Export house recognition requirements expanded: amended ANF 3C mandates online filing, multi year export data and specified declarations.
Amendment updates ANF 3C for online filing of the Grant of Status Certificate to require applicant details, selection of export house category, and detailed multi year schedules of exports, deemed exports and foreign exchange earned by services with prescribed currency conversion, single counting for double weightage shipments, supporting document upload, applicant declarations regarding penal history and realization of proceeds, and an independent CA/ICWA/CS certificate with Formats A-D to verify and compute eligible export values.

ATA Carnet clearance requires centralized register and monitoring; failure to submit re-export proof triggers customs duty recovery measures.
Imports under ATA Carnet, exempt from duty under Notification No. 157/1990-Cus, must be entered in a centralized register at AC/DC (Import Group), ACC, NSCBI, Kolkata with specified fields. Consignments are examined only after register entry; the register serial number must be noted on the Carnet bill of entry copy and forwarded to AC/DC for monitoring closure within the notification's time limit. Failure to submit proof of re-export within the prescribed period will result in recovery of customs duty leviable as on the date of import.

Deemed foreign exchange receipts: specified rupee paid maritime services now count toward EPCG export obligation discharge.
Payments received in Indian Rupees for specified maritime and port services rendered in customs notified areas to foreign liners or their agents, or payments that would otherwise have been received in foreign exchange but paid in rupees out of amounts remittable to overseas principals or buyers, are deemed to be received in foreign exchange and shall be counted towards discharge of export obligation under the EPCG scheme from 1 April 2015; coastal/inland vessel charges and coastal cargo related charges are excluded.

Monitoring of informer reward pendency ensures timely disbursal via mandatory registers, certified abstracts and consolidated reporting.
A mandatory monitoring framework requires each Commissionerate and Zone to maintain a prescribed Register of Rewards-Informers for pending informer reward cases, with all pending cases entered and certified by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner. Monthly abstracts must be prepared and certified, registers reviewed by Principal Commissioners semi annually, and six monthly numerical reports submitted by Chief Commissioners to the respective Directors General, who consolidate zonal information; reports must omit case details and preserve informer confidentiality.

Twitter Taxpayer Engagement enables filing of local service suggestions and grievances through a dedicated government handle.
A dedicated Twitter account has been established for trade and taxpayer use to register suggestions, queries and grievances concerning local operational matters and taxpayer services, excluding matters directly related to policy; trade associations and industry stakeholders are requested to circulate this information widely so stakeholders can use the handle for local issue redressal and engagement with the excise office.

Disclosure requirements for exempt acquisitions require three year Chapter V compliance and timelines for stock exchange and SEBI filings.
Revised formats require acquirers relying on takeover exemptions to demonstrate three year Chapter V compliance and to provide standardized intimation and reporting templates that specify parties, relationship, rationale, pre and post transaction shareholdings, market based pricing (VWAP or prescribed valuation), declaration that acquisition price does not exceed the computed price by more than twenty five percent, and timelines for filings with stock exchanges and the regulator.

Capital gain classification for transfers of unlisted shares ensures uniform tax treatment regardless of holding period.
Income arising from transfer of unlisted shares for which no formal market exists shall be considered under the head Capital Gain irrespective of holding period to reduce disputes and maintain uniformity; exceptions apply where transaction genuineness is questionable, where lifting the corporate veil is implicated, or where transfer includes control and management of the underlying business, in which cases the Assessing Officer may take an appropriate view.

Tax administration simplification improves electronic procedures and credit flows, easing compliance and export facilitation.
Measures to simplify tax administration emphasise publicising reforms to trade, standardising procedures and electronic facilitation. Export measures include electronic and provisional drawback payments, transferability of duty credit scrips, exemption from certain excise payments against advance authorisations, eased temporary import procedures for exhibitions, reduced documentary verification of export realisation, and allowance of private chartered engineer certificates. Central Excise and Service Tax reforms include acceptance of electronic records and digitally signed invoices, expanded CENVAT credit and simplified apportionment, extended time for credit claims, consolidation and revision of returns, simplified input-output ratio fixation, and reduced interest on late payments.

Excise duty on jewellery: registration deadline extended and staged payment permitted to align past months' liabilities.
Imposition of Central Excise duty on jewellery requires jewellers to obtain Central Excise registration, with the registration time limit extended to 01.07.2016. Although liability to pay duty is effective from 1 March 2016, assessees may make payments for March, April and May together with the excise duty payment for June 2016. Trade associations and chambers are requested to notify their members.

Infrastructure Cess levy on specified goods: new accounting minor head and subheads established for collection and refunds.
Opening of a new minor head Infrastructure Cess under Major Head 0038-Union Excise Duties to record the levy introduced by the Finance Act, 2016, leviable from 1 March 2016 on goods in the Eleventh Schedule subject to notified exemptions. Four sub-heads-cess collection, other receipts, deduct refunds, and penalties-are established under minor head 0038-03-506 with specified Head of Accounts and SCCD codes as allocated by the Controller General of Accounts.

