Annual return filing compliance seminar postponed; fresh date to be notified and associations asked to inform members.
Seminar concerning annual return filing compliance under GST for 2017-18 has been postponed; a fresh date will be intimated in due course. Trade, commerce and industry associations are requested to bring the postponement to the notice of their members.

UN Security Council sanctions implementation requires strict customs checks to prevent prohibited trade with DPRK.
Implementation of UNSC Resolutions under Chapter VII requires Indian Customs to ensure accurate country of origin and destination declarations and to enforce prohibitions on imports and exports related to DPRK. Prior DGFT notifications give effect to successive UNSC measures. Recent misdeclarations naming DPRK, attributed to lack of due diligence, have caused reputational issues. Stakeholders are instructed to exercise care when filing Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills, and to report difficulties to the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner (EDI), Custom House, Visakhapatnam.

Exemption of disability pension: tax exclusion for armed forces personnel invalided due to service related disability, not for retirees.
Exemption is affirmed for the service element and disability element of disability pension paid to members of the armed forces who have been invalided from service on account of bodily disability attributable to or aggravated by such service; it applies to all ranks but does not extend to personnel who retire on superannuation or otherwise.

E-payment integration: Central Excise and Service Tax payments now require challan creation on CBIC portal and payment via ICEGATE.
Payments of Central Excise and Service Tax arrears must be initiated by creating a challan on the CBIC GST portal using the CE/ST registration number, selecting account heads and amounts, then generating a Challan Temporary Identification Number (CTIN). The taxpayer clicks "Make Payment" to be redirected to ICEGATE, selects unpaid challans, chooses NEFT/RTGS, obtains a printable mandate and completes payment online or at an authorized bank; online payments are confirmed on ICEGATE and routed back to CBIC GST.

Application completeness requirement bars post-deadline reconsideration, so ineligible applicants remain excluded from quota allocation process.
Allocation minutes designated that only applications complete in all respects by the final receipt date were eligible for quota allocation; applications found deficient as on the filing deadline could not be reconsidered, and representations for post minutes review are deemed responded to by this Trade Notice.

Labelling compliance in bonded warehouses permitted without prior customs permission, simplifying statutory packaging obligations for importers and traders.
The Board authorised labelling, fixation of retail sale price and comparable statutory compliance operations in all Customs bonded warehouses without the need for prior specific customs permission, modifying the earlier public notice; this direction is issued as a Standing Order for officers and difficulties may be reported to the Additional/Joint Commissioner, Bond Department.

Transhipment bond requirement: MLOs must register continuity bonds as TP bonds and present permits for ICES shipment approval.
Continuity Bonds for export transhipments must be registered in ICES as Transhipment (TP) Bonds by the Main Line Operator (MLO) or its authorised Carrier/Custodian. The authorised MLO/Carrier/Custodian must produce the Transhipment Permit to the Customs Officer at the gateway port before ICES approval of "Allowed for Shipment," after which the bond debited during ETP approval will be re credited. Manual Shipping Bills, including SEZ LEO cases, require a separate Continuity Bond registered locally, with manual debiting and recrediting tied to hard copy TP endorsement until NSDL is interfaced with ICES.

Project Imports registration in ICES requires mandatory project number and PI bond registration before filing import declarations.
A new Project Imports module in ICES centralises registration, a national provisional bond category PI, filing of provisional Bills of Entry with item wise debits against the project and bond, and finalisation with bond recrediting. Projects must be registered in the LIC role and approved in APR to obtain a ten digit project number starting with "99". Registration requires scheme code PI, item details with CIF in foreign currency, and mandatory PI bond; subsequent BE filing will not be allowed without the project number.

GST Council approves committee referrals, extended filing deadlines, and a voluntary B2B e invoicing pilot from January 2020.
The GST Council recorded the CAG's proposals on audit format and digital audit and referred data sharing and access matters to the Law Committee; approved deemed ratification of Central notifications (12 March-11 June 2019); authorised a set of proposed CGST/IGST amendments (including Aadhaar linkage for registrations, administrative extension powers, ledger transfers, CAAAR creation and prospective interest change), subject to legal vetting; approved a pilot for voluntary B2B e invoicing from January 2020; extended filing deadlines to 31 August 2019; deferred Rule 138E e way bill blocking to 21 August 2019; extended NAA tenure by two years and approved NAA SOPs; referred lottery rate questions and place of supply concerns to the Attorney General; and tasked Fitment and Officers' Committees with sectoral issues.

Composition taxable person status must be displayed and bills must state inability to collect tax, non-compliance invites enforcement.
Composition taxable persons must print "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON, NOT ELIGIBLE TO COLLECT TAX ON SUPPLIES" on every bill of supply and display "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON" in bold on prominent notices or signboards at principal and additional places of business; failure to comply may invite enforcement action and penalties under the GST law.

