DEPB eligibility for DTA supplies to SEZs expanded, with new application and documentary requirements and port updates.
The Handbook is amended to designate the Export Inspection Council as the sole issuer of the Certificate of Origin under the India-Afghanistan Preferential Trade Agreement; to expand ports of registration; to state that exports to notified SEZs are entitled to DEPB; and to establish a procedure for DEPB credit for DTA supplies to SEZs requiring application to the Development Commissioner with specified documents (application fee receipt, SEZ bill of export, invoice showing FOR value and DEPB entitlement, bank realisation certificate, and a DTA disclaimer authorising SEZ claim).

Standard Input-Output Norms amended to add and substitute SION entries across chemicals, electronics, engineering and textile sectors.
Fixes and modifies Standard Input-Output Norms under the Export and Import Policy by amending Handbook of Procedures, Vol.2. The DGFT substitutes, corrects and adds SION entries and inserts new entries across Chemicals, Electronics, Engineering and Textile product tables; annexures prescribe detailed export items with corresponding allowed import items, quantities, conditional alternatives, net-to-net allowances and specific compositional formulations. The notice includes operational conditions such as value caps and fuel allowance restrictions tied to captive power generation and clarifying product descriptions.

Interest Deduction Prohibition: interest paid under the Act for delayed payments to small scale suppliers is nondeductible for tax purposes.
Section 9 provides that interest payable or paid by a buyer to a supplier under the Act shall not be allowed as a deduction in computing the buyer's total income for income tax purposes; assessing officers are instructed to note and apply this statutory prohibition when assessing income.

Accounting of additional duty on tea: deposits may be recorded under Receipt Awaiting Transfer pending opening of new head.
Amounts of additional duty of excise on tea and tea waste deposited by assessees prior to opening of a designated head of account are to be recorded temporarily under the sub head Receipt Awaiting Transfer within Major Head UED (00380086), and subsequently transferred to the new head when opened; Commissioners are to inform assessees accordingly.

Drawing of wire from wire rods is not manufacture; departmental circular characterizing it as such has been withdrawn.
The drawing of wire from wire rods does not amount to manufacture for central excise purposes; the Supreme Court dismissed revenue review petitions on this issue, and the departmental Circular No. 570/7/2001-CX characterizing drawing as manufacture has been withdrawn, with field formations and trade to be informed.

Import certification requirement: Council of Leather Exports authorised to certify imports for export manufacture under strict membership and use conditions.
The DGFT nominated the Council of Leather Exports, Chennai as an authorised certifying agency to issue import certificates to its members, subject to three operative conditions: members must have a valid RCMC at issuance, importers must be registered with the Council as manufacturer-exporters under Exim Policy, and certified imports must be used solely for manufacture of export products and not sold or transferred to DTA units.

Classification of Magnetic Accupressure Systems: reclassified as bed articles under tariff heading, change prospective only.
Magnetic accupressure mattresses, quilts and pillows are to be classified as bed articles under heading 94.04 rather than as massage apparatus under 90.19, because they lack an ability to actively vary pressure sites and depend on user movement; WCO opinion accepted by the Board. The reclassification is prospective from this circular's date, while assessments of Bills of Entry filed between the earlier circular's issue and this revised circular remain under the earlier classification; field formations must follow the Board circular and issue public notices.

Call book monitoring: Chief Commissioners must ensure comprehensive review, periodic oversight, and reporting of pending cases.
The Board directs Chief Commissioners to ensure Commissioners of Central Excise conduct a one time comprehensive review of all pending call book cases to assess progress and identify avoidable delays. Chief Commissioners are to monitor these reviews periodically in their zones. Call book transfers remain limited to specified categories and require competent authority approval. Progress must be reported in the Monthly Technical Review and in monthly statements under Key Result Areas.

Certified copies: SEBI procedure allows eligible parties to obtain certified orders and circulars for appeals through designated officers.
Framework prescribes issuance of certified copies of Board/Chairman/Adjudicating Officer orders and departmental circulars within 25 years, available to persons covered by or aggrieved by an order and for use in appeals or other proceedings. Executive Directors shall designate a Division Chief rank officer as a Designated Officer to receive applications, certify copies expeditiously against acknowledgment, retain or be deemed custodian of originals, maintain serialised records to prevent forgery, and ensure certified copies include required certification language, date, page count, certifier details and office seal; fees paid by demand draft and collection or registered post options provided.

Recovery cell enforcement: mandate standardized MTR reporting and active use of statutory recovery powers to expedite confirmed duty recovery.
Non-adjudication and delays in recovery are attributed to ineffective recovery cells, improper referrals to district authorities despite statutory recovery powers, and failures in MTR reporting. DGICCE is to prescribe a proforma in the MTR for Commissioners to report cases referred to recovery cells and district authorities; Commissioners must furnish recovery-effort information, create recovery cells where absent, and CCEs/Divisional AC/DCs must review and monitor these cases to ensure expeditious recovery of confirmed demands.

