Drawback claims for DTA-to-SEZ supplies are payable by the SEZ Specified Officer; disclaimers transfer sanction to DTA commissioner.
Drawback claims for goods supplied from DTA units to SEZ units or Developers are to be sanctioned and disbursed by the Specified Officer posted in the SEZ; if the SEZ unit or Developer issues a disclaimer the jurisdictional Commissioner over the DTA unit will sanction the drawback. Brand rate fixation applications remain with the jurisdictional Commissioner of Central Excise/Customs and Central Excise, copies to be endorsed to the Development Commissioner and Specified Officer. Disclaimers must be supported by a certificate from the Specified Officer confirming drawback has not been claimed to prevent double availing; administrative notices and standing orders should be issued for implementation.

Tax deduction at source on salaries: employer duties, perquisite valuation, compliance and electronic TDS filing obligations.
The circular prescribes the operational scheme for deduction of tax at source from salaries under section 192 for FY 2007-08: employers must estimate annual salary (including taxable perquisites), compute tax at applicable category rates, deduct tax on average at each payment, and may elect to pay tax on non monetary perquisites on behalf of employees. It sets compliance obligations-TAN/PAN quoting, issuance of Forms No.16/16AA and No.12BA, electronic filing of Form No.24Q, deposit rules, penalties for non-compliance-and explains valuation rules, permitted exemptions, and Chapter VI A deduction treatment, with illustrative computations and adjustment provisions for excess or shortfall within the financial year.

Credit rating requirement relaxed: single registered rating suffices and non-investment grade bonds permitted to public
The SEBI DIP Guidelines were amended to require credit rating from at least one SEBI-registered agency for public or rights issues of debt instruments, with disclosure of that rating in the offer document; where multiple ratings exist, all ratings including unaccepted ones must be disclosed. Rollover of non-convertible debentures requires a rating obtained within six months prior to redemption and communication to debenture holders. Structural restrictions on instrument features (maturity, put/call, conversion) are removed and issuance of below investment grade debt to the public is permitted; amendments apply to draft offer documents filed on or after the circular date.

Exemption from bank guarantee for inter city bonded warehouse transfers for public undertakings; transit bond still required.
Central and State Public Sector Undertakings are exempt from furnishing a bank guarantee or other security for inter city transfers of goods between bonded warehouses, including transfers from sea or dryland ports, while the transit bond requirement continues to apply; Commissioners retain discretion to demand a bank guarantee in particular cases.

Fast Track Issues enable eligible listed companies to use streamlined prospectus filing for follow on and rights offerings with tailored disclosures.
Amendments create a Fast Track Issue route allowing eligible listed issuers to conduct follow on public offerings and rights issues by filing the Red Herring Prospectus/Prospectus with the Registrar of Companies or the letter of offer with the Designated Stock Exchange and simultaneously furnishing a copy to the Board and stock exchanges without filing a draft offer document with SEBI. Eligibility conditions, tailored procedural relaxations, abbreviated filing and advertising timelines, enhanced due diligence certifications, and specified disclosure and reporting adjustments accompany the FTI mechanism.

Certificate of Origin-Non-Preferential updated: authorized issuer contact details amended to reflect new agency information.
Amendment substitutes the Delhi entry in Appendix 4C for agencies authorized to issue Certificate of Origin-Non-Preferential, replacing serial No.11 with a new agency name, postal address and contact details. The change is made under the powers of Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy and is issued in the public interest to update administrative contact information for export documentation.

DEPB rate corrections: DGFT updates engineering and food product export benefit rates, correcting previous entries.
Director General of Foreign Trade issues administrative corrections to DEPB rates under powers in the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures, revising specified DEPB schedule entries for engineering and food product groups and applying those corrected rates to the earlier notified entries, as an authoritative amendment to the DEPB rate schedule.

Procedure amendment adds two government procurement entities to authorised importer/exporter categories under the foreign trade policy.
An amendment to the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) adds two government procurement entities to the list of Importer/Exporter Categories in paragraph 2.8(v): ordnance factories under the Ordnance Factories Organisation and the Directorate of Purchase and Stores, Department of Atomic Energy, effected by Public Notice No.85/2007 under the powers of the Foreign Trade Policy.

Minimum value addition requirement for gem and jewellery products set to follow specified Handbook provision, altering Appendix compliance.
Appendix 14-I-C, paragraph 11 is replaced to require that the annual Minimum value addition for gem and jewellery products shall be determined in accordance with paragraph 4A.2.1 of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I), 2004-2009, thereby aligning the Appendix criterion with the Handbook's value addition framework under powers of paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy.

