Advanced Tax Laws and Practice

CS: Professional Programme
Paper 6 : Advanced Tax Laws and Practice
[One paper: Three Hours – 100 marks]

Level of Knowledge:

Expert knowledge

Objectives:

To provide —
(i)	knowledge of framework of taxation system in India.
(ii)	knowledge of various concepts and their application relating to tax laws with a view to integrating the relevance of these laws with financial planning and management decisions.
(iii)	an overview of international taxation.

Detailed contents :

Part A : Direct Taxation - Law and Practice (30 marks)

1.	General Framework of Direct Taxation in India
	Different direct tax laws and their inter-relationship; importance of Income Tax Act and Annual Finance Act and related Constitutional provisions; harmonisation of tax regime.
2.	Companies under Income-tax Laws
	Classification and tax incidence; corporation tax as per Article 366; computation of taxable income and assessment of tax liability considering special provisions relating to companies.
3.	Tax Planning
	Concept of tax planning; Tax planning with reference to setting up a new business; locational aspects; nature of business; tax holiday, etc. Tax planning with regard to specific management decisions such as mergers and takeovers; location of undertaking; introduction of voluntary retirement; tax planning with reference to financial management decisions such as borrowing or investment decisions; reorganisation or restructuring of capital decisions. Tax planning with respect to corporate reorganization; tax planning with reference to employees’ remuneration. Tax planning vis-� -vis important provisions of wealth-tax including court rulings and legislative amendments.
4.	Tax Management
	Return and procedure for assessment; special procedure for assessment of search cases, e-commerce transactions, liability in special cases; collection and recovery of tax; refunds, appeals and revisions; penalties imposable, offences and prosecution.

Part B : Indirect Taxation - Law and Practice (50 marks)

5.	Introduction
	Special features of indirect tax levies–all pervasive nature, contribution to Government revenues; constitutional provisions authorizing the levy and collection of duties of central excise, customs, service tax, central sales tax and VAT.
6.	Central Excise Laws
	Basis of chargeability of duties of central excise–goods, manufacture, classification and valuation of excisable goods, CENVAT; assessment procedure, exemption, payment, recovery and refunds of duties. Clearance of excisable goods; Central Excise Bonds; maintenance of accounts and records and filing of returns. Duties payable by small scale units. set-off of duties– concept, meaning and scheme; Central Excise Concessions on exports; search, seizure and investigation; offences and penalty. Adjudication, Appeal and Revision, including appearance before CEGAT by Company Secretary as authorised representative; settlement of cases.
7.	Customs Laws
	Levy of and exemption from, customs duties – specific issues and case studies; assessment and payment duties; recovery and refund of customs duties. Procedure for clearance of imported and exported goods; drawback of duties. Transportation and warehousing Confiscation of goods and conveyances and imposition of penalties; search, seizure and arrest, offences and prosecution provisions. Adjudication, Appeal and Revision; Settlement of Cases.
8.	Promissory Estoppel in Fiscal Laws – principles and applicability with reference to indirect taxes.
9.	Tax Planning and Management – scope and management in customs, with specific reference to important issues in the respective areas.

Part C: International Taxation (20 marks)

10.	Basic Concepts of International Taxation
	Residency issues; source of income; tax havens; unilateral relief and Double Tax Avoidance; transfer pricing; international merger and acquisitions; impact of tax on GATT 94, WTO, anti dumping processing; the subpart F Regime : definition of CFC, Subpart F Income and Operating Rules.
11.	Advance Ruling and Tax Planning
	Authority for advance rulings, its power and procedure; applicability of advance ruling; application for advance ruling and procedure on receiptof application. Tax planning and special provisions relating to certain incomes of nonresident corporate assessee. Double taxation avoidance agreements; general principles; provisions and tax implications thereof.
12.	Taxation of Inbound Transactions
	Taxation of passive investments; capital gains & losses; income taxation; property taxation; branch profit taxation.
13.	Taxation of Outbound Transactions
	Foreign tax credit; foreign income exclusions; indirect foreign tax credit (deemed paid system vs. current pooling system); Controlled Foreign Corporations; PFIC’s (Passive Foreign Investment Companies); cross border merger, acquisitions and transfers.