Customs broker licence renewal requires specified declarations, documents and formal fee payment before endorsement.
Renewal of Customs Broker Licence requires submission at least ninety days before expiry of a complete application accompanied only by specified documents: declarations on constitution/address, time-expired/inoperative cards, maintenance of accounts, pending judicial/quasi-judicial cases and arrears; self-attested Form B licence; list of Photo Identity Card holders (Forms F/G/H) with numbers and validity; self-attested association membership certificate where applicable; and self-attested PAN if not previously submitted. Processing will normally complete within sixty working days from receipt of a complete application, followed by fee payment via TR-6 challan and submission of the endorsed receipt for renewal endorsement.

Coastal carriage exemption simplifies documentation and mandates coastal manifests and marking for eligible vessels while allowing limited preventive checks.
Vessels exclusively carrying coastal goods and operating from coastal or EXIM berths are exempted from Sections 92, 93, 94, 95, 97 and sub-section (1) of Section 98 of the Customs Act; where loading/unloading occurs at EXIM berths, Sections 30 and 41 apply and a new coastal manifest format requires Masters or agents to submit arrival and departure manifests in duplicate. Containers and non-containerised cargo must be marked for coastal carriage and sealed; preventive officers may carry out random checks with prior approval.

Composition scheme option for restaurants and halwais permits an alternate single-rate tax and restricts input tax credit eligibility.
Dealers supplying cooked food and related items may opt for a notified composition scheme at an alternate single rate if within the prescribed turnover threshold. Dealers shifting from the earlier composition provision to the new composition provision w.e.f. 1 April 2016 need not pay tax on opening stock held at transition, but cannot claim input tax credit on closing stock as of the prior year end. Applications for the scheme must be filed manually until online filing is ordered.

Consent to Operate requirement continues as validity for BISN Jetty notice is extended for exporters.
Validity of Public Notice No. 02/2005 for BISN Jetty of the Inland Waterways Authority of India was extended up to 31.03.2021, and exporters were directed to submit renewal of Consent to Operate from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board as a continuing compliance requirement.

Relaxed KYC norms allow courier-recorded delivery address plus ID to satisfy KYC for certain individual import consignments.
Authorised courier companies may accept the delivery address recorded by the courier together with the proof of identity taken at delivery as sufficient proof of address for KYC when an individual lacks a current address document, applicable to imports of documents, gifts, samples and low value dutiable consignments up to the prescribed CIF limit. Courier companies must exercise due diligence and maintain records of delivery addresses as evidence for KYC verification.

Interest on tax refunds: resident deductors entitled to interest on excess withholding, aligning departmental practice with judicial principle.
Refunds of tax withheld in excess to resident deductors must include interest from the date of payment of the tax, reflecting the principle that sums retained without right carry an obligation to reimburse with accrued interest; departmental officers should not file or press appeals contesting interest liability and must align refund practice accordingly.

Call Book case disposal: cases decided on merit or clarified by the board should be removed and adjudicated promptly.
Cases in the Call Book shall be taken out and adjudicated where the issue has been finally decided by a higher court or where the Board has issued a new instruction clarifying the issue; field formations need not await a separate direction from the Board. This clarification applies to Central Excise duty, Customs duty and Service Tax matters and implementing difficulties should be reported to the Board.

Limitation for penalties under section 275(1)(c) governs timing for penalties relating to prohibited loan transactions.
A penalty for granting loans above the prescribed limit otherwise than through banking channels is independent of assessment and the limitation for imposing such penalty is governed by section 275(1)(c). The limitation period is the expiry of the financial year in which the proceedings in the course of which action for imposition of penalty has been initiated are completed, or six months from the end of the month in which action for imposition of penalty is initiated, whichever is later; it is not dependent on pendency of appeal against the assessment.

Limitation for penalty proceedings begins at the range head, requiring assessing officers to refer and not issue penalty notices.
Limitation for imposition of penalties under sections 271D and 271E commences at the Range Head (Joint/Additional Commissioner), not at the Assessing Officer; Assessing Officers should refer alleged violations of section 269SS/269T to the Range Head who will issue penalty notice and complete proceedings within the prescribed limitation period, and conflicting High Court decisions will render the Departmental View inoperative in that High Court's area while the matter is referred to the Central Technical Committee for consideration.

Disclosure of Proprietary Trading required for commodity derivatives brokers, aligning securities rules and mandating pro account terminal compliance.
SEBI mandates proprietary trading disclosure by commodity derivatives brokers to clients in line with securities-market directions and requires exchanges to ensure compliance with pro account trading terminal provisions, superseding prior guidance; exchanges must amend bye laws, notify brokers, and report implementation monthly, with the circular effective three months from issuance.

