Concurrence requirement: Chief Commissioner unnecessary when appeal waived solely for monetary threshold; required if order accepted on merits.
Where a Commissioner decides not to file an appeal solely because the matter falls below the prescribed monetary threshold, concurrence of the Chief Commissioner is not required; however, if the Commissioner proposes to accept an adverse order on its merits even though the amount is below the threshold, concurrence of the Chief Commissioner must be obtained before accepting the order.

Release of seized assets: retain only amounts needed to meet tax liability after Settlement Commission order, release the remainder.
When a settlement application has been decided by the Income Tax Settlement Commission, seized non cash assets should be reviewed at the time the Commission's order is given effect; only assets sufficient to meet any residual Income tax or Wealth Tax liability after the order should be retained, and the remaining seized assets should be released under the statutory release procedure with the approval of the Commissioner or Chief Commissioner of Income Tax.

TDS/TCS prosecution guidelines clarified: revised prioritisation applies to all pending offences under sections 276B and 276BB.
The revised prosecution prioritisation for offences under sections 276B and 276BB functions as internal criteria for identifying and processing potential prosecution cases and does not change the statutory offence; it applies to all pending cases under those provisions irrespective of procedural stage, including identification, complaint filing and compounding.

Mandatory deposit requirement: appeals may be registered if deposit paid in cash, from CENVAT, or exceeds required amount.
The Circular directs registration of appeals received on or after the amendments where the mandatory deposit requirement is met: payment in cash with evidence, payment from a CENVAT account with evidence, or a subsequent investigative deposit that exceeds the statutory mandatory deposit threshold; further clarification will follow from the competent authority.

Retrospective transfer taxation: prior committee approval required before initiating assessment action on deemed India sourced income.
Where an Assessing Officer considers that income is deemed to accrue or arise in India before the specified date because of retrospective amendments and no assessment, reassessment or section 201 proceeding or notice is pending or issued, the Assessing Officer must seek prior approval of the constituted Committee by reference through the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner and forward a copy of the reference to the assessee; the Committee will examine the proposed action, provide the assessee an opportunity to be heard, decide in writing and convey directions to the Assessing Officer.

Grievance redressal disclosure: intermediaries must prominently display investor complaint information and escalation avenues, including exchange and online portal contacts.
Intermediaries must prominently display investor grievance information in their offices: stock brokers and depository participants per Annexure A and other intermediaries per Annexure B. The display must identify the compliance officer and senior contact, provide communication means, and direct investors to exchange/depository escalation channels, an online grievance portal and a toll free helpline. Intermediaries must implement these disclosure obligations across all offices within the prescribed compliance period; the circular invokes regulatory powers to protect investor interests and indicates publication of the circular and complaint portal details on the regulator's website.

Foreign investment in government securities: eligible foreign investors may acquire securities in any manner consistent with market practice.
Eligible non-resident investors including FIIs, QFIs, RFPIs and registered long-term investors may acquire eligible government securities in any manner consistent with prevailing market practice, following removal of the stipulation on manner of acquisition from the Principal Regulations; AD Category-I banks must inform their constituents, and the change follows the Eleventh Amendment Regulations, 2014 issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

FDI in rail infrastructure permitted with automatic entry, subject to ministry sectoral guidelines and security clearance for higher equity.
Private and foreign investment is permitted by automatic entry in specified railway infrastructure activities - including suburban corridor PPPs, high speed trains, dedicated freight lines, rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance, electrification, signalling, freight and passenger terminals, industrial-park railway line/sidings and Mass Rapid Transport Systems - subject to Ministry of Railways sectoral guidelines and security clearance for proposals exceeding the capped equity threshold in sensitive areas.

Core settlement guarantee fund requirement ensures adequate corpus and rigorous stress testing to secure settlement obligations.
Clearing corporations must maintain a Core Settlement Guarantee Fund (Core SGF) per segment adequate to meet member default contingencies, with monthly determination of a Minimum Required Corpus (MRC) derived from daily stress tests. Contribution shares require the clearing corporation to fund at least half the MRC, the stock exchange at least one quarter, and clearing members up to one quarter pro rata by risk; the fund is managed by the Defaulter's/SGF Utilisation Committee, invested in highly liquid low risk instruments, and is subject to a prescribed multilayered default waterfall and comprehensive daily stress, liquidity, reverse stress and back testing requirements.

Capitalization of costs: borrowing and delay-related expenses cannot be capitalized; part capitalization allowed when a unit is ready.
Clarification states that under AS 10 and AS 16, only expenditures that increase the worth of fixed assets may be capitalized; costs, including borrowing costs, incurred during an extended delay after a plant is otherwise ready for commercial production must not be capitalized. AS 16 allows part capitalization where a unit is ready and capable of use while other units remain under construction. These rules apply to both cost-plus and competitive-bid power projects.

