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Frequently
Asked Questions |
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What is Apparel Export Promotion Council? |
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AEPC, registered under section 25 of the Companies' Act 1956, works closely with Government of India on policy issues in Apparel sector. The Council provides specialized services and global business opportunities for industry. |
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Where is AEPC headquartered? |
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AEPC has it's headquarter at Apparel
House, Institutional area,
Sector-44, Gurgaon-122003 |
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Apparel House also offers 250
permanent showrooms besides
Institute of Apparel Management &
Headquarters of AEPC's Education and
Training Initiatives. Apparel House
is equipped with modern
state-of-the-art infrastructure
having international facility for
business with exhibition hall, art
gallery, auditorium and conference
hall facility. Members take part in
various council's activities being
organized at Apparel House like
Market Week etc. |
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Who are the key contact persons in AEPC? |
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| Details of AEPC official are at "contacts" in AEPC website.
Know more |
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What are the other policies supports given to the sector? |
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Rationalization of the excise duty
regime - The inverted duty structure
that prevailed earlier with higher
duties for fibers and filaments and
lower for fabric has been rectified
to some extent.
Although the optional zero duty
route for the cotton value chain has
helped a large number of yarn and
fabric manufacturers , excise duty
route is still adopted by a lot of
people in order to take cenvat
credit for expenses made on dyes and
chemicals, packing and other inputs.
Custom duty - Between 2005-06 and
now, custom duty has been
progressively reduced from 20% to
10%. For textile machinery it has
been further reduced to 5%, since
2005-06, for specified items.
Incentives in 2008-09 through
various stimulus packages :
Across-the-board cut of four percent
in the ad valorem central
value-added tax effected from Dec
2008.
Interest subvention of two percent
on export credit for labour
intensive sectors was restored in
Dec 2008, after withdrawal in
September 2008.
Full refund of service tax paid by
exporters to foreign agents was
another provision added in the
December stimulus package.
Limits under the credit guarantee
scheme for small enterprises doubled
in December stimulus package.
Besides this, lock-in period for
loans to small firms under credit
guarantee scheme reduced.
Import duty on naphtha for use by
the power sector reduced to zero.
This may have some indirect benefit
to the industry through cheaper
power.
In Feb 2009, reduction in excise
duty and service tax by 2% was
announced.
FDI liberalization
AEPC with the assistance of
government has come up with a scheme
for mobilization of FDI into India
in textile and garment sector (www.aepcindia.com/fdi
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What are AEPCs’ activities? |
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Organizing Buyer Seller Meets (www.aepcindia.com/bsm
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Spearheading trade delegations to
potential markets. (www.aepcindia.com/tradedelegation
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Participation in specialized
international fairs. (http://www.aepcindia.com/internationalfairs)
Organizing seminars (http://www.aepcindia.com/seminar)
Integrating skill human resource
development through its Education &
Training initiatives like Apparel
Training & Design Centres (www.aepcindia.com/atdc
) and Institutes of Apparel
Management (http://www.aepcindia.com/iam)
Disseminating information to trade
through publishing a monthly
magazine, "Apparel India" (http://www.aepcindia.com/ai)
AEPC's website, (www.aepcindia.com )
provides detailed info on policies,
data, events, schemes as also
database on suppliers and buyers.
AEPC's publications like Country
Reports (www.aepcindia.com/countryreport
)and Market Focus Reports (www.aepcindia.com/mfr
) are available to members in CD at
concessional rates.
A well equipped library (in Mumbai
and Gurgaon) with over 100 latest
fashion related and valuable market
trend publications is available to
the trade members for their
reference.
AEPC's media cell (http://www.aepcindia.com/mediacell)
Conducting market surveys and
providing market intelligence
through various cluster studies,
research reports & journals.
Exploring new markets and
identifying items of export
potential (Already undergoing a New
Product Development Scheme for Trade
under MoC).
Developing new markets for existing
products through various export
promotion activities like Road
shows, leading trade delegations,
etc. |
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How does AEPC help in export promotion? |
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Market Development Assistance As per
MDA guidelines, any exporter who is
a member of AEPC with atleast 12
months of membership and export
turnover of the company less than 15
crores rupees in the preceding
financial year can avail the MDA
grant for participating in overseas
trade fairs. The MDA eligibility
area-wise is given below for a
particular financial year: |
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Area/Sector |
No. of visits |
Max. financial ceiling per
event |
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Focus LAC |
1 |
Rs.
