Deemed production basis determines excise duty for machine packed smokeless tobacco, not actual output or machine speed.
Excise duty for machine-packed smokeless tobacco is calculated on deemed production per operating packing machine and the Retail Sale Price on pouches, with the number of packing machines in the factory prescribed as the sole objective factor for levy determination; duty must not be re determined on the basis of actual production or machine speed, and field formations and taxpayers are to be notified accordingly.

Income tax rate structure and major amendments that expand deductions, introduce new TDS provisions, and modify GAAR timeline.
The Finance Act, 2013 enacts broad direct tax amendments: it prescribes income tax rates and corresponding TDS/advance tax rates for 2013 14; inserts and amends substantive provisions including definitions of capital asset, valuation rules for immovable property transfers, and treatment of keyman insurance; creates targeted incentives (deduction for large investment in new plant and machinery, first home loan interest deduction, pass through status to qualifying AIFs); introduces withholding on certain property transfers and concessional withholding on specified rupee bonds; revises GAAR implementation and composition; and establishes special distribution taxes (buy back of unlisted shares, mutual funds, securitisation trusts) alongside procedural changes to audits, limitation periods and compliance reporting.

Drawback claim filing: supplementary claims allowed for shut out shipping bills with specific documentary requirements and Rule 15 timing.
Drawback claims for Shipping Bills shut out in EDI due to non filing or non rectification of EGM prior to LEO 01.10.2013 may be filed as supplementary claims under Rule 15 within three months (extensions available), accompanied by the EP copy of the Shipping Bill, export invoices, packing lists, Airway Bill, bank certification of realization, EGM/Cargo Manifest hard copy, non CENVAT declaration, and an undertaking to refund duplicate payments; Brand Rate pendencies up to 30.09.2013 will be removed and processed on receipt of Brand Rate letters and complete documents.

Information technology governance requires depositories to adopt board-level IT oversight, appoint a CISO and strengthen BCP.
SEBI requires depositories to establish a Board-level IT Strategy Committee and an executive IT Steering Committee to align IT with business objectives and implement IT strategy. Depositories must adopt an IT strategy document and an Information Security policy approved by the Board and reviewed annually, create an Office of Information Security, appoint a Chief Information Security Officer to manage IT risk and incidents, and designate a senior official to head the Business Continuity Plan; necessary systems must be implemented and bye-laws amended where applicable.

FII Position Limits in interest rate futures: monitoring with government debt aggregation and halt on further long increases at threshold.
The circular sets FII position limits for IRF-capping gross open positions and restricting gross short positions relative to long holdings-and mandates that aggregate FII long exposure in cash and IRF not exceed the permissible government securities investment limit. It requires exchanges to report aggregate gross long IRF positions to depositories; depositories must aggregate these with FII government debt investments, publish the totals, and notify regulators when utilization crosses specified thresholds, after which FIIs must not increase long IRF positions until exposure falls below the lower threshold.

KYC authorisation change: corporates may use MD/CFO signed official lists instead of board resolutions for forex transactions.
The requirement for corporates to submit a Board resolution and a power of attorney for forex transactions has been replaced: a corporate may now submit a list of officials with names, designations and signatures authorised by the Managing Director or Chief Financial Officer to conduct foreign exchange transactions; franchisers remain responsible for ensuring agents and franchisees comply; corporates must pay the rupee leg of forex transactions through the corporate cheque or bank account; other instructions remain unchanged under FEMA and PMLA.

Remittance through any bank permitted: foreign investors may route funds to designated custodian; KYC and FIRC required.
Foreign investors may remit funds through any bank for permitted transactions and transfer those funds to the designated custodian bank via the banking channel. The remittance receiving bank and the beneficiary bank share joint KYC responsibility: the first bank holds remitter and purpose details while the receiving bank holds recipient information. The remittance receiving bank must issue a Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) to the bank receiving the proceeds. Prior circular conditions on hedging of investments apply mutatis mutandis and statutory permissions under foreign exchange law remain applicable.

Taxability of awards for sportsmen: gifts are taxable unless the award is government approved for exemption.
A prior circular exempting awards to non professional sportsmen as gifts is overridden by statutory amendments that render gifts taxable; accordingly that circular is inapplicable from the date of the legal change. Awards or rewards specifically approved by the Central Government remain eligible for exemption, and eligible recipients may claim exemption only for awards covered by such government approvals.

Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme requires full payment and issuance of discharge acknowledgement before CENVAT credit eligibility is confirmed.
A VCES declaration becomes conclusive only upon issuance of an acknowledgement of discharge in form VCES-3 after payment of service tax dues in full, including interest, and that acknowledgement must be issued within the prescribed short timeframe; CENVAT credit eligibility in respect of amounts paid under VCES is governed by the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, so entitlement to credit follows satisfaction of the statutory discharge and issuance requirements.

