Excise duty on articles of jewellery: procedural and compliance changes implemented via new notifications and clarifying circulars.
The CBEC accepted the Sub-Committee report and issued Notifications and Circulars implementing excise-duty measures on articles and parts of jewellery: prescribing a duty rate and classification criteria, providing specified partial exemptions for reconversion and mounting with customer-supplied items, revising SSI exemption and eligibility limits, excluding certain handicrafts, notifying tariff values and Collection of Duty rules, and amending Central Excise, CENVAT and registration/returns requirements; Circulars clarify SSI computation, audit guidelines, export procedures, general compliance procedures and enforcement measures.

Voluntary dispute resolution: declaration plus payment secures closure of indirect tax appeals and immunity from prosecution.
The Scheme allows assessees with specified pending appeals to file a declaration under Form 1, pay outstanding duty and interest and a penalty equal to 25% of the penalty in the impugned order within the prescribed period, and notify the Designated Authority with proof. On receipt of payment proof the Designated Authority shall issue an order of discharge in Form 4 under the Finance Act, 2016, rendering the declaration conclusive and providing immunity from prosecution; amounts paid under the Scheme are non refundable.

ER-8 return requirement for jewellery manufacturers: register under jewellery category and seek amendment to enable filing.
Jewellery manufacturers must file a modified ER-8 return available in ACES; a ticker will alert assesses not registered under the Business category "Jewellery -- 7113" to submit registration amendments. Jurisdictional officers should prioritise processing these amendment requests to permit ER-8 filing. Physical verification is not required at original registration or amendment. Trade associations should inform concerned members.

Central excise duty on jewellery: clarified compliance measures and simplified eligibility, audit, export and procedural norms.
Six government circulars supplementing the imposition of Central Excise duty on jewellery set out simplified measures: rules for computing SSI exemption eligibility and limits for manufacturers/principal manufacturers; a desk-focused excise audit regime with moratoria and limits on physical stock verification; trade-friendly export procedures and return filing; acceptability of state VAT/private records and eased rules for trading, invoicing, job work and repairs; departmental thresholds for enforcement actions to protect trade; and guidance on taxability of stock as on 29 February 2016.

Central excise duty on jewellery: sub committee to set compliance procedures; registration extension and consolidated payment allowed.
A Sub Committee has been constituted to advise on imposition of central excise duty on jewellery, with specified administrative, legal and trade membership; the Sub Committee will frame compliance procedures, records requirements and operating procedures, and will hear written and in person representations from trade associations. Communications to the High Level Committee are directed to the provided email and postal addresses. The Trade Notice extends the registration deadline for jewellers while confirming that liability to pay excise duty is effective from the earlier date and allows consolidated payment of prior months' duties together with the current month's payment.

Selection of standing counsels: deadlines for advertisement and application submission extended to complete panel recommendations timely.
Chief Commissioners must advertise vacancies for Senior and Junior Standing Counsels, receive and scrutinise applications, conduct interviews, and forward complete recommendations to the Board; the Board has extended deadlines for advertisement issuance, application receipt, and submission of consolidated recommendations in jurisdictions that could not meet earlier dates, and requires strict adherence to the revised timelines under the oversight of the Board's Legal Cell.

Designated Authority appointment under Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme enables local deputy/assistant commissioner to process scheme matters.
A Designated Authority is appointed under the Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme Rules - 2016 to carry out the scheme's procedural and administrative functions within the commissionerate's jurisdiction; the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (P&V) is designated for the Gurgaon I jurisdiction and trade associations are requested to inform members and stakeholders.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme permits settlement of pending appeals through prescribed declaration and payment, with immunity from prosecution.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme allows settlement of specified indirect tax disputes pending before Commissioner (Appeals) by declaration in Form 1, acknowledgment by the designated authority (Form 2) which suspends appeal proceedings, deposit and reporting of required sums in Form 3, and issuance of a discharge order in Form 4; settled cases receive immunity from prosecution. The scheme excludes search and seizure matters, pre existing prosecutions, narcotics or prohibited goods cases, offences under certain penal statutes, and specified detention orders, and identifies the designated authority to receive and process declarations.

False information to public servants triggers criminal action under Section 182 IPC against malicious or anonymous complaints.
Criminal proceedings will be initiated against persons who give information known or believed to be false, including anonymous or pseudonymous complaints, when such information is intended or likely to cause a public servant to use lawful power to the injury or annoyance of another; the Commissionerate warns that, in addition to other lawful action, prosecution under Section 182 IPC will follow to deter misuse of complaint mechanisms and protect public resources.

Central Excise registration extension lets jewellers regularize retrospective duty by consolidated payment within an extended deadline.
The notice extends the period for obtaining Central Excise registration for jewellers and allows affected jewellers to regularise retrospectively accruing excise by making consolidated payment for earlier months together with the current month by the extended deadline.

