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shoe makers turn to India

European shoe makers turn to India as China loses price edge
T E Narasimhan / Chennai November 24, 2008, 0:14 IST
The country's shoe making units in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are abuzz with activity. European shoe makers, who were sourcing from China, have now turned to India. Indian units have started getting enquiries and orders from European companies, some of whom have also announced setting up their own manufacturing facility in the country.
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According to industry representatives, Chinese products, which used to be cheaper by around 10 per cent compared to Indian products, are no more cheaper due to the increase in labour costs in China. The costs of labour have risen by around 40 per cent since January 2008 in China. Implementation of the European Union (EU) anti-dumping duty and Chinese currency Yuan appreciating against the US dollar are other reasons stated.
This tilt towards is already reflecting. According to statistics for the first seven months of the current year, European imports of footwear from China fell by 1.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, whereas from India, it rose by 3.5 per cent.
During 2007-08, footwear exports from India was valued at $1,475 million (around Rs 7,300 crore) compared to $1,236.91 million (around Rs 6,150 crore) in the same period last year, an increase of 19 per cent.
Some of the footwear majors now looking at India include Nike, Addidas and Puma, which are expected to route parts of their production and purchase out from China to India.
Growth-Link Overseas, the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Taiwanese sports shoe major Feng Tay Enterprise, is planning to invest around Rs 300 crore for setting up a manufacturing facility in 275 acres at the Cheyyar Industrial Complex in Tamil Nadu to make Nike footwear. The unit will produce 1 million pairs of footwear every year.
A recent report quoted Herbert Hainer, president, Adidas, saying that as the wage level in China was increasing, the firm plans to transfer part of its manufacture and purchase from China to other countries.
The report added the company had sent its representatives to South East Asian countries including India, where prospects are high.
At present, around 50 per cent of adidas' products are made in China and the company has 264 factories across the country.
Another of Europe's leading shoe brand Fly Flot is also planning to set up a manufacturing plant in India along with Mauritius-based Pavers Foresight Smart Ventures. The new plant is coming up in Tamil Nadu and will produce 1 million pairs in the first phase, with the possibility of raising this to 2 million pairs by 2012.
According to a representative of an Italy-based company, labour costs increased by 40 per cent to an average of $160 (around Rs 8,000) a month. But, in India, it is around Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000. He noted a recent survey by the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA) estimates labour costs will increase by another 20 per cent

Debt fund norms to be overhauled

Debt fund norms to be overhauled
Joydeep Ghosh & Priya Nadkarni / Mumbai November 24, 2008, 0:07 IST
Sebi meets mutual fund body today to consider changes Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs) may no longer be permitted to announce indicative portfolios and indicative yields to investors if the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) accepts the recommendations of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) at a meeting here on Monday.
This is part of a package of recommendations that Amfi is making to boost investor confidence in FMPs that invest in debt and liquid and liquid- plus funds.
FMPs saw average assets under management (AAUM) fall by Rs 10,718 crore in October, the first time in the last six months.
The proposal to scrap “indicative portfolios” has arisen because investors have sometimes found deviations of as much as 80 per cent between the indicative and actual portfolios. In some cases, the entire corpus has been invested in a single instrument.
Sebi will also consider Amfi’s suggestion of a 3 to 6 per cent exit load for FMPs, a minimum tenure of three months and a faster processing of redemption payouts at transaction (T) plus five days against T+10 specified in the rules (although some smaller redemptions are processed as soon as T+1 or 2).
The draft proposal also includes a host of measures intended to reduce volatility and force fund managers to play safe by reducing the asset-liability mismatch. For instance, the Amfi committee has suggested that liquid funds, which have a maturity between one and three months, must have a minimum 30 per cent allocation to cash, collateralised borrowing and lending obligations (CBLO), bank fixed deposits, treasury bills and others — all safe and liquid instruments.
Amfi has also recommended that 30 per cent of the investment can be made in bank fixed deposits (FDs). At present, funds are allowed to invest up to 15 per cent in bank FDs, 20 per cent with board approval.
Amfi has also said the exit option should be preferred over listing FMPs because the latter does not provide the investor with liquidity. Also, the maturity-mismatch has to be contained at 10 per cent of the tenure of the instrument or one month, whichever is lower
Besides the safety of liquid fund instruments, Amfi has suggested extending their duration to a maximum of 90 days.
Amfi has also recommended that all fixed-rate instruments above three months should be marked to market. Today, all fixed rate instruments beyond six months are marked to market.

