Due-date extension for filing income-tax returns granted to mitigate bank strike effects, enabling delayed payment and filing.
The Board, exercising powers under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, hereby extends the "due-date" for filing returns of income required under section 139(1) from the original due date to a later specified date, in view of a bank strike and a bank holiday, to avoid inconvenience to taxpayers throughout India who are liable to file by the original due date.

Extension of filing deadline for annual financial statements and returns without additional fees to ease form revision compliance.
The Ministry revised AOC-4 and is updating AOC-4 (XBRL) and AOC-4 (CFS); to allow companies time to adapt, financial statements and annual returns ordinarily due within the statutory post AGM periods may be filed by the extended date without payment of additional filing fees, provided the company's due date for holding its Annual General Meeting falls on or after the commencement of the impacted period. The instruction directs registrars and stakeholders to accept such late filings under these terms during the form deployment.

E commerce export procedure via foreign post offices enables MEIS rewards subject to per consignment cap and prescribed documentation.
Exports of goods sold via e commerce through designated Foreign Post Offices at Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai qualify for MEIS rewards subject to a per consignment FOB cap. Any IEC holder must file a Postal Bill of Export (PBE) in duplicate covering one consignor and up to ten consignees, attach invoices, and provide the website URL, SKU and payment transaction reference. PBEs are manually processed by Customs, postal authorities affix tracking numbers, the original PBE is retained by Customs, and expedited, non intrusive examination is to be used unless authorised opening is justified.

Removal of mandatory warehousing for export oriented units shifts compliance to prescribed digital records and procurement certificate procedures.
Mandatory warehousing provisions for EOUs, STPIs, EHTPs and similar units are removed while preserving duty exemption conditions under Notification 52/2003-Customs and FTP; units are delicensed as warehouses effective from the amendment date but must maintain prescribed digital Form A records with an audit trail, furnish monthly digital copies to proper officers, and follow revised procedures for procurement certificates, bill of entry submission and inter unit transfers supported by commercial documents with jurisdictional intimation.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme permits settlement of pending appeals through prescribed declaration and payment, with immunity from prosecution.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme allows settlement of specified indirect tax disputes pending before Commissioner (Appeals) by declaration in Form 1, acknowledgment by the designated authority (Form 2) which suspends appeal proceedings, deposit and reporting of required sums in Form 3, and issuance of a discharge order in Form 4; settled cases receive immunity from prosecution. The scheme excludes search and seizure matters, pre existing prosecutions, narcotics or prohibited goods cases, offences under certain penal statutes, and specified detention orders, and identifies the designated authority to receive and process declarations.

False information to public servants triggers criminal action under Section 182 IPC against malicious or anonymous complaints.
Criminal proceedings will be initiated against persons who give information known or believed to be false, including anonymous or pseudonymous complaints, when such information is intended or likely to cause a public servant to use lawful power to the injury or annoyance of another; the Commissionerate warns that, in addition to other lawful action, prosecution under Section 182 IPC will follow to deter misuse of complaint mechanisms and protect public resources.

Extension of VAT return filing deadline for quarterly returns; payment obligations remain under applicable VAT provisions.
Extension of the last date for filing first quarter returns for 2016-17 in Forms DVAT-16, DVAT-17 and DVAT-48 is granted under Rule 49A, with required annexures/enclosures; tax due remains payable as per the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004, and dealers filing with digital signature need not submit a hard copy/Form DVAT-56.

Indian Customs ICES 1.5 mandates electronic filing, registration, automated duty assessment and licence/bond ledgering at ICD Borkhedi.
ICES 1.5 at ICD Borkhedi mandates electronic filing and system registration (IE-Code, Customs brokers, shipping agents, ICEGATE) for Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills; provides standardized code usage, service-centre and remote filing procedures, and fee schedules; establishes automated validation, duty computation, Appraising Group workflow, RMS risk-based facilitation, examination streams (first/second check), query/amendment and audit procedures; and implements online registration and ledger-based debit/credit for export-promotion licences, bonds and TRAs with bond management and re-crediting rules.

Sevottam implementation mandates SQM based process ownership, recordkeeping and grievance redressal for customs services.
Implementation of Sevottam in the Custom Commissionerate, Tuticorin mandates time bound delivery of specified services under the Service Quality Manual and Citizens' Charter, centralised receipt and acknowledgement of citizen communications via a Sevottam Counter, nomination of Process Owners for defined service areas, mandatory recordkeeping in prescribed SQM formats subject to audit for certification, monthly interaction with the Nodal Officer, designation of a Public Grievance Officer for CPGRAMS, and appointment of a Nodal Officer for document control and exigency procedures.

Age attainment rule: persons born on April first deemed to reach their age on March thirty-first for tax eligibility.
The Board clarifies that a person born on 1st April is considered to have attained a particular age on 31st March, the day preceding the anniversary of the birthday; field authorities must apply this criterion in determining senior/very senior citizen eligibility for resident individual taxpayers, relying on the Supreme Court rule that the day of birth is counted as a whole and age is attained on the day before the birthday anniversary, under the Board's powers under section 119.

