Amendment to certificate requirements for chartered accountants: changes to documents and deletions affecting export procedure compliance.
Amendments revise the Certificate of Chartered Accountant provisions in two appendices by deleting specified subparagraphs and notes and by amending cross reference language so that references to an earlier item of the certificate are changed to refer to the subsequent item, thereby altering documentary and certification requirements under the export procedure framework.

Fraudulent tax credit availment: strict enforcement and reporting required; action against assessees and responsible officers.
The Board reiterates that fraudulent availment of Modvat credit necessitates stern action against the assessee and officers responsible; recipients must strictly comply with prior instructions and furnish a compliance report to the Board every six months, and acknowledge receipt of the communication.

Prosecution for excise duty evasion mandated; Chief Commissioners must personally monitor cases and file quarterly progress reports.
Direction to initiate prosecution for fraudulent or deliberate evasion of excise duty, including wrongful Modvat credit availment, is reiterated; jurisdictional Chief Commissioners must personally monitor such cases and furnish quarterly progress reports on every individual prosecution to the Board, with acknowledgements of the circular.

Modvat verification: Chief Commissioners must monitor surprise squads and submit regular performance reports to the Board.
Chief Commissioners must actively oversee the performance of surprise squads verifying Modvat Credit, monitor squad operations regularly, and submit periodic progress reports to the Board; the circular reiterates prior Board instructions and requests acknowledgement of receipt.

Modvat credit misuse requires strict enforcement and deterrent action against wrong claimants and disciplinary steps for negligent officials
Fraudulent availment of MODVAT credit prompted emphasis on enforcing recent Central Excise amendments (including interest and penal provisions) to prevent wrongful credit claims. Authorities are directed to take stringent deterrent action against assessees who unlawfully avail credit and to initiate proceedings against departmental officers found lax in implementing the law, establishing dual accountability to bolster compliance and safeguard the MODVAT mechanism.

Inclusion of pension as salary requires tax deductors to issue Form 16 when tax is deducted at source.
Pension payments are treated as salary under the Income-tax Act, and when tax is deducted at source from pensions the deductor is required to issue the tax deduction certificate in Form No. 16. This obligation does not depend on an employer-employee relationship and Form No. 16 cannot be denied merely because the deductor is unaware of the payee's other income.

Taxability of hire-charges: treat receipts as interest only when transactions are in substance financing, not genuine hire-purchase.
Hire-purchase receipts are not automatically interest under the Interest-tax Act, 1974; Assessing Officers must distinguish genuine hire-purchase arrangements from transactions that are in substance financing. Where the arrangement functions as security for repayment of a loan-e.g., the hirer is the real purchaser but does not pay the full price and the hire-purchase company advances purchase money-the hire-charges should be treated as interest and subject to interest-tax. Examinations should consider agreement terms, relationship among parties, and manifested intention, applying the Sundaram Finance tests.

Export certification requirement: textile and man made fibre exports require council certification on shipping bills under amended schedule.
Amendment inserts two 9A entries in Schedule 2 Appendix 1 requiring that exports of fabrics and made ups of natural fibres not under quota be certified on shipping bills by the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, and that yarns, fabrics and made ups of man made fibre not under quota be certified on shipping bills by the Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council.

Export permission for non lethal military stores allowed without Defence NOC, specific low tech categories listed for export.
Permission is granted for specified non lethal, low technology military stores to be exported without a No Objection Certificate from the Department of Defence Production and Supplies, listing tents; uniform and bedding; hand tools; cooking utensils; stoves and lamps; fabricated metal camp stores; hospital equipment and dressings; brushes; and packaging material excluding ammunition boxes, under authority of the Export & Import Policy.

Classification of Ready Mix Concrete as excisable distinguishes factory premix from exempt site-manufactured concrete for duty purposes.
Ready Mix Concrete, produced in factory-like plants with centralized crushing, automated batching, silo-fed cement, metered water and admixtures and delivered in a plastic condition by transit mixer, is an excisable product classifiable under the Central Excise Tariff, whereas concrete mixed at the construction site by conventional on-site methods for use at that site is exempt under the relevant notification.

Consulting engineer exclusion: architectural services lie outside service tax on consulting engineers, tax applies only to engineering charges.
Service tax on consulting engineers applies only to services in engineering disciplines provided by professionally qualified engineers; architectural services are a separate profession under the Architects Act, 1972 and thus do not fall within the consulting engineer service tax levy. If a single provider supplies both engineering and architectural services and issues a lump sum bill without break up, service tax is chargeable on the whole amount; with a separate invoice allocation, tax applies only to the engineering charges.

Additional customs staff requirement: prioritize cost recovery, then internal diversion, then redeployment proposals for approval.
Additional customs staff for new or expanded facilities at Airports, ACCs or FPOs must follow a three-tier procedure: seek cost recovery from the user party; if unsuccessful, examine diversion of staff within the Commissionerate; if still unresolvable, Chief Commissioner should propose redeployment or restructuring within existing manpower and forward a comprehensive proposal for administrative approval.

Special Valuation Branch procedures centralized; provisional assessments require investigation with strict timelines and reduced deposit obligation.
Centralisation requires SVBs at Chennai, Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai to handle related-person and complex valuation cases; registration for SVB investigation needs Commissioner approval. Assessment Groups will determine value without SVB reference where declared price aligns with transaction, deductive, or computed values or contractual conditions govern. Cases showing prima facie related-party influence, use of deductive/computed methods, or additions under Rule 9 (royalty/licence fees, proceeds of subsequent sale, conditional payments) may be referred to SVB after provisional assessment. Extra duty deposit is reduced to 1%; investigations must be finalised within three months of SVB registration, with monitoring by Commissioners.