Working Saturdays ordered to improve revenue collection; department to remain open Saturdays during official hours.
The Department of Trade & Taxes directs that all Saturdays are to be treated as working days until 31.03.2013 to accelerate revenue collection; the department will remain open on Saturdays during official hours for day-to-day office work. The administrative instruction mandates attendance for all officers and officials and warns that non-compliance will be taken seriously.

Registration of Duty Credit Scrips: EDI entry after genuineness checks and random verification ensures documentary compliance.
Registration requires presentation of original scrips with annexures and BRCs to TA (License) for acknowledgment and forwarding to AO/Supdt; ACAO checks the Alert Register and Licence genuineness is confirmed via DGFT. On no alert and no discrepancy the AO/Supdt registers the scrip in the EDI system, endorses Job and Registration Numbers on originals and returns originals against acknowledgment. Random documentary verification and crosschecking of shipping bills, FOB values and BRCs with EGM/EDI records are conducted and any discrepancies are referred to DC/AC (Licence) for action.

SEZ minutes amendment corrects the recorded land addition and confirms administrative approval and circulation to concerned agencies.
Amendment to Board of Approval minutes corrects Item No. 56.16 by replacing the recorded "addition of 46.3773 hectares" with "addition of 40.7356 hectares." The Office Memorandum dated 4 February 2013 states the change is made with the approval of the Joint Secretary (SEZ) and is circulated to designated agencies and officials for their records.

Delay in appellate petition filing now requires named officer responsibility for late submissions under SOP.
An instruction identifies systemic delays in appellate petition filings and directs that if a petition proposal reaches the legal directorate more than ninety days after judgment, the CCIT/DGIT must fix responsibility and the proposal must name the officer(s) responsible, to enforce SOP filing standards and internal accountability.

Scheme of Arrangement compliance: revised filing, disclosure and timeline obligations for listed companies, stock exchanges and SEBI coordination.
Revised framework requires listed companies to file Draft Scheme and prescribed documents with a designated stock exchange, place an independent valuation before the Audit Committee, publish the Draft Scheme and Observation Letter on company and exchange websites, and include the Observation Letter and a Complaints Report in shareholder notices. Designated exchanges must forward the Draft Scheme to SEBI promptly, process and issue Objection/No Objection letters and Observation Letters within set timelines. SEBI will review, seek clarifications or independent opinions and communicate comments to exchanges; post sanction, the approved Scheme, voting results, compliance statement and other documents must be submitted for listing and trading commencement under prescribed timelines, with Observation Letters valid for six months.

Deemed export benefits limited to supplies to specified mega power projects certified by Ministry of Power, subject to policy conditions.
Deemed export benefits are confined to supplies for Mega Power Projects included in List 32A of Notification No.49/2012-Customs; the zero duty import concession applies only to projects certified by an officer not below Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Power before 19 July 2012, and benefits for these 111 listed projects remain subject to the conditions of the Department of Revenue notification, the Foreign Trade Policy, and the Handbook of Procedures.

Subscription access to customs import/export daily lists requires payment by demand draft and stipulates delivery and usage conditions.
Subscription facility for the Bangalore Customs Commissionerate Daily List of Imports and Daily List of Exports is extended on payment of prescribed charges payable only by Demand Draft/Pay Order to the Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore; payments are non refundable. Outstation subscribers may receive data by e mail, registered post or speed post; subscribers must state the mode of use. The Notice lists the specific import and export data fields to be supplied and notes that fields may change with updates to the ICES publication format.

ITC HS Code harmonization updates modify eligibility for export incentive scrips under VKGUY and FPS.
Revisions to Appendices 37A (VKGUY) and 37D (Focus Product Scheme) update ITC (HS) Codes, product descriptions and serial entries for specified export items; shipping bills bearing existing or revised codes remain eligible for incentives. The Notice corrects previously notified codes and descriptions, withdraws a value cap on VKGUY scrip for dried fish, amends RCMC registration provisions in Para 2.63(d) to clarify EPC responsibility for certain exporters, and inserts a product specific eligibility note. Effective dates for each revision are stated in the tables.

Assessment orders required where a statutory notice is issued, even if the resulting demand is nil.
Extension of time for default assessments is granted until 28.02.2013. Where statutory forms are complete and no apparent discrepancies exist, information under Section 59 need not be sought and reconciliation alone is sufficient. However, if a notice under Section 59 is issued, the Assessing Authority must pass an assessment order under Sections 32 and/or 33 of the DVAT Act, 2004, even if the outcome is a nil demand.

XBRL filing permitted for cost audit and compliance reports, allowing late submissions without penalty under an extended timeline.
Cost auditors and companies may file Cost Audit Reports and Compliance Reports in XBRL format for 2011-12 and overdue years without penalty if filed within 180 days from the close of the relevant financial year or by January 31, 2013, whichever is later.

Declaration of Intent waiver allows chapter three benefits for specified exports without late fee until the filing deadline.
Regional Authorities shall grant chapter three benefits for exports where shipping bills were filed under Chapter Four (including drawback), Chapter Five or Chapter Six during 1 January 2011 to 2 June 2011 even if the Declaration of Intent was not mentioned; such requests must be filed with the respective Regional Authorities by 30 April 2013 and will not attract any late cut or late fee, and no applications will be accepted after that date.

