Interest rates of small saving schemes, including PPF, NSC, Senior Citizen Savings Schemes, Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme, Kisan Vikas Patra of GoI for the third quarter of financial year 2021-22 starting from 1st October, 2021 and ending on 31th December, 2021 shall remain unchanged from the current rates applicable for the second quarter (1st July, […]
The Government, on the recommendation of GST Council made during its 45th Meeting, notified certain amendments in CGST Rules, 2017 vide Notification No. 35/2021-Central Tax dated 24.09.2021. Besides, 4 circulars were also issued last week to clarify various issues pertaining to GST. These include clarification on the interpretation of scope of “intermediary services” and “establishment of distinct persons” for considering supply of a service as export of service.
A detailed analysis to pursue trends in cases of GST evasion & fraudulent ITC availment booked viz-a-viz number of SCNs issued against for the FY 2017-18 [w.e.f. July, 2017], 2018-19 & 2019-20, have been made and it is observed that in GST evasion cases booked and in the Fraudulent ITC cases booked, during the above mentioned period, SCNs have been issued only in few cases.
The 45th GST Council Meeting was held on 16th-17th September 2021 at Lucknow under the Chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister and the Chairperson, GST Council Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. A series of trade friendly recommendations were discussed and agreed upon by the GST Council.
During the week, there have been some good cases on the anti-smuggling front. In a crackdown on smuggling of cigarettes, Delhi Customs Preventive Unit seized about 22.2 lakh sticks of smuggled foreign brand cigarettes approximately valued at Rs. 4.44 crore.
CBIC has taken various measures over last year related to the subject cited above including the Special drive for disposal of unclaimed/uncleared/ seized/ confiscated goods vide Instruction No.17/2020-Customs dated 10.08.2020 which has enabled disposal of over 1.6 lakh consignments and follow up on long standing containers which resulted in the release of nearly 14,000 TEUs. Recently on 07.09.2021, the Board has circulated an updated list of long standing 19,738 TEUs [13,104 containers] received from Container Shipping Lines Association (CSLA) to the field formations.
The Board is extremely concerned about effective and timely handling of court cases on disciplinary matters in the field formations to protect the interest of the Government, The Board is also desirous of ensuring timely and effective measures by Cadre Controlling Authorities or the Commissionerates/Directorates concerned in defending the cases in the right perspective, upholding the guidelines and policies of the Government.
A few weeks back I had desired that the provisions of the recently amended Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 be used to expedite the pre-trial disposal of seized gold. It has been informed that DRI, IZU, has made a beginning by requesting the concerned Commissioner (Appeals) for sanction under Section 110 (1D) of the Customs Act, 1962. He has certified the correctness of the seized inventory of gold and facilitated its disposal. Other field formations may also follow suit.
In a fillip to ease of doing business and to better our services to taxpayers, the payment of customs duty on the Express Cargo Clearance System (ECCS) for courier imports, has been enabled through the ICEGATE e-payment gateway.
Development Commissioners are requested that any laboratory or institution which have been accredited for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) may be accepted as recognized laboratory or institution for quality testing or research and development under Rule 50(3) and their certificate may be accepted as required in Proviso to Rule 50(3) of SEZ Rules, 2006.
