There is No Excise Duty on jewellers who are engaged only in trading activity i.e. only buying & selling so long as they do not engage in the manufacture of the same. This being so they are not required to obtain any excise registration and/or keep separate documents and file any excise returns. No field excise officer can ever raise any demand for excise duty from jewellers who are traders only.

MEASURES TO PREVENT CIRCULATION OF UNACCOUNTED MONEY -1. Share Premium in excess of Fair Market Value.Onus on the Company to explain source of shareholders’ funds. Unexplained income, investments, etc. to be taxed at maximum marginal rate. Compulsory Penalty on undisclosed income in course of search and seizure [Insertion of Sec 271AAB]. Compulsory filing of return for residents having assets abroad [Amendment of Section 139] 6. Time limit for reopen of assessment increased to 16 years where any asset is located outside India

REVERSE CHARGE MECHANISM -Primary Liability to pay service tax lies on the service provider. The service provider collects the service tax from the service receiver and is liable to take registration with the Service Tax Department and complete all the formalities in respect of deposit and filing return of service tax. The Budget 2012 proposes to shift this liability in certain cases to the service receiver. Presently, the service receiver has to discharge service tax liability only in a couple of case like import of services and goods transport agency.

Point of taxation Rules amended- In case of new levy, no tax is chargeable on services for which invoice issued and payment received within 14 days of date of new levy. Normally, date of payment shall be earlier of the date when the payment is entered in the books or credited to bank account. However, in case of new levy or change of rate of service tax, the date of payment shall be taken to be the date when the payment is actually credited in the bank statement of the aseessee if it is later than four days from the date of new levy. By this budget, the rate of service tax shall change to 12.36% w.e.f 1st April 2012. Hence, any advances received upto 04th April 2012 shall be taxed at 10.3% whereas amounts credited beyond that date shall be taxed at the rate of 12.36%.

The deduction of Rs. 20000 under Section 80CCF for investment in infrastructure bonds was extended to A.Y. 2012-13 in last year budget to promote investment in infrastructure sector for its growth and development. But this time Mr. FM was silent on its continuance or otherwise. The lack of clarity on its scraping is a major concern. Views and expectations of Industry are mixed one, some expecting its continuance and some anticipating its scrapping. In my considered view the deduction shall likely be available next year also even though there is no announcement in the Budget in this regard. This view is further supported from the fact that Government has allowed Rs. 60000 Crore to be raised via tax-free infrastructure bonds this year.

works contract means a contract wherein transfer of property in goods involved in the execution of such contract is leviable to tax as sale of goods and such contrat is for the purpose of carrying out construction, erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, improvement, repair, renovation, alteration of any building or structure on land or for carrying out any other similar activity or a part thereof in relation to any building or structure on land;

Finance Ministry, while presenting the much disillusioned and indifferent Union Budget with heavy fanfare and subsequent silence, brought out an amendment that took many people by surprise. It was not just a normal amendment. Rather, it was the Amendment with retrospective effect, of taxing transactions which resembled the ‘Vodafone-Hutchison Essar’ deal.

Finance Minister, since last two budgets, is planning to cover more and more TDS applicability, strict compliance of TDS provisions and heavy penal clauses for non-compliance under direct tax law. In fact, TDS is a far more easy and early collection of tax both for administration and compliance. However, every time an easy collection of tax mechanisms (like TDS) are introduced, it forces us to think if government fail to collect taxes from the person who is suppose to bare it or is government looking to emphasize on levy of taxes only and let collection be a burden on public who never intended to be the payer of tax?

The salient features of the Karnataka State Budget for financial year 2012-13 presented in the Legislative Assembly with respect to Commercial Taxes matters are been discussed in below article. The amendments indicated in the Article are effective from 01.04.2012 or such specific dates that it may be made effective from.

The rate of service tax is being increased from ten per cent to twelve per cent with effect from 01/04/2012. In another words from the 1st April, 2012 service tax rate will be 12.36% instead of present 10.3%.