Illegal import of fireworks/crackers

Regarding ban on import of fireworks, the “Anti-Smuggling Unit”, Central Board of Excise & Customs, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi have issued an Instruction No. 13/2017- Customs dated 27th September, 2017

the text of which is reproduced hereunder

Instruction No. 13/2017- Customs dated 27th September 2017

F. No. 394/150/2014-Cus (AS)
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise & Customs
(Anti-Smuggling Unit)

New Delhi,

To,

All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Preventive),
All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs & Central Tax/Central Excise,
All Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Preventive),
All Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs & Central Tax/Central Excise,
The Director General, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence

Subject: Illegal import of fireworks/crackers – Judgment dated 12.09.2017 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No.728 of 2015 – reg.

Madam / Sir,

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has been, from time to time, issuing alerts regarding sensitization of officers and taking suitable measures to ensure prevention of illegal import of fireworks/ crackers of foreign origin.

2. In this context, attention is invited to the Judgment dated 12.09.2017 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court delivered in I. A. No. 52448 of 2017 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 728 of 2015 in the matter of Arjun Gopal & ors. Vs UOI & ors. The Apex Court, in the said matter, has inter-alia directed the Union of India to take action as under:

“The Union of India will ensure strict compliance with the Notification GSR No. 64 (E) dated 27th January, 1992 regarding the ban on import of fireworks. The Union of India is at liberty to update and revise this notification in view of the passage of time and further knowledge gained over the last 25 years and issue afresh notification, if necessary.”  

2.   The Department of Industrial Development (now Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion), vide Notification G.S.R. No. 64 (E) dated 27.01.1992 prohibited the manufacture, possession and importation of any explosive consisting of or containing sulphur or sulphuret in admixture with chlorate of potassium or any other chlorate.

3.   The import of fireworks is ‘restricted’ under ITC (HS) and requires an import licence from the DGFT. Further, till date, no license to import fireworks has been granted for possession and/or sale under the Explosives Rules, 2008 by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization.

4.   In view of the above, it is requested that the officers under your jurisdiction may be suitably alerted and appropriate measure may be taken to ensure strict compliance with the Notification GSR No.64 (E) dated 27.01.1992 regarding the ban on import of fireworks.

Yours faithfully,

(Rohit Anand)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Refund of IGST paid on export of goods

The Central Board of Excise & Customs, Ministry of Finance, have issued INSTRUCTION NO.15/2017-CUSTOMS dated 9th October, 2017.

which explains that;
Rule 96 of the CGST Rules 2017 deals with refund of Integrated Tax paid on goods exported out of India.

It provides that the shipping bill filed by an exporter shall be deemed to be an application for refund of integrated tax paid on the goods exported out of India once export general manifest (EGM) and valid return in Form GSTR-3 or Form GSTR-3B, as the case may be has been filed.

Once these conditions are met, the Customs System shall process the claim for refund and an amount equal to the integrated tax paid in respect of each shipping bill or bill of export shall be electronically credited to the bank account of the applicant mentioned in his registration particulars and as intimated to the Customs authorities.

The Committee on Exports setup by the GST Council has recommended that IGST refunds for exports made in July 2017 must start by 10.10.2017.

This recommendation has been endorsed by GST Council in its meeting on 06-10-2017. Necessary background work is being done by the Directorate General of Systems, GSTN and Controller General of Accounts (PFMS). In order to ensure that refunds start smoothly, following guidelines are issued for the field formations.

No extension of last date for filing GSTR-1 for July, 2017

source: sns124.com / 9th October, 2017 

The last date for filing GSTR-1 for the month of July, 2017 is 10th October, 2017. An extension of two months has already been given. There will be no further extension given to taxpayers for filing their GSTR-1 return for July. Taxpayers who have not yet filed their GSTR-1 for July are advised to do so immediately.

2. Once a taxpayer files GSTR-1 by 10th October, the corresponding entries in GSTR-2A of his buyer shall get auto populated. The buyer shall finalize his GSTR-2 after making modifications (additions, corrections or deletions), if required, in GSTR-2A. The Input Tax Credit (ITC) shall be availed by the buyer based on his GSTR-2. If a taxpayer does not file GSTR-1 by 10th of October, then his buyer may face difficulty in availing ITC of the tax paid on his supplies. It is therefore advised that all suppliers of goods or services, especially B2B suppliers, furnish their outward supply details in GSTR-1 by the due date so that no difficulty is faced by their buyers in availing ITC and the return cycle can be completed in due course. 