For debt funds, the valuation of the underlying papers is currently based on Crisil’s valuation matrix. Amfi has proposed outsourcing these valuations to an independent third party.
Fund managers, however, are divided over these proposals. For instance, most Amfi members felt that the practice of announcing indicative returns should continue.
Others felt some of these moves could make the funds more illiquid. “According to RBI regulations, banks can refuse the overdraft facility against their own FDs. So it doesn’t really make sense to increase the overall exposure cap to FDs,” said a debt fund manager

exports and imports of services

Similarity of treatment in exports and imports of services

key issue in regard to taxation of cross border transactions of services is to ensure that the provisions of indirect tax law across countries are aligned so that there is just the one tax on a particular cross border transaction and, therefore, there is no possibility of either double taxation or double non-taxation.
There are two ways to analyse the situation. The first is to compare whether the provisions of specific countries relating to exportation of services therefrom and their consequent zero rating are matched by corresponding provisions on importation of services and their taxability in the importing countries. The other way to do this is to see whether within one country, the provisions relating to exports and imports of services are broadly similar in nature, in order to conclude that the two are in tandem and hence mutually compatible. It will be interesting to see whether this is indeed the case in India.
The service tax provisions were amended for the first time in 2005 in order to incorporate a taxation code in relation to exports of services, vide the Exports of Services Rules 2005 (Export Rules). While there were erstwhile provisions that did address the issue of zero rating of services prior to these rules, it was only with the introduction of these rules that comprehensive provisions were introduced to precisely determine the exportation of services.
A similar situation has obtained regarding importation of services as well. There has been a great deal of controversy as to the effective date from which importation of services were sought to be taxed. However, here again, it was only with the introduction of the Taxation of Services (Provided from outside India and Received in India) Rules 2006 (Import Rules) that the provisions were codified and formalized. The question that is addressed in this article is whether the Export and Import Rules are mirror images of each other, as they ideally should be.
The Export rules categorise the several taxable services into three different categories. The first category covers 13 services, all of which are related to immovable property. The Export Rules hold that if the immovable property in relation to which such services are provided is situated outside India, such services would be treated as exports simply on that ground.
The second category covers a set of 53 services which are performance based and the Export Rules hold that these services will be treated as exports if they are performed outside India. They also hold that such services will be treated as exports even if partly performed outside India.
The third category is the most important one and extends to all taxable services other than those referred to above. The Export Rules state that such services will be treated as exports if they relate to business or commerce and are provided to a recipient located outside India. The Rules also provide that if the recipient has a commercial establishment or an office in India, the services will be treated as exports only if the order for provision of services is issued by an establishment or office located outside India. Thus, the third category extends the benefit of zero rating to services, based on the condition that the recipient of the services should be located outside the country.
Apart from the above categorisation of services, the Export Rules also incorporate two important additional requirements as well. These are that the services should be provided from India and should be used outside India and that the payment for such services should be received by the service provider in convertible foreign exchange. These two conditions are applicable to all three categories of services. As is well known by now, the particular condition of provision of services from India and its use outside India, even though more liberally worded than was the case earlier, continues to bedevil the service exporters and the taxing authorities alike.
If one were to analyse the Import Rules in alike fashion, it can be seen that a similar set of three categories of services has been incorporated thereunder, with similar underlying conditions. Thus, the set of 13 services in relation to immovable property for the first category and the Import Rules provide that if the immovable property were to be situated in India, the reverse charge mechanism of payment of tax by the importer on such services would apply. Similarly, the second category covers the set of 53 services and the Import Rules hold that if these are performed either wholly or partly in India, the tax consequences would apply.
Finally, the third category of services in the Import Rules is also a mirror image of the third category of services as contained in the Export Rules and the Import Rules similarly hold that if the recipient of such services was located in India and the services were in relation to business or commerce, the service tax on imports would accordingly apply.
As can thus be seen, the aforesaid categorisation of services is identically done in both the Export and Import Rules. To that extent, the two Rules are indeed mirror images. However, if one were to analyse the key common condition in the Export Rules i.e. the provision of services from India and their use outside India, it can be seen that no corresponding provision exists in the Import Rules. Indeed, the significant divergence between the two Rules is the absence of the common condition, referred to above, in the Import Rules.
However, even if one were to analyse the third category of services under the Import Rules, they provide that such services will be treated as imports into India if they are received by a recipient located in India.
Thus, apart from the fact that there is no equivalence of the expression ‘provided from India and used outside India’, as occurring in Export Rules, in the Import Rules, in that there is no expression such as ‘provided from outside India and used in India’, the particular expression incorporated in the third category thereof i.e. services should be received by a recipient located in India, is itself the subject of differing judicial interpretation.
As a result of these materially differently worded provisions, as contained in the Export and Import Rules, it is the position today that notwithstanding that the categorisation of services as contained in these two Rules are identical, the two Rules are not mirror images in terms of their real effect and it is therefore a reality today that the tax consequences in terms of zero rating of exports and a reverse charge payment of tax on imports do not correspond with each other. This situation needs to be addressed through legislative changes in order to avoid unintended tax consequences.

