Finance minister P Chidambaram has set up a panel of chief commissioners of central excise to decide on how to implement a Supreme Court decision regarding valuation of goods sold below the cost price for levying excise duty. A finance ministry statement said on Tuesday that a circular in this regard would be issued by January 15.
The Apex court?s decision, which came on a dispute between the tax department and Fiat India, had led to a lot of unrest among companies that offer their products at a discount for market penetration.
Chidambaram also sought inputs from the insurance industry to decide whether there is any double taxation of the brokerage that agents get from foreign reinsurers. Agents claim that the 12% service tax is already paid on the premium inclusive of the brokerage they collect from their clients and levying service tax separately on the brokerage would amount to double taxation.
