Indirect Taxes

India currently follows a highly complex event based indirect tax regime. India being a federal country, power to levy tax is with Centre as also with the States. Centre levies Customs Duty, Central Excise Duty (other than liquor for human consumption), Service Tax and Central Sales Tax, whereas the States levy Sales Tax (also called VAT), State Excise Duty (Only on liquor) and Entertainment Tax, etc. This event based taxation is proposed to be substituted with the advanced and more progressive Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime which shall be supply based. Athena provides whole spectrum of services in indirect taxes ranging from litigation, advisory, review and training.

Customs Laws
Central Excise

Central Excise duty is an indirect tax levied on those goods which are manufactured in India and are meant for home consumption. The taxable event is 'manufacture' and the liability of central excise duty arises as soon as the goods are manufactured

CENTRAL EXCISE

Classification - Advise and guidance for classification of goods under appropriate Chapter Headings/Sub-Headings

Valuation - Advise and guidance in determining the assessable value for payment of Central Excise duty and other valuation matters.

Procedures - Advise and guidance on procedural issues like registration, filing of monthly/quarterly/half yearly returns etc.

Technical - Advise and guidance on technical issues like availment of Cenvat Credit on inputs,input services, capital goods, adjustment of excess paid duty, provisional assessment, remission of duty etc.

Refund/Rebate/Drawback - Assistance in availing Refund/Rebate/Drawback.

Preventive audits - Inspection of records on routine manner from the preventive and audit point of view.

Audit Support - Guidance and assistance during audit by providing clarifications on the queries raised and replying to audit paras/reports.

Investigation - Guidance and assistance to the unit/assessee during investigations by Anti-evasion field formations of the department.

Litigation - Preparing and filing of replies to Show Cause Notices, appeals before Commissioner (Appeals), CESTAT, High Court, Supreme Court, attending personal hearings and appearance before Courts.

Liaison - Interacting with the concerned department on behalf of the client for trouble shooting and ensuring smooth functioning of the affairs of the client.

Registration:-
Every person who manufactures or deals in excisable goods is required to obtain Central Excise Registration as per Rule 9 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002. The following categories of persons require registration:
• Every manufacturer of dutiable excisable goods;
• First and second stage dealers desiring to issue cenvatable invoices;
• Persons holding warehouses for storing non duty paid goods;
• Persons who obtain excisable goods for availing end use based exemption;
• Exporter - manufacturer under rebate/bond procedure; Export Oriented Units which have interaction with the domestic economy either through DTA sales or procurement of duty free inputs.

Exemption from Registration
• Persons manufacturing goods, fully exempted or chargeable to NIL rate of duty are not required to seek registration. However they should file the prescribed declaration in the beginning of every financial year. The following categories of persons are exempt from registration:
• Manufacturers of goods which are goods on the basis of value of clearance made in a financial year and remain under the exemption limit (SSI). In cases where the value of clearances in the current financial year exceeds Rs.90 lakhs the assessee has to file a declaration prescribed under Notification No. 36/2001-CE (NT), dated 26.6.2001 for getting exemption from the Central Excise registration;
• Persons who get their goods manufactured by others, except the persons who get certain textile items manufactured on job work;
• Persons manufacturing excisable goods under the customs warehousing procedures subject to certain conditions
• Wholesale traders or dealers of excisable goods (except first stage dealers, second stage dealer and depot);
• Job works of goods under Ch. 61 & 62 and 100% EOU. Deeming EOUs/EPZ units as registered is not applicable if such units are having clearances in or procurement from Domestic Tariff Area (DTA).

CENVAT Credit

Cenvat Credit is a scheme where the manufacturers or the output service providers are allowed a set off of the taxes paid on the inputs or the input services that are used while manufacturing the final products or providing the output service.

CENVAT credit is also available in respect of duty paid on capital goods, which include machinery, plant, spare parts of machinery etc. in other words, instead of paying cash towards central excise on shipment of goods, the exporter can adjust the excise duty paid on the inputs and machinery. Virtually, CENVAT CREDIT is like a credit balance in bank account that can be adjusted towards the excise duty payable.

