GST circular withdrawal: procedure for providing evidence of compliance under Section 15(3)(b)(ii) is no longer required.
The Central Board has withdrawn a prior circular that prescribed a procedure for suppliers to provide evidence of compliance with Section 15(3)(b)(ii); that procedural requirement is no longer required. The Goa Commissioner directs that the Central circular apply mutatis mutandis under the Goa GST Act, withdraws the State circular on the subject, attaches the Central circular as an annexure, and requests trade notices and reports of any implementation difficulties.

Post-sale discounts clarified: when they constitute consideration for downstream supplies and how GST applies.
Clarifies that issuance of financial/commercial credit notes does not reduce the supplier's original transaction value or tax liability, so recipients need not reverse Input Tax Credit tied to such discounts. Post sale discounts from manufacturers to dealers generally reduce the dealer's sale price and are not consideration for the dealer's supply to end customers unless the manufacturer has an agreement with the end customer; in that case the discount forms part of overall consideration. Separate promotional or marketing activities carried out by dealers are taxable only when expressly agreed as distinct services with defined consideration.

SION notification enables direct issuance of Advance Authorisations by regional authorities for mobile phones and inputs, expediting clearance.
Fixation of a new Standard Input Output Norms (SION) entry C-2049 for export item Mobile Phones under Engineering & Electronic Items lists permitted import inputs and their quantity treatment as either Net-to-Net or Net + 1%, covering a comprehensive catalogue of components and subassemblies. Regional Authorities are authorised to issue Advance Authorisations under this SION directly without referring individual cases to the Norms Committee, providing operational clarity for application of the norm under Paragraph 1.03 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023.

Modification of SION C888 removes "Circular" from the export description for stainless steel washers, effective immediately.
The corrigendum to Public Notice No. 05/25 amends the export description for SION C888 by removing the word "Circular", changing "Small and large-size Circular Stainless Steel washers of different grades" to "Small and large-size Stainless Steel washers of different grades," issued under Paragraphs 1.03 and 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 with immediate effect.

Selection of Special Public Prosecutors for CBIC: applications from advocates with ten years' practice due Oct 25.
Applications are sought for appointment as Special Public Prosecutors for CBIC matters; applicants must be registered advocates with Karnataka State Bar Council with at least ten years' practice. Submit Proforma-A with supporting documentary proof of qualifications, enrolment, case experience, publications and income by October 25, 2025; interviews are scheduled for October 29, 2025. Initial appointments may be renewed after an annual performance assessment contingent on recommendations from the relevant Commissioner or ADG.

GST treatment of post-sale discounts clarified for input tax credit, dealer incentives, and promotional service transactions.
Clarification is issued on the GST treatment of secondary or post-sale discounts. Where financial or commercial credit notes do not reduce the original transaction value, the recipient need not reverse input tax credit. Post-sale discounts to dealers are not consideration for onward supply or for promotional activities unless there is a specific agreement creating a distinct service or an inducement linked to supply at an agreed discounted price.

Delegation of power for machine-registration penalties extends to State tax officers under the GST special procedure framework.
Delegation of power under section 122A of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is extended to specified State tax officers to impose penalty for contravention of a notified special procedure relating to registration of machines under section 148, and to seize and confiscate every machine not so registered. The amendment is inserted into the existing delegation order as a new serial entry and is stated to take effect from 1 October 2024.

Airport baggage screening officers required to use BWCs for Red channel interactions with 30-day recording retention.
BWCs must be worn by officers processing passengers in the Red channel to record baggage examinations from the officer's perspective; recording begins on arrival/diversion to the Red channel and stops only with the Air Customs Superintendent's permission. A register records wearing, removal and handover, supervised transfer of data to a password-protected internal drive, daily hard-disk backup, and a minimum 30-day retention. BWCs are for official use only and weekly random reviews and monthly supervisory reviews with reporting obligations are required.

Block deal framework updated: defined windows, VWAP reference, 3% price bands, INR25 Crore minimum and mandatory delivery.
Modification of the Block Deal Framework establishes two timed block deal windows-morning (08:45-09:00) using previous close and afternoon (02:05-02:20) using VWAP (01:45-02:00) with VWAP dissemination at 02:00-02:05. Orders must be within 3% of reference price, minimum size INR 25 Crores, mandatory delivery, same-day public disclosure of deal particulars, and applicability to optional T+0. Exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories must apply standard trading, settlement, surveillance and risk containment practices. Measures take effect 60 days after issuance and require MIIs to update systems and byelaws.

Customs duty structure clarified for post and courier imports, distinguishing personal, gift, and B2B consignments.
For CTH 9804, goods for personal use not prohibited by import law attract Basic Customs Duty, Social Welfare Surcharge and IGST; duty concession applies where commercial transaction is involved, with a specified combined duty percentage of assessable value. Consignments imported as gifts are subject to a higher combined duty rate due to an increased Basic Customs Duty component and resultant IGST calculation. B2B consignments are assessed as per tariff. For CTH 49011010 (printed books) a reduced Basic Customs Duty applies and SWS and IGST are nil.

Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations require electronic filing of correct arrival and departure messages and stakeholder outreach.
Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations implementation mandates phased operationalisation of electronic SCMTR messages, with SAM, SEI and SDM live and SF piloted; remaining messages to be operationalised by the systems directorate. Transitional provisions are extended, but stakeholders must file correct electronic declarations in the prescribed format in compliance with the Customs Act and SCMTR 2018. Chief Commissioners, in coordination with DG Systems, must conduct weekly outreach, publish notices, and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

SOFTEX filing requirement clarified: SEZ to SEZ and DTA to SEZ service transactions are not subject to FEMA reporting.
Transactions between SEZ units, and transactions from DTA units to SEZ units for export of services, are not subject to FEMA and therefore do not require declaration in EDF or filing of SOFTEX forms; this position is issued in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India and approved by the competent authority.

Auto-approval of incentive bank account registrations enables system-granted cross-port IFSC acceptance and PFMS validation.
The system will automatically approve registration requests for the same Incentive Bank Account and IFSC Code for an Importer Exporter Code (IEC) at different customs locations if that identical account-IFSC combination has already been approved at any one customs location. Submission workflow remains unchanged, approvals in these cases bypass port officer manual routing, and once approved by the system the request will be sent to PFMS for validation as per existing process.

Timely appellate scrutiny requires prompt appeals, stay applications, lawful compliance after remedies are exhausted, and communication of withheld compliance.
Adverse appellate and judicial orders require immediate scrutiny to assess further appeal and stay options. Proper officers must submit remarks through the Deputy Commissioner to the Joint Commissioner for prompt appellate action, supported by appropriate statements of facts and taken within the applicable limitation or earlier compliance period. Where no further remedy is available, appellate or judicial directions must be complied with promptly after confirming exhaustion of legal recourse. Taxpayers or concerned parties must be informed of appeal and stay status whenever compliance is withheld.

Unified electronic customs bonds enable automated execution, officer review, electronic signing, and bank guarantee linkage through digital systems.
The Single Unified Multi-Purpose Electronic Bond framework enables importers, exporters and customs brokers to execute an all-India electronic bond and link an electronic bank guarantee through ICEGATE and NeSL. Users submit entity, bond scenario, supporting-document and authorised-signatory details, complete Aadhaar validation, and undergo Customs officer scrutiny before stamp-duty payment and Aadhaar-based electronic signing. The system supports multiple prescribed Customs bond scenarios, tracks application status, and permits integrated-bank electronic guarantees to be linked to electronic or physical bonds after validation of applicant and bond-reference details.

GST provisional refunds for zero-rated and inverted duty claims: 90% may be sanctioned based on system risk score.
Refund applications classified as low-risk by the system shall have 90% of the claimed refund sanctioned provisionally, with issuance of FORM GST RFD-02/RFD-03 and adherence to extant timelines. Non-low-risk cases require detailed scrutiny and no provisional sanction. The officer may, for recorded reasons, proceed to examination under rule 92 instead of provisional grant; statutory conditions including non-eligibility under section 54(6) and requirements of rule 91(1) remain applicable. The risk-based provisional refund regime applies to claims filed on or after 01.10.2025 and is extended as an interim measure to inverted duty structure claims.

Provisional refund sanctioning based on system risk scoring allows conditional provisional payouts with officer discretion and recovery mechanisms.
Refund applications classified as low-risk by the system shall have a significant portion of the claimed refund sanctioned provisionally, subject to existing FORM issuance timelines; the proper officer may, with reasons recorded in writing, refuse provisional sanction and undertake detailed examination. Notified categories are excluded from provisional refunds and statutory eligibility conditions remain applicable. If provisional sanctioning exceeds the finally admissible amount, the officer shall issue a show cause notice and recover the excess under the prescribed refund and demand provisions. The risk-based provisional regime applies to applications filed on or after the effective date, with an interim similar treatment for inverted duty structure claims.

Extension of Annual RoDTEP filing deadline allows late-November compliance with composition fee requirement under Foreign Trade Policy provisions.
Extension of the last date for filing the Annual RoDTEP Return for FY 2023-24 is authorised under paragraph 1.03 and 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023; the filing may be made with a composition fee of Rs 10,000 until 30.11.2025, replacing the earlier deadline to facilitate export promotion and ease of doing business.

Special Rupee Vostro account investment permitted in Indian corporate bonds and commercial paper under prescribed guidelines.
AD banks may invest surplus balances in Special Rupee Vostro Accounts in non convertible debentures/bonds and commercial paper issued by Indian companies, in terms of the guidelines and limits prescribed in the referenced AP DIR circular, with immediate effect; the instruction is issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of FEMA and without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Special Rupee Vostro Account balances may be invested in Indian corporate debt and commercial paper under General Route limits.
SRVA holders may invest rupee surplus balances in non-convertible debentures/bonds and commercial papers issued by Indian companies; such investments shall be reckoned under the corporate debt investment limit under the General Route. These investments are subject to General Route investment limits and stipulations applicable to FPI investments, except that the minimum residual maturity and issue wise limits do not apply under the SRVA route. SRVA holders and AD Category I banks bear primary responsibility for compliance; AD Category I banks must facilitate separate demat accounts and report transactions to depositories. The amendments have immediate effect.