Import of cars: short absences during two year stay abroad may be condoned for Transfer of Residence eligibility.
DGFT advised that short visits during the two year continuous residence abroad required for car import eligibility should be condoned per the Baggage Rules, and that import entitlement must be linked to the Transfer of Residence concession for persons coming to India for permanent settlement.

Delegation of administrative powers under export procedure enables subordinate officers to approve rebates, bonds, extensions, and compliance actions.
The circular delegates specified export-related administrative powers to Superintendents, Assistant Commissioners (Refunds and Bonds), Jurisdictional Assistant Commissioners, and Deputy/Additional Commissioners, authorising them to satisfy exportation, sanction rebate claims, extend export time limits, determine market value for rebate purposes, accept and execute bonds, cancel export documents, accept proof of export, take penal action for non-production of proof, refuse further exports, prescribe presentation periods, and permit overdrawal against bonds, with monetary and temporal limitations where prescribed.

Recovery of customs duty on cars sold to State Trading Corporation must be actively pursued by Customs Houses to prevent delays.
Where motor vehicles imported by foreign privileged persons are bought by the State Trading Corporation within the prescribed period, duty is leviable and payable by the State Trading Corporation; Customs Houses must maintain registers recording MEA sale permissions, vehicle and payment particulars, pursue duty recovery until payment, prepare monthly lists of unpaid cases for regional STC offices, and ensure adherence to the prescribed procedure, while MEA will allot running serial numbers to permissions to permit Customs verification.

Tax Deduction at Source on Salary: head or branch filing prevents duplicate returns, otherwise the Assessing Officer may enforce compliance.
Responsibility for salary tax deduction lies with the company, including its principal officer. If the head office or a branch files the return under the applicable provision, no other Assessing Officer may require duplicate filing; if no return is filed, the Assessing Officer with jurisdiction under the rules may enforce compliance with TDS obligations on salary.

Deduction of tax at source on rent applies to rent, non-refundable deposits and warehousing charges with specified exclusions.
Deduction of tax at source under section 194-I requires specified persons to deduct tax on income by way of rent at credit or payment, with the definition of rent covering any payment for use of land or buildings (including parts thereof) and deeming credits to suspense accounts as payee credits; administrative clarifications state that advances before the effective date are exempt, non-refundable deposits and warehousing charges attract deduction, refundable deposits do not, interest on deposits is covered by interest withholding rules, and tenant-borne municipal taxes are excluded.

Norm for disposal of recovery certificates lowered; tax recovery officers must meet and be assessed on the revised annual target.
The Board revised the annual disposal norm for Recovery certificates per Tax Recovery Officer, lowering the previous benchmark after a workload study, and directed that the new norm be communicated to all TROs and used to judge their performance.

Drawback thresholds clarified: alternative FOB-percentage and shipment-amount rules govern eligibility for payment.
Clarifies that under the Drawback Rules the Rs. 5000 per-shipment limit does not apply when drawback exceeds 2% of the FOB value, and that conversely the 2% FOB limit does not apply where drawback per shipment is Rs. 5000 or more; in all cases payment remains subject to the statutory minimum under Section 76.

Radio-immunoassay kits exemption clarified: applies only to radio based hormone and Digoxin kits, not all immunoassays.
The circular clarifies that the customs exemption applies only to Radio-immunoassay kits for the enumerated hormones and Digoxin and not to other immunoassay kits; the wording in Notification No. 13/95-Cus. is consistent with Notification No. 208/81-Cus., and typographical variations in private publications do not change the scope of exemption, so pending cases should be disposed accordingly.

Crude Palm Stearin imports require utilisation certificates; derived fatty acids and glycerol may be sold only to actual users.
Sales of fatty acids and glycerol produced from imported Crude Palm Stearin (non edible industrial grade) are limited to actual users. The Directorate of Vanaspati, Vegetable Oils and Fats will issue utilisation certificates, after verifying imports admixed with at least 5% free fatty acids, and the certificate type determines eligibility for further imports; format follows Annexure B and other prior terms remain unchanged.

Deduction of tax at source expanded to cover interest, professional fees and mutual fund unit income, increasing withholding obligations.
The Finance Act, 1995 enacts wide-ranging amendments to the Income-tax Act, 1961: it revises tax rates and exemption thresholds, expands deduction of tax at source to cover interest on time deposits, fees for professional and technical services and income of mutual fund unit holders, and introduces a special block assessment regime for undisclosed income detected by search. The Act also rationalises exemptions and tax holidays, tightens accounting and depreciation rules, enhances procedural powers for information gathering and surveys, and prescribes administrative changes for PAN allotment and tax audit compliance.

Classification of block board under excise tariff clarified; departments must align pending cases with the Supreme Court judgment.
The circular transmits the Supreme Court judgment on classification of Block Board under the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 and directs Commissionerates to take necessary action and have similar matters pending before CEGAT and High Court decided in the light of that judgment.