PEACEFUL EMPATHY

STORY-OF-THE-WEEK

HOME OF PEACEFUL EMPATHY

The ‘Home Of Peaceful Empathy’ or HOPE as it was popularly known was a home for the aged. It had about thirty residents. Some were sick, others were healthy. Some were active, others were confined to wheelchairs. Two things they all had in common: Their children didn’t want to keep them and they all had a limited lease of life left!Every evening, all the residents would sit outside in the garden. The management would put cane chairs outside. Tea and biscuits would be served to them. It was a daily routine that these elderly people looked forward to. Next door lived a young couple and their ten year old son, Bunty. The little boy was very thin and weak. He seemed to have no friends of his age. Every evening he would come to the old age home and chat with the residents. Sometimes he would bring yellow daisies for them. He would put the daisies into the hair of the old women and into the button holes of the old men’s jackets. He called all the women ‘Grandma’, and all the men ‘Grandpa’. They looked forward to Bunty’s visits just as much as he looked forward to them.Sometimes Bunty would play the guitar and sing songs for them. One day he told them about the drama that they had at school. He enacted the various roles all by himself. He loved these old people and he loved to see them laugh. Another day he brought his cricket bat and played cricket with them. He loved to see the Grandpa’s turn into little boys.Bunty’s mother was usually busy with her household chores, but sometimes she would come along with Bunty and chat with these oldies. They would often ask her why Bunty had no friends of his age. She would simply say, “He’s happier playing with you. Perhaps he has got something in common with you.”One evening the residents waited for Bunty, but he didn’t turn up. The next day too, there was no sign of him. On the fourth day, one old man who was really missing Bunty, pressed the door bell of Bunty’s house. A worried looking mother opened the door. “Good evening ma’am! I was wondering if Bunty is well, we haven’t seen him around for some days. Is everything alright?” The woman hesitated, “Yes, I mean, no, it isn’t. Bunty is sick. Would you like to come to his room?”The old man followed the lady to Bunty’s room. The sight he saw stopped him in his tracks. A bottle of blood was being transfused into the boy. Next to his bed was a trolley laden with bottles of glucose and dextrose. There were numerous bottles of medicine. There was a nurse on duty. She signalled for them to be quiet. She got up and motioned them to come out of the room. “He has just gone to sleep. He’s been struggling with the pain. Please don’t disturb him.”The lady said, “Grandpa, Bunty is thalasemmic.” She swallowed to hide her tears, “Every month we take him to the hospital for his blood transfusion. Three days back he contracted a viral. He got a chest infection and had very high fever. We requested the doctor to give him the blood transfusion at home. He has very low immunity. It will take a while for him to get well. The old man said, “He never told us. He came to see us everyday, but he never let us know. Come to think of it, even you never let us know!”“Grandpa, Bunty’s a strong willed boy. He’d be heart broken if all of you were to pity him. He never wanted to discuss his disease. He’s not able to match up with his peers at school, while playing games, so he opts to play with all of you. It makes him happy, so I allow him to see you every evening.”The old man was speechless. All the little acts of love; all that sharing and caring; all that concern and laughter from a child who was thalasemmic!The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect!

