Common Adjudicating Authority appointment directs a commissioner to conduct de novo customs adjudication for remanded appeals.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai II as the Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the powers and discharge duties of the officers who passed the listed Orders in Original in respect of M/s Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Limited, to conduct de novo adjudication of the matters remanded by the appellate tribunal, as specified by order references and appeal numbers in the Table.

Customs cargo area regulation reduces a specified period and exempts eligible ports and authorised providers from bank guarantee requirements.
Regulation 5 of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 is amended by substituting "ten" for "thirty" in regulation 5(3). A proviso to regulation 5(4) exempts ports notified under the Major Ports Act, the Central Government, State Governments and their undertakings, and customs cargo service providers authorised under the Authorised Economic Operator Programme from furnishing a bank guarantee.

Modification of customs jurisdiction expands specified Visakhapatnam ports, airport, SEZ and municipal areas under the notification.
The amendment substitutes the Table entry for serial number 23 in Notification No.78/2014-Customs (N.T.) to expressly include the Port of Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram Port, Visakhapatnam International Airport, the Container Freight Station at Bayyavaram Village, the Special Economic Zone and areas under the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation as the territorial scope of the notification.

Filing of VAT returns: mandatory digital signature requirement for Forms DVAT 16 and 17 withdrawn with immediate effect.
The Commissioner withdraws prior notifications that mandated filing returns in Form DVAT 16 or Form DVAT 17 with digital signatures, with immediate effect, rescinding the March and July 2016 notifications issued under the Delhi VAT rule-making authority. Form DVAT 17 is the Composition Tax Return form requiring dealer identification, tax period and TIN, sales and composition rate, detailed tax computation including interest, penalty, tax paid and TDS, payment particulars with challan/bank details, and a verification attestation by the authorised signatory.

Secure storage requirement clarified: units must retain duty free goods on unit premises and rewarehousing references removed.
Amendment replaces references to bonded premises with premises of the unit, omits requirements and references to the rewarehousing procedure, substitutes condition (vii) to require a unit to have and declare a premises for secure storage of duty free procured goods and their final products, and removes all references to debonding, thereby prescribing on unit storage and a declaration obligation in lieu of bonded premises and rewarehousing arrangements.

Contributory Provident Fund contributions authorised for Settlement Commission Chair and Members, subject to non pensionable servant conditions.
The amendment substitutes rule 6 to entitle the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Members to make contributions to the Contributory Provident Fund, subject to conditions applicable to a non pensionable servant of the Central Government; the change is effected under article 309 and is declared effective retrospectively from 27 March 2015.

Preferential tariff eligibility extended to Republic of Guinea Bissau, broadening concessional customs access under an amended notification.
Amendment by Notification No. 46/2016 Customs inserts the Republic of Guinea Bissau into the Schedule of eligible countries for preferential tariff treatment under the principal customs notification. The Central Government, invoking its authority under the Customs Act and satisfied it is necessary in the public interest, adds a new serial entry following the existing serial number 33 to effect this inclusion.

Rescission of notification under customs law withdraws prior regulatory effect while preserving pre existing actions and omissions.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, exercising powers under the Customs Act, rescinds the earlier 2011 customs notification, thereby terminating its prospective regulatory effect while expressly preserving legal consequences for actions done or omitted before the rescission, which continue to be governed by the prior instrument.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment centralises adjudication of specified customs show cause notices under the Customs Act.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence appoints specified officers to act as a Common Adjudicating Authority, empowered to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of designated proper officers for adjudication of identified show cause notices listed in the Table. Each entry links named noticees and particular show cause notices to the original answerable/importing offices and to the officers newly appointed to perform adjudication, with recorded corrigenda and substitutions where applicable.

Commencement of Insolvency Code provisions: specified sections and clauses brought into force, initiating statutory application under the Code.
The Central Government appointed 19th August 2016 as the commencement date for specified provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, bringing particular clauses of section 3 and a set of later sections and subsections (including specified clauses under sections 239 and 240) into force by formal ministerial notification under section 1(3).

TCS exemption for specified buyers: government, diplomatic missions and UN privileged institutions exempt from collection requirement.
The amendment inserts a rule excluding specified buyer classes from the requirement that sellers collect tax at source on sales of goods (other than bullion or jewellery) or provision of services: namely the Government, diplomatic and consular missions and similar foreign trade representations, and institutions notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947.