Custodianship appointment for courier consignments extended, preserving regulatory obligations under customs cargo handling rules.
The Express Industry Council of India is appointed as custodian for courier consignments at the Bengaluru Express Industry Council of India Courier Terminal under Section 45(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, and subject to the Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations 2009; the custodianship has been extended under Regulation 10(2) of HCCAR for a further stipulated period or until further orders.

Customs Broker authorisation and identity-card rules updated to require verified documentation, formal authorisation, and extended ID validity.
Customs brokers must verify antecedents and educational qualifications of employed persons, attest copies of supporting documents and submit a bond declaration and prescribed enclosures when applying for issuance or renewal of identity cards. Authorisation to sign customs documents must be given by the Proprietor, Managing Partner or Managing Director with a notarised employee affidavit and proof of association membership and CB licence validity; authorised Form G cards will be issued in BLUE. Form H cards will be issued for three-year terms and renewed subject to licence validity.

Provisional attachment of property requires prior notice and Commissioner initiation, non-compliance invites legal challenge.
Attachment under Section 73C and the 2008 Rules requires issuance of a notice affording the assessee time to reply before attachment; non-compliance with Rule 3 and paragraph 2(iii) of the July 2008 Circular invalidates attachment actions. Attachment linked to ongoing show cause proceedings should be initiated by the Commissioner, and Chief Commissioners must issue standing orders to ensure careful exercise of attachment powers and compliance with procedural safeguards.

Central Excise registration extension lets jewellers regularize retrospective duty by consolidated payment within an extended deadline.
The notice extends the period for obtaining Central Excise registration for jewellers and allows affected jewellers to regularise retrospectively accruing excise by making consolidated payment for earlier months together with the current month by the extended deadline.

Coastal carriage rules simplified: exemptions, coastal manifest obligations, container marking and seal requirements for coastal shipments.
The notice exempts vessels carrying exclusively coastal goods from specified Customs Act provisions and prescribes operational requirements for EXIM-berth movements: filing arrival and departure coastal manifests in duplicate with originals to the proper officer, marking all containers and non-containerised cargo "For Coastal Carriage Only", sealing containers with tamper-proof one-time bottle seals, and permitting preventive officers to conduct random checks with senior approval; foreign vessels eligible under cabotage relaxations are covered subject to the Ministry of Shipping's conditions.

New warehousing bond licences required under revised customs provisions; existing licencees must submit prescribed documents to transition.
Existing licencees must apply for new warehousing bond licences under Sections 57/58/58A by submitting the documents specified in Annexures A, B and C and following the procedures in the Public, Private and Special Warehouse Licensing Regulations and related custody, handling and removal regulations; submission is mandatory to enable transition to the new licence regime and a contact officer is provided for difficulties.

Shore tank receipt quantity as the basis for customs duty assessment on bulk liquid cargo, with ullage-report exception.
Bulk liquid cargo imports must be assessed for Customs duty based on the shore tank receipt quantity (dip measurement in shore tanks into which cargo is pumped), regardless of specific or ad valorem duty or tariff value fixation under section 14(2). If cargo is cleared directly without pumping into a shore tank, assessment may be made based on the ship's ullage survey report at the port of discharge. The Board has rescinded earlier Circulars 96/2002 and 06/2006 and requests notification of implementation difficulties.

Port-to-port transshipment permitted for Kandla exports routed via Mundra, subject to CFS examination, sealing, and electronic record reconciliation.
Temporary authorisation permits routing export consignments from Kandla CFSs through Mundra Sea Port by filing Shipping Bill checklists at Kandla with Mundra as port code, presenting goods at designated Kandla attached CFSs for Customs examination and stuffing (using Mundra ICES login while registering under the Kandla CFS warehouse code), sealing and affixing "Mundra Port" and CFS labels, and moving containers to Mundra where Preventive Officers verify integrity and record entries electronically as the Landing Certificate before normal Mundra export procedures and EGM filing.

Taxability of jewellery stock clarified: pre budget stock exempt; job worker stock taxable on first sale via self assessment.
All finished jewellery manufactured and removed on or before February 29, 2016, and lying at the principal manufacturer's premises or sent on approval to customers shall not be liable to excise duty and require no stock declaration. Jewellery and work in progress lying with job workers or other manufacturing premises as on that date must be subject to self assessment of excise duty by the manufacturer or principal manufacturer when received on or after March 1, 2016 and at the point of first sale pursuant to the Articles of Jewellery (Collection of Duty) Rules, 2016.

Search and seizure guidelines limit action to serious evasion with Commissioner approval, protect artisans and ensure provisional release.
Guidelines confine excise enforcement against manufacturers or principal manufacturers of articles of jewellery to cases where a clear belief in evasion exists and actions are approved at Commissioner level. Routine procedural, documental or pure legal interpretation matters are excluded. Visits, searches, seizures and arrests require specific intelligence and senior approval; seizures must be returned under bond with provisional release within three working days on request and security limited to duty payable; lower-value evasion is to be handled by summons and arrests/prosecutions are restricted below specified thresholds.