Audit report filing requirement extended: late audit reports for affected assessment year may be filed before completion of assessment.
Where the statutory obligation to maintain books and obtain a tax audit and to furnish an auditor's report under the presumptive income provisions was inserted retrospectively after the prescribed filing date, affected assessees may furnish the required audit report anytime before completion of assessment for that year, and such filing will be treated as deemed compliance with the original filing requirement.

Finance lease ownership determines depreciation entitlement; accounting standard capitalisation does not alter income tax allowance treatment.
Ownership in finance lease transactions determines entitlement to depreciation under the Income-tax Act and is fixed by the terms of the contract between lessor and lessee; sham or non-existent assets created by hawala preclude depreciation, and sale-and-leaseback claims must be examined for substantive ownership. The Accounting Standard requiring lessee capitalisation in financial leases does not, by itself, alter the allowance of depreciation under tax law.

Deposit composition change: non-cash component may be accepted as bank FDRs creating unencumbered lien for sub-brokers' deposits.
The circular permits the non-cash component of sub-broker deposits with the subsidiary to be in the form of bank Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) instead of solely irrevocable bank guarantees. Such FDRs must be discharged in favour of the subsidiary/company and the subsidiary/company must be given a complete, unencumbered and unconditional lien on those FDRs, thereby securing the subsidiary's interest in the non-cash deposit component.

Blank year declaration for export obligation relief enables licence validity and filing deadline extensions for affected units.
2000-2001 is declared a blank year for monitoring export obligation of EOU/EPZ/SEZ units in earthquake-affected areas of Gujarat; monitoring deferred to 30.6.2001. EPCG licences may receive extension of export obligation up to 31.3.2004 except where misrepresentation, fraud, or adjudicated adverse orders exist. One-year extensions apply under paragraphs 6.11 and 7.22 for EPCG and Advance Licence obligations; paragraph 7.23 deems one-year validity extension for affected Advance Licences and similarly for DEPB/DFRC. Attested duplicate originals are acceptable for licence claims and discharge of obligations without duplicate-document cuts. Filing deadlines (excluding Special Import Licence claims) falling in January 2001 or thereafter are extended to 31 December 2001 or the normal limit, whichever is later.

Concessional excise computation: calculate each customs duty on imported-equivalent value, apply concession, then aggregate.
Excise on DTA clearances by EOUs/EPZ/EHTP/STP units is computed by first determining each customs duty that would apply on like imports-basic duty and surcharge on assessable value, then additional and special additional duties on successively augmented values-and then taking the concessional fraction (50% under notification No.2/95-CE) of each such duty and aggregating those concessional amounts. The effective collectable basic/auxiliary duties for valuation are the concessional amounts prescribed by notification, computation follows the stepwise Annexure method (Method A), and the excise so computed is subject to the proviso ceiling in section 3(1).

Budget Day procedural changes: Commissioners may permit post appointed time excise clearances with application, conditions and duty accounting.
Amendments to the Central Excise Rules define appointed day and appointed time, omit the pre Budget declaration rule and limit physical control to the period from appointed time until midnight, allowing self removal up to the commencement of Budget proceedings. Commissioners, not the Central Government, now grant permissions for clearances after the appointed time; such permissions require written advance applications, specified A.R. forms filed with a designated proper officer, duty undertakings for any enhanced rates, provisional filings for estimated quantities with finalization after the Budget, and Commissioner oversight for accounting and recovery of differential duty.

DEPB credit entitlement: splitting FOB value to claim credit is impermissible; such exports fall outside relevant DEPB entries.
Where an exported product is not squarely covered by the description in the relevant DEPB rate entry, DEPB credit is not admissible and it is impermissible to split the declared FOB value into multiple elements to treat one element as the FOB basis for calculating DEPB entitlement; artificial segregation of value to fit part of an export into a DEPB entry does not create entitlement.

Client code mandatory: exchanges risk suspension of MCFS and ALBM if noncompliant, with system calculated margins.
SEBI requires mandatory implementation of a client code at broker level with phased suspension of MCFS/ALBM or trading for noncompliant exchanges; MCFS and ALBM margins must be system-calculated rather than self-certified. The circular extends CFRS, ALBRS and CNS facilities to voluntary rolling settlement for eligible scrips, permits conditional use of Trade/Settlement Guarantee Funds for primary issues with exchange-wide application, exposure limits and a minimum cash margin, mandates minimum margin deposits and quarterly auditors' certificates from brokers and sub-brokers, allows membership buy-backs under existing law, and requires a trading-system icon to show prior-day buy-back positions.

Transfer deadline reduction for CM pool securities enforces quicker client credit and penalises prolonged pool holdings, with direct delivery required.
Clearing members must transfer securities from CM Pool accounts to clients' beneficiary accounts within six calendar days after pay-out, failing which such securities are ineligible for subsequent delivery, pledging, or lending and attract a weekly penalty credited to a depository account for investor education; identification will move from FIFO to settlement-wise records and a direct delivery mechanism will be introduced, reducing the transfer deadline to four calendar days or two working days where applicable.

