Attachment of immovable property: secure title deeds and participate in subsequent auctions to ensure expeditious disposal.
Officers must, where practicable and especially when an assessee seeks stay or instalments, obtain custody of title deeds of attached immovable property to prevent forestalling; and Assessing Officers authorised under Rule 59 should actively participate in subsequent auctions to avoid postponement for want of reserve-price bids and to ensure expeditious disposal.

Survey powers under section 133A(5) permit post-event enquiries to quantify expenditure and secure corroborative supplier evidence.
Section 133A(5) authorises enquiries and recording of statements after a function, ceremony or event to quantify expenditure. Investigation Wing officials should discreetly gather intelligence from suppliers and venues to select substantial cases, conduct surveys only after the event, promptly record and compare statements, and corroborate claimed expenditure by obtaining evidence from outside suppliers about amounts, modes of payment and services. The assessee should be confronted with quantified expenditure and questioned on sources of funds. Surveys require prior recorded necessity by the Assistant Director(Inv) and submission of a detailed report up the supervisory chain.

Jurisdiction for tax-exemption applications shifted to Directors of Income-tax (Exemptions) for specified metropolitan-assessed entities.
Where the Income-tax Act requires an application to be made to the Commissioner of Income-tax, including applications for registration of trusts and institutions, such applications by persons claiming exemption under the specified exemption provisions and assessed or assessable by authorities with headquarters at Delhi, Bombay, Madras or Calcutta must be made to the respective Director of Income-tax (Exemptions) at those metropolitan headquarters, who have been assigned all the functions of a Commissioner of Income-tax for that class of cases.

Registration under section 12A(a) to be submitted to Directors of Income-tax (Exemptions) where assessee is metropolitan-assessed.
Applications for registration under section 12A(a) should be made to the Directors of Income-tax (Exemptions) in Bombay, Delhi, Madras and Calcutta where the assessee claims specified exemptions under the Income-tax Act and is assessed or assessable by an income-tax authority headquartered in those metropolitan cities; this modifies the prior Board instruction and directs that the procedural change be communicated to all regional officers.

Exemption scope: diamond segments as parts of saw blades are ineligible for the saw-blade concessional duty exemption.
Diamond segments used as parts of circular and frame saw blades are classifiable as parts, not as saw blades, and therefore do not qualify for the partial excise exemption afforded to saw blades under the cited notifications; pending assessments must be finalised accordingly and trade and field formations informed.

Classification of flat rolled products: dimensional and shape criteria determine tariff heading, not trade nomenclature.
Classification of flat rolled iron and steel products is governed by physical characteristics and dimensions in the chapter notes. Products conforming to the specifications in Note 1(k) are classified by the width and shape criteria in that note; flat rolled products of a shape other than rectangular or square are treated as products of a width of 600 mm or more provided they do not assume the character of articles of other headings. Products not covered by the definition of flat rolled products fall to be classified under the chapter note for other bars or rods and allocated to the appropriate headings for bars or rods.

Classification of yarn from viscose and polyester waste as non synthetic staple fibre leads to viscose staple fibre tariff treatment.
Yarn made from viscose staple fibre blended with non-cellulosic soft waste (polyester waste) is classifiable under Heading 55.05 because fibres recovered from synthetic waste are of variable, non uniform length and therefore do not meet the technological definition of synthetic staple fibres in Heading 55.06; the Board's view rests on the Deputy Chief Chemist's technical opinion and prior tribunal and high court decisions to the same effect.

Surcharge increase raises withholding, collection and advance-tax obligations for domestic companies and accelerates payment deadline for enhanced surcharge.
The Ordinance increases the surcharge for domestic companies applied to tax deducted at source under section 194C, tax collected under section 206C, advance tax under section 115B, deductions under Part II of the First Schedule (including specified interest and winnings), and interest-tax/advance tax under Part III of the First Schedule, thereby increasing withholding, collection and advance-tax obligations; the enhanced surcharge for the September advance-tax instalment must be paid before the specified November deadline and non-compliance attracts default provisions of the Income-tax Act.

Audit report compliance: penalty under section 271B applies only for audit non compliance, not delayed self assessment payment.
Clarifies that penalty under section 271B is leviable only for non-compliance with the audit requirement under section 44AB and not for delay in payment of self-assessment tax; for the first year of the provision, where the audit report prescribed under section 44AB (read with rule 6G) was obtained by the prescribed deadline, penalty under section 271B will not be imposed.

