Foreign Currency Accounts for project offices allowed with conditions; authorised dealers must ensure compliance and report to the regulator.
Authorised Dealers may open non interest bearing Foreign Currency Accounts for Project Offices established with Reserve Bank permission, limited to one account per project; permitted credits are receipts from the project sanctioning authority and remittances from parent/group companies or international financiers, and debits only for project related expenditure. AD branches must ensure compliance and are subject to 100% concurrent audit. Intermittent remittances pending project winding up are allowed on submission of an auditor's certificate and an undertaking; reporting to the Reserve Bank regional office within two months and annual chartered accountant certification are required.

Court fee clarification: CST registration fee corrected to a nominal amount, other circular instructions remain unchanged.
The Court Fee/Registration Fee for CST registration under the DVAT circular is corrected to Rs. 25 in place of Rs. 500; all other instructions of Circular No. 4 of 2005-06 remain unchanged. The corrigendum, issued by the Value Added Tax Officer (Policy), directs immediate circulation to the Commissioner's office, relevant VAT authorities, specialised units, EDP for website posting, the VAT Bar Association, trade associations and maintains a guard file.

Export obligation verification under duty exemption schemes: 5% random address checks through Central Excise/CGST with monitoring.
The EPM section must compile quarterly lists of authorizations showing license details and licensee information; the Principal Commissioner will direct a 5% random selection of licenses for address verification through jurisdictional Central Excise/CGST offices, and the EPM section shall monitor verification reports and periodically submit outcomes for further action.

Risk management framework implementation requires exchanges to implement controls before resuming trading and report compliance.
Exchanges must operationalize the comprehensive risk management framework by Monday, 30th May 2005 and shall not permit trading unless they can implement the revised framework; they must test and rectify software issues beforehand, notify member brokers/clearing members, publish the circular on their websites, and report implementation status in the May 2005 Monthly Development Report (Section II, item 13).

Help Centres for small taxpayers to provide compliance guidance and single-window facilitation for customs, excise and service tax obligations.
Establishment of Help Centres in each Commissionerate to facilitate small taxpayers in Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax matters; Centres to be staffed under Additional/Joint Commissioner with 6-8 local representatives from industry associations, professional bodies and NGOs, located in trade premises, meeting fortnightly, focusing on taxpayer education, compliance encouragement and assistance to non-filers and defaulters, while excluding grievance redressal; Centres must maintain records, carry out publicity and training, and submit zonal and monthly reports to the Board.

Review of Standard Input Output Norms requires exporters to submit revised form data; administrative revision process to follow.
Review of Standard Input Output Norms requires exporters of specified chemical, plastics and sports goods SIONs to submit revised data in Sub Section XII of the Aayaat Niryaat Form with Appendix 33 information within the period stated in the Public Notice, and directs the concerned Administrative Licensing Committee to finalise the revisions within the administrative timeframe provided.

Revision of SION procedures requires exporters to submit revised data and maintain self-certified Appendix-23 records for licensing checks.
ALC may identify SIONs for review and require exporters to submit revised data in the Aayaat Niryaat Form. Exporters and actual users must provide self certified copies of the relevant portion of Appendix 23 for physical and deemed exports; the licensing authority will compare Appendix 23 entries with licence norms and imported quantities, and where consumption is lower than imports, customs duty on the unutilized imported value with interest is payable. Appendix 23 may be maintained and submitted electronically with a digital signature.

EPCG scheme concession: EOUs may clear goods to DTA at concessional excise duty under end use notification.
Supplies by an EOU to an EPCG licence holder in the DTA count towards positive NFE. Goods cleared from EOUs under the EPCG Scheme attract Central Excise Duty equal to the effective customs duty on like imported goods after applying the end use notification, allowing EOUs to clear such goods at a concessional duty rate without any separate excise exemption notification.

Remittance of assets by NRIs/PIOs allowed with settlements treated as inheritance, subject to annual limit and compliance.
Banks authorised to deal in foreign exchange may allow NRIs/PIOs to remit assets from NRO balances, sale proceeds, and assets acquired by inheritance, legacy or settlement, subject to the annual limit, only on demise of the settlor for settlements made by parents or close relatives, and after receipt of an undertaking by the remitter and a Chartered Accountant certificate in the prescribed format; country-specific restrictions and other statutory permissions continue to apply.

Amendment compliance extension: stock exchange subsidiaries permitted extra time to implement broker-sub broker regulations under SEBI framework
All brokers, including subsidiaries of recognized stock exchanges that are registered as stock brokers and their registered sub brokers, are required to comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Stock Brokers and Sub brokers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2003, including changes to sub broker roles and the Model Tripartite Agreement. SEBI allowed a deferred compliance date for those exchange subsidiaries to permit necessary system changes and directed exchanges to notify member brokers and publish the circular.

