India New Budget 2013 - 2014 Changes in Central Excise Duty.

CENTRAL EXCISE

Chapter 1 to 10: No change

Chapter 11

11.1 Tapioca starch manufactured and consumed captively in the manufacture of tapioca sago (sabudana) is being exempted from excise duty. Notification No.12/2012-CE, dated 17th March, 2012 as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE, dated the 1st March 2013 refers. S. No 8A contains the changes.

Chapter 12-14: No change

Chapter 15

15.1 Sub-heading 1517 90 20 (peanut butter) is being deleted from the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. An amendment has been proposed in the Finance Bill, 2013 (Clause 92 read with the Sixth Schedule) to delete the current sub-heading 1517 90 20 and entries relating thereto from the Tariff. Hereafter, peanut butter will be classified under sub-heading 2008 11 00. At present, sub-heading 1517 90 20 as well as sub-heading 2008 11 00 of the Central Excise Tariff carries a tariff rate of 6%. However, the applied rate is Nil for sub-heading 1517 90 20. The exemption is being continued. In this connection, notification No. 12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No.12/2013-CE, dated 1st March, 2013 refers. S. No 13A contains the changes.

Chapter 16-18: No change

Chapter 19

19.1 Tapioca sago (Sabudana) is being exempted from excise duty. Notification No.12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE, dated the 1st March 2013 refers. S. No 24A contains the changes.

Chapter 20 -23: No change

Chapter 24

24.1 Basic excise duty on cigarettes and other products of tariff heading 2402 is being increased. Clause 92 of the Finance Bill, 2013 read with the Sixth Schedule may be referred to for details. By virtue of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, the levies will come into force with immediate effect. There is no change in NCCD and Health Cess rates. The changes in basic excise duty rates are summarized below.

Cigarettes

Cigar, Cheroots and Cigarillos:

Chapter 25

25.1. Basic excise duty is being increased on marble slabs and tiles from ` 30 per square meter to ` 60 per square meter. S.No.54 of notification No.12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE, dated the 1st March 2013 refers.

25.2 Under notification No.12/2012-CE (S.No.55), sulphur recovered as by product in refining of crude oil (sub-heading 2503 00 10) used for the manufacture of fertilisers is exempt from excise duty. "Fertilizers" include bentonite sulphur and hence, sulphur under sub-heading 2503 00 10 used for manufacture of bentonite sulphur is exempt from excise duty. An Explanation has been inserted below the entry against S. No.55 to place the matter beyond doubt. Notification No. 12/2013-CE dated 1st March, 2013 may be referred to for details.

Chapter 26-29: No change

Chapter 30

30.1 Branded Ayurvedic medicaments and medicaments of Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy or Bio-chemic system are being brought under MRP based assessment with an abatement of 35% from the MRP. Ayurvedic medicaments as well as medicaments of Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy or Bio-chemic System (generic as well as branded) have been included in the Third Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1944. In this connection, clause 91 of the Finance Bill 2013 read with the Fifth Schedule and notification No. 1/2013-C.E. (NT) dated 1st March, 2013 refer. By virtue of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, the changes will come into force with immediate effect.

Chapter 31 and 32: No change

Chapter 33

33.1 Henna powder or paste, not mixed with any other ingredient is being exempted from excise duty. S No 134 of notification No 12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No 12/2013-CE, dated 1st March 2013 refers.

Chapter 34 -38: No change.

Chapter 39

39.1 S. No. 146 and the entries relating thereto are being deleted from notification No. 12/2012-CE, as a general exemption is being issued. Notification No. 7/2013-CE dated 1st March 2013 may be referred to for details.

Chapter 40-56: No change.

Chapter 57

57.1 All handmade carpets and carpets & other textile floor coverings of coir and jute, whether or not handmade, falling under Chapter 57, are being fully exempted from excise duty. In this connection, notification No. 12/2012-CE as amended by notification No. 12/2013-C.E. dated 1st March, 2013 refers. S. No 173A contains the changes. Consequently, the entries against S. No. 72 of notification No. 1/2011-CE, dated 1st March, 2011 and S. No. 37 of notification No. 2/2011-CE, dated 1st March, 2011 are being omitted. Notification No. 9/2013-CE and 10/2013-CE, both dated 1st March, 2013 may be referred to.

Chapter 58-60: No change.

Chapter 61-63

61.1 Zero excise duty route, as existed prior to Budget 2011-12, is being restored on readymade garments and made ups. The zero excise duty route will now be available in addition to the CENVAT route under which manufacturers can pay excise duty on the final product and avail of credit of duty paid on inputs. S.No.16 of notification No. 30/2004-CE dated the 9th July, 2004 as amended by notification No.11/2013-CE dated the 1st March, 2013 and S. No.7 of notification No. 7/2012-CE dated 17th March,2012, as amended by notification No. 8/2013- CE dated the 1st March, 2013 may be referred to for details.