Classification of motor vehicle seats: automobile seats and two wheeler saddles follow distinct tariff treatment.
Bare cellular rubber seats manufactured by moulding for motor vehicles other than two wheelers are to be classified as automobile seats under the tariff chapter that lists vehicle seats, whereas seats for two wheelers are to be classified as saddles for two wheelers under the tariff chapter that specifically lists them; the Board accepted the conference recommendation and directed field formations and trade to be informed and pending assessments finalised accordingly.

Classification of printed wrappers: treated as other paper cut to size and eligible for converted paper exemption.
Printed wrappers cut to size for wrapping soaps, cakes, chocolates etc. are classifiable as other paper cut to size or shape under sub heading 4823.19 and, having undergone post manufacture conversion operations (printing, cutting, etc.), qualify as converted paper and are eligible for the converted paper exemption under the applicable excise notification.

Remuneration disclosure threshold updated; companies must apply the revised ceiling to directors' reports for eligible financial years.
Clarification addresses companies' disclosure obligations under the Particulars of Employees Rules, explaining that the monetary ceiling for mandatory disclosure has been revised and that the revised ceiling applies to directors' reports annexed to balance sheets for financial years closing on or after the specified effective date; companies must apply the revised threshold when determining which employee particulars to include.

Fees for technical services: oil prospecting and drilling services treated as mining operations, taxed under mining provisions.
Prospecting, extraction or production of mineral oil are mining operations under Explanation 2 to section 9(1)(vii); services such as training and drilling for exploration or exploitation of oil and gas are within a 'mining project' and therefore are not treated as fees for technical services, but are chargeable under the separate income-tax provision applicable to mining and oil-field related payments.

Classification of non-alcoholic beverages: fruit-pulp drinks like Maaza fall under Heading 2202.90, not aerated waters.
Fruit-pulp drinks manufactured by mixing demineralised water, sugar and fruit pulp are not encompassed by the mineral or aerated waters entry, since that entry covers ordinary drinking waters (natural or artificial) often aerated or sweetened; such fruit-pulp beverages are to be treated as non-alcoholic beverages and classified under the residuary tariff heading for other non-alcoholic beverages rather than the mineral/aerated waters entries.

Classification of glaze frit: compositional equivalence to glass frit dictates reclassification and higher duty treatment under customs headings.
Where a declared Ceramic Glaze Frit in composition and characteristics conforms to Glass Frit, it shall be classifiable as Glass Frit rather than as Ceramic Glaze Frit; prior Board instructions treating Ceramic Glaze Frit under a different tariff heading do not apply to products that are chemically and physically powdered glass, and field formations and trade should be informed accordingly.

Search authorization empowers deputy directors and deputy commissioners to order searches and related action under the tax search provision.
Delegates authority to Deputy Directors of Income-tax (Investigation) posted under Directors General of Income-tax (Investigation) and to Deputy Commissioners of Income-tax in charge of income-ranges, including special ranges, to authorize action under the search provision of the Income-tax Act, thereby permitting these deputy-level officers to order searches under the statutory search power.

Excise duty on generating sets: earlier blanket exemption withdrawn, cases now to be examined on merits with prospective effect.
Board withdraws earlier instruction exempting diesel generating sets assembled at site and directs that individual cases be examined and decided on merits by Jurisdictional Officers in light of the principle that machinery superficially bolted to the ground remains movable property; the change has prospective effect and past assessments need not be reopened.

Classification of uninterrupted power supply systems deemed emergency power packs and classifiable under electric power converter tariff heading.
UPSS combine rectifiers, inverters and battery banks to provide emergency backup power. Functionally they match an emergency power pack comprising converters and energy storage, and therefore merit classification under the tariff provision for electric converters/emergency power packs rather than the residuary heading for miscellaneous electrical machinery; field formations and trade should be informed and pending assessments finalised accordingly.

Delegation of approval authority for tax-concession agreements allows regional income-tax chiefs to consider reviews based on fresh facts.
Approval authority for agreements seeking tax concessions under section 80-O was delegated from the Central Board of Direct Taxes to Chief Commissioners/Directors General of Income-tax effective April 1, 1989; pending applications were transferred accordingly. Rejected cases for which review petitions were filed after the delegation may be considered by the regional authority only on the basis of fresh facts, and the Chief Commissioner/Director General has power to dispose of such reviews.

Prima facie disallowance under section 143(1)(a) prevents later allowance by rectification under section 154.
Prima facie disallowance under section 143(1)(a) of claims lacking required documentary proof cannot be subsequently allowed by a rectification under section 154; where law conditions deductions or exemptions on filing evidence with the return, such initial disallowance is not a mere apparent error and cannot be remedied later by section 154 without contravening statutory filing requirements and administrative efficiency.