Articles by Sukumar Mukhopadhyay

CENVAT Rules need to be appropriately modified to ensure that the VAT chain - which ensures that duty paid at one point may be claimed as credit elsewhere - is strengthened so that deserving exemptions can be availed of by manufacturers.

The definition of manufacture for levy of excise duty was significantly, but very quietly, enlarged in the 2003-04 budget through an amendment of the Central Excise Act. The change, which has largely gone unnoticed, will bring changes in prices at the first stage or even at the retail stage within the ambit of â??manufactureâ??. However, defining manufacture in terms of alteration of value amounts to imposing tax on value addition. This is clearly trespassing into the realm of sales tax or VAT.

Defining goods is imperative for the purpose of imposing tax at the correct rate since there are different rates of taxes and there are also exemptions. To ward off controversies, statutory definitions have been introduced in many cases. They are binding even if they are artificial in nature. In fact they have to be artificial in many cases because of the very nature of the goods that are sought to be defined. It is advisable to introduce more statutory definitions in the tariff to minimise controversies in regard to classification of goods.

The legality and propriety of the retrospective withdrawal of excise duty exemption for cigarettes and pan masala manufactured in the north-east. A critical examination.

The Kelkar Committee's final report on indirect taxes shows impressive clarity in its tariff proposals and provides ample evidence of much thought having gone into the framing of the recommendations. However, in respect of administrative and procedural aspects the committee has chosen to ignore many of the useful suggestions that had been made in response to its earlier consultation paper. What is more, no reasons have been advanced by the committee for doing this.