Duty drawback withdrawal: no drawback entitlement for rice, cement, iron and steel under amended customs rules.
Withdrawal of duty drawback for RICE (heading 1006), CEMENT (heading 2523) and IRON AND STEEL (Chapter 72) pursuant to Notification No. 64/2008-CUSTOMS (N.T.) dated 29-5-2008; drawback of Customs Duty, Central Excise Duty and Service Tax denied and the Drawback Rules, 1995 amended accordingly.

External Commercial Borrowing policy changes: higher approval limits for infrastructure and other borrowers and raised all-in-cost ceilings.
Modifications to the External Commercial Borrowing framework raise approval route limits for rupee expenditure-with a higher ceiling for infrastructure borrowers and an enhanced ceiling for other borrowers-and increase all in cost ceilings over six month LIBOR for three to five year and over five year maturities. The changes apply to both automatic and approval routes while other ECB conditions remain unchanged. Amendments take effect upon Reserve Bank notification under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Separately, FII debt investment ceilings for government securities and corporate bonds are increased and SEBI will be advised to act.

Input credit entitlement upheld for capital goods and inputs used in exported or home-consumed goods, limiting denial on procedural lapses.
Entitlement to input credit was upheld where goods and components used to fabricate or install pollution control equipment qualified as capital goods; refunds for inputs in waste destined for export were allowed; procedural defects in invoices did not justify denial of credit if duty-paid goods were used; credit on scrap removed on payment of duty need not be disallowed where reversals or duty payments occurred; apportionment under reversal rules for mixed excisable and non-excisable production was treated as acceptable.

Service tax treatment clarified for export qualification, agency classification, business auxiliary services, and goods-versus-services valuation.
Service tax treatment clarified: export of services must be assessed according to the Export Services Rules applicable to the disputed period regarding convertible foreign exchange; misclassified collections may be appropriated against correct liabilities and employee wages generally lack abatement; franchise/promotional arrangements can constitute business auxiliary services based on contract terms and commission flows; transfer of intellectual property without paid technical assistance is not taxable as a service; and value of goods sold (such as SIM cards) is excluded from service tax on activation services.

Refund of Unutilized Cenvat Credit: exporters meeting amended Rule 5 requirements may claim refunds despite pre amendment exports.
Whether refund under Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 extends to unutilized credit attributable to export of taxable services rendered before the rule was amended on 14-3-2006. Where refund claims were filed after the amendment and complied with the requirements of Rule 5 and the notifications, the tribunal rejected the prospectivity argument and concluded that acceptance of claims cannot be conditioned on the exports having taken place after the amendment date.

Duty computation with depreciation protects use of imported capital goods when export obligations are only partially fulfilled
When an export-oriented unit partly fulfills export obligation but has used imported capital goods, customs duty should be computed after allowing depreciation; exporters may still claim drawback if duty-paid inputs were used and the value-added product is exported; licences debited via DEPB/DEEC scripts should be revalidated to the extent of such debits subject to examination for unjust enrichment; designated authorities must conduct requested sunset reviews and governments must consider their recommendations.

Penalty enhancement in revision orders restricted where original subordinate order has merged, limiting revisionary jurisdiction.
Enhancement of penal orders in revision is impermissible where the original subordinate order has merged into an appellate order; the Commissioner lacks jurisdiction to pass a fresh revisionary order once the Assistant Commissioner's order no longer exists independently. Catering supplied within a factory was held to be a welfare activity not connected to manufacture or clearance and therefore not an input service eligible for cenvat credit.

Clubs and association services: trade associations' member services classified as taxable, not charitable or self-service under service tax rules.
Trade associations providing services to members are taxable as clubs and association services; their activities are not charitable or public-service in character because they collect membership fees and operate for trade interests. Services by unincorporated associations to members are not "self service" under the Explanation to the Finance Act and are taxable when provided for cash, deferred payment, or other valuable consideration.

Customs revenue increase outpaced excise declines; overall indirect tax receipts rose year-on-year in April month.
Customs collections rose from Rs. 7,221 crore to Rs. 9,018 crore (24.9% growth) while Central Excise receipts declined from Rs. 6,673 crore to Rs. 6,410 crore (-3.9%); combined Customs and Excise revenue increased from Rs. 13,894 crore to Rs. 15,428 crore (11.0%). Excise figures exclude cess not administered by the Department of Revenue. The figures are provisional monthly year on year comparisons.