Currency denomination restriction withdrawn; foreign-going vessels may carry Indian currency of any denomination for crew disbursement.
Customs removes the earlier limited-denomination requirement for Indian currency carried for crew wage disbursement on foreign-going vessels; in view of revised Reserve Bank of India guidance that does not impose a denomination restriction for Indian travellers or ship masters, the prior restriction in the earlier CBEC circular is withdrawn and stakeholders should follow the current RBI position reflected in CBEC advisories.

Imposition of central excise duty on jewellery requires invoice-based valuation and temporary procedural relaxations for jewellers.
All central excise payments on jewellery are to be based on first sale invoice value; authorities will accept the invoice valuation if caratage/purity, weight and carat details of precious stones are recorded. Exporters may export on self-declaration with submission of a Letter of Undertaking to customs without central excise ratification. Liability is effective from 1 March 2016, but payment for March-May may be deferred and paid with June 2016; registration time is extended to 1 July 2016. Enforcement moratoriums on visits, searches, seizures, arrests and criminal prosecution apply pending Sub Committee recommendations.

Non-excisable goods treatment affirmed: bagasse and metal dross treated as exempted goods for CENVAT credit reversal.
Following judicial determinations that bagasse and metal dross/skimmings are non excisable, the Board has rescinded its earlier circulars and instructions on excisability. Under amended Rule 6 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, non excisable goods cleared for consideration are to be treated as exempted goods and valued by invoice or by valuation principles where invoice value is unavailable; such by products (bagasse, dross, skimmings) must be treated like exempted goods for reversal of input and input service credit.

Extension of filing deadline for service tax ST-3 returns granted due to ACES access difficulties, allowing short additional filing time.
An administrative order under sub rule(4) of rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, grants a short extension of time for submission of Form ST-3 for the period 1 October 2015 to 31 March 2016, citing assessees' inability to access the ACES application on the original due date and permitting late electronic filing within the brief extension window.

Excise duty on jewellery: registration deadline extended; retrospective liability applies and earlier months' payments may be consolidated.
Registration for central excise by jewellers is extended to 01.07.2016 while liability to pay excise duty applies from 1st March 2016; jewellers may pay duty for March, April and May together with the June payment. The circular directs wide publicity and reporting of implementation difficulties to the Board, with a Hindi version to follow.

IEC online filing requirement: applications must be submitted with digital signature to central DGFT server; regional offices cannot intervene.
Applications for issuance or modification of Importer Exporter Code (IEC) must be filed exclusively through the centralized online portal with a digital signature to the DGFT New Delhi server; Pune JDGFT cannot access or intervene until the application is successfully submitted. Technical issues during filing-such as token generation, digital key submission, record updates, or attachment uploads-must be raised with the DGFT EDI Helpdesk in New Delhi, which the notice identifies by toll free number and EDI contact details for escalation.

Taxpayer service through social media enables local trade queries, information sharing and stakeholder engagement, excluding policy and assessment matters.
Taxpayer service through a zonal Twitter handle enables transparent, user-friendly engagement with importers, exporters and stakeholders. The platform supports digital governance, information sharing, stakeholder suggestions, taxpayer services and trade facilitation. It may address local queries, issues and operational problems comparable to e-helplines, but does not entertain policy or assessment-related queries.

Central Excise duty on jewellery: interim compliance rules, valuation safeguards and registration timeline pending sub committee report.
A Sub Committee has been constituted to advise on implementation of Central Excise duty on jewellery; it will examine compliance procedures, recordkeeping, forms including Form 12AA, and operating procedures and report within sixty days. Pending its recommendations, duty is to be paid on first sale invoice value; authorities will not challenge invoice valuation if cartage, purity, weight and gemstone carats are stated; visits, arrests, searches or seizures will be suspended; exporters may export on self declaration and LUT to customs; registration can be taken within sixty days from 1 March 2016 while liability is effective from that date with a concession to pay March liability with April.

Standard definitions for taxpayer and tax-base clarify who counts as taxpayer and criteria for data generation and reporting.
Standard definitions for reporting: for a Financial Year, tax-base equals persons who filed ITRs or had tax paid/deducted/collected in any of the three preceding years as on the first date; taxpayer is any person who filed a return or had tax paid/deducted/collected during the year; new taxpayer and potential taxpayer are defined by entry into or evidence of liability relative to the tax-base. For an Assessment Year, assessee follows the Act and non-filer is a liable person with no return entered on the System. "Tax paid" and "information available on record" are clarified for reporting.

Insistence on registration documents: officers told not to demand them for products outside the scope of the Legal Metrology Act.
Officers are directed not to require registration documents for imported goods that are not covered by the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 or its rules, and staff should be sensitized to avoid unnecessary delays; any implementation difficulties should be reported to the Board.