Education Cess accounting: new minor heads and transfer procedures required; notify commissioners and issue trade notice.
Instruction mandates accounting for Secondary and Higher Education Cess and renamed Primary Education Cess under newly opened Minor Heads with specified numeric and serial codes; amounts held under "Receipt Awaiting Transfer" must be transferred to these new Heads. Commissioners must be informed of eight digit serial codes and advised to issue Trade Notices to assessees; Service Tax ''Other Receipts'' covers interest/penalty on delayed payments.

Accounting of Education Cess: new minor head codes established and RAT balances directed to be transferred and notified.
New Minor Head 505 for Secondary and Higher Education Cess is opened under the Major Heads for Customs, Union Excise Duty and Service Tax with specified numeric, serial and SCCD codes; amounts held under Receipt Awaiting Transfer (RAT) should be transferred to the new Minor Head and Commissioners must be informed to issue Trade Notices. The existing Minor Head 504 is re named Primary Education Cess but retains its accounting codes; corresponding sub heads include Tax Collection, Other Receipts (interest/penalty) and Deduct Refunds.

Education Cess accounting: new minor heads opened and balances moved from Receipt Awaiting Transfer, with notifications to assessees.
A new minor head for Secondary and Higher Education Cess has been opened under the Major Heads for Customs, Union Excise Duty and Service Tax with specified accounting and serial codes; amounts held under "Receipt Awaiting Transfer" are to be transferred to this head and Commissioners must be notified to issue Trade Notices. The existing minor head "Education Cess" is renamed Primary Education Cess with its accounting codes unchanged; the "Other Receipts" sub head covers interest and penalties on delayed Service Tax.

Export obligation timelines for spice imports clarified: expedited compliance for pepper, cardamom and chillies and defined period for other spices.
Amendment to paragraph 4.22 clarifies timelines for fulfilment of export obligation on imported spices: imports for value addition (crushing, grinding, sterilisation) or manufacture of oils and oleoresins of pepper, cardamom and chillies must satisfy EO within a short period from importation of the first consignment; imports of other spices for manufacture of spice oils and oleoresins under advance authorisation must satisfy EO within a defined period from issuance of the advance authorisation.

Permission to take intermediate products abroad for job work allowed with specified item description, quantity and item codes.
The Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) is amended to permit taking intermediate products out for job work abroad as part of the production process. Appendix 14-I-A adds clause V-A and Appendix 14-I-E is revised to require listing Item(s) description, Quantity and Item code (ITC/HS code) for such intermediate products, with a note that these entries are not required for service units.

E-payment of customs duties: electronic challan payment via ICEGATE and designated bank enabling automatic customs processing.
An E-Payment facility for customs duties at ICD-Sabarmati and Air Cargo Complex, Ahmedabad is introduced via the ICEGATE CEG and Bank of Baroda. Registered ICEGATE users or unregistered users (by IE Code) select unpaid challans, choose the designated bank, complete internet banking authentication and payment at the bank site, obtain a cyber receipt, and return to ICEGATE to complete the transaction. The bank transmits payment particulars electronically to ICES enabling Bills of Entry to move to the examination queue without physical proof; a VERIFY option is available on the date of payment to resolve incomplete transactions.

Conclusion of adjudication: voluntary payment of service tax with interest and penalty terminates Finance Act proceedings against the payer.
Payment of service tax with interest and the prescribed penalty by a person issued a show cause notice leads to conclusion of the entire adjudication proceedings under the Finance Act in respect of that person; where notices are served on other persons under the subsection, proceedings in respect of those other persons are also deemed concluded. The same payment-based conclusion principle applies to the parallel subsection for other cases.

Focus Product Scheme eligibility extended to specified handmade durries and carpets, subject to exporter declaration of hand made status.
Amendment to Appendix 37D clarifies that Focus Product Code 38 covers specified ITC (HS) codes for cotton, man made fibre and wool durries; other textile floor coverings; jute and coir carpets; and carpeting, rugs, mats and mattings, and confines benefits to hand made products with a required exporter declaration, applying to FTP(RE2006) and FTP(RE2007) and making scheme benefits available from the FTP applicability date onward.

Duty free import of fuel permitted under SION or general note conditions; applicant must specify fuel, FOB restriction not applied.
Duty free fuel imports under Advance Authorisation are allowed either according to the description and quantity specified in the relevant SION or, where fuel is not listed in a SION, under the General Note for Fuel percentage conditions in the FTP/HBP; applicants must state the specific fuel sought. The FOB value restriction in the General Note for Fuel does not apply to imports authorised under a SION unless the SION expressly includes that restriction.

