Exchange facility for foreign citizens extended; authorised persons to continue limited weekly conversion of foreign currency into Indian notes.
The Reserve Bank extended existing instructions permitting foreign citizens to exchange foreign exchange for Indian currency notes under a prescribed weekly limit, directing Authorised Persons to continue administering the facility and inform their constituents; the directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Designation of CPIOs in Ahmedabad Customs updated; two deputy commissioners substituted and Annexure amended.
The addendum substitutes Annexure A to Public Notice No.11/2016, designating Shri Marut Tripathi as replacement for Shri Amit Kumar Nikalje (Sr. No.3) and Shri T. G. Rathod as replacement for Shri Vidyut Vikas (Sr. No.12), and publishes the amended list of CPIOs and Appellate Authorities with their jurisdictions and contact details; officers holding additional charge act as CPIO/Appellate Authority when incumbents are absent.

Part delivery permission required: customs approval necessary despite Out of Charge from RMS Facilitation Centre; approach CFS docks officer.
Permission for part delivery remains a customs function despite an Out of Charge issued by the RMS Facilitation Centre; the Centre only issues OOC and lacks control over CFS. For part delivery (other than DPD) after OOC, permission must be obtained from the AC/DC or docks in charge of the concerned CFS.

Proceeds from written-off FPI securities must be credited to the Investor Protection and Education Fund within prescribed period.
Proceeds from sale of securities written off relating to Foreign Portfolio Investors where custodians cannot identify claimants must be credited to the Investor Protection and Education Fund of SEBI within the prescribed short period after receipt; corporate benefits in securities must be reported to SEBI, and corporate cash benefits must be credited to the same Fund within the prescribed short period.

Late fee waiver for overdue VAT returns offers staged relief then mandates full penalty after the concession period ends.
A temporary exemption under section 20(6) of the MVAT Act permits registered dealers to upload pending returns for periods up to 31 March 2016 under a limited two phase scheme: an initial phase with no late fee and a subsequent phase with a reduced fixed late fee. After the concessionary phases conclude, uploads for earlier periods will be permitted only on payment of the full late fee and departmental enforcement will resume.

Income tax deduction from salaries requires employers to apply prescribed rates, PAN rules, and file Form 24Q/24G.
Requires employers and other persons responsible for paying salaries in FY 2016 17 to deduct income tax under Section 192 using prescribed slab rates, surcharge and education cesses, and to compute monthly instalments on estimated annual salary. Employers may elect to pay tax on perquisites using an average rate. Obliges quoting of TAN/PAN, filing quarterly Form 24Q, and for government book entry deposits filing Form 24G with BIN; prescribes Form 12BA/12BB/10E for perquisites, deductions and relief claims, and sets out deposit deadlines, electronic remittance, TRACES/Form 16 issuance and penal interest and penalties for non compliance.

Deposit of specified bank notes on arrival: declaration, Customs verification and RBI submission are required under the Ordinance.
An Ordinance rendered certain high denomination bank notes non legal tender and created penal liabilities while allowing a limited grace period for tendering by residents and non residents subject to Foreign Exchange import restrictions. Arriving passengers carrying such notes must complete a prescribed declaration form, have Customs strictly count and stamp the form, and submit it to specified Reserve Bank offices for deposit; Customs are to retain records, facilitate the process at entry points and coordinate publicity and staffing.

Pending drawback claims require EDI query responses and documents, failing which matters may be finalised on departmental records.
Pending drawback claims require exporters to answer EDI/ICEGATE queries and submit required physical documents before processing. Claims are to be finalised through the normal procedure. If an exporter or customs broker fails to provide EDI replies and documents, a show-cause notice setting out the grounds and a personal-hearing date will be issued. Failure to reply within 15 days of receipt permits finalisation of the drawback matter on available departmental records.

Tariff rate quota allocation for raw sugar to USA permits export subject to export duty and certification requirements.
A quantity of raw sugar from the non-levy (Free Sale) quota is allocated for export to the USA under the Tariff Rate Quota for the US fiscal year 2017, available up to 30 September 2017; such exports are 'Free' under the governing notification but subject to the 20% export duty effective 16 June 2016, with Certificate of Origin issued by the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Mumbai, and applicable reporting requirements to be followed.

EU GSP REX: exporters must register to self certify origin; consignments over 6000 require REX statements.
The Public Notice notifies implementation of the Registered Exporter (REX) system for EU GSP self certification from 1 January 2017. Exporters may register without fee; registered exporters may self issue statements on origin on commercial documents to claim GSP preferences. A twelve month transition allows competent authorities to issue Form A until 31 December 2017; from 1 January 2018 consignments above EUR 6,000 require a REX statement by a registered exporter for preferential treatment. Competent authorities will register exporters, assign REX numbers, maintain records and perform verifications.