Anti-dumping duty extension on 1-Phenyl-3-Methyl-5-Pyrazolone from China continues under Customs Tariff Act powers for further period.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Customs Tariff Act and applicable anti-dumping rules, amended the principal notification imposing anti-dumping duty on 1-Phenyl-3-Methyl-5-Pyrazolone originating in or exported from the People's Republic of China by inserting paragraph 4, which provides that the notification shall remain in force up to and inclusive of the stated terminal date unless revoked earlier.

Anti-dumping duty extension for Caustic Soda from Chinese Taipei; duties on other origins allowed to lapse.
The Central Government amends Notification No.79/2011-Customs to extend anti-dumping duty on Caustic Soda from Chinese Taipei for one year and to allow duties on Thailand and Norway to lapse; it substitutes the Table entry for serial number 6 in column (5) with "Any country other than attracting anti-dumping duty" and inserts a paragraph stating that duties on the subject goods at serial numbers 4, 5 and 6 shall remain in force up to and inclusive of 22nd August, 2017 unless revoked earlier.

Powers of Chief Commissioner delegated to Principal Commissioners with additional charge, enabling exercise of Chief Commissioner functions under notification.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs delegates the powers of the Chief Commissioner to Principal Commissioners who were given additional charge by specified office orders, authorising them to exercise the statutory powers and functions of the Chief Commissioner within the jurisdiction identified in the earlier notification, under the Board's authority conferred by the Central Excise Act and Central Excise Rules.

Delegation of Chief Commissioner powers: Principal Commissioners with additional charge may exercise chief commissioner authority in service tax territory.
Notification No. 37/2016 invests Principal Commissioners given additional charge of a Chief Commissioner with the powers of a Chief Commissioner within the Service Tax jurisdiction specified in Notification No. 20/2014-Service Tax, under the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act and the corresponding Central Excise and Service Tax rules, thereby enabling those officers to exercise the statutory authorities of a Chief Commissioner for that jurisdiction.

Exchange rate determination sets rupee conversion rates for listed foreign currencies for import and export customs purposes.
Determination of exchange rates under section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, effective 19 August 2016, superseding the earlier notification and prescribing distinct rupee conversion rates for listed foreign currencies for imported and exported goods in two annexed schedules, with an administrative note recording a subsequent substitution to the South African Rand entry.

Delegation of Chief Commissioner powers to Principal Commissioners with additional charge enables exercise of chief-level authority in the customs jurisdiction.
The Board invests Principal Commissioners given additional charge with the powers of the Chief Commissioner for the jurisdiction specified in the earlier notification, enabling them to exercise authority ordinarily vested in the Chief Commissioner to ensure continuity of customs administration.

Declaration of undisclosed income permits using indexed stamp duty value to determine fair market value of registered immovable property.
Declarants may elect to take the fair market value of a registered immovable property as the stamp duty value increased proportionately by the change in the Cost Inflation Index between the year of registration and the reference year; for properties acquired before the base year, the election operates using the fair market value as of the base date determined by a registered valuer and indexed to the base year index. The rules define stamp duty value and Cost Inflation Index and amend Form-1 to require detailed property particulars, valuation reports, indexed values and disclosures regarding fictitious liabilities and their linkage to disclosed assets.

Tax exemption under section 10(46) for environment board income, subject to non commerciality and specified filing conditions.
Notification under section 10(46) notifies Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board as entitled to specified income treatment for listed receipts (consent fees; NOC fees; biomedical waste, hazardous and analysis fees; forfeited bank guarantees; RTI charges; reimbursements for national air monitoring programmes; interest on savings/FDRs; public hearing fees; staff loan interest; sale of scrap and tender fees) subject to conditions: no commercial activity, unchanged nature of activities/incomes, and return filing under clause (g) of sub section (4C) of section 139; effective from FY 2014 15 through specified later years.

Tax exemption under Section 10(46) for a state electricity regulatory commission covering specified grants, fees, penalties and interest.
Notification under Section 10(46) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 notifies Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission for exemption in respect of specified income: government grants; fees levied under clause (g) of sub-section (1) of Section 86 read with Section 181 of the Electricity Act, 2003; penalties under Section 146 of the Electricity Act, 2003; interest on government grants; and interest on fee/revenue under the Electricity Act, 2003, subject to non commercial activity, unchanged income nature, and specified return filing; effective for 01.06.2011-31.03.2012 and financial years 2012 13 to 2015 16.