TDS certificate issuance requirement: Part A must be generated via TRACES portal and authenticated before delivery to employee.
Part A of Form No. 16 for payroll TDS must be generated and downloaded exclusively via the TRACES Portal for deductions on or after 1 April 2012, contain a Unique Identification Number, and be authenticated and verified by the deductor (manual or digital signature) before issuance; Part B (Annexure) containing income details shall be prepared manually and issued with authenticated Part A, and the designated systems authority will specify procedures, formats and standards for electronic download and administration.

Deployment of CLRI officials to selected ports and ICDs to assist customs in examination and testing of leather exports.
Industry-funded technical personnel will be deployed at specified ports and ICDs to assist Customs in examination of leather export consignments; deployment costs are borne by the industry council. Customs shall, where required, draw samples in the presence of those personnel and forward samples to the research institute or approved laboratories for testing. Chief Commissioners must ensure cooperation and issue standing orders so the inspection, sampling and laboratory testing procedures are implemented at the listed locations from the stated commencement date.

FDI policy correction: an internal paragraph reference is amended to ensure accurate regulatory cross referencing and guidance.
Corrigendum to the Consolidated FDI Policy (Circular I of 2013) corrects an internal cross reference: the phrase 'paragraph 6.2.24' in paragraph 3.10.3.1 is to be read as 'paragraph 6.2.17.8'. The correction is issued by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and instructs publicity, website upload, transmission to the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India, and Hindi translation.

Inclusion of export promotion schemes enables Kattupalli port to process DEPB, EPCG and EOU transactions under ICES procedures.
Kattupalli Minor Port (INKATI) is included within the operational scope of Export Promotion Schemes and clustered with Chennai Custom House under ICES. The notice allocates assessment groups by scheme code and prescribes mandatory procedures for licence and TRA registration, bond registration and automatic debiting, DEPB ledger maintenance and balance checks, and system-based handling of DEPB, EPCG/DES and EOU imports and exports. Licences transmitted online by DGFT are receivable in ICES; non-transmitted licences require presentation of original documents for manual registration and verification.

Depositories Master Circular consolidates SEBI rules up to March 31, 2013, setting KYC, ISIN, BSDA, settlement and disclosure obligations.
This Master Circular compiles SEBI circulars up to March 31, 2013, supersedes the April 13, 2012 master circular and prescribes consolidated operational rules for depositories and DPs, including PAN and KYC requirements, BSDA eligibility and charges, ISIN activation and temporary freezing of additional issues, DIS and transfer safeguards, timelines for T+2 settlement and clearing member pool account transfers, disclosure of investor complaints and arbitration details on depository websites, and obligations on electronic payment data and preservation of records.

Erection services for pandals and shamianas constitute a declared service and attract service tax under applicable law.
Erection and laying of pandal or shamiana to prepare a place for events is a declared service under section 66E B(f), typically performed with the supplier's specialised labour and often bundled with ancillary supplies. Applying the Supreme Court's attributes for a transfer of right to use goods, the supplier retains effective possession and control after erection, so the activity does not amount to transfer of right to use goods and is subject to service tax as preparation of an event site.

Permanent Account Number and IEC filing mandated for Delhi VAT dealers; Form DVAT 52 due by 30/05/2013.
Registered dealers must furnish Permanent Account Number and, if applicable, Importer Exporter Code in Form DVAT 52; the form was notified on 30/03/2013 and must be filed with requisite details on or before 30/05/2013 to satisfy the amended filing obligation. Rule 18 now mandates the declaration in Form DVAT 52 and related rule amendments adjust tax period, recordkeeping, audit reporting for dealers above the specified turnover threshold, TDS certificate procedures in Form DVAT 43, and add IEC/Aadhaar/mobile fields to registration forms.

Extension of filing date for service tax returns grants assessees additional time due to reported filing difficulties.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs, exercising powers under sub rule (4) of rule 7 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, extends the submission deadline for Form ST-3 for the quarter 1 July-30 September 2012 from 15 April to 30 April 2013 to accommodate assessees facing difficulties in filing returns and to avoid delay and inconvenience.

Quality assessments review requires compilation and submission of selected scrutiny cases highlighting substantive tax issues and resulting revenue impact.
Directs CCsIT/DGsIT to compile at least fifty quality scrutiny assessments using the annexure format, showing officer, assessment section, selection criteria, significant issues, concealment/disallowance amounts, penalty/prosecution status, and CCIT/DGIT comments; consolidated compilations with orders are to be routed via CCIT(CCA) to the Zonal Member and a copy sent to Member (IT), with submissions also provided to Appraisal Committees for inclusion in 'Let us Share'. Exclusion and inclusion criteria and caution against routine or summary additions are specified.

Appeal form revisions require expanded appellant identifiers and a standardized alphanumeric order code to improve case processing.
Revised Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax appeal forms, effective 1 June 2013 (old forms permitted until 31 August 2013), require expanded appellant identifiers (Assessee Code/PAN/UID, Location Code, contact details), Customs-specific IEC and Port Code, Service Tax Premises Code, separate entries for duty/fine/penalty/interest, subject codes for bunching, and a mandatory 21-character alphanumeric order identifier encoding Commissionerate, officer type, serial number, financial year and order date for Commissionerate wise indexing.

