Finalization of Provisionally Assessed Bills of Entry: ICES module mandates e-payment integration for differential duty and bond closure.
Finalisation of Provisionally Assessed Bills of Entry in ICES 1.5 requires importers/brokers to obtain finalisation from the Assessing Officer who forwards the BE to Group AC/DC; specific system roles handle these steps. If finalisation increases duty, the system issues a challan with calculated duty and interest, sends the duty message to banks via ICEGATE for e-payment, and upon payment integration allows bond credit/closure. If duty is unchanged or reduced, bond credit/closure may follow directly and refund procedures remain unchanged. Finally assessed BE copies are generated in Customs and Importer sets.

Central Excise registration requirement for EOUs procuring from or supplying to domestic market and mandatory ER 2 monthly returns.
EOUs (including STP, EHTP and BTP units) must obtain Central Excise registration when procuring excisable goods from the Domestic Tariff Area or removing excisable goods to the Domestic Tariff Area, in addition to any Private Bonded licence. These units must file the ER 2 monthly return within ten days of month end, reporting manufacture of excisable goods, duty free inputs and capital goods (indigenous or imported), quantities cleared, and inter unit transfers.

Shipping agency registration: documentary, bank security and guarantee bond conditions set; renewals required every three years.
Registration and renewal of Steamer Agents/Shipping Agency at Tuticorin require Annexure A application, firm registration documents, notarized power of attorney, banker particulars and confirmation, local office lease, three years of income tax and service tax returns, appointment letter from principal, copies of other port registrations, names and PANs of authorised signatories, and provision of a Fixed Deposit Receipt and Solvency Certificate as security plus execution of a Standard Guarantee bond under Sec.41, 42 & 97(2) of the Customs Act, 1962. Initial registration is valid for three years; renewals require existing FDR, solvency certificate and fresh bond filed at least one month before expiry.

PAN allotment in arrear demand cases: routed procedure requiring AO certification and RCC forwarding to PAN service provider.
PAN allotment in arrear demand cases will be facilitated through the PAN service provider on receipt of AO-submitted PAN application forms with certification that the assessee has not obtained PAN and that arrear demand has been recovered. Applications must include status, sex and AO code, the AO's official address, and be routed via JCIT/Addl. CIT, CIT/PCIT and the RCC, which will scrutinize and forward complete applications with contact details to the Directorate for PAN allotment. Direct requests to the Directorate from field formations will not be processed.

Timely bond cancellation required: exporters must provide EODC and export documents to enable bond and guarantee release.
Timely cancellation of bonds and bank guarantees in advance authorization and EPCG licence cases requires exporters to submit evidence of export obligation-principally the EODC issued by DGFT with supporting shipping bills and BRCs-before licence expiry so Customs can initiate cancellation and return of guarantees; bonds may be closed only after receipt of the EODC and exporters must approach DGFT in advance for redemption certificates.

Selection of Special Public Prosecutors: transparent committee-based appointments, fixed initial term, and mandated annual performance appraisal.
Procedure prescribes a zonal needs assessment by Chief Commissioners, public notice-based recruitment of advocates meeting CrPC eligibility, and evaluation by a three-member Committee (concerned Commissioner, a Commissioner nominated by the Chief Commissioner, and the Zonal Addl. Director General of Revenue/Excise Intelligence). Initial engagement is normally 18 months with renewal after a 12-month appraisal; recommendations and consolidated proposals are forwarded to the Board for appointment/extension. Annual performance appraisals and equitable workload distribution are mandated, and existing terms on fees remain until further revision.

Stay of tax demand: prescribed lump sum payment allows stay pending first appeal; exceptions permit higher or lower pre deposits.
Default rule: where a demand is disputed before the first appellate authority, the assessing officer shall grant stay of demand until disposal of the first appeal upon payment of 15% of the disputed demand. If the assessing officer considers the nature of the addition warrants a different lump sum, the matter must be referred to the administrative Pr. CIT/CIT to determine the quantum. An assessee dissatisfied with the assessing officer's decision may seek review by the jurisdictional Pr. CIT/CIT.

Promotion of digital payments: incentivising card and electronic transactions while mandating cashless collections and stronger consumer protections.
Guidelines promoting non cash payments mandate strengthening acceptance infrastructure, rationalising Merchant Discount Rate and authentication rules, introducing tiered KYC and identity based eKYC, equipping government collection points with POS/mobile POS and a unified payments portal, mandating digital/cashless payments beyond set thresholds, and implementing consumer protection, fraud assurance and awareness measures to incentivise migration from cash to digital transactions.

Krishi Kalyan Cess introduced on taxable services, altering credit and compliance obligations for service providers and recipients.
Krishi Kalyan Cess is proposed to be levied on taxable services with effect from 1 June 2016 and input service credit of the cess may be used to discharge the cess on output services. The Finance Bill, 2016 amends Chapter V of the Finance Act to omit certain Negative List entries (notably stage carriage and specified international carriage), relocates specified educational exemptions into the general exemption notification, declares assignment and transfers of radio frequency spectrum as a declared service, and strengthens rule making powers for Point of Taxation. Significant revisions to Cenvat Credit Rules simplify reversal mechanics, broaden capital goods and input definitions, allow certain shipping and spectrum credit treatments, and provide distribution and warehouse mechanisms for input service credit.