Classification of photo identity cards as printed matter confirmed, based on computerised printing and HSN printing definitions.
Photo identity cards and holograms should be treated as printed matter because the distinctive character of the cards arises from the printed data produced by computerised capture and printing, and Section Note (2) of Section VII excludes them from the plastics chapter; Chapter 49 notes and HSN explanatory notes encompass computer-controlled reproduction and related techniques as printing, supporting classification of these items under the printed-matter tariff heading.

Import treatment of air conditioned cars: value ceiling and convertible currency duty requirement removed; tourism authorisation deemed a licence.
Air conditioned cars imported by State tourism corporations and tour operators are to be treated as normal imports without the earlier value ceiling or obligation to pay duty in convertible foreign exchange; an authorisation from the national tourism authority will be deemed a licence and no separate import licence from the foreign trade licensing authority is required. Administrative orders are to substitute Collector titles with Commissioner titles to reflect reassigned jurisdiction under the Finance Act.

Relaxation of bank guarantee requirements for EOUs and EPZ units permits transfer of imported goods to inland warehouses; notice mandated.
Relaxation in furnishing Bank Guarantee has been directed for 100% Export Oriented Units and EPZ units when transferring imported goods from major ports to inland warehousing stations for re-warehousing; the Board requires wide publicity by issuing a Public Notice so trade and the public are informed and hardship is avoided.

Drawback eligibility for exports under advance licences clarified; customs must allow filing and payment without insisting prior duty payment.
Exports made in discharge of export obligations under VABAL or QABAL applied for before 1.4.1995 but issued on or after that date remain eligible for drawback despite imports attracting additional customs duties; customs must allow filing and payment of drawback shipping bills under Drawback Public Notice No. Drawback/PN-4/95 and the first proviso to Note 2(b) of Drawback/PN-5/95 for exports on or after 2 May 1995. Free shipping bills dated on or before 31 May 1995 may be converted to drawback shipping bills by deemed relaxation of rule 11 under rule 15 (1971 Rules) or rule 17 (1995 Rules).

Consolidation of export cargo: common user consolidation permission withdrawn; prior authorisations required strict facility and operator safeguards.
Consolidation of export cargo by freight forwarders or steamer agents was permissible only at common user facilities authorised by the Collector on a case by case, time limited basis, subject to viability, infrastructure, Customs staffing and cost arrangements, operator credibility, safeguards against revenue loss and quarterly reporting; this permission applied solely to export cargo and was later withdrawn by subsequent instruction.

Tax deduction at source expanded to cover fees, contract payments, bank interest and mutual fund income; procedures for non deduction provided.
The Finance Act, 1995 expands Tax Deduction at Source to specified payments-including professional and technical fees, certain contract payments, interest on bank time deposits, and mutual fund/UTI income-and amends rules and forms accordingly. Taxpayers may apply to Assessing Officers for certificates of non-deduction or for deduction at a lower rate, or make declarations to payers where permitted. Assessing Officers are instructed to dispose of applications promptly, ensure forms are available at public counters, oversee deductors' payment and return obligations, and provide timely grievance redressal through specified administrative channels.

Cash security requirement for project imports reduced, with remaining liability secured by bank guarantee until contract completion.
Cash security for project import registrations shall be reduced to 2% of CIF value (subject to an overall cap), with the balance secured by a bank guarantee supported by an undertaking to renew until contract finalisation; government departments and public sector undertakings are exempt, and fertilizer projects liable to zero duty are to provide only a nominal cash security based on duty foregone subject to a separate cap.

Tax deduction at source: guidance clarifying when advertising, contracts, rent, and services require withholding.
Clarification categorises payments to determine correct TDS provisions: advertising payments by clients to agencies attract section 194C at one per cent on the gross bill, agency payments to artistes fall under section 194J, direct payments to media are within section 194C (except where the media is non-taxable), hoarding and sponsorships are advertising works under section 194C, renting and subletting invoke section 194I, clearing/forwarding agents and couriers attract section 194C, routine maintenance contracts fall under section 194C while technical services fall under section 194J, reimbursements for actual expenses are excluded from TDS, unit income under section 194K covers periodic income distributions only, and interest on time/variable deposits is subject to section 194A at credit or payment.

Classification of sports components: football panel kits deemed parts of sports articles and classifiable under sports tariff heading.
Panel kits are manufactured rubber panels, vulcanised, cut and pre-punched for stitching and sold as sets used solely or principally in making footballs and other inflatable sports balls. Under the rule that parts and accessories suitable solely or principally for use with sports articles are classified with those articles, these kits, though made of vulcanised rubber, merit classification with sports articles and equipment rather than as generic vulcanised rubber articles.