Appeal disposal quota redefines monthly equivalence and weighting for central, company, search and seizure and other appeals.
Monthly disposal quotas for Commissioner (Appeals) are restructured effective financial year 1986-87 into category-specific targets; Central Circle and Search and Seizure disposals count as the equivalent of three ordinary appeals, Company Circle disposals count as the equivalent of one and one-half ordinary appeals, and the overall quota is set at ninety ordinary appeals per month, with no separate weightage for high disputed demand appeals.

Prompt appellate order compliance requires timely implementation, accurate tax recordkeeping, inspections and disciplinary follow up.
Prompt compliance with appellate, revisionary and other orders is mandated, with emphasis on timely service and giving effect to such orders to avoid interest and criticism. Proper entries must be made in the Demand and Collection Register including crediting of pre-paid taxes. A register for receipt and disposal of mistake applications must be maintained and matters disposed within one month. Commissioners and Inspecting Assistant Commissioners must conduct surprise inspections, seek explanations for undue delays, and take deterrent action; the Inspection Division will monitor compliance and report failures for disciplinary proceedings.

Compulsory deposit acceptance allowed after statutory cutoff; penalty liability assessed by income tax officers and amnesty applies.
Banks are authorised to accept compulsory deposit payments even after March 31, 1985, while liability for penalty under section 10 is to be decided by the Income tax Officer. Where income is declared under the Board's amnesty circulars for assessment year 1985 86 or earlier (and as extended for later disclosures), banks should accept deposits relating to such disclosed income; the Board directs wide publicity of the Department of Economic Affairs' clarification so deposit offices and taxpayers understand deposits may be accepted and penalty questions will be determined by tax authorities.

Unnecessary references delay excise revenue collection; officers directed to resolve ambiguities promptly and avoid referrals.
Unnecessary references by subordinate excise officers to higher authorities causing delays and non-collection of duty are prohibited; officers must avoid referrals on unambiguous points and resolve only genuine ambiguities. Collectors must personally expedite interpretation of notifications and rules to ensure timely assessment and recovery of revenue. The Public Accounts Committee criticised successive referrals in a reported case and recommended inquiry and fixation of responsibility with disciplinary action where failures in levy or collection of duty occurred.

Exemption for used bushings permits remelting outside the factory without excise duty when used in glass fibre manufacture.
Bushings of a platinum rhodium alloy within Chapter 71 that have been used in the manufacture of glass fibre and have become worn out may be sent outside the factory for remelting without excise duty; the exemption under Notification No. 313/86 applies provided the bushings were actually used in production of glass fibre.

Power of revision under tax law restricted where acquisition orders approved by Commissioner are not revisable.
The Board directs that the Power of Revision under the Income-tax Act cannot be exercised by a Commissioner to revise acquisition orders issued by the Competent Authority where those orders were made under the acquisition provision and were passed with the approval of the Commissioner; strict adherence to this administrative limitation is required.

Tariff classification: plastics-coated fabrics allocated to Chapter 39; specified wire, glass-fibre sheets and filter rods assigned designated headings.
Fabrics coated, covered or laminated with plastics on both sides are to be classified under Chapter 39 by application of Note 2(a)(3) to Chapter 59; heavy coated zinc galvanised steel wire under Heading 72.13; synthetic resin bonded glass fibre laminated sheets under Heading 70.14; and cellulose acetate filter rods for sketch-pen micro-tip pins under Heading 56.01.

Declaration of higher income prompts liberal consideration of penalty under the Compulsory Deposit Scheme for voluntary disclosures.
When an assessee makes a suo motu declaration of higher income in response to the Board's amnesty circulars within the prescribed or extended amnesty period, the Department will take a liberal and sympathetic view in considering the applicability of section 10 of the Compulsory Deposit Scheme (Income-tax Payers) Act, 1974 to penalty liability, and instructions to that effect have been issued to departmental officers.

Penalty under Section 10 CDS (ITP) Act not to be initiated for voluntary amnesty declarations made by the prescribed deadline.
Declarations of higher income made suo moto in response to amnesty circulars before 31 March 1986 for AY 1985-86 or earlier are to be treated as due to reasonable cause and penalty under section 10 of the CDS (ITP) Act 1974 need not be initiated; the Board extended equivalent non-initiation treatment to income disclosed up to 30 September 1986 for disclosures relating to AY 1986-87 or earlier.

