Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme stays appeals and enables declarations for discharge following prescribed deposits and forms.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme permits appellants before the Commissioner (Appeals) on the cut-off date to file a declaration in Form-I with the designated authority, obtain Form-2 acknowledgement which stays appeal proceedings, deposit prescribed sums and report deposits in Form-3 within prescribed timelines, and receive a discharge order in Form-4; the Commissioner will remove the appeal upon matching Form-4 but such disposal has no precedential value.

Due date extension for income-tax returns under statutory administrative power grants temporal filing relief for affected assessees.
An administrative order, issued under the statutory power in the Income-tax Act, extends the due date for filing income-tax returns and related tax audit reports for assessees who were required to file by the original deadline, moving that due date to a later single prescribed date; the extension is limited to temporal relief for affected assessees and does not change substantive filing obligations.

Hazardous cargo storage distances prescribed: distinct rules for explosives and IMDG-based separation for general cargo.
Guidelines require segregation of hazardous imported or exported goods with explosives treated separately. A uniform thirty-metre separation from administrative buildings is prescribed for hazardous goods other than explosives, while explosives remain subject to the earlier two-hundred-metre guidance. Separation between hazardous and general cargo in port areas must follow the IMDG Code. Land storage in notified areas must comply with specific statutory rules for the commodity, and where port rules conflict with specific rules, the specific rules prevail. Annexure A of CBEC Circular No.4/2011 is modified accordingly and public notices are to be issued.

Disposal of confiscated goods: small lots offered to cooperatives at uniform rebate; higher value lots sold via e auction with no rebate.
Confiscated/seized consumer goods valued up to Rs. Five lakh shall be offered to NCCF/Kendriya Bhandar and eligible cooperative societies at a uniform rebate of 10% subject to eligibility criteria (ten years' operation, tax return filings, annual genuineness certification by an AC/DC level officer), obligation to sell to bona fide consumers, no selective item choice, first come first served allocation, and departmental scrutiny of accounts; goods above that value and other confiscated goods must be sold by e auction/auction cum tender, with no rebate available.

Annual NOC for foreign shipping: jurisdictional NOC and CA certificate streamline PCC, voyage returns, and assessments.
Section 172 requires voyage returns and that port clearance follow payment or satisfactory tax arrangements. For FSCs entitled to full DTAA relief, the jurisdictional AO may issue an annual NOC listing owned, chartered and pooled vessels; that annual NOC shall, in single-carrier voyages, substitute for voyage NOC and be accepted by Customs for PCC. Where multiple DTAA-eligible FSCs supply cargo, a CA certificate plus copies of annual NOCs shall be filed instead of voyage NOCs. Otherwise a voyage NOC from the Port AO remains necessary. Port AOs must honor annual NOCs in voyage assessments or forward details to the AO issuing the annual NOC when annual assessment is elected.

MEIS reward rate for onions notified; exporters eligible for the published reward rate for shipments made until year end.
The Director General of Foreign Trade has added an ITC (HS) classification for onions (fresh or chilled) to Table 2 of Appendix 3B under the MEIS and notified a specific MEIS reward rate for that entry, effective immediately for exports made up to the end of the stated eligibility period.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme enables declaration based settlement that suspends appeals pending compliance and deposit reporting.
The scheme permits parties with appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals) at the cut-off date to file a declaration with a designated authority using prescribed forms: Form-I for declaration, Form-2 for acknowledgement which suspends appellate proceedings, Form-3 for reporting deposits made under the scheme, and Form-4 for issuance of a discharge order. The Commissioner will reconcile Form-4 with the designated authority's copy and remove the appeal from pendency, with such disposal carrying no precedent value. The notice also names the authorised designated authority and invites reference to the scheme for full compliance details.

Self-assessment obligation: importers must declare anti-dumping duty applicability when filing Bills of Entry or face penalties.
Importers and Customs House Agents must accurately self-assess and declare the leviability of Anti-dumping Duty when filing online Bills of Entry; failures detected in audits to declare and pay applicable anti-dumping duties for certain imported chemicals may attract penal action under the Customs Act, and any implementation difficulties should be reported to the Commissioner.

Excise enforcement guidelines restrict visits, searches and prosecutions and require high level approval and procedural safeguards.
Guidelines limit excise enforcement against manufacturers or principal manufacturers of articles of jewellery: transit checks are prohibited; visits, searches, summons, seizures, arrests and prosecutions require Commissioner level belief of evasion and are not to be used for procedural, documentary or pure legal interpretation matters. Actions are permitted where duty is collected but not deposited or where information indicates substantial evasion. Seized goods must be returned promptly and provisionally released within three working days on security equal to duty payable. Commissioner approval and specific intelligence are required for visits and summons; other central excise instructions apply mutatis mutandis.

Grievance redressal committee established for trade policy grievances, defining scope, composition and meeting frequency at HQ and zonal levels.
A Grievance Redressal Committee is constituted under Paragraph 9.08 of the HBP, 2015-2020 at DGFT headquarters and at Zonal RAs to ensure speedy redressal of trade and industry grievances under the Foreign Trade Policy. The committee will meet quarterly at HQ and monthly at Zonal RAs. Its terms of reference are to review overdue grievance cases for speedy disposal, address sector-specific grievances, and suggest policy and procedural reforms. Composition includes senior DGFT officials, policy officers, representatives of trade and export promotion councils, and special invitees from departments from which grievances are received.