Smoking ban enforcement: authorised customs personnel to implement public-place smoking prohibition and ensure trade compliance.
The Commissioner of Customs has been authorised to implement the public-place smoking prohibition under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act; all staff of Custom House Agents, importers, exporters, shipping agents and trade participants are instructed to comply strictly with the smoking ban, with action to follow for violations, and trade associations are asked to publicize the notice to ensure compliance.

Self-sealing requirement for free-shipping exports mandates exporter sealing and bars official stuffing, requiring tamper-proof one-time seals.
For exports under free shipping bills, manufacturers must mandatorily self-seal export containers and Central Excise officers shall not attend stuffing and sealing requests; such containers must use tamper-proof one-time bottle seals as stipulated in prior Board guidance, and the earlier circular extending self-sealing is modified accordingly.

Handbook amendment adds Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals to Appendix, updating authorised exporter contact details.
Amendment under paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy adds an entry in Appendix 4C for the Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals, recording principal and branch office addresses in Delhi and supplying telephone, fax, email and website contact details; published as Public Notice No. 83/2007 and issued in the public interest.

Assessee code validation required - banks must accept only PAN/TAN based or temporary assessee codes and verify structure.
Banks' receiving branches must validate that GAR-7 contains the mandatory PAN/TAN based 15 character Assessee Code or, if not allotted, a 15 character Temporary Code; challans with old or non conforming Assessee Codes will be rejected. Branches must ensure the Assessee Code is structurally correct per the RT form specification and complete other prescribed fields where validation does not match.

Index fund expense limits reduce permitted fees and allow mutual funds to engage in short selling and securities lending.
The amendments define an index fund scheme, impose reduced caps on investment/advisory fees and total expenses for index funds, permit mutual funds to engage in short selling and securities lending and borrowing and allow derivatives transactions on recognised exchanges subject to Board-prescribed frameworks, while maintaining a prohibition on carry forward transactions and retaining delivery-based trading obligations with provisos for Board-authorised short selling and derivatives activity.

Place of provision determines service tax liability; services supplied outside Jammu and Kashmir remain taxable despite object located there.
Service tax applicability on law firms classified as business support service is governed by the place of provision; Chapter V of the Finance Act applies throughout India except Jammu and Kashmir, and tax incidence is attracted with reference to where the taxable service is provided. If the service provider and recipient are outside Jammu and Kashmir, Chapter V applies even when the object of the service is in Jammu and Kashmir.

All Industry Rate of Drawback for HSD and furnace oil applies under FTP schemes to supplies by domestic oil companies
An administrative notification fixes an All Industry Rate of Drawback of Rs.1160 per metric tonne for High Speed Diesel and Furnace Oil supplied by domestic oil companies under the export Schemes in Chapters 4, 6 and 8 of the Foreign Trade Policy, effective from 1 April 2007 until further orders, as a partial modification of an earlier public notice and issued in the public interest by the Director General of Foreign Trade.

Inclusion of importer/exporter categories adds ordnance factories and atomic energy purchase directorate to the trade handbook.
Amendment under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy inserts at the end of Paragraph 2.8(v) two importer/exporter category entries: ordnance factories under the Ordnance Factories Organisation; and the Directorate of Purchase and Stores, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, promulgated by Public Notice No. 81/2007.

Movement of indigenous goods under bond clarified: amended circular prescribes Form CT-3 procedure and attestation for removals.
The Board amends prior circulars to require the proper officer to issue a certificate in Form C.T.-3 (in quadruplicate) for removal of excisable goods under bond to EOU/EHTP/STP/BTP units; Form C.T.-3 certifies that a licencee who has executed a bond in Form B-17 may remove specified goods from a manufacturing unit or warehouse to its undertaking, and requires specimen signatures and attestation by the Central Excise Officer.

Prohibition on specified leather-industry inputs restricts lactic acid, synthetic resins and hydroxy ethyl cellulose use.
Addition to the Handbook of Procedures (Vol.2) prescribes a footnote under SION G-7 and G-46 for Leather and Leather Products (Product Code G) that bars lactic acid as a deliming agent, prohibits synthetic resins and hydroxy ethyl cellulose across chemical headings, and disallows products labelled as fillers because formulated leather-chemical products (supported by technical data sheets) are used in the leather industry.

Rebate of service tax: jurisdictional excise handles refunds for exported goods; Service Tax Commissionerate handles exported services refunds.
Where inputs and input services relate to manufacture of goods exported by EOUs, the jurisdictional Central Excise or Customs authority will process and disburse the rebate or refund of unutilised CENVAT credit; if an EOU/STP/EHTP provides or exports taxable services, it must register with the jurisdictional Service Tax Commissionerate, which will sanction rebate or refund claims for inputs and input services used for export of such services.