Amendment to Foreign Trade Policy appendices adds a Special Economic Zone to jurisdictional listings under FTP.
The Director General of Foreign Trade, under paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020, amended Appendices and Aayat Niryat Forms to include the Indore Special Economic Zone in Appendix 1A and Appendix 6J, designating territorial jurisdiction over units situated in the SEZ and Export Oriented/SEZ units in the state and specifying the Development Commissioner office as the administrative contact.

Jurisdictional amendment expands CQCTD oversight to include regional offices, enabling local handling of quality complaints and trade disputes.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade amended Para 8.01 of the Hand Book of Procedures to include Regional Authority Raipur under the jurisdiction of Joint DGFT Bhopal and to establish a Committee on Quality Complaint & Trade Dispute (CQCTD) in the office of Joint DGFT Rajkot; a revised table sets out CQCTD locations, chairperson designations and the specific regional jurisdictions within the Western Zone.

ISPM-15 compliance required for wood packaging; customs clearances limited to certified packaging after inspection for export consignments.
Export consignments packed with wooden packaging materials must conform to ISPM-15 standards and are to be inspected by Customs; clearance is permitted only if packaging meets ISPM-15. Exporters must specify packaging details in the Shipping Bill. Phytosanitary certification is issued by accredited treatment providers after approved treatments such as methyl bromide or forced hot air, and the list of accredited providers is published by the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage.

Timely bond cancellation: streamlined by periodic selection, verifiable records, and exporter email/document readiness to prevent delays.
Timely cancellation of bonds in advance authorization cases is to be expedited by conducting reduced-rate random verifications during the authorization validity, not delaying cancellations for non-receipt of Central Excise confirmation, and requiring exporters to keep documents ready and provide email addresses. A verifiable record of cancellation applications and documents must be maintained, and selections for checks will be made periodically (every third day or earlier) with intimation to exporters to ensure transparent, timely processing.

Fair market value determination for indirect transfers requires prescribed valuation and reporting by Indian concerns, triggering disclosure and certification.
The draft rules prescribe computation of fair market value of Indian and global assets for indirect transfer provisions using observable market prices or valuation reports by merchant bankers/accountants with internationally accepted methodologies, add back liabilities, and require exchange conversion at telegraphic transfer buying rates. An apportionment formula attributes transfer income to Indian assets by the ratio of FMV of Indian assets to total FMV; failure to furnish necessary information results in full attribution to Indian assets. Transferors must furnish a certified apportionment report (Form 3CT) and Indian concerns must file detailed information electronically in Form 49D and retain supporting records for eight years.

Liability transfer allows IEC PAN changes on firm conversion while preserving prior liabilities and updating official records.
DGFT permits modification of IEC to replace the PAN when a change in constitution or legal form produces a new PAN, on the basis that liabilities of the transferor entity vest in the transferee entity by operation of law. Regional Authorities must ensure transfer of liabilities, update and circulate the modified IEC showing the new PAN, and accept applications digitally signed by authorised signatories or power of attorney holders.

Unique identification number requirement relaxed for Form 15G/15H in quarterly TDS statements for specified quarters.
The CBDT relaxes the obligation to furnish the Unique identification number allotted by the deductor for Form 15G/15H in quarterly TDS statements for the quarters ending 31.12.2015 and 31.3.2016 due to operational constraints, while reiterating that amended Rule 29C provides for online filing, UID allotment, and the general requirement to include such UIDs in quarterly statements under prescribed procedures.

Extension of filing deadline for VAT returns granted; tax payment obligations remain unchanged and digital filers exempted from hard copy.
Extension of the last date for filing specified VAT returns for the fourth quarter is granted for online or hard-copy submission of the prescribed return forms with required annexures; payment obligations remain unchanged and must be paid in the usual manner while dealers filing with digital signature are not required to submit a hard copy.

Licensing of special warehouses: transitional licensing required for warehouses serving duty free, ship, airline and diplomatic stores.
Section 58A establishes a licensing regime for special warehouses where dutiable goods destined for notified end uses are to be stored under customs lock. Existing warehouses supplying duty free shops, ship stores, airline stores or diplomatic stores must apply for licenses under Section 58A within the prescribed filing window to continue operations beyond the transitional period; Commissioners are instructed to process applications promptly and determine whether customs services are provided on Merchant Over Time or Cost Recovery basis.

Warehouse Code requirement: declaring a unique bonded warehouse code mandatory for into bond and ex bond bill of entry filings.
A mandatory unique warehouse code regime will be implemented via an ICES module that captures licensed bonded warehouse details (including licence number and dates, jurisdiction and type) and generates an eight-character code: first four characters for the EDI port or nearest customs location, fifth for warehouse type, and last three as a serial. Central Excise must forward lists to EDI-enabled customs by 1 June 2016; EDI Commissioners must register warehouses by 6 June 2016. Codes will be published on ICEGATE and declaration of the warehousing code on Into-Bond and Ex-Bond Bills of Entry becomes mandatory from 20 June 2016.

