Wastage norms for jewellery exports revised, altering permissible manufacturing loss and SION input norms under Handbook of Procedures for exporters.
Amendment revises wastage percentages for specified jewellery categories under Para 4.59 of the Handbook of Procedures, 2023, distinguishing handcrafted and mechanized processes and providing separate maximum wastage rates for gold/platinum and silver. Corresponding modifications to SION M-1 to M-8 set precise input quantities per 1 Kg of export product for gold, platinum and silver for each export item and manufacturing mode. Note excludes imported mountings and findings from net content determination. The Public Notice supersedes the earlier notice and is effective immediately.

Waiver of late fees for bills of entry affected by system downtime, subject to specified vessel entries and filing deadline.
Waiver of late fees is granted for Bills of Entry that could not be filed due to ICEGATE system unavailability during the Union Budget updation. The waiver covers Bills of Entry for vessels with entry inwards at INMAA1, INKAT1 and INENR1 on 1 February 2025, where those Bills are filed on or before 2 February 2025, notwithstanding the late fee provisions in the Bill of Entry (Forms) Amendment Regulations, 2017.

Voluntary payment facility on ICEGATE enables self-initiated challans and online settlement without routine officer approval.
Enables electronic collection of Voluntary/Self Initiated Payments (SIP) on ICEGATE, permitting registered users to generate self initiated challans and pay online without officer approval, replacing manual TR 6 payments for past import/export obligations. Payments may be made from the Electronic Cash Ledger or challan wise through specified banking channels, NEFT/RTGS, and payment aggregators; remaining banks will be enabled after testing. Officers must not accept manual TR 6 except with explicit higher level approval, and users must submit proof of payment for field action and verification.

Uploading supporting documents for classification: attach technical catalogs and link e Sanchit to expedite customs assessment.
Importers must upload comprehensive technical documentation-Catalogue, Technical Write-up, End use details, Product Data Sheet, User Manual-and images to e Sanchit, linking each document's IRN to the corresponding Bill of Entry so faceless Assessment Groups can verify self-assessment; absence of such material often causes reclassification queries and delays, as illustrated by an LED chip import where lack of uploaded documentation led to proposed reclassification later resolved after clarification.

Personal income-tax reforms broaden the new regime, expand IFSC incentives, and rationalise compliance rules across deductions, reporting, and penalties.
Personal income-tax reforms introduce a revised default new tax regime with concessional slabs, enhanced rebate up to specified income levels, standard deduction for salaried taxpayers, and marginal relief for resident individuals whose income is only marginally above the rebate threshold. The reforms also retain the distinction between rebate and marginal relief, exclude special-rate income such as capital gains and lottery winnings from rebate, and provide examples showing nil tax at the specified income level under the new regime. Separate amendments expand IFSC incentives, broaden the relocation regime to include retail schemes and ETFs, and rationalise business, investment, and compliance provisions.

Customs tariff revisions and legislative amendments announced; provisional duty changes effective immediately, wider Customs, Excise and GST reforms proposed.
Proposed Union Budget 2025 measures revise customs tariff lines and rates and amend customs, central excise and CGST law. Key features include provisional notifications bringing specified duty changes into immediate effect, a two year limit (with limited extension) for finalisation of provisional assessments, a new voluntary post clearance revision mechanism for import/export entries, abolition and transitional replacement of the Settlement Commission by Interim Boards, GST provisions enabling a Track and Trace mechanism and ITC distribution rules for reverse charge inter state supplies, and a chapter wise review and renewal of conditional exemptions.

Late fee for delayed GSTR-9C applies where complete annual return is delayed; limited waiver available for past years.
Where FORM GSTR-9C is required, the annual return comprises both FORM GSTR-9 and FORM GSTR-9C and is incomplete unless both are filed. Late fee under the late fee provision is leviable for the delay in furnishing the complete annual return, calculated from the due date until the date the complete return is filed. Late fee is not charged separately for delayed filing of FORM GSTR-9 and FORM GSTR-9C; the date of completion depends on whether FORM GSTR-9C is not required, filed with FORM GSTR-9, or filed subsequent to FORM GSTR-9. A notified waiver limits additional late fee for past years if reconciliation statements are filed within the prescribed window, and no refunds are allowed for late fee already paid.

GST applicability on penal charges clarified: penal charges by regulated entities are not subject to GST; related exemptions regularised.
Penal charges imposed by regulated entities in compliance with RBI directions are not subject to GST. RBI regulated Payment Aggregators performing settlement and handling funds fall within the acquiring bank exemption for covered card settlements; payment gateways that do not handle funds are excluded. Exemptions and GST liabilities for R&D services against grants, skilling services by NSDC approved training partners, reverse charge renting to composition taxpayers, electricity transmission/distribution ancillary services, and certain institute services have been prospectively adjusted and historic periods regularized on an "as is where is" basis. MCD facility management services are taxable; DDA is not a local authority under GST law.

GST regularisation for co insurance apportionment and reinsurance commissions permits retrospective 'as is where is' compliance.
Apportionment of co insurance premium by the lead insurer and insurer services to a reinsurer involving ceding/reinsurance commission are treated as neither supply under Schedule III provided the lead insurer pays tax on the full premium from the insured and the reinsurer pays tax on the gross reinsurance premium inclusive of commission; these rules were enacted in the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 and have been regularized retrospectively on an "as is where is" basis.

