Minimum alternate tax introduced to ensure companies with substantial book profits pay minimum tax alongside expanded tax incentives.
The Act revises income-tax and TDS rates, introduces a Minimum Alternate Tax on companies by deeming a portion of book profits taxable where normal taxable income is lower, and expands sectoral exemptions, tax holidays and targeted deductions (including for pension funds, infrastructure funds, R&D companies, medical expenses and donations). It clarifies depreciation for fractional ownership, tightens rules on sale-and-reacquisition for depreciation, broadens TDS credit for jointly owned income, raises thresholds for advance tax and TDS, and amends procedural time limits and registration requirements for charitable trusts and wealth-tax asset definitions.

Exemption certificate requirement: development commissioner sale permission letters now operate as the required certificate for EOU DTA clearances.
The Development Commissioner's sale permission letter that covers both quantity and value of EOU/FTZ clearances into the Domestic Tariff Area shall be treated as the certificate required under Notification No. 2/95-CE, removing the need for a separate certificate and enabling pending cases to be decided in accordance with this clarification.

Service tax on goods transport operator services: selective abeyance for small scale factories and private trading companies.
Service tax on Goods Transport Operator services is imposed with selective abeyance: factories registered as small scale industries and companies that are solely trading Private Limited concerns are exempted from liability for now; other factories and companies must pay. Corporations, societies, co-operative societies and bodies corporate must register and pay service tax. Registered dealers of excisable goods remain under consideration for separate registration but must collect, pay service tax and file returns. Traders in the specified category remain in abeyance.

Disposal of unclaimed cargo: sale after notice and valuation under Section 48 with auction and shared proceeds.
Imported goods lying unclaimed in Air Cargo Complexes may be sold under statutory disposal power after custodians prepare monthly lists of consignments older than 45 days, notify consignees and allow 15 days for Customs to withhold items. A valuation committee with custodian, government valuers and a Customs appraiser fixes reserve prices and segregates prohibited imports. Auctions are publicly advertised, conducted by government-approved auctioneers on a cum-duty basis with staged reserve reductions for unsold perishable and non perishable goods, and gross proceeds are shared 50:50 with custodians bearing sale-related costs.

Officer signature requirements: assessing officers must sign shipping bills in full and mark examination percentages precisely.
Assessing officers must sign shipping bills and bills of entry in full with their name, preferably by rubber stamp, to prevent forgery and allow later identification; final examination orders must precisely indicate the chosen examination percentage by striking out alternate figures. Suitable standing orders should be issued to implement these procedural requirements.

Examination of re-imported exhibition goods-single inspection to establish identity and allow expedited customs clearance.
Re-imported exhibition goods shall be examined only once for customs clearance: customs officers must rely on a single examination to establish identity and permit expeditious clearance from docks and cargo complexes, avoiding duplicate inspections by Appraisers and Assistant Commissioners that cause delay and additional handling costs.

Fraudulent diversion of ship stores: enforce strict clearance and escorting to prevent unlawful domestic diversion.
Fraudulent diversion of imported ship stores and spares cleared duty free from bonded warehouses occurred where mandatory clearance and escorting procedures were not followed; the Board directs strict adherence to prescribed clearance and escort requirements and issuance or reiteration of standing orders to departmental officers to prevent such diversion frauds.

Computer software exemption limited to interactive programs for automatic data processing machines; application specific software excluded.
Exemption under S. No. 173 of Notification No. 11/97-Cus. applies only to computer software recorded in machine readable form and capable of manipulation or providing interactivity via an automatic data processing machine falling under heading 84.71. Software solely for operation of machines performing specific non data processing functions, including telecom and medical application software, is not eligible. Interactive products such as encyclopedias, games and books qualify if they meet the interactivity criterion. Pending assessments should be finalised accordingly.

Rupee value adjustment of Special Currency Basket applies to deferred payment contracts under Indo USSR protocols, revising contract valuation.
The Reserve Bank of India revised the Rupee Value of the Special Currency Basket, and that revision, as announced in Public Notice No. 70(RE-97), applies as the valuation basis for all deferred payment contracts concluded under the Deferred Payments Protocols dated 30 April 1981 and 23 December 1985 between the Government of India and the erstwhile USSR.

Excise Duty saved: BG requirement under the Duty Exemption Scheme tied to excise duty saved rather than customs.
The Handbook of Procedures is amended to replace the expression 'Customs duty saved' with 'Excise Duty saved', so that bank guarantees and related security requirements under the Duty Exemption Scheme are calculated with reference to excise duty saved rather than customs duty, thereby aligning terminology and compliance calculations in the Handbook.

