Packing inclusion: ordinary wholesale packing necessary for marketability determines assessable value and attracts excise duty.
Section 4(4)(d)(i) includes the cost of packing in the assessable value unless the packing is durable and returnable; the operative test is whether the packing is the condition in which the goods are ordinarily sold in the wholesale market at the factory gate. If packing is necessary to make fragile goods marketable and is the normal mode of wholesale delivery (e.g., wooden crates for large glass sheets), its cost is includible; the burden to prove exclusion rests on the assessee.

Customs and excise duty amendments introduce targeted exemptions, tariff adjustments and service tax reliefs following the finance bill changes.
Amendments effect targeted customs, excise and service tax changes: countervailing duty exemption for mobile handset parts; restored customs rate for degaussing coils; uniform additional duty on all computers including laptops; reduced duty and additional-duty exemption for monofilament long line tuna fishing gear subject to certification; extension of LPG household duty exemptions to propane/butane mixtures; increased optional excise on certain tyre cord fabrics; reduced excise on molasses and isolated soya protein; restoration of excise exemptions after tariff reclassification; and service tax exemption for farm income insurance premiums.

Valuation of free samples under Rule 4; removals after CENVAT credit governed by Rule 3(5) of Cenvat rules.
For goods distributed free as samples, gifts or donations, value must be determined under Rule 4 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules, 2000. Where inputs or capital goods on which CENVAT credit was availed are removed as such, valuation and adjustment follow Rule 3(5) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004. These clarifications supersede the earlier circular and are circulated to trade associations.

Valuation of excisable goods: free samples and removed inputs clarified under valuation and CENVAT rules.
Valuation of free samples, gifts or donations is to follow Rule 4 of the Central Excise Valuation Rules; valuation for removal of inputs or capital goods on which CENVAT credit was taken is governed by Rule 3(5) of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004. These clarifications supersede prior guidance and should be notified to trade.

Standard units of quantity clarified as indicative; assessees must promptly adopt new tariff classification to standardise reporting.
Clarifies that standard units of quantity in Column (3) of the 8 digit Central Excise Tariff are indicative for statistical collection, comparison and analysis and have not been made mandatory for declarations; Customs practice likewise has not required declaration in those units. The Board asks assessees to migrate to the new 8 digit classification promptly, noting the impact on returns, revenue accounting and data capture, and sets a latest implementation date for uniform adoption.

Excise on branded jewellery applies when the brand is indelibly affixed, making the affixer liable for duty and registration.
Excise on branded jewellery is payable only when the brand name or trade name is indelibly affixed or embossed, since affixing is deemed to be manufacture; the affixer (manufacturer) must register, comply with excise law and pay duty. In job-work situations, either the principal manufacturer or the job-worker may discharge the duty, and a purchaser of a duty-paid article is not liable unless further manufacturing is undertaken.

Cenvat credit on light diesel oil stock: previous suspension withdrawn and pending cases to be adjudicated per judicial decision.
A prior instruction to keep show cause notices on Cenvat credit for Light Diesel Oil stock pending the department's SLP is withdrawn after the SLP was decided and accepted by the Board; pending cases should now be adjudicated in accordance with that judicial decision.

Transfer of pending settlement cases requires prior filing before the competent bench and a copy served before seeking chairman transfer.
Transfer applications are permitted only for cases already pending before the Bench having jurisdiction; applicants must first file settlement applications before the ordinarily competent Bench, and only thereafter may they petition the Chairman for transfer while serving a copy on that Bench. Separate applications are required where multiple Commissioners issue show cause notices unless a common adjudicating authority has been notified. Transfer requests filed without following this procedure are liable to rejection.

Excise duty on branded jewellery applies when the brand is indelibly affixed and the item is marketed under it.
An excise duty applies to jewellery only when the article is marketed and sold under a brand and the brand name or trade name is indelibly affixed or embossed on the article; identification marks by goldsmiths or retailers and official hallmarks guaranteeing purity are not treated as branding. Determination of branding is a factual inquiry based on commercial understanding.

Manufacture by conversion: slitting of HR/CR steel coils not treated as manufacture after judicial rulings.
Whether slitting or cutting HR/CR coils of iron and non alloy steel into sheets or strips constitutes manufacture was previously linked to classification under a different Central Excise Tariff sub heading; that administrative clarification has been set aside by judicial decision and the prior circular withdrawn, instructing field formations that such slitting/cutting will not be treated as manufacture.