Service tax on production or processing of goods: processing not amounting to manufacture becomes taxable after amendment.
Levy of service tax applies to production or processing of goods for or on behalf of the client when the activity does not amount to manufacture; activities amounting to manufacture under section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act are not liable. The Finance Bill, 2005 proposes to tax production or processing not amounting to manufacture, effective from the date notified by the Central Government after enactment.

Jurisdiction for objections assigned to VAT officers by ward, allocating cases between officers based on pecuniary thresholds.
Jurisdiction for objections is established by assigning territorial ward groupings and pecuniary brackets to specified VAT officers, so that objections against assessment or penalty orders are filed with the officer whose combined ward and monetary jurisdiction applies; the order designates an Additional Commissioner for higher-value disputes and Joint Commissioners or VAT Officers for other disputes and takes immediate effect.

Centralized registration authority specified: Director General Service Tax designated to grant centralized service tax registrations.
Designates Director General Service Tax as the authority authorised to grant centralized registration under the Service Tax Rules and directs issuance of Trade Notices and wide publicity to inform service tax assessees; the instruction was later rescinded by a subsequent circular.

Overseas investment liberalisation expands automatic-route foreign JV/WOS limits; banks to permit remittances; government securities move to T+1.
Eligible Indian entities may invest abroad in joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries under the automatic route up to an enhanced ceiling measured against the investing company's net worth, excluding investments from EEFC balances and ADR/GDR proceeds; authorised dealer banks shall permit remittances up to the ceiling based on the last audited balance sheet and process form ODA proposals. Separately, outright secondary market Government securities transactions are standardised to T+1 settlement, while repo first-leg settlement may be T+0 or T+1.

Registration under DVAT Act requires time bound processing; lack of action results in deemed registration and certificate issuance.
Registration requires Form DVAT 04 with mandatory proofs including incorporation, authorized signatory identity and proof of security; the receiving official must scrutinize completeness, record ward and receipt time, verify security documentation, and refuse incomplete applications. The issuing officer must dispose applications after enquiry within a time-bound period or issue a notice of proposed rejection allowing a written show-cause; failure to act within the period causes the applicant to be deemed registered and a Certificate of Registration must be issued.

Duty-free import entitlement for lining and interlining materials clarified, restoring original export-linked allowance within the overall ceiling.
Duty free import of lining and interlining materials for garment exporters is permitted up to 2% of the FOB value of exports of garments made during the preceding financial year, within the overall ceiling of 3%. An earlier drafting error in condition No.21(b) that had been misread to compound the limitation has been corrected by amendment; Customs Houses that already allowed imports on the clarified basis need not initiate recovery. Public Notices and Standing Orders should be issued for guidance and implementation issues reported to the Board.

Amendment of registration certificates: timely notification enables amendments; late or unsatisfactory filings may prompt penalty proceedings.
Amendment of registration certificates requires filing DVAT 07 with supporting documents and issuance of an acknowledgement receipt. The department reviews submissions for completeness, updates the I.T. system and issues DVAT-08 and the amended certificate (DVAT-06) when satisfactory. Late filings or deficient information trigger separate penalty proceedings and a clarification notice; lack of satisfactory response leads to rejection, reasons recorded on the I.T. system and referral to Enforcement Audit Branch. A fresh surety is required for changes in ownership, place, constitution or prolonged closure, while routine internal changes do not require a new surety.

Packing inclusion: ordinary wholesale packing necessary for marketability determines assessable value and attracts excise duty.
Section 4(4)(d)(i) includes the cost of packing in the assessable value unless the packing is durable and returnable; the operative test is whether the packing is the condition in which the goods are ordinarily sold in the wholesale market at the factory gate. If packing is necessary to make fragile goods marketable and is the normal mode of wholesale delivery (e.g., wooden crates for large glass sheets), its cost is includible; the burden to prove exclusion rests on the assessee.

Import of metallic waste and scrap now permitted only through specified designated ports under amended Handbook of Procedures.
Amendment to paragraph 2.32(i)(b) of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) authorises import of metallic waste and scrap in unshredded, compressed and loose form only through a specified list of ports and inland container depots; the change is effected under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy and published by public notice dated 20/05/2005.

Export obligation for loaned precious metals imposes a strict jewellery export deadline; outright purchases remain exempt.
SEZ units obtaining gold, silver or platinum on loan from nominated agencies must export jewellery made from those metals within ninety days of release; this requirement does not apply to precious metals purchased outright from the nominated agencies.