Excise duty on jewellery: invoicing and trading rules clarify duty payment, recordkeeping and job work treatment.
Procedural clarifications: manufacturers may trade from excise registered premises; first sale invoices showing excise must result in duty payment, while invoices not showing duty will lead to VAT value treated as cum excise for duty calculation; traded articles on which appropriate excise was already paid are not leviable to further excise; State VAT and private records as maintained under the Articles of Jewellery (Collection of Duty) Rules, 2016, suffice for central excise purposes; job work manufacture must follow the Articles of Jewellery Rules; repairs that do not change identity are not manufacturing.

Excise duty compliance relief for jewellery exporters: registration waived subject to bank guarantee and export conditions.
Manufacturers, principal manufacturers, or jewellers exporting 100% of jewellery under heading 7113 are exempt from central excise registration if they provide a bank guarantee for excise liability (additional to guarantees for customs duty on gold and VAT), accept registration upon default of export obligation, pay excise on first domestic sale or obtain release of equivalent guarantee, and file nil returns where no domestic sales occur; exporters may continue to export on self-declaration and Letter of Undertaking without LUT ratification until procedures are finalised.

Excise audit thresholds govern jewellery manufacturers; audit frequency set by duty bands, desk audits only, Commissioner adjudication.
Guidelines create a threshold-based excise audit regime for manufacturers of articles of jewellery under heading 7113: an initial two-year audit exemption for lower-duty units, followed by audit frequencies tied to duty bands with selection in the lowest band subject to Commissioner approval. All audits shall be desk audits conducted at the jurisdictional central excise audit commissionerate with no physical stock verification permitted. Any show cause notice arising from these audits must be issued and adjudicated by an officer of the rank of Commissioner.

SSI exemption computation clarified: individual assessment, exports and traded goods excluded, aggregated clearances can affect eligibility.
Computation of SSI exemption for manufacturers or principal manufacturers of articles of jewellery is to be done individually irrespective of job workers or premises. Exported articles (except to Bhutan) and traded articles on which duty has been paid are excluded. For customer-supplied materials, only value addition (additional materials and labour/making charges) counts. Multiple manufacturers at the same premises may obtain separate registrations but their clearances are to be clubbed to determine SSI eligibility; clubbed aggregates exceeding prescribed limits negate SSI exemption and trigger duty liability.

Clearance of remaining aviation turbine fuel requires Bill of Entry filing, endorsed quantity, duty payment and IGM closure.
Prescribes clearance steps when a foreign-run aircraft is converted to a domestic flight with remaining ATF: airlines must have a permanent Import and Export Code; obtain the IGM number and file a Bill of Entry; Field & Flight Officer determines and endorses remaining ATF from log records/pilot declaration; Bill of Entry is assessed and audited; duty is paid after a Fuel Duty Receipt is generated; an Out of Charge order is required before domestic departure; the IGM must be closed within fifteen days or recovery action for duty, interest and penalty will follow.

Re-fixation of Export Obligation permitted where sectoral exports declined, authorities to adjust EPCG obligations accordingly.
Para 5.19 of the HBP (FTP 2015-20) allows re-fixation of Annual Average Export Obligation where a sector/product group's exports declined by more than five per cent in 2015-16 versus 2014-15; Regional Authorities must re fix EPCG annual average export obligations for 2015-16, endorse any reduction in licence files and amendment sheets, and, when discharging EO, consider prior policy circulars before issuing demand notices, with such consideration reflected in the EODC check-sheet.

Indirect tax dispute resolution: declaration route suspends appeal proceedings while specified deposits and discharge procedures are completed.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016 allows an appellant before the Commissioner (Appeals) on the cut off date to file a declaration with the nominated designated authority. A four form procedure is prescribed: Form I for declaration; Form II acknowledgement which suspends appeal proceedings for sixty days; Form III for deposit details with specified timeframes for payment and reporting; and Form IV for issuance of a discharge order, after which the appeal is removed from pendency but creates no binding precedent.

Lab Module integration enables online sample referral and test reporting to expedite customs clearance decisions.
An online Lab Module integrates sample drawing, Test Memo generation and referral to mapped laboratories in the customs clearance workflow; laboratories access Test Memos and record findings online so Customs can act without physical reports. The module excludes testing fees and supporting-document submission, which continue by existing practice, and liaison procedures and reporting channels are established to expedite receipt of test reports.

Linking non-PAN AIR transactions to PAN: non-response may lead to initiation of proceedings under Income Tax Act.
The corrigendum mandates use of a revised template for communicating with parties in AIR cases reported without a valid PAN, instructing taxpayers to confirm and link reported transactions to a valid PAN via the e filing portal using the Non-PAN Transaction link and the Transaction Sequence Number (TSN); electronic submission will be treated as the response, can be revised online, and failure to respond within fifteen days may lead to initiation of proceedings under the Income Tax Act.