Export under bond to Nepal and Bhutan covers both merchant exporters and manufacturer-exporters, clarifying procedural applicability.
Notification No. 45/2001-CE(NT) for export under bond to Nepal and Bhutan does not distinguish exporter categories and therefore applies to both merchant-exporters and manufacturer-exporters; it prescribes common dispatch conditions from the factory, approved warehouse or other Commissioner-approved premises and does not require separate procedures or definitions for merchant-exporters.

Refund and rebate sanctioning: standardized Order-in-Original issuance with targeted pre- and post-audit to improve compliance monitoring.
All refund and rebate sanctions must generally be issued as an Order-in-Original with a separate numbering series. High-value claims are to be pre-audited at Commissioner level and disposed by Deputy/Assistant Commissioners; intermediate claims must be sanctioned by Deputy/Assistant Commissioners and compulsorily post-audited by Additional/Joint Commissioner (Audit) and are subject to review under section 35E; smaller fully sanctioned claims may forgo O-in-O but are to undergo random post-audit and must generate O-in-O when not fully sanctioned. Audit cells must complete post-audit within a prescribed timeframe and maintain O-in-O records.

Additional duty of customs introduced to offset internal taxes, applied initially to ITA items and specified manufacturing inputs.
The Finance Bill, 2005 introduces an enabling levy of an additional duty of customs (up to 4%) aimed at counterbalancing internal taxes, initially applied to ITA bound items and specified inputs for IT/electronics manufacture, excluded from education cess valuation, and available as credit for manufacturers. It lowers the peak customs tariff and adjusts sectoral duties and exemptions, extends and revises NCCD, imposes excise surcharges on pan masala and tobacco, deems refining of edible oils as manufacture retrospectively, aligns tariff schedules with a new eight digit nomenclature, creates a structured recovery regime for pre cutoff AED(GSI) credits, and expands service tax scope while revising procedural and advance ruling provisions.

Tariff classification change mandates transition to eight-digit codes while preserving existing duty rates for specified commodities.
The amended Central Excise Tariff mandates transition to eight-digit classification codes with substituted First and Second Schedules; contemporaneous notifications preserve existing duty rates for specified items and substitute references in existing instruments to correspond to the amended numbering. Application of the General Clauses Act means four ancillary schedules referencing six-digit entries are to be read as referring to the amended Tariff Act and its substituted schedules; field formations must implement the change and assist trade to ensure a smooth switchover.

Export duty relief: additional and special additional excise duties on motor spirit and diesel not payable when exported under bond.
The Board clarifies that Notes in the charging provisions of the Finance Acts render the Central Excise Act and its rules applicable to AED and SAED, so the export under bond procedure under rule 19 applies to these duties. Consistent with Government policy to relieve exported goods of domestic tax elements, AED and SAED on motor spirit and high speed diesel are not required to be paid when exported under bond; pending show cause notices should be finalized accordingly except where issued after C&AG objections.

Remand adjudication: de novo remands must be decided by the authority that issued the remand order.
Where an appellate order specifies the officer level, that level governs adjudication. If the appellate order remands for de novo adjudication without specifying the officer, the prior allowance to refer the matter to a proper officer under revised monetary limits is deleted; such remanded cases must be decided by the authority that issued the remand. Remanded matters already re-adjudicated under earlier guidance remain unaffected.

Export under bond requirement clarified as prospective; amendment does not apply to earlier exports.
The amendment clarifies that goods manufactured or processed using materials obtained without payment of duty can only be exported under bond in terms of sub rule (1) of rule 19 of the Central Excise Rules, and that the amending notification applies prospectively from its issue and does not affect exports already effected; earlier circular guidance is modified accordingly and pending claims may be decided on that basis.

Provisional Assessment: refineries may use provisional assessment when consignments for end use exemptions are unidentifiable, subject to conditions.
Where a refinery cannot identify at removal which consignments will qualify for end use exemptions, it may opt for Provisional Assessment, subject to documentary support of end user requirements, compliance with provisional assessment and bond procedures, submission of reconciliation within a fortnight of delivery, payment of duty on quantities cleared from the refinery with liability for any differential, and jurisdictional Commissioner monitoring to ensure timely finalisation; no post removal abatement for storage losses is permitted.