Licensing of special warehouses: transitional licensing required for warehouses serving duty free, ship, airline and diplomatic stores.
Section 58A establishes a licensing regime for special warehouses where dutiable goods destined for notified end uses are to be stored under customs lock. Existing warehouses supplying duty free shops, ship stores, airline stores or diplomatic stores must apply for licenses under Section 58A within the prescribed filing window to continue operations beyond the transitional period; Commissioners are instructed to process applications promptly and determine whether customs services are provided on Merchant Over Time or Cost Recovery basis.

Warehouse Code requirement: declaring a unique bonded warehouse code mandatory for into bond and ex bond bill of entry filings.
A mandatory unique warehouse code regime will be implemented via an ICES module that captures licensed bonded warehouse details (including licence number and dates, jurisdiction and type) and generates an eight-character code: first four characters for the EDI port or nearest customs location, fifth for warehouse type, and last three as a serial. Central Excise must forward lists to EDI-enabled customs by 1 June 2016; EDI Commissioners must register warehouses by 6 June 2016. Codes will be published on ICEGATE and declaration of the warehousing code on Into-Bond and Ex-Bond Bills of Entry becomes mandatory from 20 June 2016.

Income Declaration Scheme enables voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income with tax and immunity, subject to eligibility limits and exclusions.
The Scheme permits voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income by paying prescribed tax, surcharge and penalty; declared fair market value of assets as on the valuation date is treated as the cost of acquisition for capital gains and holding period begins from that date. Part assessed assets are apportioned pro rata to determine undisclosed income. Declarations are barred for assessment years with pending specified notices or certain search/survey operations, exclude income from offences like corruption, are confidential, and require Form 1 disclosure about service of notices; valuation reports need not be filed but must be maintained.

Income declaration scheme enables voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income in exchange for a consolidated tax, surcharge and penalty payment.
The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 permits voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income or income invested in Indian assets for years before 2017 18, subject to a consolidated levy equal to forty five percent of the undisclosed income. Declarations must be made in prescribed Form 1 by authorised signatories, with asset disclosures valued at fair market value as of 1 June 2016. The Scheme lists ineligibility where specific notices, searches, surveys, certain statutory Acts or criminal proceedings are implicated, prescribes acknowledgements and payment procedures, and sets out that valid declarations exclude the disclosed amount from income and bar admissibility in prosecution and penalty proceedings.

Exchange of tax information enhanced under amended India-Slovenia protocol, enabling broader sharing and mutual tax collection assistance.
The Protocol signed on 17 May 2016 amends the Convention and earlier Protocol to broaden the scope of tax information exchange and to enable mutual assistance in collection of taxes, strengthening the bilateral framework to prevent fiscal evasion and to improve administrative cooperation between India and Slovenia.

Failure to file returns invites penalty; assessees urged to file returns online through ACES with available assistance.
Central Excise and Service Tax assessees are required to file periodical returns and may file online via the ACES platform or using the offline utility; instructions, FAQs, a national helpline, an ACES service desk email and Taxpayer Service Centres are available to assist. Non-filing of returns attracts penalty under the Central Excise Rules, 2002 and the Service Tax Rules, 1994, and associations are requested to ensure members file returns by the due date to promote voluntary compliance.

Appointment of Special Public Prosecutors: forward renewal proposals well in advance to avoid rejection for delayed submissions.
Instruction mandating timely forwarding of proposals for fresh appointment or extension of tenure of Special Public Prosecutors handling CBEC cases, in accordance with the Board's 29.02.2016 procedure; notes delays by Chief Commissioners have led to queries and some rejections, and directs zones to submit complete proposals and supporting documents to the Board well before the expiry of incumbents' terms to permit timely processing.

Foreign investment limits in credit information companies permit higher participation subject to ownership diversification, board composition, reporting and restrictions.
RBI directs that any person's direct or indirect investment in a Credit Information Company shall not exceed ten percent of the equity, while allowing the Reserve Bank to permit higher foreign participation for investors with established credit bureau track records subject to ownership diversification, specified board composition, and preference for listed investors. FII/FPI investment is permitted under conditions including single-entity holding limits, mandatory reporting for acquisitions beyond a minimal shareholding, and prohibition on board representation. Where the investor is a wholly owned subsidiary of an investment holding company, applicable conditions apply to the operating group company providing technical know-how.

Submission of statement E in XBRL required for authorised dealer banks; register for portal access and provide credentials by deadline.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks must submit statement E for the Rupee Drawing Arrangement via the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) system from the quarter ending June 2016, obtain user credentials by submitting Annex I to the RBI by the prescribed deadline, use the RBI XBRL portal for filings, and note that the FED Master Direction will be updated; directions issued under FEMA remain subject to other legal permissions.

XBRL reporting requirement for Money Transfer Service Scheme agents to submit quarterly remittance statements via the secure portal.
Authorised Persons under the Money Transfer Service Scheme must submit quarterly remittance statements in eXtensible Business Reporting Language via the RBI XBRL portal, using supplied user credentials after submitting the required form, and the FED Master Direction will be updated to reflect this procedural change under FEMA.