Excise and customs rate changes introduce optional brand based levies on garments and jewellery and new vehicle and environment cesses.
Specified Finance Bill, 2016 proposals are implemented immediately for many items by notifications and provisional declaration, altering customs and central excise rates, creating an optional brand based excise levy on readymade garments (2% without CENVAT / 12.5% with CENVAT on branded RSP threshold goods with tariff value increased to 60%) and an optional jewellery levy (1% without CENVAT / 12.5% with CENVAT) with revised SSI thresholds and simplified registration; numerous targeted BCD, export duty and concessional exemptions or restrictions are introduced across multiple chapters, and legislative and rule changes revise warehousing, limitation periods, CENVAT credit use, RSP assessment and administrative procedures.

Customs and Excise duty changes introduce immediate tariff revisions, new optional levies on garments and jewellery, and procedural simplifications.
Finance Bill, 2016 notifications effective 1 March 2016 and provisional declarations introduce immediate Customs and Central Excise duty changes, targeted exemptions subject to actual user conditions, and procedural simplifications. Central Excise adds optional RSP linked levies on branded readymade garments (2% without CENVAT or 12.5% with CENVAT) and on specified articles of jewellery (1% without CENVAT or 12.5% with CENVAT) with revised tariff value, SSI thresholds and simplified registration/return rules. Customs changes rationalise BCD/CVD/SAD across many chapters, amend export duties, and prescribe industry specific exemptions and conditional concessions.

Characterisation of share sale proceeds: capital gain or business income depends on holding and taxpayer election.
For listed shares and securities, where an assessee elects to treat holdings as stock-in-trade, transfers will be treated as business income regardless of holding period; where such listed shares and securities are held for more than twelve months and the assessee elects capital treatment, the Assessing Officer shall accept capital gains and the election must be consistently applied in subsequent years. Other cases remain fact-specific under existing CBDT guidance, and transactions of questionable genuineness are excluded.

Tax Deduction at Source clarifies media payments to advertising agencies for booking ads are not subject to TDS.
Relying on judicial decisions that the media-agency relationship is principal to principal, the Board clarifies that amounts retained by advertising agencies for booking, procuring or canvassing advertisements do not attract TDS as commission; the Circular further distinguishes such media booking margins from commissions payable for engagement of models, artists and similar services.

TDS on broadcaster payments: contracts transferring copyright treated as work contracts subject to withholding, rights purchases treated separately.
Withholding on broadcaster payments depends on contract character: production of content per broadcaster specifications with transfer of copyright constitutes work and is subject to TDS applicable to work contracts, whereas payments for acquisition of telecasting or broadcasting rights in already-produced content do not constitute such work and are not subject to that TDS provision, though they may be liable under other withholding provisions.

Reconciliation return filing in Form 9 extended; required for dealers with concessional interstate sales and statutory form claims.
The department extends the online filing deadline for the reconciliation return in Form 9 for 2014-15 under Rule 49A of the Delhi VAT Rules read with section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act. Form 9 must be filed by dealers who made interstate sales at concessional rates against statutory forms C, transferred stock against F forms, sold against H forms to dealers outside Delhi, or claimed deductions against E-I/E-II or I/J forms; dealers without such transactions need not file.

Interest rate on goods warehoused for export reduced to a lower annual rate when cleared to domestic consumption.
Paragraph 10.3 of Circular No. 581/18/2001-CX is amended to substitute the prior interest provision with interest @ 15% per annum for goods warehoused for export when diverted to domestic consumption; the amendment is notified by Circular No. 1019/7/2016-CX and is effective from 1.4.2016.

Withdrawal from prosecution permitted for long pending low value excise cases; administrative steps advised to seek court consent to discontinue.
Authorisation to seek withdrawal from prosecution is directed for Central Excise cases where the duty evaded is below a low monetary threshold and prosecution has been pending for more than fifteen years. Relying on Sections 257 and 321 CrPC and the Supreme Court's grounds for withdrawal, Commissioners must request Public Prosecutors to file applications to courts to withdraw prosecution, include co noticees, and add case specific grounds if available; continuance must be referred to the Board with justification. Courts retain final authority.

Certificate as proof of Central Excise duty payment extended to all industries to facilitate trade and simplify compliance.
The facility to issue a certificate evidencing payment of Central Excise duty, previously available to Small Scale Industry, is extended to the entire industry as a trade facilitation measure. The Board directs that the benefit of the earlier circular be applied industry-wide, field formations and trade be informed, and implementation difficulties reported to the Board; the circular takes effect from 1 March 2016.

Single registration for multiple closely located factory premises permitted where processes interlink and movement is accounted, subject to conditions.
Amendment permits single registration for multiple premises of the same factory located in close proximity within one Central Excise Range where processes are interlinked and units are not under area-based exemptions, subject to Commissioner approval, proper accountal of inter-premises movement of goods, and any prescribed conditions.

Certificate for lost Bill of Entry issued after bank enquiry, police complaint where applicable, indemnity and EDI verification.
Establishes administrative steps for issuing a certificate when an importer's EDI Bill of Entry is lost, mutilated or destroyed: importer must first seek a bank-certified copy or apply to the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner (EDI) with bank correspondence, police complaint where applicable, a notarised indemnity bond, and the mutilated document if relevant. The EDI Superintendent verifies submissions against the EDI system, refers doubts to the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner, and on approval a dated Certificate stating purpose is issued and recorded in an EDI register.