Notifications & Circulars

Ministry of Finance

28.09.2017

Service Tax

Certain transitional issues arising with respect to payment of service tax after 30th June 2017

MANU/DSTX/0024/2017

I am directed to refer to two such issues which have arisen in the above context and to state that these issues have been examined and the following clarifications are issued.

2.0Reflection of transitional credit arising out of payment of service tax on reverse charge basis after 30th June 2017 and by 5th/6th July 2017.

2.1I am directed to refer to certain instances of assessees, who had chosen to wait till 5th /6th /to July 2017 to make the payment of service tax on reverse charge basis, instead of paying the same by 30-6-2017. These cases would be ones where the service was received before 1-7-2017 and payment for the value of the service was also made before 1-7-2017. Since the input tax credit in cases of payment under reverse charge would be available only after payment of service tax, these assessees had doubts as to whether the details of credit should be included in the return in Form ST-3 or in Form GST TRAN-1.

2.2The matter has been examined. In such cases, details of credit arising as a consequence of payment of service tax on reverse charge basis after 30th June 2017 by 5th/6th July 2017, the details should be indicated in Part I of Form ST-3 in entries, 13.1.2.6, 13 2.2.6 and 13 3.2.6. Linked entries should be made in Part H of Form ST-3. In case the return has already been filed by or after the due date, these details should be indicated in the revised return, the time for filing of which is 45 days from the date of filing of the return.

2.3It is necessary to give compliant assessees who had filed their ST 3 return by the due date or some days later, an immediate and viable window in which a revised return can be filed consequent to the issue of this instruction. Hence all ST3 returns for the period 1-4-2017 to 30-6-2017 which have been filed upto and inclusive of the 31st day of August 2017, shall be deemed to have been filed on 31-8-2017. This will give all such assessees some more days to file a revised return, if necessitated. Once details of such credit are reflected in the ST-3, the assessee may proceed to fill in the details in Form GST TRAN-1. It may be noted that as on date, GST TRAN-1 can be filed upto 31-10-2017 and can also be revised.

3.0 Payment of service tax on or after 1-7-2017 as a consequence of detection of evasion or any other circumstances.

3.1This issue will arise only in the case of assessees who were not registered under ACES .

It may be recalled that in the registration module of ACES, there is a category of "non assessee registration" . This may be used to obtain registration and make payment of service tax. Any difficulty in this regard may be resolved with the office of the Additional Director General , Directorate of Systems and Data Management, Chennai.

4.The contents of this circular may be brought to the notice of assessees by issuing Public/Trade Notices.

Tags : Transitional issues Service tax Payment

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Press Information Bureau

27.09.2017

Civil

India Japan Cooperation in Rail Safety

MANU/PIBU/1207/2017

Taking the technical cooperation in Rail Safety ahead, a team/ Mission of Safety experts from Japan concluded its second visit early this month. This team comprised of representatives of Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and railway operators etc. This mission discussed detailed scope of cooperation. This Mission visited Indian Railway's (IR) coach/wagon/loco maintenance facilities. The Mission also observed rail welding and track maintenance practices followed by IR.

Earlier, in response to the request from Indian Railways, MLIT deputed a team of Japanese Railway experts to India to assess incidents of rail breakage and suggest measures to improve safety in train operations. The first meeting was held on 9.1.2017 with Japanese Experts. Following this first visit, a separate Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Railway safety was signed on 17.2.2017 between Ministry of Railways, Government of India (GoI) and MLIT, Japan to cover the area adequately.

The MoC envisages cooperation in Rail Safety on area such as maintenance of Track (welding, rail inspection, track circuit etc.) and rolling stock maintenance. 'Capacity Development' has been taken as a Technical Cooperation project under the MoC to develop Indian Railways' capacity in respect of the above identified areas. These areas have been incorporated in the Terms of Reference of cooperation.

Japanese Railways is one of the oldest Rail system in the world. Japan is the pioneer in the High Speed Rail 'Shinkansen'. Japanese Railways has an impeccable record with Safety. Ministry of Railways (GoI) had requested Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) for technical cooperation in Rail Safety. The cooperation will facilitate exchange of information and visit of experts from both sides. A workshop is proposed to be organised in the first week of Nov'2017 in association with Japanese experts.

Tags : Cooperation Rail Safety

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Press Information Bureau

27.09.2017

Civil

Cabinet approves bilateral MoU between India and Afghanistan on Technical Cooperation on Police Training and Development

MANU/PIBU/1208/2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for signing an MoU between India and Afghanistan on Technical Cooperation on Police Training and Development. The MoU will help in capacity building of Afghanistan National Police and improving the security apparatus in the region. It has been approved for a period of 5 years from the date of signing the MoU and shall be extended for a further period of 5 years on the condition that are not further changes and or revision.