Monetary limits for government appeals restrict departmental filings; classification and refund exceptions remain appealable.
The Board prescribes monetary limits below which the Department shall not file appeals before the tribunal, High Courts and the Supreme Court, exercising statutory powers and partially modifying the 2011 instruction. An added exception permits appeals on classification and refunds issues that are legal and/or recurring in nature; all other terms of the 2011 instruction remain in force.

Boarding and rummaging of vessels, aircraft and vehicles must follow risk-based selection, standard reporting and anti-gratification measures.
The Instruction mandates that boarding and rummaging remain a core preventive function against smuggling, to be conducted on risk management and intelligence grounds; full detailed rummages where indicated; confidentiality in deciding selection parameters; quarterly review of parameters; use of prescribed Rummaging Report and Rummaging Register with specified signing authorities; adoption of local public notices/standing orders to streamline boarding, feedback and entry-inward procedures; and measures to prevent illegal gratification with disciplinary consequences for breaches.

Rectification of wrong remittances: procedure allows correction of payments made under incorrect accounting codes or registration numbers.
A procedure permits ratification of remittances made under incorrect accounting heads or registration numbers where genuine mistakes occurred. Eligible cases include payments posted to a wrong service under the same registration, to incorrect minor heads, or against a Central Excise registration instead of a Service Tax code. Assessees must submit representations with certified remittance challans, relevant returns and supporting documents through Range and Division; field formations will verify returns, payment authenticity, ledger corrections and attach a Range Officer verification before forwarding to the appropriate e-PAO or Principal Chief Controller of Accounts for adjustment.

Withdrawal of government appeals under litigation policy announced; listed appeals discontinued and stakeholders asked to publicize.
Withdrawal of appeals under the Departmental Litigation Policy: the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), NER, Shillong has withdrawn specified departmental appeals before the appellate forum pursuant to CBEC litigation policy and departmental instructions. Trade associations, chambers of commerce and members of the Permanent Trade Facilitation Committee are requested to circulate and publicize the list of withdrawn appeals to their constituents.

Return filing validation: business-category determines permissible return types; assessees must align ACES registration immediately.
ACES now validates return types against the taxpayer's registered business category: ER2 restricted to export/special-scheme units, dealer returns restricted to dealers/importers, and manufacturers limited to ER1/ER3/ER8 with a requirement to maintain the same selected return type for the remainder of the financial year; affected taxpayers must amend ACES registration and obtain jurisdictional approval.

Revised excise return allowed: filers may submit corrected returns by month-end of original filing under new notification.
Revision of excise returns is permitted with effect from 17.8.2016 under Notification No. 42/2016: an assessee who filed an excise return (ER1/2/3) on or before the due date may submit a revised return by the end of the calendar month in which the original return was filed.

Provisional assessment security requirements: bank guarantee or cash deposit mandated; prior deposit requirement dispensed to ease clearance.
The Board rescinded the 2011 provisional assessment regulations and directed that provisional assessment under section 18 requires an importer to execute a prescribed bond undertaking to pay any duty deficiency and to furnish security as the proper officer deems fit; mandatory personal sureties are disallowed and security must be a bank guarantee or cash deposit, with security levels set by importer class and nature of the provisional assessment and calculated on duty differential.

Exemption for water supply services: construction and transmission works for government entities fall within service tax exemption.
Exemption applies to services provided to the Government, a local authority or a governmental authority by way of construction, erection, commissioning, installation, completion, fitting out, repair, maintenance, renovation or alteration of pipeline, conduit or plant for water supply or water treatment, and to services by way of water supply, public health, sanitation conservancy, solid waste management or slum improvement and up-gradation; the scope of "water supply" includes construction of artificial sources and transmission works, therefore construction of tube wells is covered.

Client code modification rules clarified: strict criteria, monitoring, penalties and limited waivers apply to broker conduct.
Permits modification of client codes for non institutional trades only to rectify genuine entry errors-defined as communication/punching/typing mistakes with similar original and corrected codes or modifications among defined relatives. Trades shifted to a broker's Error account are not treated as code modifications if liquidated in the market and not moved to other codes; brokers must disclose error account codes, maintain an approved error policy, and exchanges will monitor flows. Exchanges allowing modifications must set Board approved objective criteria, monitor compliance, include modifications in internal audits, prohibit conversion between proprietary and client trades, levy penalties credited to the Investor Protection Fund, and may grant limited waivers with quarterly reporting to SEBI.

Exchange neutrality: exchanges must not sponsor media programmes discussing price outlook or trading recommendations and must bar staff participation.
Exchanges must preserve neutrality by not sponsoring or associating with media programmes, seminars, workshops or similar fora that discuss price behaviour, price outlook, trading strategy, buy/sell recommendations or other topics relating to commodity derivatives, and must prevent staff participation by adopting a suitable code of conduct, amending bye-laws, disseminating the provisions to brokers and reporting implementation to the regulator.