Service tax on cable-laying clarified: routine road and railway cable works are generally non-taxable; installations are taxable.
The circular clarifies that taxability depends on whether an activity creates or installs a building, civil structure, plant, machinery, equipment or an electrical/electronic device. Shifting overhead cables, laying cables under/along roads, laying cables between grids en route, laying cables up to distribution points, and railway electrification are not taxable under the cited service clauses. Independent installation of transformers/sub-stations and installation of street, traffic or flood lights are taxable as Erection, Commissioning or Installation services, while laying cables beyond distribution points is taxable as Commercial or Industrial Construction or construction-of-complex service, to be applied on individual facts.

Extension of warehousing period under Section 61 requires timely advance applications; non compliance risks debonding and duty interest.
Extension under Section 61 requires complete applications specifying reasons, with first extensions filed at least one month in advance and second or further extensions filed at least two months in advance at the Customs House addressed to the competent authority; goods must be made available for Appraiser and Examiner inspection. Non compliance will lead to non consideration of extension requests and initiation of debonding with duty and interest liability.

Bonded warehouse licensing: prescribed documentary, security and financial guarantees and cost-recovery for officer services required.
Prescribes uniform documentary, site, insurance and financial security requirements for grant and renewal of Customs Bonded Warehouse licences under sections 57/58, including company/partner particulars, title or lease, detailed site plans, comprehensive insurance, a General (Custodian) Bond with corresponding surety and solvency evidence, and additional cash deposit or bank guarantee requirements for sensitive or hazardous goods. Renewal applications must be submitted in advance. For 100% export-oriented units, export-zone permissions, specific bonds, bank guarantees or FDRs, attested lists of plant and IEC documentation are additionally required. Custodians must reimburse Customs officer service charges or pay prescribed MOT/service fees for continuous attendance.

Input Tax Credit may be reported in a revised return, with Annexures filed by the next return due date.
Dealers may file the April 2010 VAT return without the closing-stock Input Tax Credit calculation initially; the ITC computation must be shown in a revised return for April 2010 and the hard copies of Annexure 2A and 2B filed with that revised return, which may be submitted up to the due date of the next return (May 2010).

Work from home for SEZ IT/ITES employees permitted under the same conditions; DTA IT units may do job work in SEZ.
Authorized off site employees of IT/ITES units in Special Economic Zones may work from home or outside the SEZ subject to the same conditions prescribed in the earlier departmental instruction; IT units in the Domestic Tariff Area may carry out job work in an SEZ by following the procedural requirements of the SEZ rules.

Tariff classification update aligns central excise entries with customs codes, technical changes without altering duty rates.
Corresponding adjustments to Central Excise eight digit tariff entries have been effected through Notification No. 23/2010 C.E. (N.T.) to maintain uniformity with changes made in the Customs Tariff following an inter ministerial review; the amendments are technical and do not change existing duty rates, and the notification has been uploaded on the Board website for dissemination to field formations and trade.

Operationalisation of SEZ Act provisions prompts withdrawal of a prior administrative instruction affecting Development Commissioners.
The Department of Commerce directs that Instruction No. 34 dated 31 August 2009 is withdrawn following the Notification of 13 January 2010 which operationalised Sections 20, 21 and 22 of the SEZ Act, 2005, and this is communicated in reference to Instruction No. 56 dated 7 May 2010 to all Development Commissioners.

Export documentation completeness: ensure certificates fully match consignments or customs may query or examine shipments.
Exporters and CHAs must ensure full, clear descriptions on Shipping Bills and invoices and must present agency certificates only when complete and directly correlatable to the consignment. Completeness includes identifiable consignment references on the certificate and agency stamps and officer signatures on every page of annexures; absence of such completeness may lead to Customs queries and examination.

Tariff classification of rice parboiling machinery: treated as composite rice mill equipment and classified under grain processing heading.
Where parboiling machinery and drier units form part of an integrated rice processing plant, the composite is to be classified according to the principal function of the whole; because parboiling/dampening is a component of paddy processing and certain dampening functions fall outside the steaming/drying description, such machinery used in conjunction with a rice mill is to be classified with rice processing machinery under the grain processing heading.

Inclusion of return freight in assessable value clarified: return fare not required to be added to value.
The Board withdraws its earlier instruction requiring inclusion of the cost of return fare of vehicles in assessable value, clarifying that return fare need not be added. This follows tribunal rulings that if onward freight is not includible then return freight cannot be included, and that where transaction value exists factory gate valuation is to be determined under the statute without reference to valuation rules importing such freight. Pending cases should be decided accordingly.