Technology-based monitoring of system audits requires exchanges to implement secure audit portals and empanel independent system auditors.
Exchanges must develop web portals to manage the system audit lifecycle of stock brokers, ensure secure auditor access via OTP, capture auditor geo-location to confirm physical visits, and enable online submission of standardised audit reports and Action Taken Reports. Exchanges shall empanel auditors under prescribed eligibility criteria emphasising individual qualifications, ensure auditor independence with appointment limits and potential cooling-off periods, and enforce de-empanelment for repeated deficiencies. The portal is to be ready within six months and the framework applies from the audit period FY 2025-26.

Provisional assessment requests may now be made at bill of entry filing to avoid recalling RMS facilitated entries.
A new system field "Prov" requires importers or CHAs to mark "Y" at bill of entry filing to request provisional assessment, eliminating the need to recall RMS facilitated bills; ICEGATE will host the facility shortly. Officers must treat the change as a standing order and report technical problems to the provided email, while traders may use the helpdesk address.

Appeal re-assignment directs specified central excise and service tax appeals to designated officers for Orders in Appeal.
The Central Board, invoking rule 3 of the Central Excise Rules, 2017 and rule 3 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 read with the enabling provision of the CGST Act, assigns appeals filed on or after 1 July 2017 under section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or section 85 of the Finance Act, 1994 to the Central Excise Officer specified in the Annexure for the purpose of passing Orders in Appeal. The Annexure lists appeal numbers, assessee details, registration numbers and the designated officer for each appeal.

Information sharing for beneficiary identification: designated tax systems authority to flag threshold-income status based on PAN/Aadhaar linkage.
The Director General of Income-tax (Systems), New Delhi is designated to furnish income-tax information to the notified DFPD official for PMGKAY. DFPD will supply Aadhaar numbers or PANs with Assessment Years; DGIT (Systems) will return a threshold-income flag "Yes/No/Not Available" if PAN is provided or Aadhaar is linked to PAN, and will report inability to provide information where Aadhaar lacks PAN linkage. DGIT (Systems) will decide frequency and mode with the requesting department and must enter an MoU covering data transfer, confidentiality, secure preservation, weeding out, and timelines, with a copy of the MoU sent to the division.

Exemption for import of services by foreign airlines conditioned on designation certification and reciprocity, with GST payable on transport services.
Exemption for import of services by a foreign airline establishment from a related person without consideration is conditional: GST must be paid on transport of goods and passengers; the establishment must be certified as a designated carrier under bilateral air services agreements; and certification must confirm reciprocal absence of equivalent taxation on designated Indian carriers. A list of designated foreign airlines and comments from Indian carriers have been provided and the material is posted for field formation guidance.

Track and Trace requirement for exported drug formulations withdrawn; authentication now governed under Drug Rules and health regulations.
Withdrawal of the Track and Trace compliance requirement for exported drug formulations by removing Para 2.76 of the Handbook of Procedures 2023, rescinding the procedural mandate for implementation of a Track and Trace system for export consignments and reassigning authentication implementation to the Drug Rules framework.

Performance evaluation of statutory committees of MIIs requires external triennial reviews and annual internal evaluations.
External evaluation of Statutory Committees of MIIs must be performed by an Independent External Agency appointed with SEBI's prior no-objection, selected for domain expertise and absence of conflict of interest, on a triennial basis (first review for FY 2024 25). Minimum external assessment criteria and weightages are Roles, Responsibilities and Duties (40%), Effectiveness of Meetings (30%), and Governance Aspects (30%); a standardized rating framework with sample quantitative and qualitative KPIs will be used. MIIs must also perform annual internal evaluations and submit reports to their Governing Board within three months of each financial year-end.

Bill of Entry filing suspension for system updates due to budget changes; collect any new export levies manually.
Bill of Entry filing will be suspended in ICES from 11:00 on the Budget presentation day to allow updation of Notifications and Tariff Directories; filings and approvals made before suspension will be processed but must be monitored for changes in duty liability before clearance. Shipping Bill filing continues; any export duties or cesses announced in the Budget must be tracked and collected manually for Shipping Bills given on or after the Budget date until directory updates are completed. System availability for BE filing resumes after updation, generally within 48 hours absent substantial new levies.

Application fee for extension of time must be paid per application, not per shipping bill, under Drawback Rules.
The Board clarifies that when an exporter applies for extension of time to submit an application for fixation of the rate of duty drawback under the Drawback Rules, the application fee is payable on a per application basis, not per shipping bill, notwithstanding that a single application may include multiple shipping bills; exporters and stakeholders must comply with this per-application fee requirement.

SEZ approval decisions cover area changes, co-developer status, appeal handling, and policy review on warehousing controls.
The Board of Approval for Special Economic Zones considered a range of administrative matters, including ratification of earlier minutes, extension of validity of Letters of Approval, conversion of processing areas into non-processing areas, co-developer approvals, partial de-notification, revival of a sick unit, and appeals. It also approved amalgamation of sector-specific SEZs into a multi-sector SEZ, permitted dual use infrastructure in a non-processing area, and directed policy review on warehousing of sensitive items and a broader performance review of SEZs.

GST treatment of co insurance premium apportionment and reinsurance commission regularised, subject to tax payment condition by lead insurer/reinsurer.
Apportionment of co insurance premium by the lead insurer and insurer services to reinsurer (where ceding/reinsurance commission is deducted) are treated as non supplies under Schedule III, conditional on the lead insurer or the reinsurer paying GST on the full premium/gross reinsurance premium inclusive of commission. These rules were enacted by the Uttar Pradesh GST Amendment (No. 2) Act, 2024 and GST payment on such transactions is regularized retrospectively on an "as is where is" basis for the specified earlier period.