Revision of All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback updates tariff-specific rates, introduces caps and clarifies suffixing for claims.
Revision of All Industry Rates assigns an AIR and, where applicable, an upper cap to each tariff item; claimants must suffix tariff items with letter B to claim AIRs, while exports under the Special Advance Authorization Scheme require suffix D. The revision changes rates across sectors due to duty and price shifts, introduces new tariff items and refined descriptions, provides caps to limit drawback amounts, reclassifies certain entries (example: Schaeffers Acid), and clarifies that tariff headings in singular include plurals, covering cotton blends with multiple manmade fibres.

Supply of service between related persons: guarantees are taxable and valuation follows Rule 28, with specified exceptions for personal guarantees.
The circular treats personal guarantees by directors as a supply of service between related persons and directs valuation under Rule 28; where RBI mandates no consideration for such personal guarantees, open market value may be treated as zero, yielding nil taxable value unless remuneration is actually paid. Corporate guarantees provided by related companies or by a holding company for its subsidiary are also supplies of service, with taxable value to be determined pursuant to Rule 28(2) as inserted by Notification No. 52/2023, irrespective of input tax credit availability. Rule 28(2) does not apply to personal guarantees.

Place of supply rules: default location of recipient governs transport, advertising space and colocation service classifications.
Where supplier or recipient is outside India, place of supply for transportation of goods (including mail/courier) follows the default rule: location of recipient if available, otherwise supplier. Advertising: sale or grant of rights to use hoarding is supply related to immovable property and place of supply is the location of the hoarding; mere display services by a vendor are advertising services and follow the default rule. Co-location services are generally Hosting and IT Infrastructure Provisioning and follow the default rule (location of recipient), except where only physical space and basic infrastructure are rented, in which case immovable-property rules apply.

Payment in INR via Special Vostro accounts qualifies as export of services payment under IGST, subject to RBI and FTP conditions.
Receipt of export proceeds in INR from balances in designated Special Rupee Vostro Accounts of correspondent banks, opened by AD banks under the RBI Vostro framework and Foreign Exchange Regulations, satisfies the payment requirement of sub clause (iv) of clause (6) of the IGST Act for export of services, subject to conditions and restrictions in the Foreign Trade Policy and applicable RBI circulars and without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

All Industry Rates revision updates duty drawback mechanics, tariff suffixes and caps, and requires stricter export scrutiny.
The Notification revises All Industry Rates (AIRs) of duty drawback, prescribing AIRs and applicable caps in the Schedule and requiring tariff items to be suffixed with 'B' (or 'D' for specified Special Advance Authorization apparel claims). Rates have been increased or rationalized across multiple chapters due to changes in duties, input CIF prices, FOB values and import intensity; new tariff items and description refinements are introduced and caps set or adjusted. Commissioners must ensure due diligence, scrutinize shipping bill declarations to prevent misuse or excess drawback, monitor changed-cap items for valuation trends, and report issues to the Board. The General Clauses Act interpretation confirms that tariff item 610902 covers cotton blends with multiple manmade fibres.

Role of Pr. CCIT (NaFAC) in faceless assessment clarified, covering implementation, guidelines, technical support and advisory functions.
The Pr. CCIT (NaFAC) is responsible for overall implementation of Board policy on faceless assessment; formulating Guidelines and SOPs for Assessment, Verification, Review and Technical Units with prior Board approval; ensuring Technical Units provide considered legal views and technical support to Assessment Units; and advising the Board on measures to improve efficiency and effectiveness of faceless assessment processes. The order takes immediate effect.

Jurisdiction expansion: Surat added to Ahmedabad Customs jurisdiction for bonded-warehouse scheme for cut and polished gemstones under FTP.
Amendment designates Surat, under the Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad, as an additional authorised jurisdiction for the bonded warehouse scheme under Para 4A.16A/4.48 of the FTP, applying the procedural framework and value addition conditions of Circular No. 11/2013-Customs to imports and re-exports of cut and polished diamonds, coloured gemstones, and uncut and unset precious and semi-precious stones.

Condonation of delay in filing Form No.10-IC allows companies opting for the optional corporate tax regime to regularise compliance by deadline.
Condonation of delay is granted for late filing of Form No. 10-IC for the previous year relevant to A.Y. 2021-22 under section 119(2)(b), provided: the return of income was filed on or before the due date under section 139(1); the company opted for the optional corporate tax regime in the Filing Status of ITR-6; and Form No. 10-IC is filed electronically by the extended deadline specified in the Circular.

Business continuity requirements mandate disaster recovery sites, stringent recovery objectives and periodic unannounced live operational drills.
SEBI requires Qualified RTAs to maintain documented Business Continuity Plans and Disaster Recovery Sites with trained staff capable of independent live operations, an Incident Response/Crisis Management Team with defined roles, and Technology Committee and Governing Board oversight. Recovery architectures must provide high availability, fault tolerance and no single point of failure, with replication strategies to meet recovery objectives and ensure minimal or zero data loss. QRTAs must conduct regular announced and unannounced DR drills, document results and root cause analyses, include drill scope in system audits, and submit their BCP-DR policy to SEBI within the prescribed timeframe.

Chemical category declaration required in import bills; absence of supplier data mandates a confidentiality self undertaking.
Import declarations for specified chemical tariff headings must include an alphanumeric chemical identifier and a declared chemical category at item level in the Bill of Entry via the Single Window tables, with qualifier elements such as IUPAC and CAS numbers. These qualifiers are viewable during assessment and may be added by officers if CTH is changed. If an importer lacks ingredient information because a supplier withheld it for confidentiality, the importer must provide a self-undertaking under Statement Code PC002 certifying non-availability of IUPAC and CAS numbers.