1.80 lac |
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Focus Africa (including WANA
countries) |
1 |
Rs.
1.50 lac |
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Focus CIS |
1 |
Rs.
1.50 lac |
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Focus ASEAN+2 |
1 |
Rs.
1.50 lac |
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General Area |
1 |
Rs.
0.80 lac |
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During the year 2008-09 ted through
AEPC in different AEPC’s overseas
fairs. List of exporters, who have
received MDA is placed in website,
‘aepcindia.com’
Market Access Initiative
The Council gets MAI subsidy for
organizing Mega Shows and Buyer
Seller meets. This subsidy is passed
on to the members of the Council in
subsidizing the cost of the stall in
Buyer Seller meets and Mega Shows
abroad. Council has done mega show
in South Africa during March 2009 an
d organizing another mega show in
Japan from 22 to 24th July 2009.
Rebate in Training
The members of the Council get a
rebate of 40% in the tuition fee for
Authorized employees nominated for
core courses and 20% rebate in
flagship courses in ATDC centers.
(Contact: Mr. G.D Gaur, Senior
Registrar, Ph: 0124-2708019)
Productivity Improvement
Programme
The Council contributes 35% (US $
6300) of the total implementation
cost of $ 18000 for implementing the
Productivity /efficiency Improvement
Programme to its members. (Contact,
Mr. J.D Bakshi, Ph: 0124 208020)
Subsidy in Overseas Training
The Council provides 75% subsidy in
the Training Cost for the employees
of Export Houses to train their
employees at CITA (Clothing Industry
Training Authority) Hong Kong.
(Contact, Mr. J.D Bakshi, Ph: 0124
208020)
Duty Drawback-
The Council collects duty drawback
data and submits it to drawback
directorate for facilitating and
granting of duty drawback to the
members of the Council. On an
average Rs. 3200 crores of duty
drawback is distributed to the
Apparel Exporters per year by the
Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India
based on the duty draw back data
collected by the Council. At present
duty drawback on cotton knitted
garments and cotton woven is 8.8%.
Export Performance Certificate
Export Performance Certificate is
issued to its members for the
purpose of importing trims and
embellishments duty free for use in
manufacture of textile garments for
export.
During financial year 2008-09, EPC
for export value Rs. 20428 crores
with total entitlement amount of Rs.
612 crores was issued to the council
members
covering items:
FASTNERS AND POLYWADDING MATERIALS.
LINING AND INTERLINING MATERIALS
including knitted lining and
interlining. INLAY CARDS. SHOULDER
PADS. BUCKLES. EYELETS. HOOKS AND
EYES. RIVETS, COLLAR STAYS, COLLAR
PATTIES. BUTTERFLY AND OTHER GARMENT
STAYS INCLUDING PLASTIC STAYS,
FUSIBLE EMBROIDERY MOTIFS OR PRINTS.
LACES. BADGES INCLUDING EMBROIDERED
BADGES. VELCRO TAPE AND
EMBROIDERYTHREADS. SEWING. THREAD.
STONES (OTHER THAN PRECIOUS & SEMI
PRECIOUS SEQUIN TAPE ELASTIC TAPE &
HOOK TAPE OF WIDTH NOT EXCEEDING 75
MM, CORD & CORD STOPPER. TOGGLES,
STUD. ELASTIC CLOTH AND ELASTIC
BAND. QUILTED WADDING MATERIALS,
BEADS FOR EMBROIDERY. SAMPLE FABRIC
OF TOTAL LENGTH UPTO 500 METRE
IMPORTED
Certificate of Origin
The council is issuing/certifying an
instrument to establish evidence on
origin of goods to be imported into
any country.
The above service to the trade is
being provided from all the Regional
offices (www.aepcindia.com/atdclist
) of the Council and ATDC centres
Fashion Forecast seminars (http://www.aepcindia.com/ffseminars)
Market Intelligence- AEPC provides
market intelligence through various
cluster studies, research reports &
journals. (http://www.aepcindia.com/mi) |
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How to become a member of AEPC? |
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To become a member of AEPC you can
send a mail at sbanghari@aepcindia.com
This e-mail address is being
protected from spambots. You need
JavaScript enabled to view it to get
more details on this. |
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How can one avail the different publications of AEPC? |
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Apparel Training and Design
Centre(ATDC)
The training activities of ATDC's
have been streamlined in 21 ATDC
hubs, 20 satellite skill development
projects and other centers through,
8 flagships and 6 core courses. The
flagship courses aim to improve
efficiency, productivity and quality
in the Apparel sector while core
courses aim to provide required
skills and competencies.