DEPB affidavit requirement: exporters must declare specified exports are not derived from listed bulk drugs or face refund.
Exporters claiming DEPB credit for the specified chemical export item must submit a stamped-paper affidavit in the prescribed format declaring that the exported product is not derived from bulk drugs, raw materials, or intermediates listed elsewhere in the Public Notice; licensing authorities will finalise DEPB claims on this basis, a false declaration obliges immediate refund, and the affidavit must be signed by the proprietor/partner/director or a board-authorised person.

Duty-free import entitlement for accredited journalists extends to goods sent by post or authorised courier if conditions satisfied.
Accredited journalists may claim duty-free import under the Notification if they produce the prescribed certification and an undertaking; where goods arrive by authorised courier or Post the journalist qualifies as the importer and may avail the exemption, but goods carried in another passenger's baggage cannot be treated as imported by the journalist because that passenger is the importer.

Port-specific DEPB import permission via telegraphic release enables imports at designated other ports subject to TRA and recordkeeping.
DEPB scrips registered at the Hyderabad port of registration may be used for imports at designated other ports for imports only. The concession requires a Telegraphic Release Advice from the port of registration to the Customs House of import identifying goods description, quantity, value, DEPB serial number, issue date and duty entitlement, and the Customs House issuing the TRA must record the import details in a register.

Special Currency Basket value revised for deferred payment contracts under Indo USSR protocols, affecting valuation for existing agreements.
The Reserve Bank of India revised the Indian rupee value of the Special Currency Basket, effective from 21.11.1997, for application to deferred payment contracts concluded under the Indo USSR Deferred Payments Protocols dated 30.4.1981 and 23.12.1985; the revision applies to contracts governing deliveries of machinery and equipment from the USSR to India and supersedes prior basket valuations for the stated protocol periods.

Service tax accounting for goods transport operator services requires deposit under specified heads and segregation of tax and interest.
The notice directs that service tax on Goods Transport Operator Services must be deposited under prescribed Major, Minor and Sub Heads using specified SI and SCCD codes, with primary tax receipts booked under the sub head Tax Collections and interest, penalties and related amounts recorded under the sub head Other Receipts to ensure consistent classification and remittance by responsible agencies.

Manufacture: embossing and pleating of fabrics classified as manufacture for excise, requiring uniform assessment and notices.
The Board concludes embossing and pleating of fabrics amount to manufacture for Central Excise classification. Pleating by mechanical deformation with heat/steam setting and embossing by heated engraved rollers produce lasting, commercially significant changes that make treated fabrics distinct from base fabrics, not merely superficial or transient. Noting analogous treatment of finishing processes such as heat setting, dyeing and printing, the Board directs that embossing and pleating be uniformly assessed as manufacture, while not reopening closed past assessments, and instructs Commissioners to notify trade and officers accordingly.

Modvat credit admissibility confirmed for CVD on CKD/SKD car packs when treated as inputs for manufacture.
MODVAT credit is admissible on the entire countervailing duty paid on CKD/SKD car packs assessed by Customs at the rate for a complete car because Note 6 of Section XVII treats such packs as inputs for manufacture; Central Excise authorities cannot restrict or deny the full MODVAT credit under the MODVAT rules.

Late claim admission: delayed post export DEPB applications may be considered subject to the Handbook's late cut procedure.
The circular clarifies that post export DEPB claims filed after the time prescribed by paragraph 7.42 should be considered under paragraph 15.16 of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I); licensing authorities are to admit delayed DEPB claims subject to the prescribed late cut rather than summarily rejecting them.

Competency to issue show-cause notices: designated DGAE officers may issue notices with corresponding adjudicating officers assigned.
Competency to issue show-cause notices in DGAE-investigated cases is vested in specified DGAE ranks, with matched adjudicating authorities: senior officers' notices go to Commissioners, mid-level officers' notices to Additional/Deputy Commissioners, and junior officers' notices to Assistant Commissioners; adjudication competency otherwise remains governed by prior Board circulars and Commissionerate cases follow existing issuance rules.

Bank guarantee requirement for duty-free gold imports reduced to a fraction of gold value, easing securities for jewellery exporters.
Bonds for duty-free supply of gold to gem and jewellery exporters from nominated agencies shall be secured by a bank guarantee of 5% of the value of the gold (and not of the bond amount). This amendment modifies the specified paragraphs of the earlier circulars with immediate effect and is to be publicised by issue of a suitable public notice.