Extension of TDS filing deadline for virtual digital asset transfers: Form 26QE due date extended and fees waived.
A one time ex post facto extension allows specified persons who deducted tax on transfers of virtual digital assets but failed to file Form No. 26QE during 01.07.2022-28.02.2023 to file by 30.05.2023. Fees for late filing and interest on unpaid TDS incurred for the period up to the extended date are waived where non compliance arose from form unavailability or insufficient time to file, and the relief is granted by administrative order as a one time exception.

SEZ area conversion: Board approved processing-to-non-processing demarcations with duty repayment and procedural safeguards.
The Board approved selective one-year extensions of developer formal approvals, rejected an LoA extension where no construction or investment occurred, authorised partial de-notifications and area decreases, and approved transfers of Formal Approval and Co-Developer status subject to SEZ Act and Rules, DoC lease-period instructions, and Assessing Officer review of taxability. It remanded several appeals for rehearing with directions to afford parties opportunity to be heard. For Rule 11B conversions, the Board approved demarcations where full repayment of duty/GST benefits and No Dues Certificates were furnished, deferred others pending revenue concurrence, and required undertakings to remit any differential duty/tax if later determined.

Proper officer assignment for Rules nine, ten and twelve extended to Deputy and Assistant State Tax Officers immediately.
The Commissioner assigns the functions under Rule 9, Rule 10 and Rule 12 of the Kerala GST Rules, 2017 to Deputy State Tax Officers and Assistant State Tax Officers, amending Circular No. 5/2023 by removing those rules from one table entry and inserting them as new entries ahead of the renumbered Sl. No. 1C. Registration tasks for new registrations remain at the Central Registration Unit, and officers at that unit not below the rank of Assistant State Tax Officer are assigned these functions. The circular is effective immediately.

Yellow Peas import monitoring: revised registration timing and mandatory bill of lading uploads change importer obligations.
Amendment revises registration under the Yellow Peas Import Monitoring System (YP-IMS) for consignments arriving after 31.03.2024: replace prior five day pre-arrival registration with registration within seven days from Bill of Lading date or from the Public Notice date, require declaration and possible consolidation of multiple Bills of Lading under a single registration, and mandate uploading of all Bills of Lading copies while permitting masking of exporter details.

Inter-trust donation treatment: eligible donations count only partially as application of income, affecting exemption computation and investment obligations.
Finance Act, 2023 provides that eligible donations by an exempt trust or institution to another qualifying entity shall be treated as application for charitable or religious purposes only to the extent of eighty-five percent of the donation; the donor need not invest the unrecognized fifteen percent under specified accumulation modes where the full amount has been transferred to the donee, as illustrated by a chained-donation example that explains computation of required application, recognized application against donations, permissible accumulation, and investment obligations.

SCRA goods notification updates eligible underlyings for commodity derivatives, requiring exchanges to amend rules and report implementation.
Ministry of Finance notifications dated March 01, 2024 revise the list of goods under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, expanding derivative-eligible underlyings by adding thirteen goods and metal alloys; SEBI updates the Master Circular references to the new notification and directs recognised exchanges and clearing corporations to amend bye-laws, disseminate the circular to members and on websites, and report implementation to SEBI.

Appointment of approved assayers/valuers for valuation of jewellery and precious metals with prescribed fees, conduct and depanelment rules.
A panel of approved assayers/valuers is to be appointed for valuation and assay of gold, silver, jewellery, precious/synthetic stones and other valuables for Visakhapatnam Customs and DRI, requiring mandatory presence during extraction, 24/7 availability as needed, issuance of government assay/valuation certificates, production of evidence before authorities, submission of reports within prescribed timeframes, maintenance of records, and adherence to eligibility, selection, fee caps, a detailed code of conduct and depanelment grounds.

Amnesty scheme for export obligation defaults permits regularisation by paying duties with capped interest and excludes fraud cases.
An Amnesty Scheme allows Advance License and EPCG holders to regularise export obligation defaults by paying applicable customs duties and specified interest (capped at a maximum of 100% of leviable duties), with no interest on Additional Customs Duty and Special Additional Customs Duty; scheme excludes fraud or diversion cases, precludes CENVAT credit or refunds on duties paid, requires payment and submission of TR6, Bills of Entry and DGFT deficiency letters within prescribed timelines, and non compliance attracts action under licence and bond terms.

Reporting obligation under Money Transfer Service Scheme requires authorised agents to file quarterly MTSS statements on the CIMS portal.
Authorised Persons who are Indian Agents under the Money Transfer Service Scheme must file a quarterly remittance statement on the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) portal using return code R130, with a NIL report where no remittances were received; reporting is migrated from XBRL to CIMS and the Master Direction on reporting under foreign exchange law will be updated.

Audit report form compliance: trusts may correct misfiled audit form to meet prescribed exemption requirement.
Trusts and institutions must furnish an audit report in the prescribed form to claim exemption under clause (23C) of section 10 or under sections 12AA/12AB. The Rules amended for assessment year 2023-24 prescribe Form No. 10B or Form No. 10BB according to specified conditions; misfiling of these forms causes non-compliance. The Board, under section 119, allows trusts/institutions that filed the incorrect form on or before the original due date to submit the correct Form No. 10B/10BB for the assessment year by the extended date specified in the order.

