Jurisdiction reorganisation in customs Chennai zone updates commissionerate responsibilities and prosecutorial listing.
Public Notice No. 04/2019 amends Annexure A of Public Notice No. 21/2018 by: replacing Airport Commissionerate point ix with "Warehouse and Disposal (to handle both Chennai and Chennai VI' cases)" and replacing Air Cargo Commissionerate point I(xii) with "Prosecution/ COFEPOSA." The amendments affect the recorded jurisdictional responsibilities of those Commissionerates and are effective from January 2019 until further orders.

Return-to-sender customs duty cancellation: FPOs must forward RTS parcel lists for verification and duty cancellation.
Undelivered articles and RTS parcels imported via the Foreign Post Office (Chennai Sea) must be returned to origin and the FPO must forward periodic lists of such parcels, including customs duty levied and reasons for non delivery, to the Commissioner of Customs (Imports), Chennai for verification and cancellation of the customs duty.

Custodianship extension for a Container Freight Station under Customs law, subject to cargo handling regulations and compliance.
Extension of custodianship of M/s SICAL Multimodal and Rail Transport Limited (SMART) Container Freight Station (CFS), Visakhapatnam, is granted for a ten-year renewal term, conditioned on compliance with the Handling of Cargo in Customs Area Regulations, 2009 as amended and on adherence to instructions and guidelines issued by the Board and the Custom House.

GST rate for micro irrigation clarified to include sprinkler systems and laterals, extending reduced GST coverage.
The circular clarifies that the term sprinklers in the schedule entry encompasses sprinkler irrigation systems; accordingly a sprinkler system consisting of nozzles, laterals and other components falls within that entry and attracts the GST rate recommended by the Council for micro irrigation systems including laterals.

GST classification clarifications: specified goods' HSN-based treatment determines applicable rates and scope of concessional entries.
Clarifies GST classification and rates: branded/packed pulse mixes attract higher rate while unbranded mixes under HSN 1106 are nil rated; prepared feeds and finished animal feeds under the feed entry differ from raw inputs such as fish meal and MBM in HSN 2301 which attract the separate notified rate; animal feed supplements are classified based on form and ordinary trade use, with chapter 23 covering ready-to-use feed supplements and chapter 29 covering general-use vitamin preparations. LPG for domestic use, identified at supply, qualifies for the domestic LPG notification; plastic PP bags with BOPP are HS 3923; wood logs are HS 4403; bagasse boards under chapter 44 get concessional rate; three-piece fabric packs remain fabrics for GST; waste-to-energy concessions apply only to goods in chapters 84,85,94 and require end-use documentation; turbochargers are HS 8414; interstate movement of plant on own account is not a taxable supply.

Refund procedure: electronic upload and ARN based filing ensures jurisdictional transfer and timing for refund processing.
Refund claims in FORM GST RFD-01A and supporting documents must be electronically uploaded on the common portal; ARN is generated only after complete filing and ledger debits where applicable, and applications are electronically transferred to the jurisdictional proper officer who will issue manual acknowledgement or deficiency memo. Net ITC for inverted duty refunds includes ITC on all inputs availed in the relevant period regardless of tax rate; reversed ITC is not eligible for refund, input services and capital goods are excluded from inverted duty refunds, and compensation cess refunds for exports under bond/LUT require recomputation for past periods where cess credit was availed later.

Export of services: outsourcing to foreign supplier treated as export and triggers reverse-charge IGST and ITC eligibility.
Where an Indian supplier outsources part of services to a foreign subcontractor, two supplies arise: the Indian supplier's supply to the foreign recipient for the full contract value and the import of services by the Indian supplier from the foreign subcontractor. The Indian supplier must pay IGST under the reverse charge on the imported portion and may claim input tax credit. The full contract value can still qualify as export of services if IGST is paid on the outsourced portion and RBI permits retention of part consideration outside India.

Denial of composition option may be effective retrospectively, with tax liability and recovery from date of contravention.
Withdrawal from the composition scheme takes effect from the date indicated in FORM GST CMP-04, not earlier than the commencement of the financial year in which the intimation is filed. Where the proper officer initiates denial, proceedings commence by issuing FORM GST CMP-05, the taxpayer may reply in FORM GST CMP-06, and the officer must issue FORM GST CMP-07 within thirty days accepting or denying the option; denial may be retrospective but not earlier than the date of contravention, with tax, interest and penalty determined for the period from contravention to issuance of FORM GST CMP-07.

Depository Participant classification: clearing corporations and certain directors/employees excluded; depositories must implement and report monthly.
Recognized clearing corporations are excluded from the definition of Depository Participant for Regulations 24(9) and 24(10), and directors and employees of entities listed in Regulation 24(10) are likewise not to be treated as Depository Participants or their associates. Depositories must amend bye-laws and systems, notify market participants, and report implementation status through monthly development reports.