Service tax registration: new service providers must register in designated ranges under restored pre negative list coding.
The notice restores pre Trade Notice registration status and accounting codes for listed services while assigning services outside the negative list to selected service tax ranges; new service providers must register in the designated ranges, existing assessees remain in their current ranges, and registered providers seeking to add new taxable services may do so through their existing jurisdictional range officer.

Octagonal steel lamp columns classified as steel structures under tariff heading 73.08, subheading 73089090 for outdoor lighting.
Octagonal steel columns for lamp posts presented unassembled with brackets, anchor bolts and assembly accessories but without lanterns or electrical fittings are more specifically described by heading 73.08 and therefore classify as steel structures under subheading 7308.90 by application of GRI 1 and 6; flange plates, inspection doors or earthing lugs do not render them parts of lamps under heading 94.05.

Extension of filing deadline: reconciliation returns and original declaration forms permitted until 10 May for 2011-12 quarters.
An extension of time is granted until 10 May 2013 for furnishing the reconciliation return in Form DVAT 51 under the Delhi VAT Rules and corresponding Central Sales Tax provisions, and for submission of the 'original' portions of Declaration Forms C, E I, E II, F, I, J and H for the first through fourth quarters of 2011-12, with directions for departmental dissemination and online filing alignment with Form CD 1.

Exemption from cost recovery charges requires meeting facility-specific staffing and performance norms, with prospective waivers and no outstanding charges.
The Circular prescribes facility-specific staffing matrices for Sea Ports, Air Cargo Complexes, Courier Terminals, Diamond Plazas and Class-based Airports to be sanctioned on cost recovery basis, and sets dual performance benchmarks (cargo/value and document counts, or flights and passengers for airports) whose satisfaction in the preceding two financial years makes a facility eligible for consideration of exemption from payment of cost recovery charges, subject to prospective effect and absence of outstanding charges.

Corrigendum corrects product terminology and standard reference in a customs circular, amending sheet description and IS standard.
Corrigendum corrects the circular's product description by replacing the phrase "Electro Galvanized sheets and Galvanized sheets/strips," with "Electro Galvanized sheets and Galvaneeled sheets/strips" in the cited sub paragraph, and directs that every occurrence of the reference "IS:227" in the circular should read as "IS:277", thereby amending the cited Indian Standard throughout the circular.

Relaxation of additional fee extended filing deadline to mid-April; waiver applies to forms filed on or after 17 January.
The Ministry extended the filing deadline and relaxation of additional fees until 15 April 2013; filers will not incur additional fees during the extended period. Forms filed on or before 16 January 2013 remain payable with additional fee, whereas waiver of additional fees will be considered only for forms filed on or after 17 January 2013. All other terms of General Circular No. 03/2013 remain unchanged.

Composition scheme opt-in deadline clarified: works contract dealers must file Form WC01 within thirty days from financial year start.
Eligible works contract dealers who paid tax under the general tax provision in the preceding year, and dealers under the earlier composition arrangement, may opt into the new composition scheme by filing an application in Form WC 01 within thirty days from the first day of the financial year for which composition is opted.

All-in-cost ceiling for trade credits remains in place and is continued subject to review; trade credit policy unchanged.
The circular continues the all-in-cost ceiling for trade credits for imports into India, keeping the previously prescribed ceiling in effect until June 30, 2013 and subject to review, while stating that all other aspects of the trade credit policy remain unchanged and directing Authorized Dealer Category I banks to inform their constituents; the directions are issued as statutory instructions under the foreign exchange law and without prejudice to other permissions or approvals.

Line of Credit requiring majority Indian sourcing for financed contracts, compliance with RBI shipment declarations and FEMA directions.
A Line of Credit of USD 76.50 million to Malawi finances eligible goods, services, machinery, equipment and consultancy for specified projects, requiring at least 75 per cent of contract value to be supplied from India and permitting up to 25 per cent procurement abroad. The Credit Agreement is effective March 13, 2013; LC and disbursement timelines are 48 months for project exports and 72 months for supply contracts. Shipments must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is payable under the LOC, though exporters may remit commission from their own funds or EEFC balances subject to AD Category-I bank compliance. Directions issued under FEMA.

Dematerialisation requirement: securities may move from Trade-for-Trade to Rolling Settlement if majority non-promoter holdings are dematerialised.
Companies connected to both depositories may be moved from Trade-for-Trade to Normal Rolling Settlement if at least half of other-than-promoter holdings are in dematerialised form, evidenced by a certificate from the Registrar and Transfer Agent or, if no RTA exists, from a practicing Company Secretary or Chartered Accountant, and provided there are no other grounds for continuation of TFTS; stock exchanges must report actions taken in Monthly/Quarterly Development Reports.