Data accuracy in MTRs required to ensure correct reporting of pending cases and revenue and prevent misinformation.
Discrepancies in MTRs between field and Board figures on pending cases and revenue impair information use and risk wrong reporting; Chief Commissioners and Commissioners are directed to take utmost care in compiling and verifying these figures and to acknowledge receipt.

Adjudication monitoring urged: require analysis of pending excise adjudications and remedial measures, include in MTRs.
Chief Commissioners must analyse reasons for undue pendency in excise adjudication, propose corrective or remedial measures to expedite disposals, and include those analyses and measures in Management and Transaction Reports (MTRs) to be submitted to the Board; receipt of the directive is to be acknowledged.

Search and seizure operations: shift to evidence-focused seizures with stricter coordination and post-search procedural controls.
Directives require operational and procedural reforms for search and seizure and post-search assessments: postings to Investigation Wing are performance-sensitive; DGsIT(Inv.) must lead selection and coordination of searches with jurisdictional notice; seizure policy should prioritize evidence collection over routine seizure of stock-in-trade, and where immediate verification is not possible a prohibition order u/s 132(3) may be used; non-essential documents should generally not be seized; appraisal reports must be brief and handed to Assessing Officers promptly; Investigation Wing should suggest but not quantify telescoping, leaving final decision to the AO; registers must track post-appeal outcomes and recoveries.

Export obligation relief: licence holders may regularise defaults by paying customs duty with interest and providing bank guarantees.
Amendments provide that where Customs duty is payable on unutilised material or due to shortfall in EPCG export obligation, such duty must be paid along with interest; pending cases of regularisation of bonafide default for Advance Licences and EPCG licences are covered irrespective of issuance date. EPCG licence-holders in specified circumstances may obtain export obligation extensions subject to submission of bank guarantees covering Customs duty proportional to unfulfilled obligations with specified interest and validity, exclusions apply for licences involving misrepresentation, fraud, or existing adjudication orders.

Reassessment restrictions: no proceedings under section 147 or 263 where agricultural income tax was paid on rubber or coffee income.
The Board directs that no proceedings under section 147 or section 263 should be initiated for assessment years prior to 2002-03 to determine income liable to income-tax in respect of manufacture of rubber and/or coffee where assessees had already paid agricultural income-tax on the whole of such income.

Currency prohibition on a specified high-denomination Indian note requires customs to warn travellers and display notice at entry points.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs directs customs units to publicize a Nepalese Gazette prohibition on possession, sale, import and export of Indian currency notes of the 1000-denomination, to prominently display notices at airports and Land Customs Stations, to advise travellers to Nepal about the prohibition and prescribed documentation requirements, and to acknowledge receipt of the circular.

International credit cards: residents may use foreign currency accounts or direct bank remittances to pay card charges, subject to usage restrictions.
Resident individuals with foreign currency account(s) may obtain international credit cards issued abroad and may meet card charges from those accounts or by remittances from India through a bank where they hold a current or savings account; such remittances must be sent directly to the card issuing agency and not to third parties. Credit limits are set by issuing banks and there is no monetary ceiling imposed by the regulator. Existing prohibitions on use of cards for certain transactions remain applicable, and authorised dealers must notify constituents.

Arm's length price determination governs income computation from international transactions; TPO sets price, AO adjusts income accordingly.
Computation of income from international transactions must follow the arm's length price determined by the Transfer Pricing Officer (TPO) under section 92C/92CA. The AO may refer transaction-specific international dealings with associated enterprises to the TPO using Form No. 2CEB as a prima facie basis, obtain the TPO's speaking order documenting methods, data and reasons, and thereafter compute total income having regard to that price while giving the taxpayer a formal opportunity to be heard.

Incorrect accounting code for service tax payments does not require duplicate payment; refunds available where tax was paid again.
Wrong accounting code entries for Service Tax do not require duplicate payment; accounting allocation should be corrected with the Pay and Accounts Office. If a taxpayer paid again after being asked to do so, the divisional Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner may refund the excess. Field formations must be informed and a Trade Notice issued to advise trade; acknowledgement of the circular is requested and a Hindi version will follow.

Relinquishment of title under Customs Act frees importer from duty but not accrued interest on that duty.
Amendment to Section 68 permits the owner of warehoused goods to relinquish title before clearance upon payment of rent, interest, other charges and penalties, and on such relinquishment the owner is not liable to pay customs duty. The term "interest" in the proviso refers to interest on other dues like warehouse charges and rent, not to interest accrued on customs duty up to the date of relinquishment.