Service tax on mandap and air travel agent services: collection, valuation, registration and compliance rules apply.
Service tax applies to mandap keepers and air travel agents; mandap keepers must collect tax on all charges for letting and related facilities, with a prescribed abatement where catering is supplied, and tax arises when service is rendered and billed. Air travel agents must account tax on commission earned or may opt to discharge liability by paying a specified percentage of basic fare. Registered persons must comply with registration, deposit, quarterly returns, record-keeping, interest on delayed payment and penalties for non-compliance.

Reversal of Modvat credit: certification required confirming formula-based reversal and interest payment before Customs closure.
Reversal of Modvat credit for exports under the Value Based Advance Licence requires Assistant Commissioner verification and a certificate stating that credit reversal and interest payment conform to the Board's formula; non-conforming reversals must be quantified by a Cost Accountant nominated under section 14A before certification, part reversals or part interest payments must be clearly recorded, and actual-basis revisions require Cost Accountant verification prior to issuance.

Export ceiling allocation for wheat flour: APEDA to issue RCAC enabling designated exporter to supply Maldives under licensing year.
A ceiling of one thousand metric tonnes of wheat flour is allocated for the licensing year 1997-98 and placed at the disposal of APEDA to issue a Registration cum Allocation Certificate (RCAC) to M/s. State Trading Corporation Limited for export to M/s. State Trading Organisation, Maldives. After issuing the RCAC and completing necessary action, APEDA must report to the EP (Argi.II) Section of the Ministry of Commerce with intimation to the Statistical Division of the DGFT office.

DEPB credit rates notified for multiple export product groups, revising entitlement categories and Appendix entries under trade policy.
The Director General of Foreign Trade notifies DEPB credit rates for listed export products-grouped as engineering, food, handicraft, sports goods and miscellaneous-and incorporates the Annexure into Appendix 28A of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. 1). The notice also amends Appendix 11D by adding a Port of Registration entry. These measures, issued under paragraph 4.11 of the Export and Import Policy, 1997-2002, prescribe how exporters are to compute DEPB entitlements against FOB export value and require adherence to the revised Handbook provisions.

Duty-free import entitlement: Letter of Approval deemed licence enabling release of furnace oil and petroleum products to export-oriented units.
The Letter of Approval issued by the Board of Approval or Development Commissioner is to be treated as the licence required for duty-free import of furnace oil, lubricants and other consumables by export-oriented units; Commissioners must accept that Letter as the licence and release specified quantities to eligible units. The clarification also covers procurement from indigenous sources and directs that pending clearances be decided accordingly under the new notification permitting duty-free fuel and consumables for captive power on Commissioner approval.

Export samples licence threshold: samples under a value cap can be exported without a licence; excess requires licensing.
Samples of goods in Parts II and III of the Negative List and the Appendix may be exported without a licence if the aggregate value of samples in a licensing year does not exceed US$ 2000, subject to exclusions (Appendix S. Nos. 1, 2, 17, 19 and Part II S. Nos. 2, 5, 24(i),(ii), 28, 30, 31). Exports exceeding that aggregate value require a licence, with the Director General of Foreign Trade as the licensing authority.

Registration requirements amended for Customs House Agents: authorised signatory and licence details now required on application form locally.
Form ST-1 is amended to add column 6(a) for the name(s) of authorised signatory/signatories and column 6(b) for the Customs House Agent licence number and its period of validity, applicable only to Customs House Agents; paragraph 7 requirements are identified as specific to stock-brokers and not relevant to other service providers, and the Central Board is requested to adopt the amendment for uniformity while the change is applied locally in this Commissionerate.

Unjust enrichment: refunds disallowed where credit notes reflect duty passed on at clearance; follow prevailing South Bench precedent.
A two Member South Bench held refunds inadmissible where credit notes represented duty passed on at clearance, prevailing over a Single Member Eastern Bench that allowed refunds where credit notes were issued; the Board directs Commissioners to consider filing reference applications and to follow the South Bench decision in similar unjust enrichment cases under section 11B.

Export policy amendments: EPCG export obligation schedule revised and compliance reporting, SIL option, and document corrections clarified.
Amendments revise cross references and procedural rules in the Handbook (Vol. I), introduce a staged export obligation schedule for Zero Duty EPCG agriculture licences with specified year block proportions, require submission of progress reports in Appendix 10C on a year wise or block wise basis, clarify that DEPB on pre export basis precludes post export DEPB until pre export exports are completed, adjust deemed export eligibility and claim filing periodicity and extend timelines for certain categories, and add operational rules for gold loan repayment and jewellery licensing under Appendix 29, together with multiple appendix and form corrections.

Preferential export allocation expanded for sugar, authorising a sole agency to export to EU and USA subject to certification.
The circular increases the preferential export allocation for M/s. Indian Sugar & General Industry Export Import Corporation (ISGIEIC) Ltd. from 35,500 MTs to 36,300 MTs for specified quantities of white and raw sugar destined for the European Union and raw sugar destined for the United States. ISGIEIC is designated the sole agency authorised to export these quantities under the preferential arrangement, and such exports are subject to prescribed pre-shipment certification by the Export Inspection Council. The overall free-sale season ceiling and other terms of Export Instruction No. 17/96-97 remain unchanged.

