Tax exemption for specified income: notification grants relief to National Skill Development Corporation subject to noncommercial conditions.
Notification under section 10(46) of the Income tax Act, 1961 notifies National Skill Development Corporation for exemption in respect of specified income: long term capital gains from investments in skill development organisations; dividends and royalties from supported skill ventures; interest on loans to skill institutions; interest on bank fixed deposits; and Government grants, subject to conditions prohibiting commercial activity, requiring unchanged nature of activities and specified income, and prescribed filing of income return under clause (g) of sub section (4C) of section 139.

Provisional anti-dumping duty imposed on cold rolled flat steel imports to offset dumped imports and protect domestic industry.
Provisional anti-dumping duty is imposed on imports of cold rolled flat alloy and non alloy steel from China, Japan, Korea RP and Ukraine after preliminary findings of dumping, material injury to the domestic industry, and causation; duties are set as the difference between specified benchmark amounts and the customs assessable landed value where lower, payable in Indian currency, with exchange rates as notified for the bill of entry date, and effective for up to eight months from publication.

SEZ de-notification adjusts notified area following statutory procedure, updating zone boundaries after required approvals.
Central Government has de-notified specified parcels within a sector-specific Special Economic Zone for Electronic Hardware and IT/ITES, following a developer proposal, State Government approval and Development Commissioner recommendation, thereby reducing the SEZ's notified land area and recalculating the resultant area; the notification lists the affected survey parcels and confirms statutory prerequisites and rule-based authority for the amendment.

Registration requirements for multi state co operative societies tightened; two state registration, promoter verification and name restrictions enforced.
Amendment requires primary multi state co operative societies with credit or multi purpose objects to register with at least two States/Union Territories, submit an attested list of contributors with ID address proofs and admission fee details, obtain a No Objection Certificate from Registrars of concerned States/UTs, and provide Registrar certified verification of promoters' credentials. It prohibits non national societies from using words equivalent to "National" in their names and permits non bank societies to open branches nationwide only with prior Central Registrar approval, subject to proper functioning.

Central registry of security interests links registration to enforcement and secures priority for registered secured creditors.
The Amendment Act recognises and defines asset reconstruction companies, debenture trustees and debt securities; authorises a Central Registry integrated with multiple registration systems; makes registration of security interests a public notice and a precondition for enforcement; grants the Reserve Bank audit, inspection and corrective powers over asset reconstruction companies; prescribes priority to registered secured creditors over subsequent interests and government dues (subject to insolvency law); and reforms procedural, penalty, electronic filing, stamp duty and depository provisions to operationalise registration, enforcement and recovery.

Customs exemption for fabrics under Special Advance Authorisation permits duty free import subject to export obligation and bond.
Exemption from customs and specified ancillary duties applies to fabrics imported under a valid Special Advance Authorisation, contingent on production of the authorisation at clearance, conformity with authorisation descriptions and limits, import through prescribed ports or notified SEZs, compliance with pre import norms, execution of a bond to secure duty repayment if conditions fail, and discharge of the export obligation by physical exports of garments within the authorised period or any permitted extension.

Movement of goods between EOUs clarified: procedural documentation required and mandatory warehousing removed for export units
EOUs in agriculture-related activities may remove specified goods for use outside unit premises; mandatory external warehousing permission is deleted. Transfers between EOU/EHTP/STP/BTP units require Procurement Certificates or pre-authenticated procurement certificates, usual commercial documents (invoice and delivery challan), and intimation to the jurisdictional offices of sending and receiving units. Conversion or merger between EHTP/STP and EOU units remains permissible with entitlement to applicable duty and tax exemptions.

Drawback rates for garments exported under Special Advance Authorization now specified, with detailed rates for garment chapters and caps.
The notification amends the All Industry Rates of drawback for garments exported under Special Advance Authorization issued under paragraph 4.04A of the Foreign Trade Policy by inserting a proviso that (i) substitutes heading A and heading B with heading C and heading D for such exports and (ii) makes entries in the Schedule NIL for all Chapters except Chapters 61 and 62, for which a detailed Table of unit-based drawback rates and caps-distinguishing whether Cenvat facility has been availed-is annexed to the notification.

Rupee denominated bonds exclusion exempts certain rules for bonds issued exclusively to overseas investors under RBI circular.
An amendment adds sub rule (11) to rule 18 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules, 2014, providing that the rule shall not apply to rupee denominated bonds issued exclusively to overseas investors in terms of the relevant foreign exchange circular; the amendment takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette under the rule making powers of the Companies Act.

Payment schedule for income declaration requires staged instalments under amended rules; non-payment renders declaration void.
The rules require proof under rule 4(5) to be of full and final payment and prescribe a three stage payment schedule for amounts due under Form 1: minimum 25% by 30 November 2016, at least 50% of the remaining balance by 31 March 2017, and the remaining balance by 30 September 2017; non payment as specified causes the Form 1 declaration to be void. Form 3 is substituted to require detailed intimation of payments by period, attachment of challans/TDS/TCS proofs, and a declarant verification confirming inclusion of related income and entitlement to claim credit.

