropping of proceedings under Section 61(3) is no impediment to initiate proceedings under Section 74 – Calcutta High Court
Customs and FTP
Notifications and Circulars
- Steel imports – Mandatory QCO adherence requirement for input steel exempted for certain imports
- DFIA scheme – Correlation of technical characteristics, quality and specification of inputs with exported product required only for inputs specified in Para 4.29 of FTP
- MOOWR – Existing online facility for submission of application under Customs Sections 58 and 65 to continue till 31 October 2025
- No mandatory warehousing for clearance of imported goods under Authorisation issued after the date of shipment
Ratio decidendi
- IGST on re-imports after repairs abroad – Amendment to Notification No. 45/2017-Cus. by Notification No. 36/2021-Cus., dated 19 July 2021 is not retrospective – Supreme Court
- Exemption – Condition of specific use after import does not mean ‘actual user’ condition – Supreme Court
- Crimp pumps used for dispersal of medicaments is classifiable under Customs Heading 8413 and not under Heading 9616 – Supreme Court
- Advance authorization benefit cannot be denied for mis-description of goods – Kerala High Court
- Valuation can be done based on invoice retrieved from importer’s e-mail account even if another invoice with different value produced with B/E – CESTAT Larger Bench
- No Customs duty is payable when service tax is paid on import of software – Gujarat High Court
- Lithium-ion batteries for manufacture of mobile phones are liable to IGST @ 12% from 1 April 2018 till 31 March 2020 – CESTAT New Delhi
- PVC Resin suspension grade is classifiable under Customs TI 3904 21 10 – CESTAT Kolkata
Central Excise, Service Tax & VAT
Ratio decidendi
- Enrolment, collection, processing, and storage of umbilical cord blood stem cells is covered under healthcare services – Supreme Court
- SVLDR Scheme – Wholesale rejection of applications under the Scheme is not correct – Bombay High Court
- Service provided by CRS companies to airlines is not taxable under OIDAR services – CESTAT Larger Bench
- Interest on refund of pre-deposit – Proviso to Excise Section 35FF is not applicable to appeals filed after 5 August 2014 even when amount deposited before during investigation – CESTAT Prayagraj
- ‘Perk’ is a wafer biscuit, is not covered as ‘communion wafers’ and is classifiable under TI 1905 32 90 – CESTAT New Delhi
- Sand Lime Brick is not covered as ‘concrete brick’, and is classifiable under TI 6810 11 90 – CESTAT Chennai