FDI caps in space sector updated: automatic entry up to specified thresholds; above that requires government route under space guidelines.
The Press Note amends FDI norms for the space sector by specifying sectoral caps and entry routes: satellite manufacture/operation, satellite data products, and ground/user segments permit FDI via automatic route up to a set threshold with higher proposals routed to government approval; launch vehicles and spaceports permit automatic entry up to a lower threshold with higher investments on government route; manufacturing of components/subsystems is permitted fully under the automatic route. Investee entities are subject to sectoral guidelines issued by the space authority and the changes take effect after the FEMA notification.

Penalty increase for customs contraventions: the standing order's maximum sanction was administratively raised by corrigendum.
Amendment to Standing Order No. 01/2024 revises Serial No. 13 to increase the maximum monetary sanction for any person who contravenes, abets, or fails to comply with provisions of the Act; the Corrigendum corrects the prior penalty figure and operates as an administrative amendment to that enforcement parameter.

Bond and bank guarantee cancellation expedited on submission of EODC/Redemption Letters, with QR-coded EODCs eligible for same-day closure.
A special administrative drive mandates cancellation of Bonds/Bank Guarantees for EPCG and DEEC licences upon submission of DGFT-issued EODC/Redemption Letters, prioritising licences with QR-coded EODCs for same-day closure after verification and issuance of an acknowledgement; submission must be made to nominated officers or designated email addresses, and nominated nodal officers are available to resolve difficulties.

Electronic submission of vessel manifests allowed; IGM/EGM to be emailed with attested PDFs and required subject details.
Temporary procedure permits electronic submission of IGM and EGM by email to designated addresses with PDF scans duly attested by the Authorized Signatory; emails must state Rotation Number, Vessel Name and ASA name in the subject. Cargo Declarations continue via ICEGATE and certain declarations remain submitted at Imports/Exports as mandated. Physical originals required for closure (e.g., bonds, draft survey reports) are to be presented at the Sevottam Counter against acknowledgement; Port Clearance will be issued electronically.

Change of CFS operator to CC Logix Parks India: appointed custodian with bond, insurance, liability and compliance obligations.
CC LOGIX PARKS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED is appointed custodian of the Haldia CFS under Section 45 of the Customs Act, 1962 and HCCAR, 2009 until 03.11.2024, subject to review; it must execute a Rs. 8.64 crore bond, maintain insurance (Rs. 30 crore submitted), assume liabilities of the prior operator, comply with applicable customs provisions and indemnify the Commissioner against loss or damage to cargo.

Rectification of errors apparent on record under section 161 permits correction of clerical or arithmetical mistakes without litigation.
Section 161 permits rectification of errors apparent on the face of record, suo motu or on application, subject to time limits and natural justice; rectification is limited to ex facie clerical or arithmetical mistakes that do not require further arguments, and FORM GST DRC-08 must be used to record such rectifications.

Processing of delayed income-tax refunds: electronic returns with refund claims may be processed with administrative approval and intimation.
Electronically filed returns with refund claims that remained unprocessed due to technical or administrative reasons may be processed despite lapse of the statutory timeframe, subject to prior administrative approval by the Pr. CCIT/CCIT; DGIT (Systems) will enable the Assessing Officer on a case-by-case basis and the Pr.CIT/CIT will monitor disposal, while returns selected for scrutiny, returns showing or likely to generate demand, and returns unprocessed for reasons attributable to the assessee are excluded.

e-Verification high-risk cases: Assessing officers must initiate reopening proceedings and issue reopening notices via the Insight portal.
Assessing Officers must review High-Risk e-Verification cases where Prescribed Authorities have prepared PVRs and FVRs including an estimated Value at Risk; they may obtain specified authority approval and initiate reopening proceedings and issue reopening notices without first issuing the intermediary verification notice. All verification materials, PVRs and taxpayer submissions are available on the Insight portal e-Verification module for AO review, and initiation of proceedings is performed via the portal which pushes the activity to ITBA for notice generation.

Customs penalties clarified: specified caps for valuation and duty evasion, reduced 25% relief if promptly paid, and strict adjudicator reasoning.
Guidance prescribes specific penalty maxima under the Customs Act for Sections 112, 114A and 114AA: varied caps under Section 112 tied to value, duty evaded or valuation differentials; Section 114A mandates penalty equal to determined duty or interest with a 25% reduced rate if paid within thirty days subject to appellate adjustments; Section 114AA allows up to five times the value of goods for knowingly false material. It directs that 114A penalties preclude penalties under 112 or 114, that 114AA be used sparingly, and that adjudicators give clear reasons for choice and quantum of penalty.

Compliance Management transfer: NS IV commissionerate to assume zonewide compliance functions and designated sections reassigned.
All Compliance Management functions for Mumbai Customs Zone-II are reallocated to Nhava Sheva IV (NS IV) Commissionerate, which will be redesignated NS IV (Compliance Management). Sections transferred include SIIB (Import), Local Risk Management, IPR Cell and Environment Protection Unit, and all officers up to Additional Commissioner handling these functions will be posted to NS IV with effect from 01.03.2024; the amendment is declared a Standing Order.