Credit of penalties to Core SGF required for margin shortfalls in commodity derivatives, with prior IPF transfers to be reallocated.
Penalties for short collection or non collection of margins in commodity derivatives segments must be credited to the Core SGF; amounts earlier transferred to IPF trusts shall be transferred to Core SGF and deemed to have been levied, collected and transferred from the date the respective clearing corporation commenced clearing for the commodity derivatives segment.

UNSC Resolutions compliance: customs must inspect and block trade linked to DPRK while protecting humanitarian shipments.
Customs must enforce binding UNSC Resolutions on DPRK by inspecting cargo originating in, destined for, brokered by, or transported by DPRK-linked entities across airports, seaports and free trade zones, while minimizing impact on humanitarian shipments; importers, exporters and brokers must exercise due diligence in declaring country of origin and destination and consult Appraising Main offices or the designated Deputy Assistant Commissioner on difficulties.

PGA Upload of Licences and Permits on eSANCHIT mandates PGAs to provide LPCOs; beneficiaries barred from uploading.
Establishes PGA upload of digitally signed LPCOs onto eSANCHIT as the primary mechanism; IRNs will be sent to beneficiaries via ICEGATE-registered email addresses and ICEGATE registration is required. Beneficiaries are barred from uploading previously issued LPCOs from the cut-off date; PGAs must upload LPCOs issued during the prior 15 days and may upload older LPCOs to enable use. Implementation issues may be reported and the instructions operate as a standing order for officers and staff.

Additional customs duty on re-imported jewellery: no duty where exported under bond/LUT without sale; rebate exports require repayment.
Jewellery exported under bond or simple LUT for exhibition or consignment involves no sale and, under the Articles of Jewellery (Collection of Duty) Rules, liability to central excise arises on first sale; therefore condition 1(d) of Notification No. 94/96 requiring payment of central excise at re-import is not applicable and no additional customs duty is payable on such re-import provided other notification conditions are met. Exports under rebate, however, entail prior payment and re-import must follow the rebate-repayment provision (condition 1(c)).

Chartered Engineer empanelment extended; applications invited to enlarge panel for valuation of second hand machinery under customs procedures.
Extension of the empanelment for Chartered Engineers for valuation of second hand machinery is announced for one additional year, permitting existing panel members to continue; fresh applications are invited to enlarge the panel from Chartered Engineers recognised by the Institution of Engineers, India, with required documentary proof, interview-based shortlisting, annual self-appraisal reporting, and review of panel membership, while misrepresentation or incomplete applications will result in cancellation or non-consideration.

Client securities handling: mandatory prompt transfer to client demat accounts and prohibition on pledging client securities to raise funds.
TM/CMs must transfer securities received in pay-out for which clients have paid from the pool account to the client's demat account within one working day. Unpaid securities must be moved to a separate client unpaid securities account and either transferred to the client upon payment or sold from the client's UCC within the prescribed trading-day limit, with profits or losses adjusted to the client. Client securities in specified client accounts are prohibited from being pledged or transferred to banks/NBFCs to raise funds; previously pledged securities must be unpledged or returned or disposed after notice within the transition timeline.

HSN classification of stone and marble handicrafts placed under heading 6802, with eight digit subheading determined by customs officers.
The Board clarified that stone and marble handicrafts are classifiable under heading 6802 subject to compliance with the explanatory notes to that heading; however, eight digit subheading classification must be decided by the concerned Customs Officers based on the factual specification of each item, and stakeholders may raise difficulties with the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner in charge of Appraising Main (Export).

Testing facility verification before outsourcing ensures samples go to capable revenue laboratories and reduces external referrals.
Samples for customs testing must be forwarded outside only after confirming that the jurisdictional revenue laboratory lacks the required testing facility; groups may instead send samples to another revenue laboratory that has the capability. CRCL will maintain and update a public list of laboratory testing facilities to prevent delays, and stakeholders should consult referenced circulars and notify the Chennai-Import Commissioner's office of difficulties via the provided contact details.

Exemption from additional customs duty on re-imported jewellery where export occurred under bond or LUT without sale, subject to notification conditions.
Applicability of additional customs duty on re-imported jewellery turns on whether central excise liability arose by reason of a sale. Jewellery exported under bond or simple LUT without sale does not attract repayment on re-import because excise liability under the Articles of Jewellery Collection Rules arises at first sale; such re-imports fall under the notification's residuary entry and, if other notification conditions are met, no additional customs duty is payable. Exports under rebate, however, implicate repayment of the rebate on re-import.

Partnership remuneration and interest limits: assessors must verify deeds, compute book profit and cross check partner returns.
Assessing Officers must cross verify firm expenditures like interest on capital and partner remuneration with partners' returns and obtain the partnership deed to ensure payments are authorised and relate to periods after the deed. Interest and remuneration must be computed and allowed strictly in accordance with the partnership deed and limited by the aggregate ceiling based on book profit, excluding non business income. AOs should enforce compliance that can deny deductions, prevent profit inflation for preferential deductions, verify carry forward claims on change of constitution, and use tax audit reports effectively.