Computation of book profit: phase retained earnings transition adjustments over three years to reduce one time MAT impact.
Computation of book profit for MAT on Ind AS adoption: retained earnings adjustments on transition for PPE and intangibles should be ignored for book profit and excluded from depreciation and disposal gain/loss calculations; lease equalization and fair value P&L transition adjustments should be included in book profit phased over three years from the year of adoption to mitigate one time impact; other unrealised gains/losses adjusted to retained earnings on transition should be similarly phased.

Linking of non-PAN AIR transactions requires online TSN confirmation to link transactions to PAN; nonresponse may trigger tax proceedings.
The SOP requires identification of non PAN AIR high risk transaction clusters with unique Transaction Sequence Numbers and priority ratings P1-P3, dissemination of mapped data to Pr.CIT offices, and issuance of standardised letters. Transacting parties must use the e filing portal, locate transactions by TSN, confirm ownership to link the transaction to their PAN and submit an electronic response; P1 letters are sent centrally, P2/P3 by Pr.CITs. Failure to respond within 15 days may lead to proceedings under the Income Tax Act, and helpline support and dedicated campaign emails are provided.

Permission to pay service tax non-electronically: discretion must be exercised to allow cheque payments when electronic payment is impossible.
The Service Tax Rules, 1994 mandate electronic payment but allow the jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioner to permit other payment modes for reasons recorded in writing. Where electronic payment is infeasible, including for government departments unable to open current accounts, officers should judiciously and rationally exercise that discretion to allow cheque or other non-electronic payments, and supervisors should periodically review such decisions to prevent unwarranted refusals.

Authorized Economic Operator status merged into a multi tier certification offering enhanced trade facilitation and risk based controls for compliant traders.
The circular merges the Accredited Client Programme and prior AEO arrangements into a consolidated AEO Programme with multi tier certification (AEO T1, AEO T2, AEO T3 and AEO LO), prescribes eligibility criteria covering legal compliance, recordkeeping, financial solvency and security, mandates documentary and physical verification by the AEO Programme Team, and allocates tiered facilitation benefits, renewal, review, suspension, downgrading and revocation procedures to govern certification life cycle.

De-listing of inspection agency bars issuance of pre-shipment inspection certificates following adjudication for mis-declaration under trade policy.
Following a show cause notice and adjudication for mis-declaration in a Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificate, the Director General of Foreign Trade, under paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020, has deleted M/s. Trans Border Safety Control Inspection Services LLC, USA from Appendix 2G, rendering the agency ineligible to issue Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificate and formally de-listing it from the list of recognized inspection agencies.

Customs broker pass validity is extended, while valid Indian passport holders normally avoid police verification for licence and pass applications.
Customs broker "H" Category Passes will be issued with a five-year validity period from the date of issue. For new licence, licence-extension, and "H", "G" or "F" pass applications, a person holding a valid Indian passport may submit a photocopy and produce the original for endorsement by the CB Section. Police verification of character and antecedents will normally not be conducted for such passport holders.

Indian currency export/import limit permits duty free purchases in rupees and requires rupee price and exchange rate display.
Permits purchases at duty free shops in Indian currency up to the Reserve Bank of India's prescribed carriage limit and directs Customs to align the duty free rupee sales ceiling accordingly. Requires duty free operators to display prices in Indian rupees alongside foreign currency, publish exchange rates (commercial bank rates or the fortnightly Customs rate), update DFS and airport websites about rupee purchase facilities and limits, and follow procedures for duty free procurement of excisable goods.

Refund issuance must be prompt; processed VAT refunds to registered assessees should be released without undue delay.
Refunds processed and found in order must be released to registered assessees in a time bound manner; if multiple refunds for the same assessee are to be issued within a week, the Ward Incharge must obtain prior approval from the concerned zonal officer. The System Branch must modify workflow and security checks in the software to enable prompt disbursement, and software changes should be carried out expeditiously. Non compliance will be dealt with seriously.

Central KYC Records Registry: intermediaries must adopt the standard individual KYC template and upload client records to the registry.
Intermediaries must use the standardized KYC template for individuals as Part I of the Account Opening Form and capture PAN as mandatory; they are required to upload individual KYC records to the Central KYC Records Registry in digital form in a phased rollout, using the registry operating guidelines and available test environment, with helpdesk support for technical issues.

Exclusion of customer collected taxes from foreign earnings clarifies SFIS/SEIS duty credit must exclude such taxes for entitlement computation.
Service provider entitlement under SFIS/SEIS is based on foreign exchange earned, and only remittances received as amounts in lieu of services rendered qualify. Customer paid State/Central taxes collected by the service provider on behalf of government-such as VAT, luxury tax, and service tax-are not earnings of the service provider and must be excluded from the base used to compute duty credit entitlement.

Classification of glyphosate depends on actual usage, permitting herbicide or plant growth regulator categorisation accordingly.
Classification direction: IARI confirms glyphosate is primarily a broad spectrum systemic herbicide but can act as a plant growth regulator at lower application rates; therefore, classification for Central Excise must be made depending upon its actual usage, with field formations to implement this usage based approach and report implementation difficulties to the Board.