Refinancing under automatic route permitted when fresh ECB lowers all-in-cost and meets specified compliance conditions.
AD Category - I banks are authorized to approve refinancing of existing External Commercial Borrowings under the automatic route where the fresh ECB's Average Maturity Period exceeds the residual maturity of the original loan, subject to conditions: both loans comply with guidelines; fresh ECB has lower all-in-cost; existing lender's consent; refinancing before original maturity; borrower not on RBI default/caution list or under DoE investigation; overseas branches/subsidiaries of Indian banks not permitted to extend refinancing; and requisite reporting (e.g., revised Form 83) is completed.

Customs broker licensing compliance: failure to submit required documents will bar entry and processing privileges.
Only Customs Brokers who have submitted documents as specified in Public Notice No. 257/2013 and whose licences and identity cards are updated in the intranet will be permitted to process documents and enter customs areas; brokers who fail to submit the required documentation by the stated deadline will be denied entry and processing privileges, with no further extension of time.

FDI cap in defence sector revised to allow higher foreign participation subject to Indian ownership, management and specialised approvals.
Amendment raises the Foreign Direct Investment cap in defence subject to industrial licence to 49% under the Government route, with proposals above that level considered by the Cabinet Committee on Security where they may afford access to modern technology. The 49% limit is composite across all foreign investment categories; portfolio investments by FPIs/FIIs/QFIs together with FVCIs are capped at a combined 24% under the automatic route. Up to 49% the investee must be Indian owned and controlled, have Indian management and a resident Chief Security Officer; applications are processed by DIPP in consultation with Defence and filed with the FIPB Secretariat.

Service tax expansion to non-print advertising widens the tax base and brings radio taxi services into the levy.
Extension of the service tax levy subjects all forms of advertising except print media to service tax and makes services provided by radio taxis taxable on a specified portion of the amount charged. Amendments expand rule making powers to require information, records and returns, permit withdrawal of facilities or restrictions on utilization of Cenvat credit to check evasion or misuse, and to issue supplemental instructions; notifications insert corresponding rules for valuation of imported services and for issuing supplemental instructions.

Review petition: advisory against filing but department urged to pursue appeals before courts and tribunals.
Board sought Law Ministry advice on filing a Review Petition after the quashing of Circular No. 18/2006-Cus. and dismissal of the Department's SLP; the ASG advised against review as an in limine dismissal does not constitute law under Article 141, but the Board directs field formations to pursue appeals before Courts and Tribunals since the Department has a prima facie strong case on merits.

In limine dismissal may not create binding precedent; department advised to pursue appeals rather than file review petitions.
The Law Ministry's senior government counsel advised that an in limine dismissal does not constitute law and a review petition would be futile; notwithstanding this, the Board, noting the Department's prima facie merits, directed field formations to pursue appeals or other judicial remedies on the question of Special Additional Duty liability under the DEPB scheme.

Disclosure formats revised under takeover regulations: updated templates require detailed promoter, PAC and diluted shareholding disclosures immediately.
SEBI prescribes revised formats under Regulation 30 requiring standardised continual disclosures of substantial shareholding and related instruments. Annexure 1's Part A mandates identification of the target, listed exchanges, persons (including PACs and promoters) and a quantitative breakdown of holdings by shares, non share voting rights, warrants, convertible securities and other instruments, reported as percentages of issued and diluted share/voting capital. Part B lists PAN, promoter/PAC status and authorised signatory details for exchange filing only and is not disseminated.

Advance information requirement for venue operators to enroll and file periodic returns, noncompliance attracts penalty.
Owners, lessees or custodians of banquet halls, farm houses, marriage/party halls, hotels and open grounds where food and/or liquor is supplied and booking cost exceeds the prescribed threshold must enroll by filing Form BE-1 and thereafter submit periodic returns in Form BE-2-first fortnight returns at least three days before the first day of the month and second fortnight by the twelfth-to comply with VAT obligations; noncompliance attracts penalty under section 86 of the DVAT Act, 2004.

Manual registration of IEIS credit scrips: present originals, obtain DGFT verification, record and process manually.
Manual registration procedure requires presentation of original IEIS duty credit scrips to Customs Group VII, obtaining DGFT confirmation of genuineness by fax, verification of licence particulars and alerts, manual entry of licence details in the Group VII register, and subsequent manual processing of Bills of Entry with appropriate debits and endorsements.

Extension of audit report due date: tax audit furnishing under section 44AB extended to 30 November 2014; pre-revised forms accepted.
An order under Section 119 extends the deadline for furnishing the tax audit report required by Section 44AB for assessees not subject to transfer pricing report obligations, shifting the due date from late September to late November; it also clarifies that tax audit reports filed in the earlier part of the year in pre-revised forms will be treated as valid.