Depreciation rates minimum under Schedule XIV; companies must apply or disclose higher commercial rates and use WDV for managerial remuneration.
Companies must provide depreciation in accordance with the Act and Accounting Standard AS 6; Schedule XIV rates are minimum for assets acquired after applicability, though higher commercial rates justified by bona fide technological evaluation may be applied with disclosure. Where WDV has been used, Schedule XIV WDV rates apply to the written down value; where SLM was in use at the date of Schedule XIV, companies may recompute specified period and amortise unamortised value, continue old SLM rates if following the Department's earlier circular, or apply Schedule XIV SLM rates from the year of change. Managerial remuneration computation requires the WDV method.

Depreciation determination remains tied to acquisition-time tax rates, allowing companies to use those rates for accounting.
The specified period for depreciation, determined at acquisition under section 205(5) read with section 350 with reference to income-tax rates then in force, need not be changed when income-tax depreciation rates later change; companies may provide depreciation under clause (b) of section 205(2) on the basis of the rates in force at the time of acquisition.

Classification of lead oxides clarified as falling under oxide tariff heading rather than general chemical goods classification.
Products lead oxide - red, lead oxide - yellow and lead oxide - grey are classifiable under sub-heading 2804.60 of the Central Excise Tariff rather than under 2806.90, because the plural term "lead oxides" denotes broader coverage than entries like zinc oxide (2804.30), and lead oxide grey is a lead sub-oxide encompassed by that sub-heading.

Copy of High Court judgment required for appeal proposals to Supreme Court; Ministry of Law will not advise without it.
Proposals for appeal to the Supreme Court against a High Court opinion must be accompanied by a copy of the judgement of the High Court, because the Ministry of Law requires the judgement to review the reasons before advising on contesting or accepting the opinion; proposals lacking the judgement cannot be processed.

Hookah tobacco classification applied to Gadaku lump and granules as equivalent products under tariff headings.
Classification as hookah tobacco for Gadaku in both lump (laddu) and granule forms is indicated because the two forms are essentially the same product by composition and use; granules take less molasses and are sun-dried, but are smoked in comparable implements ('chungi', 'hukale' and hookah 'chilm'), justifying treatment as hookah tobacco under the relevant tariff headings.

Acquisition of immovable property: non-initiation and dropping of acquisition proceedings for low-value transfers.
The Board directed that, effective 1 April 1986, acquisition proceedings under section 269C will not be initiated for immovable properties whose apparent consideration is at or below a specified threshold, and that proceedings begun by notice under section 269D will be dropped if the apparent consideration is below that threshold, as an administrative measure to finalise cases under Chapter XXA in light of proposals in the Finance Bill, 1986.

Collectors' discretion: Board approval generally unnecessary, limited referrals allowed for clarifications, deviations, legal amendments, or audit conflicts.
Collectoral exercise of statutory powers under the Central Excise Acts does not require routine prior approval from the Board; Collectors should act using their discretion without referring matters for approval except in specified categories: clarifications on Board/Ministry instructions; deviations from Board advice; potential divergence of practice; required amendments to law or tariff; proposals to amend Board instructions or notifications; matters requiring legal approval of the Board/Ministry; and audit objections contrary to Board instructions.

Classification of linear alkyl benzene under Chapter 38 clarifies its tariff placement and excise treatment for trade compliance.
Classification of Linear Alkyl Benzene is declared to fall within Chapter 38 of the Central Excise Tariff, confirming its tariff placement for excise purposes and serving as guidance to officers and trade on the proper tariff head for assessment and classification.

Appeal disposal timetable requires departmental appellate bodies to clear legacy appeals under mandated quarterly targets and strict compliance.
Instruction imposing an Action Plan requiring departmental appellate authorities to fix appeals in chronological order and meet quarterly disposal targets for legacy appeals: appeals filed before 1 April 1983 to be disposed in two equal phases by the end of the first and second quarters of the financial year, and appeals filed before 1 April 1984 to be disposed in two equal phases by the end of the third quarter and by 31 March 1987; strict compliance required and no old appeals to remain pending after 31 March 1987 without adequate reasons.

Nylon resins defined as polyamide resins for concessional excise duty purposes, clarifying taxable scope and terminology.
The Board examined whether the expression nylon resins in Notification No. 241/82-C.E. includes polyamide resins, finding that commercial usage and technical literature show substantial overlap between 'nylon' and 'polyamide' so that 'nylon resins' could legitimately be read to refer to 'polyamide resins'; a later notification uses 'polyamide' to remove doubt.

Tariff classification of unrecorded magnetic tape hinges on presence of a cased mother shell; verify manufacturing process before applying duty.
Classification of magnetic tape on hubs depends on whether an intermediate mother shell casing arises during manufacture; if no cased mother shell comes into existence and tape cuts on hubs are used directly on a recording base panel, the earlier sub item covering cased unrecorded tape does not apply, and collectors should verify manufacturing processes before deciding classification.