Under CENVAT Credit scheme, the benefit of excise duty on inputs is available, instantaneously, when the inputs reach the factory. There is no need to establish any linkage between the inputs and goods manufactured. In case of capital goods, 50% benefit is available in the current year of purchase and balance in the next year. This balance can be adjusted against the duty payable but is not refunded. So, it is desirable to utilize this balance, at the earliest.

Service Tax

SERVICE TAX

Classification - Advise and guidance for classification of services under appropriate service type.

Valuation - Advise and guidance in determining the correct taxable value for payment of Service Tax.

Procedures - Advise and guidance on procedural issues like registration, filing of returns etc.

Technical - Advise and guidance on technical issue like availment of Cenvat Credit on inputs, input services, capital goods, adjustment of excess paid duty etc.

Refund/Rebate/Drawback - Assistance in availing Refund/Rebate/Drawback.

Preventive audits - Inspection of records on routine manner from the preventive and audit point of view.

Audit Support - Guidance and assistance during audit by providing clarifications on the queries raised and replying to audit paras/reports.

Investigation - Guidance and assistance to the unit/assessee during investigations by Anti-evasion field formations of the department.

Litigation - Preparing and filing of replies to Show Cause Notices, appeals before Commissioner (Appeals), CESTAT, High Court, Supreme Court, attending personal hearings and appearance before Courts.

Liaison - Interacting with the concerned department on behalf of the client for trouble shooting and ensuring smooth functioning of the affairs of the client.

SEZ-EOU-STP-EHTP

SEZ-EOU-STP-EHTP

Procedure - Advise, guidance and assistance on procedural issues to units and developers for preferring applications and obtaining permissions for setting up SEZ-EOU-STP-EHTP

Technical - Advise, guidance and assistance on technical issues concerning obtaining permissions for conducting operations and in other miscellaneous matters.

Laisoning - Follow up of application for conducting operations and other miscellaneous permissions and co-ordinating with Board of Approval, Development Commissioner, Director (STP) etc.s

Litigation - Preparing and filing of replies to Show Cause Notices, appeals before Commissioner (Appeals), CESTAT, High Court, Supreme Court, attending personal hearings and appearance before Courts

Liaison - Interacting with the concerned department on behalf of the client for trouble shooting and ensuring smooth functioning of the affairs of the client.

Foreign Trade

Foreign trade is exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, it represents a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP).

FOREIGN TRADE POLICIES: Policies enacted by the government sector of a domestic economy to discourage imports from, and encourage exports to, the foreign sector. The three most common foreign trade policies are tariffs, import quotas, and export subsidies.

The Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-20, is notified by Central Government, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 (No. 22 of 1992) [FT (D&R) Act], as amended. The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2015 - 2020, incorporating provisions relating to export and import of goods and services, shall come into force with effect from the date of notification and shall remain in force up to 31st March, 2020, unless otherwise specified. All exports and imports made up to the date of notification shall, accordingly, be governed by the relevant FTP, unless otherwise specified.

DGFT

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT):-
Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) organisation is an attached office of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is headed by Director General of Foreign Trade. Right from its inception till 1991, when liberalization in the economic policies of the Government took place, this organization has been essentially involved in the regulation and promotion of foreign trade through regulation. Keeping in line with liberalization and globalization and the overall objective of increasing of exports, DGFT has since been assigned the role of “facilitator”. The shift was from prohibition and control of imports/exports to promotion and facilitation of exports/imports, keeping in view the interests of the country.
Organizational Set-up:This Directorate, with headquarters at New Delhi, is headed by the Director General of Foreign Trade. It is responsible for formulating and implementing the Foreign Trade Policy with the main objective of promoting India’s exports. The DGFT also issues scrips/authorisation to exporters and monitors their corresponding obligations through a network of 36 regional offices and an extension counter at Indore.

VAT/CST

Only when tangible goods and products are sold, VAT can be imposed CST (Central Sales Tax) is a form of indirect tax imposed only on goods sold from one state to another state, which particularly takes into account that the buyer and the seller needs to be in two different states.

VAT (Value Added Tax) is a form of indirect tax imposed only on goods sold within a particular state, which essentially means that the buyer and the seller needs to be in the same state. Only when tangible goods and products are sold, VAT can be imposed.

CST (Central Sales Tax) ) is a form of indirect tax imposed only on goods sold from one state to another state, which particularly takes into account that the buyer and the seller needs to be in two different states.

 
     
136667 Times Visited