Can we take Cenvat Credit of excise duty paid on a pre-engineered building and of service tax for erection of the same, used in the construction of our new factory building?
No. The definitions of 'inputs' and 'input service' at Rule 2(k) and Rule 2(l) in the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 specifically exclude any goods or services used for construction or execution of works contracts of a building or a civil structure or a part thereof. The exceptions in the said definitions do not apply in your case.
Can we take cash in US dollars from our customer when he visits us, as advance for an export order? What procedure do we need to follow?
As per Para B2 of the RBI Master Circular dated July 1, 2013, you can receive the payment for exports in foreign currency notes from the buyer during his visit to India. You can deposit the amount in your bank and obtain an encashment certificate indicating the purpose as 'advance for exports'. When you export the goods, you may declare the advance and amount due clearly and file GR/SDF form accordingly. When you receive the balance payment, your bank can close the GR/SDF form and issue the necessary certificate to you to enable you to claim the export benefits.
Under the Incremental Exports Incentivisation Scheme (IEIS), are we required to have incremental exports in each region/country, or is it enough to have incremental exports to eligible countries collectively?
In my opinion, your entitlement depends on the incremental exports to all eligible countries taken together.
Can we avail the benefit of Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) during 2013-14 and also claim the benefit of Status Holder Incentive Scheme (SHIS) in 2013-14, for exports made in 2012-13?
As per Para 3.16.2 of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), Status Holders availing TUFS benefits (administered by Ministry of Textiles) during a particular year shall not be eligible for SHIS scrip for exports of that year. The SHIS application form requires you to declare that you have not availed of the benefits under TUFS during this particular year, exports of which are being claimed for SHIS of Para 3.16 of FTP. So, if you have not claimed TUFS during 2012-13, you can claim in 2013-14 SHIS benefit for exports made in 2012-13, regardless of your taking TUFS benefit in 2013-14.
Regarding your reply (BS-Q&A-SME Chatroom dated 1.10.2013) about surrender of proportionate incentives for claiming write-off of export proceeds, can you give the references in service tax, drawback and FTP?
Notification no.41/2012-ST dated 29.06.2012 has an independent provision to recover any service tax refunded to you in case of failure to realise export proceeds. Similar provisions for drawback can be found in Section 75 of drawback. Para 4.28 of the Handbook of Procedures, Vol.1 (HB-1) covers regularisation of bonafide default. Para 4.45 of HB-1 deals with recovery of DEPB granted on pre-realisation basis. You can find similar provisions at Para 3.11.12 for Chapter 3 benefits.
Business Standard invites readers' SME queries related to excise, VAT and exim policy. You can write to us at smechat@bsmail.in