Exporter Query responses required to secure disbursal of export incentives; exporters must reply to departmental queries promptly.
Shipping bills under the Drawback Scheme remain in the Exporter Query queue in the EDI system due to departmental queries; exporters/IEC holders must reply to those queries or export incentives for the shipping bills will not be disbursed. Stakeholders should consult Annexure-A and submit proper replies, and report any implementation difficulties to the Commissioner of Customs.

Mandatory additional qualifiers in import declarations require CAS/IUPAC details or a confidentiality self declaration for specified chemical products.
Importers or customs brokers must declare a Chemical Category (Bulk and Basic Chemicals; Formulations and Mixtures; or Proprietary component/R&D/Others) and provide CAS numbers and IUPAC names for applicable constituents at the item level in the Electronic Bill of Entry for goods under Chapters 28, 29, 32, heading 3808 and 39. If supplier confidentiality prevents disclosure, the importer must submit a prescribed self undertaking (Statement Code PC002). These qualifiers are enabled in the EDI Single Window tables and viewable during assessment; officers may add qualifiers if they change the classification.

Self-sealing permission extension: revalidation extended for registered exporters with submission requirements and mandatory electronic manifest filing.
Registrations of Self-Sealing Permission in the EDI system at JNCH valid to 31.12.2023 may be extended-manufacturers for five years and merchants for three years subject to any shorter jurisdictional cut-off-upon submission by 31.12.2023 of a request letter, FSP and jurisdictional permission copies, authorization if applicable, IEC/PAN/GSTN proof, attested specimen signatures with photographs, and a declaration of prior cases. Applications may be filed in person or by the dedicated e-mail; exporters must also file the Customs Inland Manifest for e-Seal Cargo (CIM-ES) electronically and obtain prior approval for any amendments to the original permission.

Pre-audit and post-audit review: zonal and joint commissioners designated as approval authorities for NIC Portal GST audits.
The Commissioner, State Tax has nominated the Zonal Additional Commissioner and the Joint Commissioner (Tax Audit) to perform pre-audit and post-audit review functions on the Departmental (NIC) Portal in place of the Zonal and Local Audit Review Committees, to address administrative convenience and portal-related receipt and upload issues for selected audit firms, consistent with provisions in the Tax Audit Manual and the Model All India GST Audit Manual 2023 concerning a proper higher authority for approval.

Extension of accountant report filing deadline to 31 December for assessment year 2023-24 to relieve filing hardship.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, invoking its power under section 119(2)(b), extends the due date for filing the report of the accountant required under clause (8) of section 10AA read with clause (5) of section 10A for assessment year 2023-24 to 31st December, 2023, in view of difficulties arising from the notification of the relevant form on 19 October 2023.

Electronic issuance of Restricted Import Authorisations replaces paper copies for EDI ports, with specified exceptions and procedures.
Physical Restricted Import Authorisations for EDI ports are discontinued from 19 October 2023; such authorisations will be issued electronically only and transmitted to the Customs Port of Registration. Paper authorisations continue for non-EDI ports. Amendments or revalidations of authorisations issued before that date will be processed with a paper amendment letter issued and its number endorsed on the original authorisation. Authorisation holders may download a soft copy from the DGFT website.

RoDTEP data submission: exporters must provide prescribed formats to support committee review and public formats on CBIC website.
Exporters and industry stakeholders must submit supporting data to the RoDTEP Committee using the prescribed Annexure B formats in MS Excel, published on the CBIC portal, and send copies to the designated government email address; the Drawback Division has finalized templates after industry consultation and provides a contact for clarifications.

Large Corporate debt-raising requirement: mandated minimum issuance through debt securities over three-year block, with incentives and penalties.
Entities meeting listing, borrowing and credit rating thresholds are designated as Large Corporate. Such LCs must raise at least 25% of their qualified borrowings through issuance of debt securities, with compliance assessed over a contiguous three year block beginning in the year following identification. Surplus issuance yields reductions in listing fees and credits against Core SGF contributions; shortfalls trigger additional SGF contributions. Stock exchanges and the LPCC are responsible for identification, calculation, notification and systems implementation; transitional dispensations and effective dates are specified.

Restricted import regime for IT hardware with targeted exemptions for SEZ/EOU captive use and amendable authorisations online.
Units in Special Economic Zones and specified export oriented units are exempt from restricted import authorisations for specified IT hardware for captive consumption only. Spares, parts, assemblies, sub assemblies, components and other necessary inputs for the notified IT hardware are not restricted. IT items incidental to imported Capital Goods are exempt from licensing, but not where the IT items themselves are primary Capital Goods. Multiple import authorisations may be obtained and authorised quantities may be amended online provided the overall authorised value remains unchanged.

GST audit completion deadline extended by three months for designated officers auditing specified businesses for the relevant financial year.
Commissioner of State Tax-cum-Secretary for Bihar grants a three-month extension under section 65(4) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, for completion of GST audits relating to financial year 2018-19. The extension applies to designated officers auditing specified registered business entities in Patna East and Darbhanga divisions, including DEN Networks Ltd, Orient Blackswan Pvt Ltd, Bajrang Prasad Agrawal, Vikash Kumar Gupta, Binod Kumar Sah, and Ram Akbal Sudhir Ghee Trading Company.