SEZ approvals expand formal and in principle permissions, enabling new sectoral and conversion approvals across services and manufacturing.
The Board of Approval recommended grant of 20 formal approvals and 7 in-principle approvals after considering 31 SEZ applications, including four conversions of in-principle to formal approvals. Recommendations span Multi services, Agro and Food Processing, IT/ITES, Textiles and Multi product SEZs, and include sector-specific proposals for oil, gas, energy and petrochemicals. The release also reports that 366 formal approvals have been granted to date, 142 SEZs notified, with reported aggregate investment and direct employment figures for notified SEZs and earlier notified private/state SEZs.

Cenvat credit eligibility through courier clarified; procedural filing and courier bonding govern import/export clearance requirements
Entitlement to cenvat credit for courier imports requires the consignee to file a normal Bill of Entry; authorised couriers may file regular Bill of Entry or Shipping Bill under the Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations; operation of authorised couriers is subject to intimation under the Regulations and execution of specified bond and security, and no separate registration is required where regulatory conditions and notification are satisfied.

Transaction value acceptance: price to marketing affiliate not rejected when identical to independent sales under valuation rules.
The tribunal addressed whether sales to a marketing company within a common business group should be rejected as transactions between interconnected undertakings, and concluded that because the goods were sold to the marketing company at the same price as to independent buyers, the price charged could not be rejected for valuation purposes under the Valuation Rules.

Withdrawal of prior service tax circulars alters taxability: service providers must re-assess liability at each stage of provision.
The circular withdraws all prior technical clarifications on service tax-covering scope, classification, valuation, export/import of services and exemptions-and supersedes earlier circulars and communications except specified Orders. As a result, service providers must re-assess taxability of their services because previous positions, including non-levy by subcontractors in certain services, may no longer apply and liability may arise at each stage of service provision.

Overriding commission taxation: commission received in India from a foreign principal is taxable as business auxiliary service.
Overriding commission received in India from a foreign principal falls within Business Auxiliary Service and is taxable under service tax (exigible from 1-7-2003); arguments treating the transactions as export of service, receipt in Indian currency as convertible foreign exchange, or invoking circulars/notifications to avoid levy were not accepted in the factual context.

Tax revenue growth: provisional customs, excise and service tax collections show year over year expansion for the period.
Provisional monthly revenue collection for July 2007 reports Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax receipts with comparative figures and year over year growth. Customs and excise together show increased aggregate receipts and positive month and cumulative growth versus the prior year. Excise growth is modest while customs shows higher month and cumulative increases. Service Tax (reported to June 2007) records substantially higher month and year to date growth compared with the prior year. Combined figures for customs, excise and service tax indicate overall expansion in revenue relative to the comparable prior period.

Deductibility of freight charges upheld where prior departmental acceptance exists; other reimbursed expenses disallowed as non deductible.
Where departmental practice in an earlier period accepted deduction of freight charges and the original order remains unchallenged, similar freight deductions were permitted under the consistency principle; by contrast, other reimbursed ancillary expenses claimed by clearing and forwarding agents were disallowed as non-deductible and related assessment demands were upheld.

Royalty inclusion in import valuation: know how and license fees not includible in value of related party imports.
Whether amounts paid as royalty or fees for know how and licenses are includible in the assessable value of capital goods and parts imported from the same party is addressed. Where licensing/know how payments and import of machinery were separate arm's length transactions between related parties, the valuation authority and tribunal concluded those royalty payments are not includible in the customs value of the imported goods.

Off shore services taxation: amendment rendered such services chargeable to service tax after the amendment, earlier periods held not taxable.
A prior administrative circular excluded services beyond territorial waters from service tax, but a later statutory amendment expanded the levy so that offshore services may be chargeable going forward; the tribunal held contested offshore services taxable from the amendment's effective date but not for periods before it, and set aside earlier demands.

Cenvat Credit: mobile phone services allowed, CHA export and construction-for-advertisement services not eligible under Cenvat rules.
Mobile phone services qualify as input services and Cenvat credit is allowed; CHA services relating to export and construction services relating to advertisement lack the requisite nexus with manufacture or clearance and Cenvat credit is disallowed, per the tribunal's application of rule 2(l).

Exports from Special Economic Zones rose markedly in 2006-07, driven by growth in central and private SEZs.
Exports from Special Economic Zones rose substantially in 2006-07 versus 2005-06, with Central Government SEZs reporting a collective increase (aggregate change about thirty percent) and State/Private SEZs also showing notable expansion and per-zone increases contributing to the overall rise in SEZ exports.

Deemed manufacture: mere labeling or relabeling does not constitute manufacture unless combined with packing or repacking.
Mere labelling or relabelling of finished goods does not constitute manufacture for excise purposes when undertaken alone; such activity may be deemed manufacture only when performed together with packing or repacking, as reflected in Central Excise chapter and section notes and administrative practice.