Additional depreciation eligibility confirmed for printing and publishing as manufacturing; departmental appeals should not be pursued.
Printing and printing and publishing constitute manufacture or production of an article or thing and therefore qualify for additional depreciation under clause (iia) of sub section (1) of section 32; the Board accepts the relevant High Court precedents and directs that departmental appeals on this ground should not be filed and existing appeals may be withdrawn or not pressed.

Unit Quantity Code compliance required; waiver authority exists for incompatible UQCs and correct declaration is mandated.
The Customs Tariff Act prescribes a single Unit Quantity Code (UQC) per tariff item which importers, exporters and Customs Brokers must declare in Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills; officers must ensure the statutory UQC is used and that descriptions include make, model, grade, specifications and brand to improve EDI data quality. Where statutory UQCs conflict with market practice or MRP-based assessments, Group AC/DCs may waive the UQC for non-RMS entries and ACs/DCs (Sheds) may waive for RMS entries; for RMS entries requiring UQC changes, Sheds must return the Bill to the assessment group, and trade must correctly declare UQC and full particulars initially to avoid delays.

Reverse charge mechanism applies to arbitral tribunal services; recipient business in taxable territory must discharge service tax liability.
Services provided by an arbitral tribunal, including its individual arbitrators, are taxable and subject to the reverse charge mechanism where the recipient is a business entity located in the taxable territory with turnover exceeding the small-turnover threshold in the preceding financial year; services to non-business recipients or businesses below that threshold remain exempt under the relevant notification.

Digital reporting requirement: electronic submission of Form No.61 summarising Form No.60 declarations now mandated with adjusted filing timing.
Amendments require electronic furnishing of a statement in Form No.61 containing particulars of declarations in Form No.60, to be submitted by persons required to get accounts audited, within prescribed timelines based on when declarations are received. Due to implementation hardship, completion of all fields in Form No.60 is made mandatory for transactions entered on or after the operative date, and online reporting for the March quarter may be submitted together with the September quarter statement.

Imposition of central excise duty on jewellery prompts constitution of sub-committee and nomination of three trade representatives.
Constitution of a Sub-Committee to address the imposition of Central Excise duty on jewellery is announced, continuing earlier High Level Committee action. Three trade representatives are nominated to the Sub-Committee: Shri Konal Doshi (past Convenor, Jewellery panel, GJEPC), Shri Ashok Minawala (past Chairman, AIGJF), and Shri Fatehchand Ranka (Chairman, All India Action Committee on Jewellery). The circular directs wide publicity and indicates a Hindi version will follow.

Exemption from Azo dye testing extended to include textile imports from Australia Canada Japan and South Korea under FTP.
Testing for Azo Dyes will not be required for textile and textile article imports originating from the European Union, Serbia, Poland, Denmark, China, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea. The amendment adds Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea to Appendix 2X, thereby extending the exemption from sample testing for presence of Azo Dyes to imports from those countries under the Foreign Trade Policy authority.

E-payment of refunds: sanctioned rebate amounts to be transferred via RTGS/NEFT to beneficiary bank accounts.
Electronic payment of sanctioned refund, rebate and drawback amounts shall be made through authorized banks via RTGS/NEFT. Claimants must provide a one-time bank-certified authorization; refund authorities will forward a signed statement (Annexure B), a consolidated cheque and an electronic copy to the bank periodically, at least monthly. Banks will credit beneficiary accounts after applicable charges and generate UTRs and periodic scrolls for reconciliation by the PAO with issued cheques; discrepancies are to be verified and reported.

Customs digitalisation: mandated electronic filing and Single Window integration to speed clearance and reduce paperwork.
Measures streamline customs administration by mandating digital signature filing and electronic Delivery Orders, expanding an electronic Single Window for integrated declarations, online clearances and risk management with regulatory agencies, and extending 24x7 clearance at major ports. Procedural reforms include deferred duty payment for select traders, record-based warehousing controls with extended warehousing periods for bonded/manufacturing units, simplified valuation and temporary import rules, fully electronic drawback disbursal and transferability of duty credit scrips. Compliance reforms adopt risk-based and integrated audits, rationalise penalties, set appeal thresholds, and provide protocols for withdrawal or settlement of aged or lower-value prosecutions and appeals.

Digital registration under DVAT and CST enables identity and GPS verification for near-instant TIN issuance upon administrative approval.
Registration under the DVAT and CST Acts is enabled via the DVATMsewa mobile app: applicants submit identity and business details, upload a GPS-tagged image of premises, and the Department verifies Aadhaar and PAN. The Ward VATO checks address against GPS coordinates, and upon matching verifies the record. The dealer then files the registration application online with documents and fee; VAT Inspector verification is not required for app submissions. The VATO may approve or reject the application, and on approval a TIN and Registration Certificate are generated and provided electronically, with a signed copy dispatched by post.

ISPM-15 compliance required: export clearance only if wooden packaging absent or accompanied by a valid phytosanitary certificate.
Export consignments with raw or solid wood packaging must comply with ISPM-15 or be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate; non-compliant consignments shall not be cleared. EDI inspection must record whether wooden material is used and whether an ISPM-15 compliance certificate is produced, and Let Export Order is permitted only if packaging is non-wooden or a valid compliance certificate is presented. Dock officers must verify prescribed particulars and record them in the export clearance system.