Hedge position limits: exchanges must adopt hedge policies granting non transferable limits tied to verified underlying exposures.
Exchanges must adopt and publicise a Hedge Policy granting incremental, non transferable hedge limits to bona fide hedgers after case by case assessment of underlying physical market exposure. Hedge limits require documentary verification (e.g., bank certificates, warehouse receipts), are not available for near month contracts once near month limits apply, and across exchanges must not exceed actual or anticipated physical exposure. Non compliance can attract expulsion, trading prohibition or other penalties; approved limits are time bound and hedgers must retain records for at least three years.

Customs Broker License renewal requires specified declarations, supporting documents and an application at least ninety days before expiry.
Renewal of a Customs Broker Licence requires an application filed at least ninety days before expiry, accompanied by specified declarations and supporting documents: confirmation of no change in constitution/address; no time expired/inoperative identity cards; accounts maintained as required; disclosure of pending judicial/quasi judicial cases; no departmental arrears; self attested copies of Form B licence, PAN, membership certificate where applicable, list of identity card holders with card numbers and validity, and payment evidence of the renewal fee. Processing is normally completed within sixty working days and approved renewals will be published monthly.

Removal of mandatory warehousing requirements: BIE for home consumption now required, single procurement certificate register instituted.
Removal of mandatory warehousing requires filing BIE for Home Consumption instead of warehousing BIEs, eliminating the need for Ex-Bond SIBs; a single consolidated Procurement Certificate register will be maintained and Procurement Certificates must be defaced by the authorised officer; adherence to the circular and notification guidelines is required and implementation issues must be reported to the office.

Duty free shops and special warehouses must keep computerized SKU records, file Forms A/B, integrate passenger sales daily in Form C.
Licensees of Special Warehouses and Duty Free Shops must maintain computerized electronic records (SKU-based) with an audit trail of receipt, handling, storage and removal of goods; file monthly returns in Form A and pre-expiry returns in Form B; keep digital passenger sales records in Form C integrated daily into warehouse records; obtain bond officer acknowledgements on receipt; follow prescribed escorted removal and sales accounting; furnish solvency certificates equivalent to duty liability (with limited exemptions); and bear customs supervision costs on Merchant Over Time or Cost Recovery bases as determined by licensing authorities.

Income Declaration Scheme valuation and disclosure rules clarified; holding period, indexation and treatment of fictitious liabilities specified.
Fictitious liabilities in audited accounts can be declared under the Income Declaration Scheme either as standalone liabilities when not linked to specific assets or as the fair market value of the linked asset when directly connected. Declarations do not affect finality of completed assessments but may be used in later assessments where a nexus exists. Valuation reports by registered valuers are accepted; misrepresentation by valuers invites legal action. Holding period for declared assets is the actual acquisition date, with indexation on declared amounts available only from the revaluation date. Mixed evidence immovable property must be valued part by part as per deed evidence and valuation rules.

Refund and adjudication in SEZs now follow customs and central excise procedures, with audits by designated customs officers.
Amendment provides that Refund, Demand, Adjudication, Review, and Appeal for authorised SEZ operations, transactions, goods and services shall be made by the jurisdictional Customs and Central Excise authorities under the Customs Act, the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act and related rules and notifications. It further mandates that audits of indirect tax matters in SEZs be conducted by customs officers drawn from a panel prepared by the jurisdictional Development Commissioner in consultation with the jurisdictional Chief Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise.

Deduction under section 35AC limited to payments up to previous year ending 31.03.2017; late applications barred.
Deduction for payments to associations or institutions approved by the National Committee for eligible projects is available only for payments in previous years ending on or before 31.03.2017; requests received after 31.12.2016 for grant, modification or extension of approval to cover up to 31.03.2017 will not be considered by the National Committee.

No Objection Certificate waiver for export consignments to specified countries; exporters must comply with importing-country regulations.
The requirement for a No Objection Certificate from port drug control offices has been removed for export consignments to specified countries to ease regulatory procedures for export of drugs, medical devices and cosmetics; exporters must nevertheless comply with the importing countries' regulatory requirements and report any difficulties to the issuing authority.

Service Delivery Excellence Model adds SAD refund claim disposal and assigns process owners for core customs services.
Implementation of the Service Delivery Excellence Model (Sevottam) at the General Commissionerate of Air Cargo Complex adds disposal of SAD refund claims to the services covered. The notice requires acknowledgement of written communications and conveyance of decisions, and designates process owners: ACAO (Admn) for acknowledgements, AC (Sevottam) for decisions, AC/DC (SAD Refund) for SAD refund disposal, and Supdt CIU for release of seized documents.

Transfer of right to use determines tax character: contract terms must show exclusive right to use to attract service tax.
Service tax liability for hiring, leasing or licensing of goods hinges on whether the contract effects a transfer of the right to use goods; if not, such supply is a declared service. Apply the Supreme Court criteria: goods available for delivery, consensus on identity, transferee's legal right to use (with permissions), exclusivity of that right vis-a -vis the transferor for the period, and inability of the owner to re-transfer the same right. Distinguish financial versus operating leases and dry versus wet leases as factual indicators; examine contract terms rather than assume generalisations.

