In this case the appellant have tried to ensure that the law is followed and is implemented properly. Therefore, as soon as the dispute arose in 2005-06, they made the payment under protest. Further, I also found from the Chartered Accountant’s certificate that the certificate clearly says that the incidence of the said service tax had not been passed on by them to any other person and it was not recovered from the clients.
In the present case, the learned Judge rightly observed that the conduct of the company was dishonest. There had been transactions galore running into crores. More than Rupees sixty-four lacs were admittedly paid by the company. Even then, the company initially denied the relationship, subsequently took a different stand in the affidavit that would make the position of the company vulnerable.
We find that the impugned exemption notification allowing refund of service tax paid in respect of exports has been issued with the sole objective of removing the burden of service tax from the export goods. It has been rightly contended by the ld. advocate that it is the avowed policy of the Government not to export domestic tax along with export goods and to make such goods competitive in the foreign market.
So far as the penalties are concerned, we do appreciate that the learned Commissioner has considered waiver but the reasoning for the waiver is not acceptable to us. We make it clear that when there is a levy of tax, liveability of penalty depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. The reimbursement issue has travelled with lot of controversies till conclusions by Larger Bench. Learned Counsel says even the dispute has gone to Apex Court. Appreciating the difficulties faced by the assessee at the infancy stage which is reasonable cause, there shall be no levy of penalty under sections 76 and 78 of the Finance Act, 1994, in the present case. But we confirm penalty levied under section 77 of the said Act, since liability for payment has ensued with obligation for registration arose.
After hearing the learned SDR, we find that in page Nos. 238 to 245 the appellant had produced various certificates before the adjudicating authority from the original contractor. These certificates indicate that the original contractor has discharged the service tax liability on the part of the work executed by appellant. If that be so, in our view the appellant need not be burdened with service tax liability.
Since the Monetary Policy Statement for 2012-13 in April 2012, macroeconomic conditions have deteriorated. Much of the global economy is in a synchronised slowdown, having lost the upward momentum seen in the early months of the year. Despite the slowing global economy, the outlook for commodity prices is uncertain. The situation in the euro area continues to cause concern even as the prospects of immediate default have been averted. While exports of emerging and developing economies (EDEs) have been dented by the weak global economic activity, capital flows into them have declined markedly because of the strains in the euro area financial market conditions.
This morning, we put out the First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2012-13. Based on an assessment of the current macroeconomic situation, we have decided to keep the policy rate and the CRR unchanged. Accordingly, the repo rate stays at 8 per cent and the CRR at 4.75 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) of scheduled banks.
The activities carried out by the foreign parties involved assembly, disassembly, inspection, reporting and evaluation. These are routine maintenance repairs and do not involve services of technical nature so as to be assessable as fees for technical services u/s 9(1)(vii). Routine repairs do not constitute ‘FTS’ as they are merely repair works and not technical services. Technical repairs are different from ‘technical services’ (Lufthansa Cargo 274 ITR (AT) 20 (Del) followed.
It has now been decided to restore the erstwhile stipulation of allowing credit of 100% foreign exchange earnings to the EEFC account subject to the condition that the sum total of the accruals in the account during a calendar month should be converted into Rupees on or before the last day of the succeeding calendar month after adjusting for utilization of the balances for approved purposes or forward commitments. Accordingly, balances outstanding in an EEFC account as on July 31, 2012 and those balances that would accrue in the account with effect from August 1, 2012 shall get converted to Rupee balances on or before close of business on September 30, 2012. Similar procedure may be followed for accruals during the subsequent months.
On a review, it has now been decided that RRBs should not allow the benefit of additional interest rate on any type of deposits of non-residents. Accordingly, the discretion given to RRBs to allow the benefit of additional interest rate of one per cent per annum as available to bank’s own staff on deposits under FCNR (B) accounts stands withdrawn.
