Offshore sale transactions and their treatment under the Central Sales Tax regime has been taken up for in-depth analysis in this November 2014 issue of Tax Amicus. According to the author, there is a lacuna in the Indian Sales Tax regime which needs to be adequately taken care of by necessary amendments in the CST Act or by the respective State VAT Acts. Under the Central Excise section, this issue covers clarification by Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) on ‘place of removal’ in relation to Cenvat credit and judgment of the Karnataka High Court allowing Cenvat credit on furnace oil used in the production of steam or power which is also supplied to another unit of the same assessee situated in the same compound.
Service Tax portion of this Amicus covers CBEC Circular holding that service tax is not payable on the amount of foreign currency remitted to India from overseas since remittance comprises money and the same does not in itself constitute any service as per the provisions. The order passed by the Ahmedabad Bench of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) holding that interest on delayed refund would be admissible for services provided in SEZ, is also covered along with many other important Court orders / Tribunal decisions on the relevant subject.
CBEC has clarified that testing of sample from each consignment of imported formulations is not required and this clarification has been summarized in this issue. The Mumbai Bench of CESTAT has held that exemption notification is not violated when import licence is amended retrospectively. In another decision it has been held that exemption would be available even if the same has not been claimed at the time of clearance. These and other important orders are highlighted and brought to readers. Jharkhand VAT Act and Rules have been amended with respect to developers / builders. VAT portion of this Amicus also covers an interesting case of the Calcutta High Court wherein the court has allowed adjustment of excess tax paid under the West Bengal Sales Tax Act against the equal deficit of Central Sales Tax.