Interest on deferred import payments: excluded from customs assessable value unless it influences the transaction price.
Interest charged by foreign suppliers on deferred payment is not normally includible in the assessable value if the interest has no nexus to the goods' value, is separately invoiced, there is no financing arrangement or special relationship influencing price, and the declared price represents the price actually paid or payable in the ordinary course of trade. If evidence shows the interest influenced the selling price, it must be included; cases are to be decided on their merits.

DEPB credit rates updated for additional export products, listing eligible items and applicable export credit percentages.
Notification under the DEPB Scheme publishes an annexure adding 319 export products with product wise DEPB credit rates (percentages of FOB value) to be incorporated into Appendix 28A of the Handbook of Procedures, 1997-2002; it also corrects two previously published product entries and deletes one prior entry, making the annexure the operative schedule for determining exporter eligibility and applicable credit percentages.

Duty free import entitlement expanded for EOUs to cover service linked activities, reconditioning, job work and flexible transfers.
The Notification rescinds the prior instrument and preserves duty free imports for EOUs while expanding coverage to include service activities earning foreign exchange and reconditioning, repair and reengineering returned to foreign suppliers. It authorises explicit job work activities such as tests and refining, permits movement of partially processed goods into the domestic tariff area for job work with return, allows inter unit transfers with export or return rights, enables bonding of areas for specified operations, permits administrative approval for captive power spares by the jurisdictional Commissioner, and authorises destruction of waste without duty where necessary.

Service tax on agency services requires tax on agency fees and mandates registration, returns, payment and recordkeeping obligations.
Service tax applies to Custom House Agents and Steamer Agents; taxable value is the gross service charges billed for agency/husbandry and related services, while reimbursable expenses and statutory levies incurred on behalf of clients are excluded. Lump sum contracts without break ups require treating a specified portion of the lump sum as service charges for valuation. Subcontracting CHAs are not liable where the main CHA bills the client. Registration, payment, provisional assessment, quarterly returns and refund procedures are prescribed, and only offices that raise bills must register.

Voluntary disclosure of income: file a verified declaration, pay the flat-rate tax, and obtain a certificate to finalise immunity.
The Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme, 1997 permits a single verified declaration of undisclosed income, requires full payment of the specified flat-rate tax within three months to avoid voiding, and finalises the declaration only upon issuance of a certificate by the Commissioner. Jewellery acquired before 1-4-1987 must be valued as of that date by a valuer, other assets at acquisition cost, and declared amounts must be credited in books or other records; immunity from penalty and prosecution is provided subject to scheme limits and restrictions where searches or certain surveys have occurred.

Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme enables taxpayers to regularise undisclosed income by paying prescribed tax and securing confidentiality protections.
The Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme, 1997 permits disclosure of untaxed or undisclosed income for assessment years where returns were not filed, income was omitted, or escaped assessment; disclosures of wealth are excluded. Tax at specified rates must be paid before filing or within three months with interest; failure to pay within that period voids the declaration. Declarations in prescribed form, supported by documentation, are filed with the Commissioner who issues a certificate on full payment. Declarations are confidential and inadmissible in penalty or prosecution proceedings, subject to listed exceptions.

Concessional duty exclusion for CRGO and CRNGO coils: coated sheets are treated as further worked, disqualifying the concession.
CRGO and CRNGO steel sheets and strips in coil are coated non alloy steel products that have been worked further than cold rolling; coated sheets and unworked cold rolled sheets are distinct for classification and notification purposes, and coated CRGO/CRNGO coils do not qualify for the concessional duty available to cold rolled coils under the relevant tariff notification.

Crude Palm Stearin imports allowed for registered industrial users who must split it into fatty acids and glycerol and report quarterly.
Non edible industrial grade Crude Palm Stearin may be imported without a licence by authorised industrial importers with on site splitting capacity, subject to specified free fatty acid thresholds (10% or 3.5% FFA) and an Actual User condition requiring splitting into fatty acids and glycerol at the importer's facility. Fatty acids and glycerol are generally transferable (with sale restrictions where CPS meets the 3.5% FFA allowance). Importers must submit quarterly detailed returns and obtain utilisation certification from the Directorate of Vanaspati, Vegetable Oils & Fats, which determines eligibility for further annual import authorisation.

Service tax on Custom House Agents and Steamer Agents: gross billed service charges taxed; reimbursed expenses excluded.
Service tax applies to services by Custom House Agents and Steamer Agents from 15 June 1997. Taxable value equals the gross service charges billed to the client or principal; reimbursed statutory levies and other expenses paid on behalf of the client are excluded. Lump sum turnkey charges without break up are to be valued at 15% of the lump sum for taxable service. Only billing offices must register; subcontracting CHAs are not separately taxable on inter CHA bills. Procedural obligations include registration, monthly deposit, quarterly returns, interest on delayed payments and specified penalties.

DEPB credit use for customs duty on imports under transferable Special Import Licence clarified and credit rates notified.
The Director General of Foreign Trade notifies product-specific DEPB credit rates by annexure to Appendix-28A of the Handbook (Vol. I), amends paragraph 7.36 to treat grouped seaports/airports/ICDs in the same city as a single port for DEPB entitlement, and inserts paragraph 7.36B permitting DEPB credit to be utilised for payment of customs duty on items imported under a freely transferable Special Import Licence.