Income Declaration Scheme enables voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income with tax and immunity, subject to eligibility limits and exclusions.
The Scheme permits voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income by paying prescribed tax, surcharge and penalty; declared fair market value of assets as on the valuation date is treated as the cost of acquisition for capital gains and holding period begins from that date. Part assessed assets are apportioned pro rata to determine undisclosed income. Declarations are barred for assessment years with pending specified notices or certain search/survey operations, exclude income from offences like corruption, are confidential, and require Form 1 disclosure about service of notices; valuation reports need not be filed but must be maintained.

Income declaration scheme enables voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income in exchange for a consolidated tax, surcharge and penalty payment.
The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 permits voluntary disclosure of undisclosed income or income invested in Indian assets for years before 2017 18, subject to a consolidated levy equal to forty five percent of the undisclosed income. Declarations must be made in prescribed Form 1 by authorised signatories, with asset disclosures valued at fair market value as of 1 June 2016. The Scheme lists ineligibility where specific notices, searches, surveys, certain statutory Acts or criminal proceedings are implicated, prescribes acknowledgements and payment procedures, and sets out that valid declarations exclude the disclosed amount from income and bar admissibility in prosecution and penalty proceedings.

Exchange of tax information enhanced under amended India-Slovenia protocol, enabling broader sharing and mutual tax collection assistance.
The Protocol signed on 17 May 2016 amends the Convention and earlier Protocol to broaden the scope of tax information exchange and to enable mutual assistance in collection of taxes, strengthening the bilateral framework to prevent fiscal evasion and to improve administrative cooperation between India and Slovenia.

Failure to file returns invites penalty; assessees urged to file returns online through ACES with available assistance.
Central Excise and Service Tax assessees are required to file periodical returns and may file online via the ACES platform or using the offline utility; instructions, FAQs, a national helpline, an ACES service desk email and Taxpayer Service Centres are available to assist. Non-filing of returns attracts penalty under the Central Excise Rules, 2002 and the Service Tax Rules, 1994, and associations are requested to ensure members file returns by the due date to promote voluntary compliance.

Appointment of Special Public Prosecutors: forward renewal proposals well in advance to avoid rejection for delayed submissions.
Instruction mandating timely forwarding of proposals for fresh appointment or extension of tenure of Special Public Prosecutors handling CBEC cases, in accordance with the Board's 29.02.2016 procedure; notes delays by Chief Commissioners have led to queries and some rejections, and directs zones to submit complete proposals and supporting documents to the Board well before the expiry of incumbents' terms to permit timely processing.

Foreign investment limits in credit information companies permit higher participation subject to ownership diversification, board composition, reporting and restrictions.
RBI directs that any person's direct or indirect investment in a Credit Information Company shall not exceed ten percent of the equity, while allowing the Reserve Bank to permit higher foreign participation for investors with established credit bureau track records subject to ownership diversification, specified board composition, and preference for listed investors. FII/FPI investment is permitted under conditions including single-entity holding limits, mandatory reporting for acquisitions beyond a minimal shareholding, and prohibition on board representation. Where the investor is a wholly owned subsidiary of an investment holding company, applicable conditions apply to the operating group company providing technical know-how.

Submission of statement E in XBRL required for authorised dealer banks; register for portal access and provide credentials by deadline.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks must submit statement E for the Rupee Drawing Arrangement via the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) system from the quarter ending June 2016, obtain user credentials by submitting Annex I to the RBI by the prescribed deadline, use the RBI XBRL portal for filings, and note that the FED Master Direction will be updated; directions issued under FEMA remain subject to other legal permissions.

XBRL reporting requirement for Money Transfer Service Scheme agents to submit quarterly remittance statements via the secure portal.
Authorised Persons under the Money Transfer Service Scheme must submit quarterly remittance statements in eXtensible Business Reporting Language via the RBI XBRL portal, using supplied user credentials after submitting the required form, and the FED Master Direction will be updated to reflect this procedural change under FEMA.

Additional depreciation eligibility confirmed for printing and publishing as manufacturing; departmental appeals should not be pursued.
Printing and printing and publishing constitute manufacture or production of an article or thing and therefore qualify for additional depreciation under clause (iia) of sub section (1) of section 32; the Board accepts the relevant High Court precedents and directs that departmental appeals on this ground should not be filed and existing appeals may be withdrawn or not pressed.

Unit Quantity Code compliance required; waiver authority exists for incompatible UQCs and correct declaration is mandated.
The Customs Tariff Act prescribes a single Unit Quantity Code (UQC) per tariff item which importers, exporters and Customs Brokers must declare in Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills; officers must ensure the statutory UQC is used and that descriptions include make, model, grade, specifications and brand to improve EDI data quality. Where statutory UQCs conflict with market practice or MRP-based assessments, Group AC/DCs may waive the UQC for non-RMS entries and ACs/DCs (Sheds) may waive for RMS entries; for RMS entries requiring UQC changes, Sheds must return the Bill to the assessment group, and trade must correctly declare UQC and full particulars initially to avoid delays.