Recommendations made by the GST Council in the 22nd meeting at New Delhi on 6th October, 2017

Recommendations made by the GST Council in the 22nd meeting at New Delhi on 6th October, 2017

 GST package for Small Units 

The GST Council, in its 22nd meeting held at New Delhi on 6th October 2017, has recommended the following facilitative changes to ease the burden of compliance on small and medium businesses:

 Composition Scheme 

1. The composition scheme shall be made available to taxpayers having annual aggregate turnover of up to Rs. 1 crore as compared to the current turnover threshold of Rs. 75 lacs. This threshold of turnover for special category States, except Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, shall be increased to Rs. 75 lacs from Rs. 50 lacs. The turnover threshold for Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand shall be Rs. 1 crore. The facility of availing composition under the increased threshold shall be available to both migrated and new taxpayers up to 31.03.2018. The option once exercised shall become operational from the first day of the month immediately succeeding the month in which the option to avail the composition scheme is exercised. New entrants to this scheme shall have to file the return in FORM GSTR-4 only for that portion of the quarter from when the scheme becomes operational and shall file returns as a normal taxpayer for the preceding tax period. The increase in the turnover threshold will make it possible for greater number of taxpayers to avail the benefit of easier compliance under the composition scheme and is expected to greatly benefit the MSME sector.

2. Persons who are otherwise eligible for composition scheme but are providing any exempt service (such as extending deposits to banks for which interest is being received) were being considered ineligible for the said scheme. It has been decided that such persons who are otherwise eligible for availing the composition scheme and are providing any exempt service, shall be eligible for the composition scheme.

3. A Group of Ministers (GoM) shall be constituted to examine measures to make the composition scheme more attractive.

Relief for Small and Medium Enterprises 

4. Presently, anyone making inter-state taxable supplies, except inter-State job worker, is compulsorily required to register, irrespective of turnover. It has now been decided to exempt those service providers whose annual aggregate turnover is less than Rs. 20 lacs (Rs. 10 lacs in special category states except J & K) from obtaining registration even if they are making inter-State taxable supplies of services. This measure is expected to significantly reduce the compliance cost of small service providers.

5. To facilitate the ease of payment and return filing for small and medium businesses with annual aggregate turnover up to Rs. 1.5 crores, it has been decided that such taxpayers shall be required to file quarterly returns in FORM GSTR-1,2 & 3 and pay taxes only on a quarterly basis, starting from the third quarter of this financial year i.e. October-December, 2017. The registered buyers from such small taxpayers would be eligible to avail ITC on a monthly basis. The due dates for filing the quarterly returns for such taxpayers shall be announced in due course. Meanwhile, all taxpayers will be required to file FORM GSTR-3B on a monthly basis till December, 2017. All taxpayers are also required to file FORM GSTR-1, 2 & 3 for the months of July, August and September, 2017. Due dates for filing the returns for the month of July, 2017 have already been announced. The due dates for the months of August and September, 2017 will be announced in due course.

6. The reverse charge mechanism under sub-section (4) of section 9 of the CGST Act, 2017 and under subsection (4) of section 5 of the IGST Act, 2017 shall be suspended till 31.03.2018 and will be reviewed by a committee of experts. This will benefit small businesses and substantially reduce compliance costs.

7. The requirement to pay GST on advances received is also proving to be burdensome for small dealers and manufacturers. In order to mitigate their inconvenience on this account, it has been decided that taxpayers having annual aggregate turnover up to Rs. 1.5 crores shall not be required to pay GST at the time of receipt of advances on account of supply of goods. The GST on such supplies shall be payable only when the supply of goods is made.

8. It has come to light that Goods Transport Agencies (GTAs) are not willing to provide services to unregistered persons. In order to remove the hardship being faced by small unregistered businesses on this account, the services provided by a GTA to an unregistered person shall be exempted from GST.

Other Facilitation Measures 

9. After assessing the readiness of the trade, industry and Government departments, it has been decided that registration and operationalization of TDS/TCS provisions shall be postponed till 31.03.2018.

10. The e-way bill system shall be introduced in a staggered manner with effect from 01.01.2018 and shall be rolled out nationwide with effect from 01.04.2018. This is in order to give trade and industry more time to acclimatize itself with the GST regime.

11. The last date for filing the return in FORM GSTR-4 by a taxpayer under composition scheme for the quarter July-September, 2017 shall be extended to 15.11.2017. Also, the last date for filing the return in FORM GSTR-6 by an input service distributor for the months of July, August and September, 2017 shall be extended to 15.11.2017.

12. Invoice Rules are being modified to provide relief to certain classes of registered persons.