Quarterly shareholding disclosure requires listed companies to file and publish a prescribed detailed shareholding pattern online.
Listed companies must file and publish a prescribed quarterly shareholding pattern within fifteen days of quarter end, using a tabular format dividing Promoter and Non Promoter holdings with subcategories, naming entities/individuals holding more than one percent, disclosing total foreign shareholding including GDRs and ADRs, and applying the takeover regulations' definitions for promoters and persons acting in concert; stock exchanges must post the disclosures on their websites.

Standard Input Output Norms amended to add and revise SION entries, adjusting permitted inputs and net to net import conditions.
Amendment revises the Handbook of Procedures, Vol.2 by updating the Standard Input Output Norms: making corrections, substituting and deleting existing norms, and adding new SION entries across Chemicals, Electronics, Engineering, Food and Plastics. New entries specify permitted import inputs and quantities, permit alternative inputs with substitution ratios, and impose net to net importation with accountability and specification conformity to be reflected in export documents; special footnotes establish limits and process necessity conditions for selected technologies and fuels.

Service tax payment method: corporatised telecom entities must remit tax via TR-6 challans in nominated banks.
Following corporatisation of the Department of Telecom Services, the entity must remit service tax, with any interest and penalty, by TR-6 challans at nominated nationalised banks by the dates prescribed in the Act; book transfer payment is discontinued and the remaining provisions of the earlier circular continue to apply.

Enduring benefit test: ex-gratia payments under VRS treated as capital expenditure when they create lasting advantage.
Ex-gratia payments made to effect Voluntary Retirement Schemes or similar restructuring that create an enduring benefit or advantage for the business - such as improved profitability, competitiveness or technological induction - are properly attributable to capital and not revenue. Assessing Officers should decide the character of such expenditure on the facts and circumstances of each case, considering the nature and ordinary course of the business and the objects for which the payments were made.

Disclosure of annual accounts required: exchanges and clearing corporations must publish accounts online and provide copies.
Stock exchanges, clearing corporations and their subsidiaries must disclose financial information by posting their annual accounts on their websites and by making copies available to investors, intermediaries and the general public at a reasonable cost, with immediate steps required to comply to enhance transparency.

Corporate governance compliance required: stock exchanges must monitor quarterly reports and ensure listing committees are constituted before listing.
SEBI directs stock exchanges to set up monitoring cells to collect quarterly Clause 49 compliance reports from companies, consolidate and submit them to SEBI within thirty days of quarter end, using a prescribed format covering board composition, audit committee, shareholders/investors grievance committee, director remuneration, board procedures, management disclosures and the corporate governance report; initial public listings must demonstrate board and committee constitution before listing or face escrow of application money until compliance.

Restricting Government appeals: require careful consideration before filing and initiate closure procedures for long-pending cases.
Government departments should restrict filing of appeals, especially in revenue matters, by issuing directions that appeals be lodged only after careful consideration and by assigning responsibility for decisions not to file; analogous closure procedures used to terminate long pending criminal cases should be considered for tribunals, adjudicating bodies and revenue disputes. The circular calls for wide publicity of these recommendations and for departments to report action taken to the Board.

Classification of tyre cord fabrics under Heading 59.02 triggers AED liability unless a specific exemption applies.
Processed tyre cord fabrics produced by dipping, coating and calendering with unvulcanised rubber are classifiable under Heading 59.02 and, absent exemption, attracted Additional Excise Duty from 16.3.95 to 1.6.98; subsequent notifications exempting such fabrics applied from 2.6.98 and were later restored w.e.f. 2.9.98, and Board directs field formations to follow this classification.

Pre-packaged commodity labelling applies only to imports intended for retail sale; raw materials and bulk imports excluded.
The circular clarifies that the paragraph 4 labelling requirements under the Standards of Weights and Measures (Package Commodity) Rules, 1977 apply only to imports of pre-packaged commodities intended for retail sale; imports of raw materials, components, or bulk consignments that will undergo further processing or assembly before sale to consumers are excluded.

Drawback on ready-made garments: hanger value treatment determines deduction or separate claim under section 74.
Drawback on ready-made garments depends on whether supplied hangers are free, locally procured, or imported on payment. Free hangers imported duty-free under Notification No.16/2000 need not be deducted from f.o.b. value; hangers acquired on payment must be excluded from garments' f.o.b. value and may qualify for separate drawback under section 74, subject to verification and shipping bill amendment. Exporters must provide declarations on hanger value and procurement, and Customs should issue notices and decide pending claims accordingly.

Customs duty exemption for international organisations requires MEA notification verification before clearance for official use.
Customs must grant exemptions from customs duties and prohibitions for articles imported for official use by United Nations and by international organisations notified under section 3 of the UN (P&I) Act, 1947, provided the relevant Article II privileges-notably section 7(b)-are extended in the MEA notification; Customs should verify the notification's scope, observe the restriction on sale within the country except as agreed with the Government, and clear goods accordingly.