Tax data release makes time series, PAN allotment and return statistics available online for policy analysis and forecasting.
Release of comprehensive tax datasets by the Income Tax Department, comprising Time Series Data for financial years 2000-01 to 2014-15, PAN allotment statistics for financial year 2013-14, and Income Tax Return statistics for assessment year 2012-13, drawn from internal MIS, Controller General of Accounts reports, and other government publications and published on the Department's official website for public viewing.

Submission of reports: principal commissioners must sign and submit ITSC reports, noncompliance will be viewed seriously.
Reports to the Income Tax Settlement Commission must be submitted under the name and signature of the jurisdictional Chief Commissioner/Principal Chief Commissioner; the ITSC (Procedure) Rules, 1997 prescribe submission by the CIT concerned, and recurring direct submissions by Assessing Officers or junior officers are to cease as non compliance will be viewed seriously.

Charge assignment of senior customs posts: officers given immediate additional charge pending further administrative orders.
Immediate administrative assignment of additional charge of specified senior Customs and Central Excise posts to designated officers has been ordered, to operate in addition to their present duties and to remain effective until further orders. The Principal Commissioner, DGHRD, Delhi is assigned charge of the Director General, NACEN, Delhi; and the Principal Commissioner, ICD (Import), Tughlakabad, Delhi is assigned charge of the Chief Commissioner Customs (Preventive), Delhi and the Chief Commissioner Customs, Delhi.

Mandatory knowledge competition for tax officers required monthly, with compulsory participation and rewards for top performers.
Mandatory participation is required of Assistant Commissioners, Assistant Value Added Tax Officers and Value Added Tax Inspectors in a recurring monthly competition testing knowledge of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, the Central Sales Tax Act and related rules and procedures; top performers will be rewarded and given certificates, and detailed schedule and mode of the competition will be communicated to concerned officers in advance.

E-payment of refunds mandated through RTGS/NEFT to beneficiary bank accounts with consolidated cheques and UTR reconciliation.
Procedure mandates electronic payment of sanctioned refunds/rebates through authorized banks using RTGS/NEFT, with claimants providing a one-time bank-certified authorization. Designated Divisional Deputy/Assistant Commissioners will issue consolidated cheques and forward signed statements (Annexure-B), cheques, and soft copies to the authorized bank, which will credit beneficiary accounts after deducting applicable charges. Banks must provide UTRs and periodic scrolls for monthly reconciliation by the PAO, who will match scrolls with issued cheques and report discrepancies for verification; self-credit provisions continue for eligible assessees.

Book profit computation for MAT clarified: use net profit excluding other comprehensive income with specified inclusion rules.
The Committee recommends using net profit excluding Net Other Comprehensive Income as the basis for MAT book profit for Ind AS companies, subject to existing statutory adjustments. Permanently recorded OCI items should be included in book profit at specified times: revaluation surpluses and certain fair-value equity gains on realisation or disposal; remeasurements of defined benefit plans annually; and other permanent OCI items as they crystallise. First-time adoption transition adjustments are to be included according to whether they will be reclassified to profit or loss or will never be reclassified.

Extension of SEZ approvals granted: Board extended multiple approvals and imposed conditioned compliance requirements.
The Board granted multiple extensions of formal approvals, in principle approvals and Letters of Permission for SEZ developers and units, often as final extensions or subject to receipt of statutory clearances and financial closure reports; approved co-developers subject to standard SEZ terms and a general maximum lease period with tax scrutiny preserved for lease rentals and related payments; approved certain SEZ proposals and sector additions while deferring others for lack of state recommendation; cancelled approvals for unsatisfactory progress subject to DC certification regarding tax/duty benefits; and directed specific disclosures and compliance in change-of-ownership cases.

RSA Token required for secured ITBA access; issuance, custody, deactivation, and replacement procedures mandated.
The policy mandates RSA SecurID tokens as mandatory second factor authentication for ITBA/ITD access; tokens are bound to employee identifiers, a PIN is communicated after binding, and no centralized login is permitted without both token and PIN. Distribution, training, updates, custody registers, spare stock management, and lifecycle procedures (leave, transfer, retirement, suspension, death) are managed by designated CIT(Admin & CO)/Pr. CCIT offices and Building in Charge officers, with the RSA Token database centrally maintained and deactivation required within 24 hours of loss or relevant events.

Risk weight linkage to bond ratings: rating-differentiated capital charges specified for corporate bond investments for short and long term instruments
The circular mandates that risk weights for corporate bond investments by SPDs be linked to the bond's external credit rating: a graded scale applies to short term instruments ( one year) with lower weights for top short term ratings and higher weights for lower or unrated ratings, and a corresponding graded scale applies to long term instruments (> one year). The revision replaces a uniform risk weight and is effective immediately for capital adequacy calculations.

Collateral requirement for exchange house vostro accounts removed, leaving banks free to set collateral policies based on risk factors.
Mandated collateral for Exchange Houses under the Rupee Drawing Arrangement is withdrawn and AD Category I banks may determine collateral, if any, on a risk based basis considering factors such as pre funding, the Exchange House's track record, and whether remittances are gross or net; Master Direction No.2 will be updated and other instructions remain in force, pursuant to powers under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.