Target to roll- out 50,000 students
per year
Institute of Apparel Management (IAM)
IAM has announced its academic
programmes at IAM campuses at
Gurgaon and Sanpada, Mumbai. The
long term vision for IAM is to
position it as a Multi-varsity to
meet the export, domestic, fashion
and lifestyle industry requirements
for trained managers and design
professionals, with a broad base of
applied management skills,
competencies, and knowledge typical
of the dynamic apparel business in
global context.
IAM is offering UG and PG programmes
under its four tracks namely Fashion
& Life Style Design, Apparel
Merchandising & Management, Apparel
Production Technology & SCM and
Fashion Retail & Brand Management. |
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Where can you locate the list of different ATDC and IAM regional centres? |
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What are the different courses offered by ATDC? |
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What are the initiatives taken under Social Responsibility? |
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Setting up training centres in rural
and backward districts.
Organizing Health Screening and Eye
check-up/operation camps
Livelihood generation for below
poverty line families
Training of differently-abled
children
Training of vulnerable groups of
trafficking
Prisoners rehabilitation program
Free training to widows and
destitutes
Mobile Training Centre, under skill
development initiatives for the
rural women of Tirupur |
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How can one avail the different publications of AEPC? |
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For the different publications of
the council, one can contact the
concerned persons as mentioned in
the following link (www.aepcindia.com/publications) |
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What is the present status of Indian Apparel Industry? |
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The current export and import
position of India and other
important garment producing
countries can be seen on the
following link (www.aepcindia/tradedata
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How do I contact AEPC ? |
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The best way to contact is by
e-mail. You can find a link to our
contact information at the bottom of
every web site page. The link is
called CONTACT US |
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How to file Service Tax Returns, on what
interval and with whom? |
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The Service Tax assesses are
required to file half yearly return
in Form ST-3 or ST-3A as applicable,
in duplicate , to concerned
Superintendent, Central Excise. It
should be filed within 25 days from
the last day of the half year i.e.,
by 25th April and 25th October. The
return should be accompanied by
challans for Service Tax paid. |
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What is E-filing of Service Tax returns? |
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E-filing is a facility for the
electronic filing of Service Tax
returns by the assessee from his
office, residence or any other place
of his choice, through the Internet. |
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Who can E-file their returns? |
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Assessees having a 15 digit STP code
and falling under any of the taxable
services can avail of the facility
of electronic filing of their
Returns. |
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Whether export of services is exempted from
Service Tax? If so, what constitutes
exports? |
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The taxable services which are
supplied within India except Jammu
and Kashmir are leviable to Service
Tax. Thus all the taxable services
exported outside India are not
leviable to Service Tax and
therefore exempt. Service Tax is a
destination based tax therefore if
the services are consumed abroad,
they are covered under export and
are not leviable to Service Tax. For
example if a Management Consultant
provides the consultancy to a
foreign company situated outside
India, it will constitute direct
export. Or if an Indian company
through its branch office abroad
provides service there, it will be
export of service. But a foreign
company coming to India and availing
taxable services in India, the
Service Tax will be leviable as it
is not export of taxable service.
