TDS on broadcaster payments: contracts transferring copyright treated as work contracts subject to withholding, rights purchases treated separately.
Withholding on broadcaster payments depends on contract character: production of content per broadcaster specifications with transfer of copyright constitutes work and is subject to TDS applicable to work contracts, whereas payments for acquisition of telecasting or broadcasting rights in already-produced content do not constitute such work and are not subject to that TDS provision, though they may be liable under other withholding provisions.

Reconciliation return filing in Form 9 extended; required for dealers with concessional interstate sales and statutory form claims.
The department extends the online filing deadline for the reconciliation return in Form 9 for 2014-15 under Rule 49A of the Delhi VAT Rules read with section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act. Form 9 must be filed by dealers who made interstate sales at concessional rates against statutory forms C, transferred stock against F forms, sold against H forms to dealers outside Delhi, or claimed deductions against E-I/E-II or I/J forms; dealers without such transactions need not file.

Interest rate on goods warehoused for export reduced to a lower annual rate when cleared to domestic consumption.
Paragraph 10.3 of Circular No. 581/18/2001-CX is amended to substitute the prior interest provision with interest @ 15% per annum for goods warehoused for export when diverted to domestic consumption; the amendment is notified by Circular No. 1019/7/2016-CX and is effective from 1.4.2016.

Withdrawal from prosecution permitted for long pending low value excise cases; administrative steps advised to seek court consent to discontinue.
Authorisation to seek withdrawal from prosecution is directed for Central Excise cases where the duty evaded is below a low monetary threshold and prosecution has been pending for more than fifteen years. Relying on Sections 257 and 321 CrPC and the Supreme Court's grounds for withdrawal, Commissioners must request Public Prosecutors to file applications to courts to withdraw prosecution, include co noticees, and add case specific grounds if available; continuance must be referred to the Board with justification. Courts retain final authority.

Certificate as proof of Central Excise duty payment extended to all industries to facilitate trade and simplify compliance.
The facility to issue a certificate evidencing payment of Central Excise duty, previously available to Small Scale Industry, is extended to the entire industry as a trade facilitation measure. The Board directs that the benefit of the earlier circular be applied industry-wide, field formations and trade be informed, and implementation difficulties reported to the Board; the circular takes effect from 1 March 2016.

Single registration for multiple closely located factory premises permitted where processes interlink and movement is accounted, subject to conditions.
Amendment permits single registration for multiple premises of the same factory located in close proximity within one Central Excise Range where processes are interlinked and units are not under area-based exemptions, subject to Commissioner approval, proper accountal of inter-premises movement of goods, and any prescribed conditions.

Certificate for lost Bill of Entry issued after bank enquiry, police complaint where applicable, indemnity and EDI verification.
Establishes administrative steps for issuing a certificate when an importer's EDI Bill of Entry is lost, mutilated or destroyed: importer must first seek a bank-certified copy or apply to the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner (EDI) with bank correspondence, police complaint where applicable, a notarised indemnity bond, and the mutilated document if relevant. The EDI Superintendent verifies submissions against the EDI system, refers doubts to the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner, and on approval a dated Certificate stating purpose is issued and recorded in an EDI register.

Single Window NOC Module: confine PGA regulatory checks to the into-bond stage, allow temporary release pending NOC decision.
Regulatory checks by PGAs shall be completed at the into bond stage for Bills of Entry for warehousing so that ex-bond clearance does not trigger duplicate PGA referrals; where immediate PGA clearance is not practicable, goods may be allowed temporary release under the statutory facility permitting release pending final PGA decision until the outstanding NOC is decided.

Dedicated taxpayer services structure centralises oversight and monitoring, redesignating leadership to manage grievances and e services.
A dedicated administrative vertical for taxpayer services is established in CBDT: Member (Revenue) is redesignated Member (Revenue and Tax Payer Services) and will oversee delivery and monitoring. Principal DGIT (Administration) is redesignated Principal DGIT (Administration and Tax Payer Services) and will supervise two new national directorates - Tax Payer Services-I (grievance oversight, monitoring, Citizens' Charter, TRP scheme) and Tax Payer Services-II (E services education, E service grievances, systems coordination, National Call Centre). Field formations are restructured with re designated Commissioners and nodal officers responsible for time bound service delivery and monthly grievance reporting.

Taxpayer services vertical set up to centralize oversight, designate new roles, and split functions between grievance and e service directorates.
A dedicated Tax Payer Services vertical is established in CBDT with Member (Revenue) re designated as Member (Revenue and Tax Payer Services) overseeing it; Pr. DGIT (Administration) is re designated to supervise delivery and monitoring. Two directorates-Tax Payer Services I and Tax Payer Services II-are created with defined functions: TPS I for grievance oversight, Aayakar Seva Kendra coordination, field monitoring, Citizens' Charter review and TRP monitoring; TPS II for e services education, e grievance handling, coordination with Systems and CPCs, National Call Centre support and e service reporting. Field offices are restructured similarly with designated officers responsible for time bound service delivery, grievance reporting and escalation, and staffing to be met within sanctioned strength.

Buy-back treated as capital gains; authorities directed not to recharacterise pre-existing buy-backs as dividend for tax purposes.
Consideration received on buy-back of a company's own shares between 01.04.2000 and 31.05.2013 is to be taxed as capital gains and not as dividend, pursuant to the deeming provision treating such receipts as capital gains and the exclusion of buy-back payments from the definition of dividend; tax authorities are directed not to issue fresh assessment/reassessment or TDS non-deduction notices for such pre-01.06.2013 buy-backs and to complete pending assessments in line with this position.