Pre-shipment inspection agency recognition: National Marine Consultants added to Appendix 2G, authorised to issue PSICs under policy.
National Marine Consultants Inc., USA is included in Appendix 2G as a Pre-Shipment Inspection Agency under Para 2.55(d) of HBP 2015-20, authorised to issue Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificates with immediate effect for listed territories. The recognition is for a fixed term from the date of the public notice. An annexure records the agency's approved spectrometers and survey meters with calibration and purchase documentation required for PSIC issuance.

MEIS benefit extension for onion exports under specified HS code extends incentive eligibility through end of March.
Extension of the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) benefit for Onions Fresh or Chilled under ITC (HS) code 07031010 maintains the notified FOB-based incentive rate for an additional three-month period ending 31 March 2017, preserving exporter eligibility to claim the MEIS incentive for shipments of the specified commodity made within that extended period.

Continuous disclosures by REITs: mandated financial, audit, manager fee and investor protection reporting obligations to exchanges.
REITs must make ongoing disclosures of financial and non financial information to stock exchanges: half yearly and annual financials prepared on accrual basis under Ind AS (standalone and consolidated) with specified timelines and comparative periods; key condensed financial statements, statements of Net Distributable Cash Flows, manager fee disclosures, auditor qualified impact statements, and auditor review/audit requirements. Non financial obligations include simplified listing agreements, periodic unit holding patterns, annual credit rating reviews, a timely updated website, investor grievance reporting, and quarterly statements of deviations in use of issue proceeds until full utilisation.

Duty Credit Scrips eligibility: LEO date governs export incentive claims, treating LEO as Date of Export for Chapter 3 benefits.
Claims for Chapter 3 Duty Credit Scrips are permitted where the LEO date is on or prior to 31.03.2015 even if the Date of Export is on or after 01.04.2015, with the LEO date to be treated as the Date of Export; this follows para 9.12 HBP 2009-14's protection for consignments handed to Customs, and the online module has been updated. Applications filed within the prescribed period will be exempt from the HBP late fee, while later filings will attract the applicable late fee.

Harmonized System update: new tariff nomenclature enters force and contact channels set for trade queries.
Update of the Harmonized System nomenclature will take effect on 1 January 2017 and the ICES BCD directory has been revised; a control room is established to receive trade queries, with EDI Section handling system issues and Appraising Main (Import/Export) handling tariff interpretation, and designated Groups/Sections and officers identified for sector-specific tariff queries.

WCO Harmonized System 2017 adoption: customs classifications must follow HSN2017 for all import and export filings from 01-01-2017.
Amendments in the Finance Act 2016 require adoption of the WCO Harmonized System (HSN) 2017 nomenclature in place of the 2012 version from 01 January 2017, comprising 233 tariff-line amendments across key sectors. Importers, exporters, customs brokers and other stakeholders must ensure classifications follow HSN 2017 when filing customs declarations for goods to be imported or exported on and after that date. Customs RES software providers must update their systems in line with HSN 2017; links to the Finance Act and the correlation table are provided for reference.

Call Book inclusion for show cause notices: transfer by revenue intelligence and preventive customs officers pending final Supreme Court disposal.
The Board directs that the Supreme Court's interim stay on the Delhi High Court judgment does not change administrative practice: all show cause notices covered by that judgment must remain in the Call Book until final disposal of the Department's SLP. Further, all SCNs issued by revenue intelligence, customs investigation and preventive formations seeking duty for prior-period claims and pending adjudication must be transferred to the Call Book irrespective of the SCN issuance date, pending final disposal of the SLP.

Combined annual return suspension: 2015 16 filing for Central Excise and Service Tax not required pending GST.
Combined filing obligations for Central Excise and Service Tax annual returns have been suspended for the financial year 2015 16; the Board declared that the combined Annual Return due for that year need not be filed in view of impending GST implementation, and indicated a post GST Annual Return may be required only for non GST goods pending consultations with trade.

Position limits for brokers and FPIs in stock derivatives revised to a set share of market-wide limit; exchanges to implement.
Combined futures and options positions for Stock Brokers, Category I & II FPIs, and Mutual Funds are limited to 20% of the applicable Market Wide Position Limit (MWPL); MWPL and client-level limits remain unchanged. Stock exchanges must amend systems and bye-laws, notify brokers, publish the change, and report implementation status to the regulator under its statutory market-regulation and investor-protection powers.

Income Disclosure Scheme, 2016: e Filing validates tax/TDS claims and requires numeric reconciliation before issuing Form 4.
Portal enhancements allow jurisdictional Commissioners to view MIS for Forms 1-4 and display dynamic mismatch reports from OLTAS and e Filing/26AS. Form 3 uploads validate challan and TAN/PAN data against OLTAS and TAN/PAN records; the latest cumulative Form 3 auto populates tax details for Form 4. "Issue Form 4" is enabled only when [(IDS tax per OLTAS) + (allowed TDS/TCS claim)] minus (tax liability per Form 2) is greater than -101 and less than 101, and issuance requires a digitally or manually signed PDF.