Background:

India and Afghanistan have friendly relations and the police personnel of Afghanistan National Police come regularly for training purposes in different training institutes of India.

India and Afghanistan have already signed an "Agreement on strategic partnership" between the two countries in October, 2011. A meeting was held between delegates of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Afghanistan, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Afghanistan and officials of the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), MHA at New Delhi in October 2016 and Afghanistan delegates expressed their desire for assistance from India in the field of Police training, police development, law enforcement, strengthening the rule of law in Afghanistan and building sustainable long term cooperation. In order to take this cooperation forward this MoU has been jointly agreed through diplomatic channels.

Tags : MoU Approval Police Training

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Press Information Bureau

27.09.2017

Civil

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Belarus in the oil and gas sector

MANU/PIBU/1209/2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Belarus in the oil and gas sector. The MoU was signed on 12th September, 2017 during the visit of President of Belarus to India. The MoU will promote bilateral relationship between India and Belarus and it is envisaged to enhance the economic and commercial cooperation between the two sides in oil and natural gas sector. Under the MoU, both sides will work towards establishing cooperation in the areas of upstream and downstream activities, capacity building, technology transfer, enhanced oil recovery and development of mature fields in India. The MoU shall remain in force for three years for the day of its signing.

Tags : MoU Approval Oil and gas sector

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Press Information Bureau

26.09.2017

Indirect Taxation

GST Revenue Figures - As on 25th September, 2017

MANU/PIBU/1203/2017

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced on 1st of July, 2017. In the press release dated 29th August, 2017, it was reported that the total revenue of GST paid under different heads for the month of July, 2017 (upto 29th August) was Rs. 92,283 crore. Out of the total GST collection of Rs. 92,283 crore, the total CGST revenue was Rs. 14,894 crore, SGST revenue was Rs.22,722 crore, IGST revenue was Rs. 47,469 crore (of which IGST from imports was Rs.20,964 crore) and Compensation Cess was Rs. 7,198 crore (of which Rs.599 crore is Compensation Cess from imports). Many assessees have been filing the returns for July 2017 belatedly and till 31st August, 2017 and the total GST paid for July is Rs. 94,063 crore.

2. The last date for payment of GST as well as filing of GSTR 3B return for the month of August 2017 was 20th September, 2017. The total number of tax payers who were required to file monthly returns for August 2017 is 68.20 lakhs, of which, as on 25th September, 2017, 37.63 lakh GSTR 3B returns have been filed.

3. The total revenue of GST paid under different heads (upto 25th September, 2017) is Rs. 90,669 crore. The total CGST revenue is Rs. 14,402 crore, SGST revenue is Rs. 21,067 crore, IGST revenue is Rs. 47,377 crore (of which IGST from imports in August 2017 is Rs. 23,180 crore) and Compensation Cess is Rs. 7,823 crore (of which Rs. 547 crore is Compensation Cess from imports in August 2017).

4. The above figures obviously do not include the GST to be paid by 10.24 lakh assessees who have opted for the composition scheme. Additionally, there are still a number of assessees who have not filed their return either for July or August, 2017. The increase in the above stated figures will be informed in due course.

Tags : GST Revenue Figures

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Press Information Bureau

26.09.2017

Civil

Fiji, Niger and Tuvalu deposited instrument of ratification of the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance

MANU/PIBU/1204/2017

Fiji, Niger and Tuvalu deposited instrument of ratification of the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in the 5th meeting of International Steering Committee (ISC) of the ISA that was held in New Delhi yesterday . In this meeting representatives from 121 prospective member countries, who either completely or partially lie between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn participated. The meeting was Chaired by Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Co-chaired by Mrs Ségoléné Royale, Ambassador for Arctic and Antarctic Poles and Special Envoy for the Implementation of the International Solar Alliance, Government of France. Till date 40 countries have signed and 11 countries have ratified the Framework Agreement of the ISA. With ratifications by 15 countries, the ISA will become a treaty based inter-governmental international organization.

While welcoming the participants Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary, MNRE and the Chair of ISC thanked the prospective ISA member countries for their continued support. He stated that the ISA is a reflection of our common desire to significantly augment solar power generation in our countries, and make joint efforts towards technology development and mobilization of the required investment to promote energy security and universal energy access. He urged the prospective member countries of the ISA to expedite the ratification process.