Similarly a foreign tourist coming
to India and availing taxable
services, Service tax is leviable as
there is no export of service in
this case. |
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What is the procedure for claiming refund in
Service Tax cases? |
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The procedure for claiming refund of
service tax for the amount from the
Department is as mentioned below:- |
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Submission of application in
prescribed Form-R in triplicate to
the jurisdictional Assistant
Commissioner. |
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Application should be filed within
the prescribed period, i.e., before
the expiry of relevant period as
defined in Section 11B of the
Central Excise Act, 1944 which has
been made applicable to service tax
refund matters also. |
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Application should be accompanied by
documentary evidence to establish
that the amount claimed as refund is
the amount paid by him in excess of
the service tax due and the
incidence of such tax has not been
passed on to any other person. |
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Where to approach in case an assessee is
aggrieved by an order of Assistant
Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner in Service
Tax cases? |
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An assessee aggrieved by an order of
Assistant Commissioner/Deputy
Commissioner in Service Tax cases,
may file an appeal to the
Commissioner of Central Excise
(Appeal) in duplicate along with a
copy of order appealed against. The
appeal should be presented within
three months from the date of
receipt of the decision or order of
the Central Excise officer. |
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What is the quantity to be considered while
calculating the requirements under REACH? |
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Consolidated quantity from your
factory to EU. |
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What is the testing capacity in India? |
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India has a low testing capacity
(samples that can be tested per
year) of India with respect to our
major competitor, like China, would
also work as a hindrance for the
apparel industry in India. |
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What is the lead time for getting the
samples tested? |
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The lead time required for getting
the samples tested would be
approximate 7 working days. |
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Whose responsibility is it to get the
samples tested? |
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At the first go, the burden of
testing will have to be borne by the
exporters while, at a later stage it
can be shifted on to the chemical
suppliers. |
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Who should the exporter contact in the
target company in EU? |
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The REACH inspector in the country
of export |
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What is the penalty which will be imposed on
the defaulting exporters, as per the REACH
compliance? |
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The penalty will be 75,000 euros,
after 1st April, 2011. |
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How to communicate to buyer that the product
which is being exported to their country is
REACH certified? |
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One needs to construct a REACH
compliance file, with a proper
technical approach. For this, one
can refer to their in-house
expertise or any other certified
bodies. |
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Where can the Act/Rules relating to exports be found? |
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Following Act/rules are available
free of cost at site www.cbec.gov.in
which are relevant from exports
point of view Customs Act,
1962,Customs, Central Excise and
Service Tax Drawback Rules,
1995,Export Manifest (Aircraft)
Regulation, 1996.etc. |
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What is Export General Manifest (EGM)? |
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EGM is the document which is to be
filed by airlines declaring the
consignments along with the
relevant particulars like shipping
bill number, Airway Bill Number and
number of packages which have been
loaded in the aircraft for taking
these out from India. |
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What are the pre-requisites for effecting export by sea? |
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The exporters have to obtain PAN
based IEC (Importer Exporter Code)
from the Directorate General of
Foreign Trade. Under the EDI System,
PAN based IEC is received by the
Customs System from the DGFT online.
The Exporters /CHAs are required to
register their IE Codes, CHAs
License No. , the Bank Account No.
(for credit of drawback amount) in
the case of export under drawback
with the customs EDI. |
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What are the documents required to be filed with the Customs department while effecting Exports? |
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Under the manual system, shipping
bills in the format as prescribed in
the Shipping bill and Bill of Export
(form) Regulations, 1991 was
required to be filed for effecting
exports. However, in the EDI System,
only a declaration in the prescribed
format the required to be filed
either through the Service center,
or through EDI over ICEGATE.
- A declaration in the format Annexure-A
- Copy of Export invoice
- SDF declaration
- Drawback/DEEC/DFRC/DEPB
declaration/ AR-4s etc., as
applicable
- Packing list
The Service Center assigns a Job
No. to the declaration. The job is
entered and a checklist is generated
for verification of data by the
exporter/CHA. After verification,
the data is entered to the System by
the Service Center operator and the
system generates a Shipping Bill
Number, which is endorsed on the
printed sheet and returned to the
exporter / CHA.
