Reasoned assessment and speaking orders required, with specified identification and statutory references in VAT notices and penalties.
All notices and consequential decisions must be speaking orders that recite relevant facts and provide clear reasoning. Officers framing default assessments and penalty orders must specify reasons for the assessment, state the basis for accepting or rejecting the dealer's version, explain any assumed turnover, and cite relevant provisions and sections of the DVAT Act where necessary.

Sanction of refund delegated to tiered state tax officers, with specified thresholds and certain schedule entries omitted.
Amendment substitutes S. No. 9 in the Schedule to delegate sanction of refund for total refund claims under all Acts to a tiered set of officers: State Tax Officer for the lowest threshold; Assistant Commissioner of State Tax for the next tier; Deputy Commissioner of State Tax for the middle tier; and Joint Commissioner of State Tax for higher amounts. The amendment also omits S. Nos. 10-13 and S. No. 46 and their entries. The order is effective from 21st May, 2018.

Monitoring of foreign investment limits - system operational from June 1; companies must submit required data by May 25.
SEBI extends the deadline for listed companies to provide required data to the depositories to May 25, 2018, and sets the new system for monitoring foreign investment limits to become operational on June 01, 2018; custodians must notify FPI clients and the circular is issued under Section 11(1).

Abolition of Appraising Group VII reallocates Bills of Entry to groups one to six by highest assessable value; FIFO applies.
Abolition of Appraising Group VII in the ICES system effective 08.05.2018 discontinues that group for new assessments; pending Bills of Entry filed before that date remain in the erstwhile group. New License/Scheme Bills of Entry will be allotted to Groups one to six based on the item with the highest assessable value and will follow the regular first-in, first-out processing rule. Stakeholders are to note changes in ICES 1.5 and report difficulties to the Additional Commissioner of Customs (EDI Systems Manager).

Direct Port Delivery expanded to specified importers with advance filing, duty prepayment, 48 hour evacuation and verification rules.
Extension of the Direct Port Delivery (DPD) facility to listed importers is authorised for FCL containers covered by RMS-facilitated Bills of Entry or where no examination is required, subject to advance filing of Bills of Entry, advance payment of customs duties and charges, advance electronic delivery orders, and verification of container and seal numbers by Port Terminal or Preventive Officers; DPD permission may be withdrawn for non-compliance, selected consignments remain subject to examination, importers must evacuate DPD containers within 48 hours or have them moved to CFS/APM Yard, and importers must submit monthly performance reports while RMS facilitation operates 24x7.

Reorganisation of SEZ entities requires prior approval and continuity as a going concern, with liabilities preserved and tax reporting.
Reorganisation of SEZ developers, co-developers and units-including name change, shareholding change, business transfers and court approved mergers/demergers-requires prior approval (Board of Approval for developers; Approval Committee for units), the entity must continue as a going concern and must not exit the SEZ, and all liabilities remain unchanged. Reorganisation is subject to safeguards: continuity of SEZ activities and obligations; fulfilment of eligibility criteria and security clearances; compliance with revenue, company and securities laws on taxability and transfers; prompt reporting of financial details to CBDT and jurisdictional authority; Assessing Officer's right to tax assessment; and compliance with State laws and PAN/reporting requirements.

Paperless customs processing: upload digitally signed supporting documents, verify originals at Central Original Document Verification Cell, obtain IRN.
Authorized persons must have originals of specified Certificates verified and debited/defaced at the Central Original Document Verification Cell; thereafter the verified/debited/defaced Certificates must be uploaded on ICEGATE e SANCHIT, an Image Reference Number (IRN) obtained, and that IRN linked to the corresponding Bill of Entry by submitting an amendment at the Service Center; once an IRN/DRN is generated the uploaded document cannot be removed.

Taxability of tenancy rights under GST leads to levy on tenancy premium; residential tenancy exemptions apply.
Transfer of tenancy rights against a tenancy premium is a taxable supply of services under Schedule II; stamp duty and registration do not exclude such transfers from GST. Granting tenancy rights in a residential dwelling for residential use is exempt under the State notification, while surrender of tenancy rights by an outgoing tenant for a portion of the premium is taxable.

Forwarding of samples for testing: additional designated external laboratories added and public notices required.
The Board expands the roster of approved outside laboratories, as identified by CRCL, for testing specified categories of customs samples and provides an annexure mapping sample types to suggested laboratories. Principal Commissioners and Commissioners of Customs must publish Public Notices to inform stakeholders of the added testing destinations, and report any implementation difficulties to the Board, thereby operationalising forwarding of samples to the designated external laboratories.

DIN reactivation permitted after revival orders; CRF must be raised and overdue filings verified before activation.
Where a struck off company has been revived by an appropriate order, the Registrar shall raise a Change Requirement Form (CRF) on the portal with a copy of the revival order and e-governance shall activate the directors' DINs only after verifying that all overdue statutory documents have been filed; the Registrar must ensure those directors are not directors of any other struck off company and must scrutinise revival orders and confirm that petitions were filed during the CODS scheme validity before raising CRFs.

Import policy restriction on peas clarified: applies to all peas under the Exim Code and is prospective.
The Notice confirms that the import policy amendment applies to the entire commodity under Exim Code 07131000 - Peas (pisum sativum), including yellow, green, dun and kaspa peas - and that the restriction is not limited to yellow peas. It states that shipments with bills of lading dated prior to issuance of the Notification do not require DGFT registration, and reiterates that government policy changes apply prospectively from the notification date unless otherwise provided.