Shri Kumar informed that the second edition of the Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo, Re-Invest 2017 will be held from 7 to 9 December 2017. The venue of the three day Global meet, organized by MNRE will be the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, National Capital Region of Delhi. Elaborating the details of Re-Invest 2017, Shri Kumar said the aim of the event is to develop partnerships with relevant stakeholders including international bilateral and multilateral financing institutions, equipment manufacturers, technology providers, developers, Public Sector Enterprises, Central and State governments, research institutions and academia. The Re-Invest 2017 will deliberate upon and evolve strategies for financing renewable energy and also showcase the Government of India's commitment to the development and scaling up of renewable energy to meet the national energy requirement in a socially, economically and ecologically sustainable manner.

Shri Kumar also stated that the Founding Conference of ISA and Solar Summit will also be held on the margins of RE-Invest 2017 on 8 & 9 December 2017. Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, His Excellency President of France and the Secretary General of United Nations are likely to grace the ISA Founding Conference.

The Co-Chair, Mrs Ségoléné Royale detailed the actions taken by her Government for supporting solar energy projects in ISA countries. She stated that concerted actions undertaken in the context of the Alliance should focus on realizing the objectives enshrined in the Paris Declaration, which included: bringing our efforts together to reduce the cost of finance for solar energy and mobilize up to US$ 1000 billion investments by 2030, and: developing new, cost efficient and reliable solar technologies and applications. On her suggestion the Committee agreed to include a programme on solar supported e-mobility.

Shri Upendra Tripathy, interim Director General of the ISA informed about the progress in implementation of various activities under ISA. He specifically mentioned about the progress under the three programmes launched under the ISA "Affordable finance at scale", "Scaling solar applications for agricultural use", and "Scaling Solar Mini Grids". He further informed about the ISA Secretariat's initiative "Common Risk Mitigating Mechanism (CRMM)" . The objective of the mechanism is de-risking and reducing the financial cost of solar projects in the ISA member countries. The instrument will help diversify and pool risks on mutual public resources and unlock significant investments. He informed that an international expert group has been working on the blue print of the mechanism and it will be rolled out by December 2018.

International Steering Committee was establishment under the mandate of the Paris Declaration of ISA to provide the guidance and direction to establish the ISA. India has offered a contribution of Rs. 175 crore for creating ISA corpus fund and for meeting the cost of ISA secretariat for initial five years.

The ISA is an Indian initiative jointly launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on 30 November 2015 at Paris, on the sidelines of COP-21. It aims at addressing obstacles to deployment at scale of solar energy through better harmonization and aggregation of demand from solar rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

Tags : Instrument Ratification Deposit International Solar Alliance

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Ministry of Finance

26.09.2017

Customs

Amendment to Customs Valuation Rules - Notification No. 91/2017 (NT) dated 26.9.17

MANU/CUCR/0039/2017

1.The valuation of imported and export goods is governed by the provisions of Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 and the rules made thereunder. The Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007 (CVR) contain the detailed provisions for arriving at the transaction value of the imported goods, on which the customs duty is levied.

2. A need had arisen to examine certain provisions of the CVR in light of Supreme Court's ruling in the case of M/s Wipro Ltd. Vs. Assistant Collector of Customs - 2015 (319) ELT 177 - S.C dated 16/04/2015

2.1 After examination and public consultations, the Government has amended the CVR vide Notification 91/2017 Customs (N.T) dated 26th September, 2017, as explained below:

Definition of the term 'place of importation'

3. The term "place of importation" has been used in the CVR; however, the term was not defined. To bring in clarity, the "place of importation" has been defined as:

"Place of Importation" means the customs station where the goods are brought for being cleared for home consumption or for being removed for deposit in a warehouse"

3.1 In view of the above definition, the transaction value of the imported goods in terms of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 would include the costs incurred up to the place of importation, as defined above.

Treatment of the loading, unloading and handling charges

4. The Hon'ble Supreme Court had ruled in the case of M/s Wipro Ltd. Vs Assistant Collector of Customs-2015 (319) ELT 177 (S.C.) dated 16/04/2015 that the landing charges to be added to the value of goods, should be based on actual charges incurred, and not a notional charge of 1% as has been provided in the Rules.

4.1 By virtue of the amendment now carried out to the CVR, 2007, the loading, unloading and handling charges associated with the delivery of the imported goods at the place of importation, shall no longer be added to the CIF value of the goods.

4.2 The phrase "loading, unloading and handling charges" appearing in the amended Rule 10 (2) (a) is to be understood in context of Article 8(2) of the WTO Agreement which reads as "the cost of transport of the imported goods to the port or place of importation". Thus, only charges incurred for delivery of goods "to" the place of importation (such as the loading and handling charges incurred at the load port) shall now be includible in the transaction value.