For export items which are subject
to export cess, the TR-6 challans
for cess is printed and given by the
Service Center to the exporter/CHA
immediately after submission of
shipping bill. |
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How the goods are allowed entry in the Cargo shed for customs clearance? |
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The goods brought for the purpose of
examination are allowed entry to the
Cargo shed on the strength of the
checklist and other declarations
filed by the exporter in the Service
Center. The Airport authorities have
to endorse the quantity of goods
actually received on the reverse of
the Check List. |
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To whom the export and the accompanying documents are presented thereafter? |
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After the receipt of the goods in
the Cargo shed, the exporter/CHA may
contact the Customs Officer and
present the check list with the
endorsement of Airport Authority
with all original documents such as
invoice and packing list, AR-4, SDF
and any other document required
under the provision of any other Act
or Exim Policy . Customs Officer
verifies the quantity of the goods
actually received and enter into the
system The System generates
Container / package No. for the
purpose of examination, if any , by
Customs Officer. |
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How the export documents are processed? |
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In most cases the Shipping Bill is
processed by the system on the basis
of declaration made by the exporters
without any human intervention. In
other cases where the Shipping Bill
is processed on screen by the
Customs Officer, he may call for the
samples, if required for confirming
the declared value or for checking
classification under the Drawback
Schedule. He may also give any
special instructions for examination
of goods, it felt necessary. |
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What are the examination norms for the export goods? |
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The system gives examination order
for the goods being exported. The
quantum of examination is dependent
on the export promotion scheme under
which the export is being made as
also the destination port. Generally
5% to 10% of the goods are subjected
to examination. |
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How the order for export is is given? |
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On examination if the shed
superintendent is satisfied that the
particulars entered in the system
conform to the description given in
the original documents, he will give
‘Let Export Order’.After LEO the
shipping bill is printed and their
copy is handed over to CHA/ Exporter
for making arrangement for stuffing
/ loading of the goods in the
container |
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Is it permissible to pay the custom duty & interest thereon from DEPB for regularisation of shortfall in fulfillment of export obligation in case of EPCG licence? |
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While the Custom duty can be paid
from DEPB, the interest has to be
paid in cash only. In this
connection para 8 (v) of Custom
Circular No. 26/2009-Custom date.
30.09.2009 is reproduced below : |
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“Para 5.14 of new Handbook of
Procedures Vol. 1 (2009-14) provides
that in the event of non-fulfillment
of EO, the EPCG Authorization holder
may pay duties of customs through
the scrips issued under reward /
DEPB scheme also. The interest on
such duty and penalties , if any,
however shall be paid in cash.” |
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What are the privileges of Export & Trading Houses? |
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The same are given in para 3.10.4 &
are reproduced below for ready
reference of the Apparel India
readers: |
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3.10.4 A Status Holder shall be
eligible for privileges as under |
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- Authorization and Customs
Clearances for both imports and
exports on self-declaration
basis;
- Fixation f
Input-Output norms on priority
within 60 days;
- Exemption from compulsory
negotiation of documents through
banks. Remittance/Receipts,
however, would be received
through banking channels;
- 100% retention of foreign
exchange in EEFC account.
- Exemption from furnishing of
BG in Schemes under FTP;
- SEHs and above shall be
permitted to establish Export
Warehouses, as per DoR
guidelines.
- For status holders, a
decision on conferring of ACP
Status shall be communicated by
Customs within 30 days from
receipt of application with
Customs.
- As an option, for Premier
Trading House (PTH), the average
level of exports under EPCG
Scheme shall be the arithmetic
mean of export performance in
last 5 years, instead of 3
years.
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What is relevant date for calculation of limitation period in respect of filing refund claims relating to Service Tax? |
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The “relevant date” for the purpose
of refund as per section 11B of the
Central Excise Act, 1944 which is
applicable to Service Tax also, is
the date of payment of Service Tax.
Thus, the limitation period of one
year is to be calculated from the
date of payment of the Service Tax |
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Is there any provision for interest for delayed payment of refunds? |
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If any duty/tax ordered to be
refunded under section 11B(2) of
Central Excise Act, 1944, to any
applicant is not refunded within
three months from the date of
receipt of application, interest at
the applicable rate shall be paid,
subject to conditions laid down
under section 11BB of the Central
Excise Act, 1944. Also where an
amount deposited by an appellant in
pursuance of an order passed by the
Commissioner (Appeals) or the
Appellate Tribunal, under the first
proviso to section 35F of the
Central Excise Act, 1944, is
required to be refunded consequent
upon the order of the appellate
authority and such amount is not
refunded within three months from
the date of communication of such
order to the adjudicating authority
unless the operation of the order of
appellate authority is stayed by a
superior court or tribunal, interest
shall be paid at the applicable rate
after the expiry of three months,
under the provisions made in section
35FF of the Central Excise Act,
1944.
Provisions of Sections 11B, 11BB,
35F and 35FF of the Central Excise
Act, 1944 are made applicable in
Service Tax matters. |
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What are the frequency norms of audit for service tax assesses ? |
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Director General of Audit, New Delhi has prepared Service Tax Audit Manual, 2010. As per the guidelines, tax payers whose annual service tax payment (including cash and CENVAT) was Rs.3 crore or more in the preceding financial year may be subjected to mandatory audit each year. It is preferable that Audit of all such Units is done by using Computer Assisted Audit Program (CAAP) techniques. The frequency of audit for other taxpayers would be as per following norms:-
- Taxpayers with Service Tax payment above Rs.3 crores (Cash + CENVAT) (MANDATORY UNITS) – to be audited every year.
