MEIS HS code alignment: amended ITC HS codes applied retroactively to harmonize with updated tariff schedule.
Under paragraph 1.03 of the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-2020), the DGFT amends Appendix 3B, Table 2 of the MEIS by substituting specified ITC HS codes with amended counterparts, effective 01.01.2017 to 06.03.2019, to align the MEIS schedule with ITC HS 2017 and the Customs Tariff Schedule.

Validity extension of duty credit scrips and suspension of late cut period to relax MEIS/SEIS filing deadlines under FTP.
Duty credit scrips issued between 01.03.2018 and 30.06.2018 are extended to be valid until 30.09.2020. The period 01.03.2020-30.06.2020 is excluded when computing late cuts for MEIS applications that had attracted a late cut as on 01.03.2020, with last dates and applicable cuts to be re determined. For SEIS, FY 2016 17 filings with a 10% late cut have a final date of 30.06.2020 after which they are time barred; for FY 2017 18, a 5% late cut applies until 30.06.2020 and a 10% late cut applies for filings up to 31.03.2021.

Undertaking in lieu of bond permitted for customs clearance, with electronic submission and e records upload required.
Temporary acceptance of an undertaking in lieu of bond for customs clearance under Section 143AA is extended, with the definitive bond submission deadline moved further and all other conditions of the governing Board Circular remaining in force. The undertaking must be submitted from the registered email of the IEC holder or authorised customs broker and uploaded to e-Sanchit. The relaxation will be reviewed by the Central Board, trade associations are asked to publicise the notice, and officers should treat the instruction as a standing order while reporting implementation difficulties to the designated contact.

Power of Attorney treatment in margin arrangements extended to align with depository pledge repledge implementation, authorities direct member notification.
The circular defers the effective date of the provision that holding of Power of Attorney by Trading Members/Clearing Members shall not be treated as equivalent to collection of margin for client demat securities, from its earlier scheduled date to August 1, 2020, due to COVID 19 operational constraints, aligning the change with implementation of the pledge/re pledge mechanism through the Depository System; exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories must notify members and publish the extension.

Acceptance of undertaking in lieu of bond extended during lockdown, with deferred deadline for filing the required bond.
The Board has extended the temporary facility to accept an undertaking in lieu of the bond required under section 143AA of the Customs Act for clearance during the lockdown, with a deferred deadline for submission of the proper bond in respect of such undertakings. All conditions specified in the original circular remain unchanged, the measure will be reviewed at the end of the lockdown, implementation difficulties may be reported, and the Public Notice is to be treated as a Standing Order for officers.

SEZ approvals and permissions: extensions, co developer regulatory actions, and conditional import/export authorisations enforced.
The Board approved extensions of formal approvals and LoAs for SEZ developers and units, interim three month extensions for used clothing and plastic recycling LoAs subject to environmental prohibitions, approvals and cancellations of co developer statuses with recovery directions where applicable, an increase in SEZ area subject to contiguity, conditional permissions for import/use of specified raw materials and restricted FTWZ storage and export/import of listed firearms/cartridges with safety and statutory prerequisites, and industrial licence approval subject to remaining statutory clearances.

SVLDRS deadline modification: statutory filing and committee decision timelines adjusted to facilitate compliance under amended rules.
Amendment revises timelines under the SVLDRS framework by substituting specified calendar cut-offs for prior period references in three paragraphs of the Circular, thereby changing filing and Designated Committee decision deadlines and inviting notification of implementation difficulties to the Board.

Optional annual return filing permits eligible taxpayers to forgo returns while voluntarily correcting tax and input credit discrepancies.
Eligible registered persons with aggregate turnover not exceeding two crore rupees may choose not to furnish annual returns for financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, with an unfurnished return deemed furnished on its due date. Eligible composition taxpayers may file FORM GSTR-9A, and other eligible registered persons may file FORM GSTR-9, only before the applicable due date. Taxpayers identifying short-paid tax or ineligible input tax credit during account reconciliation may voluntarily self-assess and pay the liability through FORM GST DRC-03.

Interest relief on delayed GST filings during COVID-19 available subject to timely filing and cumulative ITC adjustment.
State GST notifications provide conditional filing extensions and conditional reliefs: composition scheme filers may file CMP-02 and associated statements by extended dates; Form GSTR-3B due dates remain unchanged but a NIL interest window for the first fifteen days and a reduced interest rate thereafter apply subject to payment and filing by specified dates, failing which standard interest and penalties apply; rule 36(4) input tax credit restrictions are suspended for February-August with cumulative adjustment in September; e-way bill validity and various statutory compliance deadlines are extended to a common revised date.

Refund claims across financial years can be clubbed; refunds now follow original payment modes and require invoice matching.
The circular removes the restriction on clubbing refund claims across financial years, clarifies that accumulated ITC from a rate reduction on the same goods is not refund able as inverted duty accumulation, mandates proportional refund payment in the original modes of payment with cash refunds and re crediting of ITC, restricts refund of accumulated ITC to invoices uploaded by suppliers and reflected in the applicant's GSTR 2A, and requires HSN/SAC codes in Annexure B for invoice statements uploaded with refund applications.