Uniform trading and delivery lot sizes required for commodity derivatives, with exceptions subject to regulator approval and safeguards.
SEBI mandates uniform trading and delivery lot size for commodity derivatives contracts to prevent participant disadvantage or impediment to physical delivery; exceptions require exchanges to submit detailed rationale, stakeholder feedback and protective mechanisms for regulator approval. Exchanges must align existing contracts or propose exemptions within the prescribed timeframe, amend bye-laws and rules, notify brokers, publish the circular on their websites and report implementation status to the regulator under its statutory powers to protect investors and regulate the market.

GST practitioner enrolment authority is assigned to an Assistant Commissioner designated as the proper officer after transfer.
GST practitioner enrolment under Section 48 of the Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is assigned to Sanjeev Gupta, Assistant Commissioner. He is designated as the proper officer for enrolling GST practitioners, replacing the previously assigned Assistant Commissioner following his transfer.

Equal distribution of pending assessment cases and R-5A generation were directed to ensure time-bound disposal.
Equal distribution and time-bound disposal of assessment cases for assessment year 2015-16 were directed by requiring zones to review pending cases where R-5A had not been generated, generate R-5A, and redistribute such cases equally among officers of the same rank at the same location. Cases linked to officers not presently posted were to be transferred to other equivalent officers within the zone, and disposal of all such cases was to be ensured by 31.03.2019, with compliance information sent to headquarters by the prescribed date.

Applicability of section 56(2)(viia): fresh issue of shares falls within its scope and prior contrary circular withdrawn.
Clarifies that the anti abuse provision in section 56(2)(viia) applies to fresh issuance of shares by companies not substantially interested by the public; Circular No. 10/2018 is disavowed and shall be treated as never having been expressed and not to be relied upon by any Income tax authority.

Monthly Cumulative Report format revised; AMCs must submit revised MCR monthly and exclude inter scheme AUM.
SEBI prescribes a revised Monthly Cumulative Report (MCR) format to be used by AMCs from April 2019 and mandates submission by the third working day of each month. The circular requires that inter scheme investments be excluded by the investing scheme when reporting AUM to prevent double counting, sets AAUM as the average daily AUM for the month, and provides a detailed annexure enumerating scheme categories and reporting fields for consistent aggregation.

Central Public Information Officer appointment designates a customs CPIO and specifies his jurisdiction and contact details.
Shri Madoli Daso, Assistant Commissioner, is designated as the Central Public Information Officer for the customs division in Imphal with immediate effect; the notice provides his office address, contact numbers, and enumerates the specific territorial jurisdictions within which he will handle requests and responsibilities.

Form-C declaration misuse warning highlights invalidity of missing forms and legal risk from unauthorized trade use.
Public notice under Rule 8(13) of the Central Sales Tax Rules, 1957 informs that specified Form-C declarations reported lost, destroyed, or stolen are invalid for unauthorized use. It cautions that any trader using the missing Form-C declarations will act unlawfully and be subject to legal action under applicable law. The notice identifies the affected dealer and the Form-C serial numbers reported missing, and serves as a trade-compliance warning against acceptance or use of those declarations.

EGM errors delay drawback and IGST refunds; exporters must submit shipping bill and master bill of lading for rectification.
Pending drawback and IGST refund claims result from EGM related errors. Customs has posted three lists of affected shipping bills on the port website: shipping bills filed at the port pending IGST refunds, shipping bills filed at other ICDs with the port as gateway pending IGST claims, and shipping bills at the port pending drawback claims. Affected exporters must email a legible scanned shipping bill and the Master Bill of Lading (not house bills or freight receipts) to the designated customs email for rectification to enable processing of pending claims.

Re-imported goods exemption: procedural pre-filing requires surrender of export benefits and intimation to expedite clearance.
Importers must file advance or prior bills of entry for re-imported goods claiming exemption and, before filing, surrender export incentives as required and submit intimation of re-importation to the DC/AC of Customs and the licensing authority, uploading proof to e-sanchit; if these pre-filing conditions cannot be met the bill may be filed without claiming the exemption, and claimants meeting requirements may have identity established under second check while variation or mis-declaration may attract denial of exemption and penal action.

PGA Exception Data Accuracy: Proper coded entry required to avoid incorrect routing and delay in clearances.
Importers and customs brokers must use the SWIFT PGA Filing Quick Referencer to correctly populate PGA Exception entries in the integrated declaration: enter Info_type as PEC, Info_qfr with the PGA category code and info_code with the PGA serial number per Annexure IV. Consult CTH PGA mapping to identify required agencies and supply data for all listed agencies; use coded values where specified (including coded Enduse). Omitted data must be re submitted by amendment to avoid incorrect routing to PGAs and delays.

Standard deduction under section 16(ia) applied to salary examples, triggering revised tax computations and corrected assessment year reference.
The corrigendum amends Annexure-I illustrations: examples previously labelled for one assessment year are to be read for the next assessment year; a numeric correction replaces Rs. 5,00,000 with Rs. 4,00,000 in Example 1 (Para A, serial (ii)); and a standard deduction of Rs. 40,000 is allowed in Examples 1-10, requiring revised total income and tax computations.