SANJAY TANDON

Custom Case Law

Customs - INDIAN FARMERS FERTILISERS CO-OP. LTD. Versus C.C. (IMPORT), NCH, MUMBAI = 2008

Date of Decision: March 7, 2008 - CESTAT MUMBAIRefund - Duty paid in excess due to arithmetical error – application for rectification of mistake filed u/s 154 of Custom Act, got accepted by authority – applicability of limitation period provided in Section 27(1) - held that refund arising as a result of correction of error is admissible even if refund claim is not filed u/s 27(1) – only bar of unjust enrichment is applicable - matter remanded back to the original authority to consider the question of unjust enrichment

Excise case laws

Central Excise - SHALIMAR WIRES INDUSTRIES LTD. Versus COMMR. OF C. EX., KOLKATA-IV = 2008

Date of Decision: June 11, 2008 - CESTAT KOLKATAWoven greig fabric produced during the manufacture of FWC - Demand raised is in respect of heat treated fabric, before it is processed into FWC - Leviability of basic excise duty under the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 – held that duty is leviable unless goods are specifically exempted – revenue has not proved marketability of intermediate product - matter remanded to re-determine the marketability of product

Central Excise - BRAKES INDIA LTD. Versus COMMISSIONER OF C. EX., DELHI-III = 2008 Date of Decision: June 5, 2008 - CESTAT NEW DELHIValuation of goods which are transferred inter-units - goods cleared were assessed on provisional basis, paying higher amount of duty - appellant adopted a higher profit margin of 30% - appellant explained this adoption of higher margin only to take care of value fluctuation in respect of inputs which have gone into the manufacture of the goods cleared from their Chennai units – since there is no allegation of fraud, whatever duty paid is taken as credit by another unit, credit is not deniable
Central Excise - HINDALCO INDUSTRIES LTD. Versus COMMISSIONER OF C. EX., BELGAUM = 2008

of Decision: May 22, 2008 - CESTAT BANGLORESteel plates and strips used in mfg. of capital goods (steel tanks) – in view of Explanation 2 in Rule 2(k) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, impugned goods can be treated as inputs because these goods are used in the manufacture of tanks falling under Chapter 84, which is specifically mentioned in the definition of capital goods – credit cannot be denied merely for the fact that steel tank are exempted under Notification No. 67/95
Central Excise - COROMANDAL PAINTS LTD. Versus COMMR. OF C. EX. & CUS., VISAKHAPATNAM-I = 2008

Date of Decision: May 16, 2008 - CESTAT BANGLORESupervision expenditure by buyer to ensure the correct quality - issue involved is whether the expenditure incurred by the buyer is to be included in the assessable value – impugned expenses are not incurred on behalf of manufacturer - department proceeded against the appellants holding that they are includible – action of department is not acceptable – appeal of assessee is allowed

service tax cases

Service Tax - COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, MUMBAI-V Versus GTC INDUSTRIES LTD. = 2008

Date of Decision: September 25, 2008 - CESTAT MUMBAIWhether the services provided by the outdoor caterers in the canteen of the manufacturer is input service, in respect of which credit can be taken by the manufacturer – Whether the cost of food is borne by the worker or by the factory, the same will form part of expenditure incurred by the manufacturer and will have a bearing on the cost of production - hence, employment of outdoor caterer has to be considered as an input service relating to the business and Cenvat credit is admissible
Service Tax - TOYOTA KIRLOSKAR MOTOR P. LTD. Versus C.C.E. (L.T.U.), BANGALORE = 2008

Date of Decision: August 5, 2008 - CESTAT BANGLORESocial functions to entertain the employees for Rajyostava Function and inauguration of police station cannot be brought within the ambit of activities relating to business – hence expenses for holding Kannada Rajyostava function and for inaugural function of Kengeri Police Station cannot be considered as input service – credit not admissible – bona fide belief of appellant of admissibility of credit on input services – no allegation of willful suppression in SCN – demand is time barred
Service Tax - MORINDA CO-OPERATIVE SUGAR MILLS LTD. Versus COMMR. OF C. EX., LUDHIANA = 2008

Date of Decision: September 5, 2008 - CESTAT NEW DELHIAppellants are manufacturers of sugar; as required by the Government, during the relevant period, they maintained a specified buffer stock out of free sale sugar to be disposed of subsequently based on specific instructions - prima-facie view is that in the given facts and circumstances of the case the appellants are not rendering the service of storage and warehouse – demand under the category of storage and warehouse service is not justified – stay granted
Service Tax - COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE Versus EXCEL CROP CARE LTD. = 2008

