Search Result for : Excise Duty

Pharmexcil seeks assistance from Commerce Ministry in resolving export issues post GST

The Dollar Business Bureau  In order to resolve the difficulties that the pharma exporters are facing with the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) has asked for the assistance of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It has to be noted here that the Government had withdrawn incentives provided to pharmaceutical exporters under GST. Pharmexcil, in a letter written to Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, stated that various categories of pharmaceuticals exporters specifically manufacturer-exporters and merchant exporters have to pay GST at various stages and then they can claim for refund, which results in blocking of working capital. Because due to this, the competitive advantage of exporters would be tapered off. The Council has sought exemption ...

The 2009 GST framework had only two rates, 5% & 14%, Asim Dasgupta

By Sheela Mamidenna As the Chairman of the Empowered Group of State Finance Ministers which was instrumental in the formulation of GST Laws in 2009, Dr Asim Kumar Dasgupta can be rightly called as the ‘architect of GST’. A reformer by heart he set out to mastermind the most ambitious tax reform in Indian history by introducing the Value Added Tax (VAT). He was the man who was instrumental in doing away with many draconian tax levies such as octroi and highway toll in West Bengal and was fondly referred to as ‘my US-trained finance minister’ by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu.  Dr Dasgupta, an MIT graduate continues to inspire the new generation as he lectures at various ...

A history of the GST Roll-Out

The Dollar Business Bureau  Goods and Services Tax (GST), a historic tax reform, will come into effect from tomorrow i.e.1st July 2017. GST will completely transform the Indirect Taxation landscape in the country involving both the Central and State levies. In a departure from the normal practice, GST will be administered together by the Centre and States. Why is GST important? The biggest tax reform since independence - GST - will pave the way for the realisation of the goal of One Nation - One Tax - One Market. GST will benefit all the stakeholders namely industry, government and consumer. It will lower the cost of goods and services, give a boost to the economy and make the products and services globally competitive, giving a ...

Commerce Ministry sets up GST Facilitation Cell

The Dollar Business Bureau  The Ministry of Commerce on Thursday constituted a Goods and Services Tax (GST) facilitation cell with the purpose to address issues related with the new tax regime with regards to the Foreign Trade Policy. The facilitation cell is to be constituted in the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) headquarter. “To ensure smooth and successful rollout of GST, it is decided to constitute a ‘GST Facilitation Cell’ in DGFT Headquarter and all Regional offices of DGFT to serve as the first point of contact for addressing any issues regarding GST in respect of Foreign Trade Policy,” the DGFT said in trade notice (No.08/2018) dated June 8. Additional DGFT Nikunj Kumar Srivastava will head the GST facilitation cell. It would also ...

DGFT specifies only BIS certified refineries can import dore from June 1

The Dollar Business Bureau The DGFT issued a trade notification TRADE NOTICE NO.04/2018 on April 21, 2017, specifying that unrefined gold or dore can be imported only by those refineries that hold a valid licence from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This will be effective from June 1. India imported $381,006 million worth of dore in 2015-2016 and $308,813 million in FY 2017. On an average India imports nearly 200 tons of dore in a year. It should be recollected that the government had announced an increase in the excise duty on dore gold from 8% to 8.75% and excise duty from 9% to 9.5% thereby decreasing the duty differential with bullion that attracts an excise duty of 10%. Refineries in the ...

GST council to finalise rules for new tax regime today

The Dollar Business Bureau  After the Lok Sabha approved the four supplementary GST legislations - Central GST (CGST), Integrated GST (IGST), Union Territory GST (UTGST) and the Compensation law, the Centre and the State governments will on Friday come up with the final rules and regulations of the new tax framework. The GST Council has already cleared five sets of norms pertaining to registration, payments, refund, invoice and returns. However, these sets of rules will need some minor tweaking by the council. The GST Council will discuss four more rules related to composition, valuation, input tax credit and transitions. The similar rules for registration, payment, returns, invoice and refund will be made as one and presented before the Council. The GST will subsume excise ...

Duty drawback under GST to undergo sweeping changes

Sneha Gilada The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has called for inputs on duty drawback rates from Export Promotion Councils and other top-tier industry bodies. Just like every other year, major stakeholders are to send across their views on the crucial refund mechanism for exporters. But unlike every other year, this exercise must consider the disruptive effects of the new GST regime on exporters. The interested parties are expected to submit their opinions and suggestions to the revenue department by March 15, 2017. The duty drawback scheme currently helps exporters obtain a refund of the customs and excise duty paid on input materials used in manufacturing finished goods for export. GST has subsumed all the indirect taxes including service tax, excise and VAT. Only the basic customs duty remains out ...

Confusing bill of entry declaration causing disruption in excise work: Vimalanathan

Sairaj Iyer Data insufficiency in declarations made on the bill of entry records (BoE) is eating into the excise department’ time, thereby causing disruption in the facilitation of requests. “People are apprehensive about sharing information with the department. But then, doing so would only help the department facilitate work better,” said SK Vimalanathan, the Commissioner of Central Excise for Thane Zone-1. He was replying to a question on data governance. He said the current spate of data governance is incomparable when compared to the standards suggested by WTO. International standards such as WTO’ offer complete automation of processes, which could further help the department save time and delay in the facilitation of excise’ requests. “In fact, I have analysed some data, and ...