Duty free pre import of fabrics under Special Advance Authorization enables claiming alternative AIRs of duty drawback on exported garments.
Special Advance Authorization allows duty free pre import of fabrics for incorporation into exports and permits exporters to claim All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback with the DGFT fixing the value of other inputs for value addition norms, while preserving the alternative to claim Brand Rate under Rule 7 where input values are on actuals; customs notifications exempt the fabrics, prescribe modified AIR suffixes based on Cenvat usage, and require a shipping bill identifier for provisional drawback processing.

Removal of mandatory bonding requirements allows EOUs and park units to operate without compulsory customs warehousing constraints.
Amendments remove mandatory warehousing and bonding formalities for EOUs and units in STP/EHTP/BTP by deleting requirements to obtain private bonded/warehousing licences and to execute customs/central excise bonds, replacing references to "bonded premises" with "premises of the unit," and substituting bond officer endorsements with jurisdictional officer endorsements; related form fields capturing bonding dates and consent are deleted and CST reimbursement and conversion procedures are adjusted accordingly.

Removal of warehousing requirement for export oriented units shifts compliance to mandatory digital records and procurement certificate procedures.
Mandatory warehousing obligations for EOUs, EHTPs, STPIs and similar units are removed, delicensing these units as warehouses while retaining the governing exemption notification and related compliance obligations. Units must maintain prescribed digital records based on Form A with an audit trail capturing receipts, storage, processing and removals of imported goods received on or after the effective date, provide monthly digital copies to the proper officer, and integrate existing stock data; prior processed or cleared goods need not be migrated. Procurement certificates and reconciliation procedures replace re warehousing and bond to bond movement, with inter unit transfers supported by procurement certificates and normal commercial documents.

Removal of mandatory warehousing for export units: clearance now relies on procurement certificates and reconciliation.
Removal of the mandatory warehousing licence for export-oriented units means existing licences are delicensed and units must continue to observe applicable customs notifications and the foreign trade policy. Re-warehousing certificates and forwarding-letter formalities are dispensed with; instead units must furnish procurement certificates at import, provide Bills of Entry copies to the jurisdictional office on receipt, and allow reconciliation of imports with procurement certificates, while bond closure procedures tied to re-warehousing certificates are no longer required for affected imports.

SEZ approvals and compliance: Board authorised extensions, co-developer arrangements and corporate changes under strict statutory conditions.
Board granted and rejected SEZ requests concerning extensions of formal approvals and Letters of Permission, approvals for co-developers and new sector-specific and multi-product SEZs, and corporate changes (name, shareholding, conversion, change of entrepreneur) subject to continuity of SEZ obligations, eligibility and security clearances, compliance with revenue and company laws, immediate furnishing of financial details to tax authorities and provision of PAN and assessing officer details to CBDT; certain proposals were rejected for lack of state recommendation or conflict with export policy, and cancellations of formal approvals were approved subject to DC certification on tax/duty benefits.

Acknowledgment in Form-2: issuance period extended to 30 days for July declarations under the Income Declaration Scheme.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes extended the issuance period for the acknowledgment in Form-2 under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 from 15 days to 30 days for declarations filed in July 2016, exercising powers under the Finance Act, 2016 read with section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, in view of an earlier notification adjusting the time schedule for payment while amendments to Form-2 are being made.

Place of provision rules: freight forwarders' services taxable when acting as intermediaries; transportation to abroad not taxable.
Transportation of goods by air/sea to a destination outside India is treated as provided outside the taxable territory under Rule 10 POPS and not liable to service tax; a freight forwarder acting only as an intermediary under Rule 2(f)/Rule 9 is taxable for the facilitation service, whereas a freight forwarder acting as principal who assumes contractual liability and invoices as principal provides the transport service on his own account and such export transportation is not subject to service tax.

Annual system audit requirement expanded to commodity derivatives brokers, with Type I broker exemptions and exchange audit inclusion.
The circular prescribes annual system audit requirements for brokers and trading members of National Commodity Derivatives Exchanges, detailing audit process, auditor selection norms, and Terms of Reference, while exempting Type I brokers from standalone audits and incorporating their provisions into the Exchanges' Annual System Audit TORs; exchanges must amend bye laws and report implementation.

Common registration for first stage dealers and importers enables optional single registration and combined quarterly return.
An assessee registered as a First Stage Dealer or as an importer is exempted from obtaining the other registration and may opt for a single registration; alternatively, separate registrations remain permissible. Where a single registration is used, the assessee may file one quarterly return combining transaction details: first all First Stage Dealer transactions for the period, followed by all importer transactions in the same return table, pursuant to Notification No. 30/2016-CE (NT).

Expeditious refund processing requires complete claims, prescribed Cenvat credit statement and invoices only on request.
Claimants must file complete refund claims with an attached checklist and required records as mandated by Rule 9(6) of the Cenvat Credit Rules; Cenvat credit ledgers or statements should supply vendor, service, invoice value and tax details. A soft copy of the Cenvat credit statement in the prescribed format must be submitted at filing; physical invoices need not be filed unless specifically called for. Officers are to verify eligibility of CENVAT credit under Rule 2(1) and ensure compliance with the checklist to expedite disposal.