Date of Decision: July 29, 2008 - HIGH COURT GUJARAT Input credit on mobile services - On a plain reading of Rule 2(l)(i), it is apparent that the mobile service provider, who is liable to pay service tax, and recovers the same by adding such service tax in his bill, is the person providing taxable service and is rendering ‘output service’ so as to constitute ‘input service’ in hands of respondent assessee – credit not deniable on ground that phones were not installed in the factory premises – no question of law arise – revenue’s appeal dismissed
Service Tax - ANAND ASSOCIATES Versus CST, AHMEDABAD = 2008

Date of Decision: August 26, 2008 - CESTAT AHMEDABADServices of Mandap Keeper - that the definition of “Mandap Keeper” includes providing of services to client in respect of open plot allowed to be used for social function and the same does not include commission received from decorators by providing them the client for the purpose of decoration. Such commission has to be excluded while calculating the service tax – matter is remanded to original adjudicating authority for re-quantification of the duty & penalty
Service Tax - CCE. RAJKOT Versus RAJHANS METALS P. LTD. = 2008

Date of Decision: August 13, 2008 - CESTAT AHMEDABADWhether the respondents are eligible for cenvat credit of service tax paid on GTA services availed for the purpose of transportation of the finished goods from the factory to the consignment agent’s premises - Circular No.137/3/2006-CX.4 dt. 2/2/2006 - In view of the fact that consignment agent premises is also defined as a place of removal and the property in the goods never passes to a consignment agent, respondents are eligible for the cenvat credit.

Income Tax case

Income Tax - Mr. Mustaq Ahmed., In re = 2008

Date of Decision: November 19, 2008 - AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE RULINGSApplicant is a non-resident - applicant sells jewellery in local market as well as by export, mostly to Singapore – income arising to the applicant on the purchase in India of gold for the purpose of manufacturing gold jewellery in India for export – held that such income attracts charge to tax under sub-section (2) of Sec.5 as the income is received in India and has accrued in India - Explanation 1(b) to Sec. 9(1)(i) does not come to the aid of the applicant - income is taxable in India

Insurers to adopt uniform definition of policy expiry

HYDERABAD: Domestic life insurers may have to adopt a uniform definition for expiry of insurance policies to give more leeway to policyholders on premium payments. IRDA has recommended a uniform grace period of 30 days for policyholders paying their premium every quarter, half-year or every year. A 15-day grace period has been suggested for policy holders paying monthly premium. An insurance policy lapses when the subscriber does not pay the premium within the grace period. IRDA has recommended re-instatement of a policy if the premium is paid within the revival period of two to five years, as per the internal practice of the insurer. Currently, companies have different definitions on expiry of policies and this creates a lot of confusion. The suggestion to life insurers to adopt a uniform grace period and lapse definition has been made in IRDA’s first occasional paper on lapsation of insurance policies and its impact on the domestic industry. Lapsation of insurance policies is of world-wide concern and impacts all stakeholders. IRDA chairman J Hari Narayan reckons that results thrown up in such research studies could help stimulate a policy debate and make course corrections, if need be. The occasional paper has been authored by a team led by R Kannan, member, actuary, IRDA. The recommendations, if adopted by insurers, would give more leeway to policyholders and curb policy lapses. The study reveals that the lapse rate in terms of the number of policies increased from 5.62% in 2002-03 to 6.64% in 2006-07. The lapse rate of premium rose from 4.4% to 6.95% during the period under review. The lapse rate in Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs), 18% in terms of number of policies and 10% by premium was also much higher compared to most traditional plans. ULIPs are popular savings instruments that offer flexibility to the policy-holder in terms of investment and also a life cover. A part of the premium is invested in equities or government bonds, depending on the choice of the policy-holder. Term assurance products showed the highest rate of lapse, while pension policies had the lowest lapsation rate. The lapse rate for non-medical policies was, however, higher than that of medical covers. When a policy lapses, the policy holder forfeits the premium paid and the insurance cover. The agent loses the renewal commission. It also impacts the growth of the insurance business and solvency margins of the insurer. Solvency margin refers to the excess of assets over liabilities that an insurer maintains as a prudential measure in the interest of policyholders.