Import value threshold for consumer electronics raised, allowing higher CIF limit for personal import exemptions.
The notification amends the exemption order under the Foreign Trade framework to raise the per consignment c.i.f. value limit for consumer electronic items imported for personal use by any person through post or other channels, while excluding hearing aids and life saving equipment, apparatus, appliances and parts from the exemption.

Rebate of State Levies: eligible garment exporters may claim remission subject to eligibility, recovery, and repayment mechanisms.
The ROSL Scheme provides remission of specified State levies on garment exports in addition to Duty Drawback, with rates and caps set by the Drawback Committee and notified by the Ministry of Textiles. Eligibility requires exporters to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee and to declare they will not claim these levies under any other mechanism; exports under pre-existing Advance Authorisation are excluded. Claims are optional, made at item-level with disbursal through Customs EDI and Ministry budgetary allocation; repayment and recovery follow Duty Drawback procedures where conditions (including receipt of sale proceeds) are not met.

Fixation of Tariff Values: Revised customs tariff values prescribed for specified edible oils, metals and agricultural commodities.
Amendment substitutes revised Tables 1-3 in Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), fixing unit tariff values in US dollars for listed imported goods-edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nut-and specified unit values for gold and silver where notification benefits are availed, under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, for use in customs valuation and related procedures.

Compulsory industrial licensing removed for specified ITC(HS) codes, altering licensing requirements under the Industries Act.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, amends Schedule II to omit ITC(HS) Codes 22.03, 22.04, 22.05, 22.06 and 22.08 from serial number 3 of the list of industries for which compulsory industrial licensing is required; the omission takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette as a further amendment to the principal notification S.O.477(E).

Exemption under section 10(46): Haryana State Pollution Control Board's grants and consent fees exempt subject to conditions.
Notification under clause (46) of section 10 of the Income-tax Act notifies Haryana State Pollution Control Board's specified income-grants from Central and State Governments and consent fees-for exemption, subject to conditions: no commercial activity, unchanged activities and income nature across financial years, and filing return under clause (g) of sub section (4C) of section 139; effective for 2014 15 and for 2015 16 through 2018 19.

Commencement date specified for central excise amendment rules, bringing the identified clause and rule into force.
The Central Government specifies the seventeenth day of August, 2016 as the date on which clause (v) of rule 5 and rule 6 of the Central Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2016 notified earlier shall come into force, identifying the prior notification by Gazette reference and thereby operationalising those amended provisions from that date.

Special Advance Authorisation Scheme allows duty free fabric imports for apparel exports and All Industry Rate drawback for non fabric inputs.
Special Advance Authorisation Scheme allows duty free import of fabrics including interlining for exports under Chapters 61 and 62, issued on SION or fixed norms, limited to fabric inputs, subject to actual user and pre import conditions, non transferable except for permitted job work, and requiring physical incorporation in exports. Exporters receive All Industry Rate Duty Drawback for non fabric inputs with other input value taken as 22% of FOB for value addition purposes; claimants of Central Excise brand rates must follow FTP declaration and value addition rules.

Electronic passenger manifests require timely transmission, prescribed passenger and crew data, and revised aircraft manifest reporting formats.
Electronic transmission of aircraft passenger manifests to Indian Customs is required in flat-file or UN/EDIFACT PAXLST API format. Separate complete files for passengers and crew must be sent for each flight, containing prescribed flight, identity, travel-document, journey, crew, visa and carrier-contact data. Passenger manifests must be delivered within fifteen minutes after flight closure and departure from the foreign port of embarkation. Flat-file records must use pipe separators, show unavailable values as nulls and keep each passenger record on one line. Form II is revised to prescribe corresponding flight, passenger, journey, document, crew, visa and message information.

Electronic passenger manifests require prescribed advance filing times, separate crew and passenger files, and standardised travel-information formats.
Export Manifest (Aircraft) Amendment Regulations, 2016 require pre-check-in passenger manifests twelve hours before departure and final manifests fifteen minutes before aircraft departure. Passenger and crew manifests must be electronically transmitted to Indian Customs in prescribed flat-file or UN/EDIFACT PAXLST Advance Passenger Information formats. Separate passenger and crew files, specified file naming, pipe-separated fields, null values for unavailable data, and prescribed flight, identity, travel-document, journey, crew, visa and carrier-contact particulars are required. Form II is replaced with a revised passenger manifest format containing optional marked fields.

Limitation of benefits rule restricts treaty gains preferences where arrangements primarily aim to obtain preferential capital gains treatment.
The Protocol amends the India-Mauritius tax Convention to: treat prolonged service provision through personnel as creating a permanent establishment when activities exceed an aggregate of 90 days in any 12 month period; limit source withholding on interest to 7.5% with a dated bank interest exemption; introduce a Fees for Technical Services Article permitting source taxation with a 10% cap and detailed sourcing and anti abuse rules; permit source taxation of certain post cut off-date share gains with a transitional capped rate; broaden other income sourcing; expand exchange of information; add assistance in tax collection; and add a limitation of benefits rule targeting shell/conduit entities.