Landlord liability limited: leasing premises alone does not justify customs penalty where no involvement is shown.
Penalty under section 112 cannot be imposed solely because premises were let out; landlord produced rent agreement and residence proof and lacked material connection to smuggled goods. Conversion of Advance Licence shipping bills to Drawback requires compliance with clause 3(d) and demonstrated non-utilisation conditions. Refunds based on depreciation including duty-paid value are barred by unjust enrichment absent proof duty was not passed on. Proper tariff classification must follow Chapter Notes; the imported brimstone was classifiable under Heading 25.03. High Court must direct tribunal to refer questions of law rather than decide them on a statutory reference.

Interest on delayed duty: fixed daily penal charge struck down, interest limited to statutory monthly rate.
One decision examines the charge on delayed duty, finding the fixed daily penal component invalid and limiting interest on delayed payment to the statutory monthly rate; another treats duty paid high tensile steel straps used to secure fully packed export coils as packing material qualifying as inputs for input credit where received in factory premises and used in dispatch. Additional rulings address abatement under a compounded levy scheme where machinery was non operational due to external seizure; inclusion of non returnable packing materials in assessable value of packaged liquor; and characterization of suppliers issuing only manufacturing instructions as not manufacturers for duty calculation on job work production.

Business auxiliary service classification confirms commission agents fall within its scope, not clearing and forwarding services.
Services of commission agents are treated as business auxiliary service from 1-7-2003; mere procurement of orders for a principal on commission does not amount to providing services as a clearing and forwarding agent, which requires engagement in clearing and forwarding operations. Separately, recipient-based liability for import of services applies only from 1-1-2005; for periods before that date liability could not be fastened on the recipient.

Refund jurisdiction for service tax on exported goods clarified, enabling exporters to know where to file refund claims.
Refund of service tax on services used in the export of goods applies where a merchant exporter cannot avail cenvat credit. Uncertainty existed about the proper jurisdiction for filing and processing such refund claims. Administrative guidelines were issued to clarify the competent jurisdiction for filing and the mechanism for processing refund claims under the refund notification, aiming to remove confusion and facilitate claim submission and adjudication by designated offices.

Tax recovery measures strengthened through task force coordination and procedural steps increased arrears collection efficiency nationwide.
A centrally led Tax Recovery Cell (TAR) and nodal officers executed a structured Action Plan-including nodal/zonal reviews, steps to vacate judicial stays, filing early hearing applications, circulation of favourable orders, immediate enforcement where unrestrained, and ongoing monitoring of field formations-to accelerate recovery of tax arrears in coordination with investigative directorates and field offices.

Customs valuation principles require systematic sequential application of valuation rules before enhancement of declared value.
Claims for refund of warehousing interest are distinct from customs duty and may be refundable; customs valuation demands systematic, sequential application of valuation rules before enhancing declared value; technical assistance and trademark fees not being pre-conditions of sale are excluded from transaction value; settlement is barred where goods are seized on reasonable belief of smuggling; demurrage is not includable in assessable value where CIF includes freight and cannot be retrospectively added.

Service tax on associated enterprise transactions required on accounting crediting or debiting; timing fixes tax liability and reporting.
The Act amends liability for transactions between associated enterprises so that service tax is payable by the person liable even if consideration is not actually received, becoming due on the earlier of crediting/debiting the amount in the books or receipt of payment; Rule 6(1) is clarified to include amounts credited or debited to any account, including suspense accounts, as payment received for taxable services.

Service tax refund procedure assigned to Central Excise; exporters must file claims with Assistant or Deputy Commissioners.
Refund claims for service tax on taxable services used in the export of goods under Notification No.41 of 2007-ST are to be processed by Central Excise formations, and exporters must file such claims with the Assistant Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise.

Steel price rollback and temporary price hold to address inflation, paired with proposals on exports and input allocations.
Major steel producers implemented immediate domestic price reductions on flat products and on rebars and structurals, applicable to steel consumed in India and held for three months. They requested government consideration of policy measures including no export duty on steel, priority allocation and renewal of iron ore and coal mines and assured gas supply, establishment of clearance-resolution mechanisms, an ad valorem export duty on iron ore for conservation, excise duty reduction on steel passed to consumers, PSU input price reductions and prioritisation of domestic supply, suspension of auctions causing speculative prices, and maintenance of current rail freight classifications. The Prime Minister agreed to examine the proposals.