Import authorization for fuel now requires specific fuel identification; DFIA transfer limited to licensed fuel marketers.
Advance Authorization applicants must indicate the specific fuel sought for import; fuel imports may also proceed under Adhoc Norms (Paragraph 4.7) as per the General Note for Fuel. For DFIA, import entitlement for fuel as per SION may be transferred only to companies licensed to market fuel by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Regional Authority address update: amendment designates new office locations and territorial jurisdictions for trade authorities.
The Director General of Foreign Trade amends Appendix 1 of the Handbook of Procedure by updating office addresses and contact particulars for Regional Authorities: revising the Vadodara office address and listing its Gujarat district jurisdictions; confirming Bhopal's jurisdictional scope excluding areas under Nagpur's Deputy Director General and identifying an Indore Extension Counter. The amendment is issued under powers in the Foreign Trade Policy and published as a Public Notice for administrative implementation.

Accredited test agency recognition for vehicle import certification updated; Italy's ministry designated for TAC/COP issuance and contact details provided.
Policy circular amends the accredited agencies list for issuance of Type Approval Certificates and Certificates of Conformity for imported vehicles by designating the Italian ministry division under ECE symbol E3 as an approved test agency and providing its telephone, fax and email contact details for use by licensing and customs authorities.

Status Holders Incentive Scrip applies to textile garments, allowing eligible exporters to claim the export incentive.
The Textile Sector under the policy provision on Status Holders Incentive Scrip explicitly includes textile garments, making garment exports eligible for the incentive calculated on FOB export value; Regional Authorities must accept applications from garment exporters on that basis without requiring further headquarters clarification.

Input tax credit proportionate to sales: dealers must use a fair and reasonable method; commissioner may prescribe alternatives.
Amendment to section 9(1) entitles registered dealers to claim ITC proportionate to purchases put to sale, with Rule 6A for operationalisation. Under section 9(5) the dealer's method for computing ITC on closing stock must be fair and reasonable; the Commissioner may, with written reasons, reject the method and prescribe alternatives or adjustments. Dealers may object to the Commissioner's decision under section 74. Self assessment by dealers using a fair and reasonable method remains the basic compliance principle.

Filing requirement: hardcopy Annexure 2A and 2B must be attached to DVAT 16 until online annexure software is available.
Taxpayers must attach hardcopies of Annexure 2A and Annexure 2B to the hardcopy DVAT-16 return until the online annexure filing software is developed, as mandated by the departmental circular issued with the approval of the Commissioner, Trade & Taxes.

SME exchange listing framework mandates full-listing on SME platforms and compulsory market making obligations.
The circular requires issuers using Chapter XA of the ICDR Regulations to list their entire specified securities on the SME exchange, file offer documents with SEBI and the SME exchange through merchant bankers without SEBI observations, ensure 100% underwriting with merchant bankers underwriting a prescribed share and permitting nominated investor arrangements, and obliges merchant bankers to provide market making through registered market-maker brokers for a minimum period with specified transfer and promoter-share restrictions. Recognised exchanges seeking SME platforms must meet corporatisation, net worth, nationwide trading, surveillance, clearing, settlement and investor redressal criteria and obtain SEBI approval.

Power of adjudication extended to Superintendents for low-value excise cases, with revised limits and mandatory redistribution and reporting.
The Board authorises power of adjudication to Superintendents for show-cause notices involving duty and/or CENVAT credit up to a specified monetary threshold, excluding matters of rate, valuation, excisability, classification, exemption eligibility, suppression, fraud and cases with extended limitation. Assistant/Deputy Commissioner monetary limits are adjusted for matters beyond Superintendent competence. Superintendents may decide wrongful CENVAT availment and certain penalty-only notices within the threshold. Commissioners must redistribute pending cases, ensure orders by the officer who heard completed personal hearings, complete reallocation and record transfers within one month, and report compliance to the Board.

Free Sale and Commerce Certificates: Regional Authorities may grant certificates for non restricted exports, valid for two years on Appendix 39 A application.
Regional Authorities may issue Free Sale and Commerce Certificates for any item not restricted or prohibited for export; certificates are normally valid for two years. Applications must follow Appendix 39-A and include a self certified Annexure A listing products with ITC (HS) codes, manufacturer/exporter details and regulatory licensing status. Appendix 39-A also prescribes firm, IEC and RCMC particulars and a series of declarations and undertakings confirming non-restriction under Schedule 2 of ITC (HS), compliance with FTP and FT(D&R) Act, absence of penalisation or caution-list status, and authorization to sign. Annexure B is the certificate format to be issued by the Regional Authority.

Line of Credit export content requirement enforces majority India-sourced supplies and FEMA-based compliance for financed project exports.
A Line of Credit from Exim Bank finances Sierra Leone potable water projects and consultancy services for exports eligible under India's Foreign Trade Policy. At least 85 per cent of contract value must be supplied from India; up to 15 per cent (excluding consultancy) may be procured abroad. The Credit Agreement is effective April 7, 2010, with LC/disbursement deadlines of 48 months from project completion for project exports and 72 months from agreement execution for supply contracts. Shipments must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is payable under the LOC; exporters may use own or EEFC funds for commissions after realisation. Directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of FEMA.