Certificate of Origin requirement enables NOC-based imports of pulses from Mozambique under MOU with specified procedural steps.
Imports of pigeon peas and other pulses from Mozambique under the MOU are exempt from recent 'restricted' import policy changes but are allowed only through five designated ports and subject to production of a Certificate of Origin certified by the Instituto de Cereais de Moc ambique. The issuing authority must send a scanned copy to specified DGFT e-mails; the Indian importer must submit the same scanned certificate to DGFT to obtain a No Objection Certificate, which DGFT issues after comparing the two documents to permit Customs clearance.

Extended Producer Responsibility authorization required for import of listed electrical and electronic equipment; produce CPCB authorization at import.
Importers of electrical and electronic equipment, components, consumables, parts and spares listed in Schedule I must obtain and produce an Extended Producer Responsibility Authorization from the Central Pollution Control Board when importing such items; the notice treats importers as Producers for these purposes and requires presentation of the CPCB EPR Authorization at import, with implementation issues to be reported to the issuing office.

EPCG authorisations: submit Redemption Certificate/EODC to enable bond/BG cancellation and cargo clearance.
Holders of listed EPCG authorisations registered at JNCH Nhava Sheva must submit copies of Redemption Certificate/EODC without delay to allow bond/BG cancellation and timely clearance of consignments; submissions may be sent by email, registered/speed post or delivered in person to the EPCG Monitoring Cell. EPCG holders must also ensure installation certificates are filed within six months of import and, for authorisations not in the list, provide evidence of submission of the first block export obligation to the Joint DGFT as per S.O. 70/2016.

Container movement procedure now requires pre movement e mail intimation and bond adequacy verification before terminal release.
Removal of the prior requirement for Container Cell permission is replaced by a pre movement e mail intimation to the Assistant Commissioner, Container Cell, containing container identifiers, vessel/rotation/IGM details, a self declaration of continuity bond number, validity and balance (with break up), and destination CFS/warehouse/ICD; the same intimation must be sent to the port terminal, a written request submitted to the Container Cell by the next working day for reconciliation, and steamer agents/importers must ensure sufficient bond balance or face bond enforcement and penal action.

Validity of Chapter 3 Duty Credit Scrips extended; applies irrespective of FTP period, revalidation generally not permitted.
Duty Credit Scrips issued on or after 01.01.2016 under Chapter 3 shall be valid for 24 months from date of issue and must be valid on the date of actual debit; revalidation is not permitted except as covered under paragraph 2.20(c) of the Handbook of Procedures. This rule applies to all Chapter 3 scrips irrespective of the Foreign Trade Policy period, and trade is advised to avail the benefit with officers treating this Public Notice as standing order.

Scrip validity extension: Chapter three scrips now carry extended validity across FTP periods without amendment requirement.
The Directorate confirms that the amendment in Public Notice 33, which increases Chapter Three scrip validity to 24 months and is incorporated into the Handbook of Procedures 2015-20, applies to all Chapter Three scrips irrespective of the FTP policy period. Scrip holders need not approach Regional Authorities for amendments to reflect the extended validity; the change is effective by virtue of the Handbook amendment and is communicated for guidance to trade and Customs formations.

Jurisdiction of Customs Preventive Divisions updated to map CPUs, GST ranges, PIN clusters and coastal jurisdictions.
Corrigendum 4 amends Public Notice No.01/2018 to specify and reassign jurisdictional boundaries of Customs Preventive Divisions and their Customs Preventive Units in the Thiruvananthapuram Zone under the Customs Act, 1962. It identifies formation names, CPU locations, GST range areas, indicative PIN code clusters and town lists, adds narcotics units where designated, includes coastal and marine jurisdictions, and extends the Kochi CPD to administer the Union Territory of Lakshadweep including Kavaratti.

Brand rate fixation: Brand Rate Cell at ICD Mulund to process Drawback Rules applications under GST; reapplication for post-GST exports
A dedicated Brand Rate Cell has been established at ICD Mulund to fix brand rates of drawback under the Drawback Rules in the GST regime; pending central excise applications filed before the GST transition will be transferred to the Customs Commissionerate having jurisdiction over the place of export (exporter may choose among multiple export places). Post-transition exports require fresh brand rate applications as previously fixed rates do not apply; verification of application data will be done by the Customs formation having jurisdiction over the manufacturing factory, and earlier circulars apply mutatis mutandis.

Transshipment permission for air cargo enables electronic ICES movement with bond, Customs supervision and liability for shortages.
Permission authorizes M/s InterGlobe Aviation Limited to effect export and import transshipment of general cargo from APTPC bonded warehouse via electronic documentation on ICES for one year from bond acceptance, subject to Chapter VIII of the Customs Act and relevant CBEC circulars. Carriers must file IGM/EGM, use CTM/TP/ACTM, secure Customs escort and supervision, obtain destination acknowledgements to debit/re credit the transhipment bond, and comply with sealing, weight matching, register maintenance, custody instructions and proof of export requirements. A transhipment bond and bank guarantee have been furnished and the carrier is liable for shortages, duties and related charges.