Revolving bank guarantee permitted for import of precious metals where export obligations are met and proceeds realised.
Bank guarantees furnished for duty free import of gold, silver, platinum and related items may be reused for subsequent consignments where the importer has fulfilled export obligations and export proceeds for earlier consignments have been realized; the guarantee must be sufficient to cover the duty involved and remain valid for an adequate period with a self renewal provision, and field formations must ensure continued validity until proceeds are realised.

Job work removals: inputs may be sent to job workers under prescribed challan procedure; duty arises if not returned within the prescribed period.
Rule 16A allows removal of inputs to a job worker under a duplicate printed challan signed by the sender; the document must record sender registration details, registering Range/Division/Commissionerate, goods description, quantity and value, dispatch date, and job worker particulars, with accountability remaining with the sender. The job worker must acknowledge receipt. Goods must be returned within the prescribed period or the sender must pay duty with interest thereafter. After processing, goods may be returned without duty or cleared for home consumption/export under Cenvat procedures. Simple accounts must be maintained; 100% EOUs are excluded and the Commissioner may vary conditions.

Refund verification required: assess and upload or reconfirm demands so electronic refunds align with outstanding tax liabilities.
Assessing Officers must verify e-filed returns with high-value refunds to determine whether outstanding demands exist and upload any such demands to CPC-FAS; where refunds already accompany uploaded demands, Assessing Officers must reconfirm or update those demands so that CPC can adjust refunds against outstanding demands. Chief Commissioners of Income Tax must monitor, certify completion within twenty-one days, and file compliance reports to Zonal Members with copies to CIT(CPC) Bengaluru and DIT(S)-III, failing which returns will be processed at CPC Bengaluru.

Status recognition applications by EHTPs and STPs must be filed with the concerned jurisdictional regional authority.
The amendment to Para 3.2.1 specifies that applications for Status Recognition shall be filed with the concerned jurisdictional Regional Authority/Development Commissioner of DGFT. It further clarifies that where export performance of EOUs/SEZs is clubbed with a company/firm/Group Company in the domestic tariff area, such cases will continue to be considered only by the jurisdictional RA of DGFT, and that EHTPs and STPs shall file status recognition applications with their jurisdictional RAs.

Transfer pricing reference: a new TPO referral is needed only if fresh facts emerge after a search.
A fresh reference to the TPO under Section 92CA(1) is not automatic in search-related reassessments; it is required where the AO deems it necessary or expedient. If a prior TPO reference existed but the TPO report was not received or the assessment was not completed before initiation of action under Section 132/132A, those proceedings abate and a new reference will be required during Section 153A/153C proceedings. If the assessment was completed taking the TPO report into account before the search, it does not abate and a fresh reference is needed only if further facts relevant to transfer pricing are discovered.

Offer For Sale mechanism updated with revised order types, upfront margin, real time margin handling and next day settlement.
OFS rules amended to require promoter eligibility for top market cap companies, define Indicative Price as the volume weighted average of valid bids, mandate trading hours order placement and a separate OFS window with two order categories (100% upfront margin orders permitting modification/cancellation; institutional non margin orders restricting reductions), require Clearing Corporation collection of margins with real time handling on order changes, display cumulative bid quantities and indicative price during sessions, prescribe trade for trade next day settlement for margin backed and non institutional orders, and impose a penalty on pay in defaults credited to the Investor Protection Fund.

Dedicated debt segment enables separate trading, clearing, settlement and membership frameworks for retail and institutional debt markets.
Establishment of a dedicated debt segment on stock exchanges providing separate listing, electronic trading (retail and institutional markets), clearing and settlement frameworks, reporting to a common trade repository, prescribed trading conventions and timelines, permitted market making, and membership/registration requirements with specified margin and risk management regimes for retail and institutional markets.

Beneficial ownership identification required for intermediaries, mandating KYC/AML verification of ultimate natural owners and controllers.
SEBI requires intermediaries to identify and verify natural persons who ultimately own, control or influence non-individual clients by: (1) identifying persons with a controlling ownership interest (specified ownership thresholds for companies, partnerships and unincorporated bodies); (2) identifying persons who exercise control by other means (voting rights, agreements, arrangements); and (3) where no such persons exist, identifying the senior managing official. For trusts, identify settlor, trustees, protector, beneficiaries with significant interest and any person exercising ultimate effective control. Listed companies and majority-owned subsidiaries are exempt. Immediate implementation and monitoring obligations are mandated.

Permitted transactions for Vostro accounts now include specified medical and hotel payments by certain non-resident nationals.
Two items in Part (B) of Annex I to the A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 28 are modified: Vostro accounts may be used for payments to Indian medical institutions and hospitals for treatment of NRIs/their dependents and nationals of Gulf countries, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia; and for payments to hotels by nationals of those jurisdictions and by NRIs for their stay. All other instructions in the referenced circular remain unchanged, and AD Category I banks must inform their constituents. Directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.