Grievance redress: PG Call Centre to obtain outbound feedback and mandate routine official reviews to improve disposal quality.
A PG Call Centre shall place outbound calls to the last official in the grievance disposal chain and obtain citizen feedback on quality of redress. Administrative officers at multiple levels are required to perform regular reviews of disposed and pending grievances to assess timeliness and quality, with the objective of removing root causes and improving overall grievance redress by CBEC and its offices.

Unclaimed mutual fund amounts allowed in dedicated liquid plans; enhanced disclosure and payout rules secure claimant principal and earned income.
Unclaimed redemption and dividend amounts may be invested in a separate Liquid or Money Market Mutual Fund plan without exit load and with TER capped at fifty basis points. Mutual Funds and AMFI must publish lists of investors with unclaimed amounts on their websites (accessible upon proper credentials) and disclose prevailing values in periodic account statements. Claims within three years receive principal plus income earned; claims after three years receive principal plus income only up to the end of the third year, with subsequent income directed to investor education. Simple and performing schemes explicitly include retirement benefit and liquid/money market schemes.

Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016: mandatory KYC/CDD, digital/V CIP onboarding, CKYCR uploads, risk based monitoring and sanctions screening.
Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 mandates board approved KYC/AML/CFT policies for all RBI regulated entities, prescribes definitions, CDD/CIP requirements including beneficial owner identification, a risk based approach with customer risk categorisation and periodic KYC updation, and authorises Digital KYC, Aadhaar e KYC and V CIP subject to technical and security standards. REs must upload KYC records to CKYCR, retain transaction/identification records, file STR/CTR with FIU IND, screen daily against sanctions lists and implement wire transfer information requirements, with enhanced due diligence for high risk customers and specified procedures for small accounts and simplified onboarding.

Know Your Customer rules: mandatory risk based CDD, digital/V CIP onboarding, CKYCR uploads, sanctions screening and FIU reporting.
Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 requires Reserve Bank regulated entities to implement Board approved KYC policies comprising Customer Acceptance Policy, Risk Management, Customer Identification Procedures and transaction monitoring; mandates documented ML/TF risk assessments and a Risk Based Approach, prescribes Customer Due Diligence for individuals and legal entities including Aadhaar/PAN/OVDs and beneficial owner identification, sets rules for non face to face onboarding (OTP e KYC and V CIP) with technical and audit standards, requires periodic KYC updation, CKYCR upload of KYC records, reporting to FIU IND, wire transfer traceability, and daily sanctions screening and freezing obligations under UAPA and WMD Act procedures.

Central Public Information Officer designations are revised, with appeals routed to the designated Joint Commissioner under information law.
Central Public Information Officer designation for the Airport and Administration Commissionerate is revised by assigning Assistant Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and the Chief Accounts Officer as Central Public Information Officers for their respective charges. Persons aggrieved by a Central Public Information Officer may submit a first appeal to the Joint Commissioner of Customs (Airport and Administration) under the Right to Information appellate mechanism. Implementation-related difficulties may be brought to the notice of the Principal Commissioner of Customs.

Special Valuation Branch investigations proceed with provisional assessments; no routine extra duty deposits unless importer fails to comply.
SVBs investigate related party and other value influencing transactions; they function under jurisdictional Chief Commissioners with DGoV support. Assessments referred to SVBs are provisional but no routine Extra Duty Deposit will be required; failure to provide documents within 60 days permits a 5% security (cash or bank guarantee) for up to three months with one 60 day extension. Importers must submit an initial questionnaire (Annexure A) at filing and fuller documentation (Annexure B) within 60 days; SVBs should issue an Investigation Report within two months (with escalation for extensions). Investigation Reports, not appealable SVB orders, inform finalization of provisional assessments and any further adjudication.

Import quota allocation under Indo Sri Lanka FTA now applies to each financial year, replacing single year aggregate.
Amendment replaces the aggregate quantity description in Annexure 1 of Appendix 2A from availability "during 2015 16" to availability "during each financial year," making Column 4 denote the annual aggregate quantity available for import under the Indo Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement for the specified ITC (HS) codes.

Partnership residency under DTAA: treaty benefits apply where partnership income is taxed as resident in that contracting state.
The India UK DTAA amendment removed the exclusion of UK partnership firms and provides that for partnerships, estates or trusts the term "resident of a Contracting State" applies only to the extent the income is subject to tax in that State as the income of a resident, either in the hands of the entity or in the hands of its partners or beneficiaries. The Central Board clarifies the DTAA applies to a partnership resident of either India or the UK only to that extent.

Electronic Delivery Orders to streamline customs clearance and enable e-invoicing and e-payments while retaining verification safeguards.
Introduction of electronic Delivery Orders to replace paper Delivery Orders aims to simplify Customs clearance and reduce transaction time and costs. Custodians, shipping lines and consol agents must have technical capacity to receive and generate electronic Delivery Orders and are encouraged to adopt electronic invoicing and e-payment to avoid in-person visits. Existing Customs procedures-verification, obtaining out-of-charge, and issuance of gate passes-remain unchanged. Manual Delivery Orders are permitted for specified categories and temporarily when electronic transfer fails. Stakeholders are invited to report implementation difficulties and suggestions.