Taxability of jewellery stock clarified: pre budget stock exempt; job worker stock taxable on first sale via self assessment.
All finished jewellery manufactured and removed on or before February 29, 2016, and lying at the principal manufacturer's premises or sent on approval to customers shall not be liable to excise duty and require no stock declaration. Jewellery and work in progress lying with job workers or other manufacturing premises as on that date must be subject to self assessment of excise duty by the manufacturer or principal manufacturer when received on or after March 1, 2016 and at the point of first sale pursuant to the Articles of Jewellery (Collection of Duty) Rules, 2016.

Search and seizure guidelines limit action to serious evasion with Commissioner approval, protect artisans and ensure provisional release.
Guidelines confine excise enforcement against manufacturers or principal manufacturers of articles of jewellery to cases where a clear belief in evasion exists and actions are approved at Commissioner level. Routine procedural, documental or pure legal interpretation matters are excluded. Visits, searches, seizures and arrests require specific intelligence and senior approval; seizures must be returned under bond with provisional release within three working days on request and security limited to duty payable; lower-value evasion is to be handled by summons and arrests/prosecutions are restricted below specified thresholds.

Excise duty on jewellery: invoicing and trading rules clarify duty payment, recordkeeping and job work treatment.
Procedural clarifications: manufacturers may trade from excise registered premises; first sale invoices showing excise must result in duty payment, while invoices not showing duty will lead to VAT value treated as cum excise for duty calculation; traded articles on which appropriate excise was already paid are not leviable to further excise; State VAT and private records as maintained under the Articles of Jewellery (Collection of Duty) Rules, 2016, suffice for central excise purposes; job work manufacture must follow the Articles of Jewellery Rules; repairs that do not change identity are not manufacturing.

Excise duty compliance relief for jewellery exporters: registration waived subject to bank guarantee and export conditions.
Manufacturers, principal manufacturers, or jewellers exporting 100% of jewellery under heading 7113 are exempt from central excise registration if they provide a bank guarantee for excise liability (additional to guarantees for customs duty on gold and VAT), accept registration upon default of export obligation, pay excise on first domestic sale or obtain release of equivalent guarantee, and file nil returns where no domestic sales occur; exporters may continue to export on self-declaration and Letter of Undertaking without LUT ratification until procedures are finalised.

Excise audit thresholds govern jewellery manufacturers; audit frequency set by duty bands, desk audits only, Commissioner adjudication.
Guidelines create a threshold-based excise audit regime for manufacturers of articles of jewellery under heading 7113: an initial two-year audit exemption for lower-duty units, followed by audit frequencies tied to duty bands with selection in the lowest band subject to Commissioner approval. All audits shall be desk audits conducted at the jurisdictional central excise audit commissionerate with no physical stock verification permitted. Any show cause notice arising from these audits must be issued and adjudicated by an officer of the rank of Commissioner.

SSI exemption computation clarified: individual assessment, exports and traded goods excluded, aggregated clearances can affect eligibility.
Computation of SSI exemption for manufacturers or principal manufacturers of articles of jewellery is to be done individually irrespective of job workers or premises. Exported articles (except to Bhutan) and traded articles on which duty has been paid are excluded. For customer-supplied materials, only value addition (additional materials and labour/making charges) counts. Multiple manufacturers at the same premises may obtain separate registrations but their clearances are to be clubbed to determine SSI eligibility; clubbed aggregates exceeding prescribed limits negate SSI exemption and trigger duty liability.

Indirect tax dispute resolution: declaration route suspends appeal proceedings while specified deposits and discharge procedures are completed.
The Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2016 allows an appellant before the Commissioner (Appeals) on the cut off date to file a declaration with the nominated designated authority. A four form procedure is prescribed: Form I for declaration; Form II acknowledgement which suspends appeal proceedings for sixty days; Form III for deposit details with specified timeframes for payment and reporting; and Form IV for issuance of a discharge order, after which the appeal is removed from pendency but creates no binding precedent.

Classification of glyphosate depends on actual usage, permitting herbicide or plant growth regulator categorisation accordingly.
Classification direction: IARI confirms glyphosate is primarily a broad spectrum systemic herbicide but can act as a plant growth regulator at lower application rates; therefore, classification for Central Excise must be made depending upon its actual usage, with field formations to implement this usage based approach and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Digital signature on invoices permitted alongside manual signature; dual-authenticated invoices remain valid for CENVAT credit.
A circular clarifies that a manufacturer or service provider who elects to authenticate invoices by digital signature may print and manually sign copies of those digitally signed invoices for recipients unable to accept electronic invoices; such dual-authenticated invoices conform with the applicable excise and service tax invoicing rules and are valid for claiming CENVAT credit.

Tariff classification of tamarind kernel powder affirmed under vegetable-derived thickeners, covering both treated and plain forms.
Tamarind kernel powder, produced by drying, dehulling and pulverising tamarind seeds, exists as plain (unmodified) and modified (treated) forms distinguished by cold water solubility. It is not derived from the fruit pulp and therefore is excluded from flour/meal headings of the edible fruit. As a seed-derived mucilage/thickener, both unmodified and modified tamarind kernel powder are to be classified under the tariff heading for vegetable-derived thickeners from seeds; the prior Board circular on the matter is rescinded.