Modvat credit on sulphuric acid allowed in full for detergent manufacture, with spent acid clearance and duty conditions.
Modvat credit on sulphuric acid used in detergent manufacture is allowed on the full quantity of concentrated sulphuric acid physically employed in production, despite separation of a portion as 'Spent Acid'. Spent Acid classifiable with concentrated sulphuric acid must be cleared on payment of duty under the applicable clearance provision unless exempt. Existing contrary instructions are rescinded and the instruction is to be circulated to Principal Collectors and Collectors of Central Excise for compliance.

Adjudication limits: tiered officer authority established; fraud-related demands reserved to senior collectors and appeals realigned accordingly.
Adjudicatory authority in central excise is reallocated by monetary-tiered limits: Collectors have unrestricted jurisdiction, Additional/Deputy Collectors have intermediate jurisdiction, and Assistant Collectors limited jurisdiction; confiscation and penalty powers follow these limits. Allegations of fraud or suppression must be issued and decided only by Collectors or the Collector (Judicial), and Additional Collectors are excluded from issuing such demands; Additional Collectors are also excluded from the statutory definition of 'Collector' for appeal purposes, so appeals from their post-amendment orders lie to the Collector (Appeals).

Bonded warehouse permission enables duty free supply of raw materials to export oriented units in EPZs under licence controls.
Establishment of bonded warehouses within Export Processing Zones is permitted to stock and sell duty free raw materials and components to export oriented units in EPZs; one warehouse per zone may be authorised. Imports must be against specific import licences matching unit requirements; sales are limited to units within EPZs, other zones, or export oriented units outside the zones, and domestic tariff area sales are prohibited. Movement is governed by bond to bond procedures with required bonds and bank guarantees, and goods are eligible for the one year warehousing period under the customs notification.

Office or place of profit rules updated: increased monetary ceilings alter consent and approval requirements under company law
The circular notifies increased monetary thresholds that determine when relatives, partners, firms, or private companies connected to a director or manager holding an office or place of profit require the company's consent by special resolution, and when higher thresholds additionally necessitate prior Central Government approval, thereby altering the remuneration levels that trigger these approval and compliance obligations under company law.

Share application form requirement: abridged prospectus must include detachable application form(s) with matching printed numbers.
The share application form must be part of the memorandum containing salient features by attaching the abridged prospectus and the application form along a perforated line; both must bear the same printed number and allow the investor to detach the form only after an opportunity to study the abridged prospectus. The Government permits two detachable application forms per abridged prospectus if each bears a separate printed number, and companies must ensure the abridged prospectus is printed for clear readability.

Advance tax notice entries under section 210(3) now required; revised register format prescribes demand, revision and collection entries.
Entries in the revised Register of Demand and Collections are limited to assessees served with notices under section 210(3); the revised proforma must record legible name and address, assessment year and income, the amount demanded, control-register serial numbers, revisions under section 210(4), dates of intimations, and adjustment amounts with plus or minus signs. The total payable is recorded as original demand plus additions or minus reductions. Collections, penalty demands and collections are entered in their designated columns, and year-end balances of advance tax and penalty are noted in prescribed balance columns.

Registration fee applicability: revised company registration fee applies according to the fee in force on actual registration date.
The fee chargeable for company registration is the fee in force on the date of actual registration; the circular notifies promoters that the revised fee under Schedule X, effective from the stated date, applies to companies registered on or after that effective date.

Prevention of Food Adulteration enforcement: mandatory chemical testing of all imported food consignments before release for human consumption.
Enforcement of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act requires that imported food articles that are adulterated, misbranded, imported without licence, or otherwise contravening the Act must not be cleared. Customs formations are directed to ensure every consignment of imported food articles is chemically tested before release for human consumption and to refer such imports to Port Health Officers for opinion and advice.

Tax recovery certificate control: Assessing officers must annotate demand registers when TRO draws up TRCs to avoid duplicate recovery.
Amendment to section 226 and Rule 94 vests exclusive recovery powers in the TRO where a Tax Recovery Certificate (TRC) is drawn up. The Board directs that when the TRO records a TRC in Form ITNS-162 he must notify the Assessing Officer, who shall annotate the corresponding Demand & Collection Register entry to reflect the TRC particulars; these annotations must be carried forward on register migration and applied immediately to existing arrear and current demand entries.