Computation of freight and insurance

5. Now, the 2nd and 4th provisos to Rule 10 (2) impart more clarity in computation of transport and insurance charges, when actuals of each individual element are not known, but the cumulative value of FOB and freight, or, FOB and insurance charges are known.

Treatment of transshipment costs

6. In the erstwhile 4th proviso to Rule 10(2), while the transshipment charges with respect to a container being moved from port to an ICD and CFS were excluded from the transaction value of the goods, there was no mention of a similar treatment to transshipment of goods by sea or air. Now, by virtue of the 6th proviso to Rule 10 (2), costs related to transshipment of goods (from ports to ICDs; port to port, port to CFS, Airport to Airport etc.) within India will be excluded, providing uniform treatment to different modes of transshipment.

7. Difficulties, if any, faced in the implementation of this circular may be brought to the notice of the Board.

Tags : Rules Customs Valuation Amendment

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Press Information Bureau

24.09.2017

Civil

Centre to launch Neighborhood Action Plan in cities for better Solid Waste Management

MANU/PIBU/1198/2017

Stressing that the country can't be made clean without fixing the garbage problem in Delhi that has reached crisis proportion, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri today invoked the pride of being a resident of the national capital to spur people into collective action for effective solid waste management.

Shri Puri today participated in the 'Swachhat Hi Sewa' campaign at Bhikaji Cama Place in South Delhi by sweeping and collecting the litter and later addressed the people, sanitation workers and officials of the Ministry and South Delhi Municipal Corporation who undertook shramdan along with him. He also inaugurated modern litter pickers imported by South MCD.

The Minister noted that being a citizen and resident of Delhi is a 'matter of pride' and is a unique privilege that brings several advantages in the form of better services and amenities not available in other cities. He quoted the example of Delhi Metro on which the central and State Governments incurred huge expenditure with more in the offing. Shri Puri said this pride would however, be punctured if Delhi is not made clean and the garbage issue was not addressed properly.

Urging the people of Delhi into effective action, Shri Puri said "I would like to invoke that pride of being residents of the national capital and shed lethargy and make due contribution to effective solid waste management so that we can overcome the garbage which is threatening to adversely impact the lives of all".

Shri Puri observed that the central government has accorded sanitation higher priority over even economic transformation given its importance in several ways. He said the intent, passion and energy with which Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been piloting Swachh Bharat Mission has resulted in an unprecedented 'individual connect' with sanitation across the country. This has led to construction of about five crore toilets across the country including over 38 lakh in urban areas in a short span of three years.

Stating that solid waste management in cities is the major challenges in urban areas over the next two years of the mission, Shri Puri stressed on the need to convert the 'individual connect' with sanitation demand into 'social connect' to ensure the success of the solid waste management chain through collective action. Noting that people have a better connect with immediate neighbourhood, the Minister unveiled 'My Home-My Neighbourhood' (Ghar Bi Saaf-Pados Bhi Saaf) campaign with the following six components:

1. Segregation of waste at source

2. Compost making from wet waste within the premises/neighbourhood/area

3. Recycling of dry waste

4. Freeing the neighbourhood from open defecation and open urination

5. Motivating the residents of neighbourhood against throwing garbage in open spaces; and

6. Adopting a nearby park or open place for collection and waste segregation.

Shri Puri said this neighbourhood action plan leads to substantial reduction in the quantum of solid waste sent to landfill besides enabling better performance of Waste-to -Compost and Waste-to-Energy plants. Neighbourhood could be a residential housing society, a colony, mohalla, market area etc., he said.

The Minister said this neighbourhood action plan will be launched in all the cities and towns across the country on the occasion of the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission on the second of next month and appealed to the residents of Delhi to take the lead in making a success of it so that their pride is not punctured.

Shri Puri watched a nukkad performance by the students of Malviya Nagar SDMC School on the causes and consequences of poor hygiene and the need for citizen participation in ensuring a Clean India. Appreciating the performance, the Minister encouraged the students by paying a cash of Rs.1,000.

Shri Puri inspected the Bhikaji cama Place area and expressed concern over poor maintenance of buildings and urged the Municipal Commissioner of SDMC to take necessary action. Ms. Kamaljeet Sherawat, Mayor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Dr. Puneet Goyal, Commissioner of SDMC besides senior officials of the Ministry and SDMC and the public participated in shramdan. Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurating modern litter picker machines imported by South Delhi Municipal Corporation during 'Swacchata Hi Sewa' campaign on September 24, 2017. Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary (HUA) also in the picture. Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri watching a nukkad natak by the students of Malviyanagar SDMC School during Swacchhata Hi Sewa campaign at Bhikaji Cama Place in South Delhi on September 24, 2017.

Tags : Action Plan Solid Waste Management Launch

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