Electronic service of tax notices: online posting with SMS/email alerts constitutes deemed service and triggers dealer acknowledgement.
Notices, summons and orders under the Delhi VAT and Central Sales Tax regimes will be served electronically by posting on each dealer's webpage and on the department website, with optional SMS alerts to registered mobiles and emails to intimated addresses; such electronic availability and associated SMS/email shall be deemed service under the applicable rules. A pop-up acknowledgement will appear on dealer login and must be clicked as proof of reading; dealers must quote document reference and TIN in further communications and check their webpage regularly.

Merchanting trade rules require same bank routing, document verification, earmarked advances, credit facilities, and strict reporting.
Revised guidelines require AD Category I banks to route both export and import legs of merchanting or intermediary trade transactions through the same bank, verify transactional documents for genuineness, complete transactions within prescribed timeframes, permit short term supplier's or buyer's credit and export LC discounting, ensure one to one matching and trader capability, hold and earmark advance export receipts, secure import advances by reputable bank guarantees, and file gross reporting for R returns with half yearly default reporting to the Reserve Bank under FEMA.

Export allocation requirement mandates nominated agencies to reserve part of each gold import for export use with bonded warehouse accounting.
Designated importers and DGFT licensed license holders must import gold and gold dore bars through customs bonded warehouses, reserve a portion of each consignment exclusively for export production, and maintain exporter wise bonded warehouse accounts. Nominated agencies must furnish bonds and, where applicable, bank guarantees, submit consolidated monthly utilization reports in the prescribed format, permit customs audits and reconciliation, and deposit duty at the effective rate for quantities not exported within the stipulated period; license holders of dore bars must additionally maintain refinery and license holder registers and submit authenticated utilization reports.

Exchange rate for conversion of foreign currency liabilities into equity clarified: use rate on agreement date; fair value at conversion.
Where an Indian company converts a foreign currency liability into equity, the rupee equivalent shall be calculated by applying the exchange rate prevailing on the date of the agreement; the borrower may, by mutual agreement with the non resident, issue shares for a lower rupee amount, and the fair value of the equity is to be determined with reference to the date of conversion. The same principle applies, mutatis mutandis, to conversion of lump sum fees, royalties and similar payables into equity or securities.

Service tax amendment expands territorial scope wording to include 'country' in a specified exemption entry.
An amendment to a service tax notification substitutes the phrase 'district, State, zone or country' for the earlier territorial wording in entry eleven, item (a), thereby expanding the territorial scope language of that exemption entry; the change is communicated by trade notice and posted on official departmental websites.

Lower tax deduction certificates under section 197 must be decided within prescribed timeframe to ensure timely compliance.
The Board directs that applications for certificates of lower deduction or non-deduction of tax at source under section 197 must be disposed of within the Citizens Charter timeline of one month; Assessing Officers must scrupulously adhere to this timeframe and the instruction is to be brought to the notice of all field officers for compliance.

Transaction value rejection limited to FIAT like facts; sub cost sales not automatically subject to reassessment under valuation rules.
The circular limits rejection of declared transaction value to cases matching the factual scope of the FIAT judgment and excludes a general rule that sub cost selling alone permits rejection. Officers should verify loss making pricing during audits, using CAS 4 for cost calculations and accepting accountant certified data unless Commissioner authorises cost audit or summons. The circular treats abnormally low pricing as extra commercial consideration for post judgment sales-potentially amounting to wilful misstatement-but advises that for periods before the judgment extended limitation may not apply where FIAT alone is the basis for scrutiny.

Prior approval requirement for establishing liaison or branch offices by Hong Kong and Macau entities in India reiterated.
Entities registered in or resident of Hong Kong and Macau must obtain prior Reserve Bank approval before establishing a liaison office, branch office, project office or any other place of business in India under Regulation 4; AD Category I banks should notify their constituents. The Regulations were amended in 2013 to incorporate this requirement and the directions are issued under the foreign exchange statute without prejudice to other legal permissions.

Type Approval Certificates accepted from parties to the international vehicle technical prescriptions Agreement for import compliance under Chapter 87.
Type Approval Certificates and Certificates of Production may be accepted for import clearance where issued by authorities of countries that are Contracting Parties to the international Agreement on uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles and reciprocal recognition of approvals; licensing and customs authorities are referred to the UNECE publication listing accredited agencies and directed to apply Policy Conditions 7 and 9 of Chapter 87 of the ITC (HS).

Central Government representation under Section 394A: Regional Directors must solicit income tax and regulator comments before filing.
Regional Directors acting under Section 394A must invite the Income Tax Department's comments within 15 days upon receipt of notice and seek any necessary feedback from other sectoral regulators before filing the Government's representation; lack of response from the Income Tax Department is to be treated as no objection. Regional Directors must not decide the correctness of regulators' views and should refer matters of doubt to the Ministry before filing. This procedure is effective immediately.

Forward contract cancellation and rebooking allowed for contracted current and short term capital account exposures, with limited rebooking for portfolio investors.
Permits cancellation and rebooking of forward contracts for contracted current account transactions and for contracted capital account transactions with residual maturities of one year or less; portfolio investors may rebook only a capped portion of cancelled contracts, though rollovers on or before maturity are permitted; AD Category I banks must inform constituents; directions issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and subject to other required approvals.