Liquidator notification requirement: failure to notify can create personal liability for company tax and penalties, ensure compliance.
Section 53 obliges a liquidator or receiver to notify the Commissioner of appointment within one month; the Commissioner must, after inquiry, notify within three months the amount sufficient to cover tax, interest or penalty payable by the company; failure by the liquidator to give notice exposes him personally to liability for tax and penalty if those sums are later notified under the Commissioner's determination. Assessing Authorities are directed to ensure compliance with these requirements for companies in liquidation.

Exemption from special additional duty affirmed for imports under retrospectively issued DEPB licences, with no debit to the DEPB scrip.
DEPB licences issued after judicial recognition of retrospective eligibility for ICD Guntur attract the intervening notification-based exemption from special additional duty; accordingly, the special additional duty need not be debited from the DEPB scrip and exemption should be allowed for imports covered by those licences, with appropriate public notice and internal guidance issued for implementation.

Cenvat credit utilization: specified input services may be used fully for taxable services without the general utilization cap.
Cenvat credit on the seventeen specified input services may be utilized without application of the 20% utilization restriction when those services are used for providing taxable services. These services cannot be apportioned to individual services and are treated like capital goods; credit is not available where they are used exclusively for exempted services, but where credit is taken it may be used in full for payment of service tax on taxable services.

Foreign trade procedure amendment adds 'Honey' to permitted items under Handbook of Procedures, expanding the commodity list.
Amendment to the Handbook of Procedures under the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-2009 adds Honey as item vi in Paragraph 4.7 by Public Notice No. 57/2007, issued under powers conferred by Paragraph 2.4 of the Policy; the notice effects an administrative amendment to the Handbook and is issued in the public interest.

Time limits for DEPB applications clarified; filing windows and notification duties defined for export credit claims.
Claims under DEPB must be filed within twelve months from export or EDI shipping bill uplink, or within six months from realisation, or within three months from printing/release of the shipping bill, whichever is later. The Norms Committee must ensure any adhoc norms not already notified are published within six months of ratification.

Sale of imported weapons by renowned shooters permitted after specified holding periods, subject to regulator approval.
An amendment to paragraph 2.43.2 permits persons with "Renowned Shooter" status who have held that status for three consecutive years to sell imported weapons after three years from import, and permits other "Renowned Shooter" persons to sell after five years from import, in each case subject to prior approval from the trade regulator.

Export obligation schedule under EPCG modified; phased fulfilment, set off rules, digital filing and proportionate duty remedy.
Amendments require the RA to issue EPCG authorisation based on a nexus certificate from an independent Chartered Engineer and forward a copy to the Jurisdictional Central Excise Authority. Installation of capital goods must be certified to the RA by the Central Excise Authority within six months (three years for spares); non excise units may submit an independent Chartered Engineer's certificate. Export obligations are restructured into two phased blocks with 50% to be met in each block (and a separate 12 year phased schedule for high value cases); set off of excess exports between blocks is allowed, electronic filing with digital signatures is required, and proportionate customs duty with interest is payable for unfulfilled blocks.

ACU dollar equivalence to freely convertible currency - exporters with ACU$ realisation remain eligible for export promotion incentives.
Because the ACU dollar is recognised as equivalent to a freely convertible currency under central bank guidelines, exporters who realize foreign exchange in ACU$ are eligible to claim benefits under Export Promotion Schemes and associated incentive programmes administered by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

DFIA scheme benefit extends to exports to Rupee Payment Area countries subject to meeting prescribed value addition criteria.
DFIA scheme benefits apply to exports to Rupee Payment Area countries provided exporters achieve the higher of: value addition prescribed under DFIA, value addition in Appendix 11 of HBP Vol. I, or value addition prescribed for the specific product under the Advance Authorisation scheme.

Extension of filing deadline: reconciliation return DVAT 51 and original declaration forms allowed under VAT and CST rules.
Under delegated administrative authority, the Commissioner extended the deadline for filing the reconciliation return in Form DVAT 51 for the first quarter returns and separately extended the deadline for furnishing the original portion of statutory declaration forms (Forms C, D, E I/E II, F, I, J and H) relating to that quarter, regularising late submission under the Delhi VAT and Central Sales Tax procedural framework and directing departmental dissemination and publicity.

Import approval for GM soybean oil: permitted after refining, subject to monthly import data reporting requirement.
One-time approval permits import of genetically modified soybean oil derived from Roundup-Ready soybean in crude de-gummed or refined form solely for consumption after refining, under the applicable ITC(HS) import condition. Importers must comply with a monthly reporting obligation: the solvent extractors' industry association will submit monthly import data for GM soybean oil and related products to the commerce division handling agricultural trade.