- Taxpayers with Service Tax payment between Rs.1 crore and Rs.3 crores (Cash + CENVAT) – to be audited once every two years.
- Taxpayers with Service Tax payment between Rs.25 lakhs and Rs.1 crore (Cash + CENVAT) – to be audited once every five years.
- Taxpayers with Service Tax payment upto Rs.25 lakhs (Cash + CENVAT) – 2% of taxpayers to be audited every year.
The Audit selection guidelines, therefore, would apply to the non-mandatory taxpayers, forming part of the discretionary workload. These taxpayers should be selected on the basis of assessment of the risk potential to revenue. This process, which is an essential feature of audit selection, is known as Risk Assessment. It involves the ranking of taxpayers according to a quantitative indicator of risk known as a “risk parameter”. It is also suggested that the taxpayers whose returns were selected for detailed scrutiny, may not be taken up for Audit that year, to avoid duplication of work. Similarly, the taxpayers who have been selected for Audit, may not be taken up for detailed scrutiny of their ST-3 Returns during that year.
The Service Tax Audit Manual, 2010 is in the process of finalization and publication by D.G. Audit, New Delhi. In the circumstances, till the same is published, the existing instructions on audit shall continue.
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What is the liability of service tax on receipt of service from overseas ? |
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There are certain exporters who take services of Overseas Agents and in turn pay commission to them. Such exporters become liable to pay Service Tax on reverse charge method on import of service. Various Commissionerates of the Service Tax department have raised such demands for the period from 1.01.2005 or even earlier. Now the CBEC has decided to levy service tax only with effect from 18.04.2006 (i.e.) from the date of enactment of section 66-A of the Finance Act, 1994. Hence, any demand of service tax on the amount paid to Overseas Agencies prior to 18.04.2006 will not be maintainable and hence, this fact may be taken to the notice of the authorities and accordingly, the demands may be closed as such. Following instructions have been issued by the Board office to the offices of all Chief Commissioners and Commissioners of Central Excise and Service Tax which may kindly be perused.
To,
- All the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise/LTU
- All Commissioner of Central Excise/Service Tax the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise/LTU
Sir/Madam,
Sub: Applicability
of service tax on taxable services provided by a non-resident or a person
located outside India to a recipient in India-reg.
Kind attention is invited to instruction F No. 275/7/2010-CX8A, dated 30.6.2010,
wherein the Board had communicated its view that services tax on a taxable
service received in India, when provided by a non-resident/person located
outside India, would be applicable on reverse charge basis with effect from
1.1.2005, and that the ratio of judgement in M/s Indian National Shipowners
Association (INSA) case [2009 (13) STR 235 (Bom)] would not apply to such cases.
Further, direction was issued to field formations to defend the levy of service
tax on such services for the period on or after 1.1.2005, as post INSA judgment,
it has been held by the High Courts/Tribunal in a large number of cases,
applying ratio thereof, that service tax on such services is leviable only
w.e.f. 18.4.2006. However, the appeals filed by the department before the
Hon’ble Supreme Court, for defending the levy of service tax on such services
w.e.f. 1.1.2005, have been dismissed recently (subsequent to the issuance of
said instruction dated 30.6.2010) in the following cases.
- SLP (C) No. 29539 of 2010 in CCE Vs Bhandari Hosiery Exports Ltd
- SLP (C)No. 18160 of 2010 in CST Vs Unitech Ltd
- SLP (C) No. 34208/09 of 2010 in UOI Vs S R Batliboi & Co.
- SLP (C)No. 328/332 of 2011 in UOI Vs Ernst & Young
- SLP (C) No. 25687-25688/2011 in CCE Vs Needle Industries
- SLP (C) No. 25689-25690/2011 in UOI Vs SKM Engg Products
Further, Review Petition No. 1686 of 2011 filed in the case of Bhandari Hosiery
has also been dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide order dated 18/8/2011.
2. In view of the aforementioned judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the
service tax liability on any taxable service provided by a non resident or a
person located outside India, to a recipient in India, would arise w.e.f.