Moratorium on pre insolvency GST dues protects the corporate debtor; IRP/RP must register and file post appointment returns.
Pre CIRP GST dues are treated as operational debt and no coercive action may be taken; claims must be filed before the tribunal. The IRP/RP need not file pre CIRP returns but must obtain new GST registration(s), file the first return under section 40 for the post appointment period, and may, under the special procedure in Notification No.15/GST 2, avail input tax credit on invoices bearing the erstwhile GSTIN in the first return; cash ledger deposits by the IRP/RP during the transitional period are refundable to the erstwhile registration.

Apportionment of input tax credit: apply State-level asset-value ratio and transfer ITC based on GST ITC-02 filing date.
Clarification requires apportionment of unutilized input tax credit at the level of each distinct State registration using the value of entire assets specified in the demerger scheme for that State. The proviso's asset-value ratio applies to all partial business reorganisations transferring assets with liabilities and is to be applied to the total unutilized ITC (sum of CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST and cess). The ITC balance considered is that on the date of filing Form GST ITC-02, while the asset ratio is taken as on the scheme's appointed date.

Appeal to Appellate Tribunal: time-limit runs from when the Tribunal's President takes office, appellate bodies should dispose pending appeals.
Appeals from adjudicating authorities must go to the prescribed appellate authority under section 107 and rule 109A; appeals from those appellate authorities lie to the Appellate Tribunal under section 112. As the Appellate Tribunal is not constituted, the Removal of Difficulties order provides that the time-limit to file appeals to the Tribunal is measured from the date the President or State President enters office. Appellate authorities should note this in the preamble of orders and dispose pending appeals expeditiously without awaiting Tribunal constitution.

Undertaking in lieu of bond extended to facilitate customs clearance during lockdown; bond submission deadline deferred.
Acceptance of an undertaking in lieu of a bond under Section 143AA is extended until 15.06.2020, with the deadline to submit the proper bond deferred until 30.06.2020; prior conditions from Circular No. 17/2020 remain in force and the Board will review the relaxation at the end of the lockdown period.

Bill of Entry amendment process made contactless and paperless with online filing, electronic fee payment, and tablet-based examination.
The Bill of Entry amendment process is now contactless: amendments may be filed online via the portal and remote filing software, queued to the proper officer with additions to supporting documents auto-approved while deletions/modifications require officer approval. A mandatory amendment-fee field in the approval form ensures fees (zero if none) are captured and, upon approval, automatically included in the duty challan for electronic payment; the system sends email notices to the importer or customs broker on approval/rejection and fee levying. Tablet-based tools enable paperless cargo examination, report submission, and photo uploads.

Brand Rate fixation: special drive to clear pending applications and expedite provisional and final rates for exporters.
A special administrative drive requires Customs to expedite disposal of pending applications for fixation of Brand Rate of duty drawback, prioritizing final fixation and provisional relief, minimizing physical contact by electronic submissions, offering provisional Brand Rate or AIR where appropriate, allowing eligible exporters to switch to the Revised Simplified Scheme for faster provisional decisions, accepting prior Central Excise verifications unless further inquiry is justified, and validating Brand Rate data on the designated portal.

Tariff Rate Quota allocation for sugar exports to USA expands, subject to free-export conditions and certification requirements.
An additional 3569 MT of raw cane sugar and refined sugar is allocated for export to the USA under the Tariff Rate Quota, increasing the total TRQ allocation to 12,738 MT for the fiscal period; exports under this TRQ are treated as Free subject to Notification No. 3/2015-20 restrictions, reporting to APEDA, and certification requirements including Certificates of Origin issued by the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Mumbai.

Waiver of late filing charges withdrawn; limited relief only for Bill of Entry tied to earlier inwards dates, with cessation.
The general waiver of late filing charges for delayed Bills of Entry is withdrawn: it will not apply to Bills of Entry for IGMs with entry inwards dates after 31.05.2020; for IGMs with entry inwards dates up to 31.05.2020 the waiver will cease for Bills of Entry filed after 08.06.2020. The withdrawal is issued as a standing order for officers and staff and affected stakeholders may raise specific difficulties to the Deputy/Additional Commissioner, Appraising Main (IMPORT) via the provided email.

Bank account validation: Exporters must reconcile PFMS bank details to enable disbursal of drawback and IGST refunds.
Mismatch between exporters' bank details and Public Financial Management System (PFMS) records is preventing PFMS validation of accounts and blocking disbursal of drawback and IGST refund claims. Exporters listed must submit a request letter to the Deputy Commissioner (Drawback/Statistics/EDI), a bank certification of account details, IEC copy, and PAN, either by post or by designated email addresses; the list of affected IECs is posted on the customs office website and stakeholders should take immediate remedial action.

GST compliance relief extends insolvency registration, merchant-export export and job-work reporting deadlines during COVID-19 disruption.
GST compliance relief extends the separate-registration deadline for an IRP/RP to 30 days from appointment or 30 June 2020, whichever is later. No separate registration is required where the corporate debtor furnished all pre-appointment FORM GSTR-1 statements and FORM GSTR-3B returns. A change of IRP/RP is treated as a change of authorised signatory. Merchant-exporter export deadlines and FORM GST ITC-04 filing for the quarter ending March 2020 are extended to 30 June 2020 where applicable.