Chapter 64 to 67: No change

Chapter 68

68.1 Excise duty on marble slabs and tiles is being increased from ` 30 per square meter to ` 60 per square meter. S. No. 54 of the notification No. 12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No.12/2013-CE dated 1st March, 2013 refers.

Chapter 69 to 70: No change

Chapter 71

71.1 Excise duty of 4% is being imposed on silver produced or manufactured during the process of zinc or lead smelting starting from the stage of zinc or lead ore or concentrate. Notification No.12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No.12/2013-CE, dated the 1st March 2013 refers. S. No 191A contains the changes.

Chapter 72

72.1. The compounded duty rate on stainless steel “patta- patti” is being increased from Rs 30,000 per machine per month to Rs 40,000 per machine per month. Notification No. 17/2007-CE, dated 1st March, 2007 as amended by notification No. 5/2013-CE, dated 1st March 2013 refers.

Chapter 73: No change

Chapter 74

74.1 Under notification 12/2012-CE (S. No. 217), trimmed or untrimmed sheets or circles of copper, intended for use in the manufacture of handicrafts or utensils attract excise duty of Rs 3,500 per metric tonne. For the purposes of this entry, by way of an explanation, it is clarified that copper means copper and copper alloys including brass. Notification No. 12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE dated 1st March, 2013 refers.

Chapter 75: No change.

Chapter 76

76.1. Sub-heading 7615 19 10 (pressure cookers) is being replaced by sub-heading 7615 10 11 in the Third Schedule to the Central Excise Act, 1944. An amendment has been proposed in the Finance Bill, 2013 (Clause 91 read with the Fifth Schedule). This is basically a technical rectification. In this connection, notification No. 12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No.12/2013-CE, dated 1st March, 2013 refers. S. No 212 contains the changes. Relevant changes are also being made in notification No.49/2008(NT) dated 24th December, 2008 as amended by notification No. 1/2013-CE(NT) dated 1st March,2013.

Chapter 77-84: No change.

Chapter 85

85.1 Excise duty on mobile handsets including cellular phones having retail sale price more than Rs. 2000/- is being increased from 1% to 6%. The duty on mobile phones priced up to and inclusive of Rs. 2000 (retail sale price) would remain unchanged. Notification No. 12/2013-CE, dated 1st March, 2013 (S. No. 263A) provides the details. Consequently notification No. 20/2011-CE, dated 24th March, 2011 is being rescinded. Notification No. 6/2013-CE, dated 1st March 2013 refers.

Chapter 86: No change

Chapter 87

87.1 The validity period of concessional excise duty of 6% granted to specified parts of hybrid and electric vehicles is being extended by two more years up to 31st March, 2015. Proviso to notification No.12/2012-C.E, as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE, dated the 1st March 2013 refers.

87.2 The excise duty on chassis of diesel motor vehicles for the transport of goods (8706 00 42) is being reduced from 14% to 13%. In this connection, notification No.12/2012-C.E, as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE, dated the 1st March 2013 refers. S. No.s 292A and 292B contain the changes.

87.3 Excise duty on SUVs (including utility vehicles falling under CTH 8703) and engine capacity >1500 cc is being increased from 27% to 30 %.( Clause 92 of the Finance Bill, 2013 read with the Sixth Schedule). The SUV has been defined in the notification No. 12/2013-CE dated 1st March, 2013. S. No. 284A contains the changes. By virtue of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, the levy will come into force with immediate effect.

87.4 The taxi refund in respect of SUVs is being adjusted with a view to ensuring that the duty increase does not affect SUVs used as taxis. Now, in respect of SUVs the refund of 28% of the excise duty paid at the time of clearance would be applicable. Notification No.12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE dated 1st March, 2013 may be referred to for details. S.No.s 284 and 284A contains the changes.

Chapter 88: No change.

Chapter 89

89.1 Excise duty on ships, tugs and pusher craft, dredgers and other vessels falling under CETH 8901, 8904, 8905, 8906 90 00 is being exempted. Notification No.12/2012-CE, as amended by notification No. 12/2013-CE dated 1st March, 2013 may be referred to for details.

Chapter 90-96: No change.

Miscellaneous:

Goods manufactured and captively consumed within the factory of production in the manufacture of final products in respect of which exemption is claimed under the Area Based Exemption Scheme under notification Nos. 49/2003-CE and 50/2003-CE, both dated 10th June 2003 (available for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) is being exempted from excise duty. Notification No. 7/2013-CE dated the 1st March 2013 may be referred to for details.