Presumptive taxation under section 44AC: assessments to follow jurisdictional High Court rulings pending Supreme Court appeal.
Conflicting High Court rulings on the scope and validity of section 44AC require assessors to follow the law of the jurisdictional High Court pending the Supreme Court appeal; where no such decision exists, assessors may apply section 44AC and refer to supportive precedents; stays on operation of the provision must be observed and timing extensions apply selectively; a register of cases affected by High Court decisions must be maintained for subsequent rectification.

Audit-report compliance under section 44AB: withdrawal of a circular that clarified exemption from penalty under section 271B.
The Board had issued administrative instructions refraining from initiating penalty proceedings where the prescribed audit report had been obtained by the specified date and self-assessment tax paid within the normal filing period, and a later circular clarified that no penalty would be imposed where the audit report was obtained by that date. The Board has now withdrawn that later clarification circular following reconsideration in consultation with the Ministry of Law.

Classification of grooved rubber sole plates: H profile vulcanised rubber designated under the excise tariff, with uniform application.
Grooved rubber sole plates of vulcanised rubber (other than hard rubber), manufactured by moulding and trimmed to an H profile and used by the Railways, are to be classifiable under the appropriate tariff subheading of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985; the Board orders circulation of this classification to all Principal Collectors and Collectors of Central Excise for observance and issuance of Trade Notices.

Modvat credit ineligibility: cleaning compounds for equipment moulds do not qualify as inputs for credit.
The Board concludes moulds are equipment and not inputs; therefore compounds used solely to clean such moulds are not eligible for Modvat credit, and field formations and trade are to be informed accordingly.

Classification of adhesive neoprene: treated as prepared glues under tariff, not mastics, assessments to be finalised accordingly
Based on chemical composition, physical form, function and application, adhesive neoprene does not qualify as Mastics under Heading No. 32.14 and is classifiable as prepared glues and other prepared adhesives under Heading No. 35.06; the Central Board agrees with the Chief Chemist's opinion and directs that pending assessments be finalised accordingly and field formations and trade be informed.

STOCKINVEST subscription must be accommodated in offer documents, with application forms providing space and clear instructions.
Provision for STOCKINVEST subscription is required: application forms, memoranda in Form 2A, prospectuses and letters of offer must be amended to permit subscription by way of STOCKINVEST; lead managers must ensure application forms provide adequate space for investors to record STOCKINVEST details and the documents must explain the procedure for applying by way of STOCKINVEST.

Exemption under section 5(1)(xxa) preserved despite omission of Ninth Schedule; assessing officers to decide claims.
The omission of the Ninth Schedule from the Income-tax Act does not affect entitlement to the exemption under section 5(1)(xxa) of the Wealth-tax Act; for the limited purpose of adjudicating claims under that provision the Ninth Schedule is to be treated as if still on the statute, and assessing officers shall decide claims accordingly.

Tax deduction at source on bank time deposit interest applies only to interest paid or credited after the effective date.
The provisions for deduction of tax at source from interest on bank time deposits became effective on 1 October 1991; only interest paid or credited after that date is liable for deduction at the specified rate, while interest paid or credited between 1 April 1991 and 30 September 1991 is aggregated for the financial year solely to determine whether the aggregate exceeds the threshold that triggers withholding on later payments.

TDS certificate acceptance: unified Form 16 temporarily accepted in lieu of Form 16B pending specified cutoff.
TDS certificates issued in the old unified Form No.16 will be accepted in lieu of Form No.16B for certificates issued up to 31st March, 1992, but only for those categories of TDS for which Form No.16B is prescribed. Both the unified Form No.16 and Form No.16B may be used by tax deductors during this transitional period; certificates issued after the cutoff will not be accepted in the old unified Form No.16.

Wrong Modvat Credit: reversal must account for PLA balances and penalties proportionate to forgone interest.
Wrong Modvat credit reversals must account for the assessee's Personal Ledger Account (PLA) balances and record PLA sufficiency before recovery; penalties for wrongful credit must be proportionate to the interest that would have been payable had funds been borrowed, and divisional offices and adjudicating authorities must issue and follow instructions ensuring these considerations in reversal orders.

Acceptance of old TDS certificates permits tax credit for banks, subject to indemnity bond and genuineness verification.
Tax credit may be allowed to banks on the basis of TDS certificates issued in old forms for interest on securities, provided the assessee furnishes an indemnity bond under rule 31(5) and the Assessing Officer verifies the genuineness of the certificates; no interest under section 244A will be payable. This facility is extended to private, foreign and other banks on the same conditions, while Chief Commissioners may decide acceptance for other government bodies based on Form No.16 availability.