18.4.2006, i.e., the date of enactment of section 66A of the Finance Act, 1994.
The Board has accepted this position. Accordingly, the instruction F No.
275/7/2010-CX8A, dated 30.6.2010 stands rescinded.
3. Appropriate action may please be taken accordingly in the pending disputes. |
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What are the guidelines to be followed for stuffing of export containers under supervision of Central Excise Officers ? |
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Guidelines have been issued by Central Board of Excise and Customs from time to time through different Circulars, Notifications etc. for stuffing of export containers under supervision of Central Excise Officers. The same are compiled below and must be followed.
Chapter 7 and 8 of CBEC’s Central Excise Manual, inter-alia, provide that the exporter of excisable goods may request the Superintendent/ Inspector of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the factory or warehouse or approved premises for examination and sealing of the export goods at the place of dispatch, 24 hours in advance or such shorter period as may be mutually agreed upon. Notification No. 19/2004-CE(NT) dated 6th September 2004, issued under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002, inter-alia, provides that registered manufacturer exporters and merchant exporters who procure the goods directly from the factory or warehouse for export under claim of rebate, have the option of getting the export goods sealed by the Central Excise officer at the place of dispatch. Further, the merchant – exporters other than those procuring the goods directly from the factory or warehouse are also allowed to export the goods sealed at the place of dispatch by a Central Excise Officer. The application for examination and sealing of export goods at the place of dispatch is required to be made to the jurisdictional Superintendent/ Inspector of Central Excise. In terms of Notification No. 42/2001-CE (NT) dated 26th June 2001, applicable to export under bond in terms of Rule 19 of Central Excise Rules, 2002, the exporter shall approach the concerned Superintendent or Inspector of Central Excise.
Vide Circular No. 736/52/2003-CX dated 11th August 2003, the facility of self-sealing and self-certification has been extended to all categories of manufacturer- exporters subject to compliance with existing procedures. Vide Circular No. 860/18/2007-CX dated 22nd November 2007, it has been prescribed that in case of exports under free Shipping Bills, i.e., Shipping Bills where no export benefits are being sought, the manufacturer- exporter shall mandatorily resort to self-sealing of export containers and the Central Excise Officer shall not entertain any request for stuffing and sealing of export containers, in their presence in such cases.
In view of above existing instructions, it is reiterated that the facility/ option of examination and sealing of export containers by the Central Excise Officers at the place of dispatch is available to both manufacturer- exporters (except when the export is on free Shipping Bill) and merchant-exporter in respect of the goods exported in terms of Rule 18 or 19 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002. Such examination, stuffing and sealing of export containers by the Central Excise Officers are permitted at the factory or warehouse or any other approved premises.
In respect of the both excisable and non excisable goods the exporters are required to obtain one time permission from the concerned custom formation in terms of the Custom Circular No. 60/2001-Cus dated 1st November 2001, and Circular No. 20/2010-Cus dated 22nd July 2010. On the basis of the said permission given by the Commissioner of Customs, the Central Excise officers of the jurisdictional range had been undertaking the work of sealing the export goods on the request made by the exporters.
The examination, stuffing and sealing of export containers at the place of dispatch are required to be done by the jurisdictional Central Excise Superintendent/ Inspector. The application for examination and stuffing of export containers at the place of dispatch has to be made to the jurisdictional Superintendent/ Inspector of Central Excise, 24 hours in advance or such shorter period as may be mutually agreed upon. The facility of online scheduling of factory stuffing by Central Excise Officers has been prescribed by the Board vide Circular No. 934/24/2010-CX dated 25th August 2010, vide which the exporter can seek such scheduling by sending an e-mail to the range officer. It is reiterated that exporter needs to correspond only with the range officer for such stuffing. Keeping in mind these requirements, the Chief Commissioner will ensure that the Commissioner should suitably augment staff strength available with range by making necessary administrative arrangements.
In respect of the services provided by the Central Excise Officers at any premises other than the premises which are not the normal work premises of that officer, i.e. for export from premises other than those registered with the Central Excise officer, MOT charges will be payable at the applicable rates even if the said services are being provided during the normal working hours. In case of the services provided beyond the normal working hours MOT charges as applicable will be payable for all the premises whether registered with the Central Excise or not. |
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