Tour operator services tax treatment clarified; billing and package tour definition determine exemption eligibility by notification amendment
The amendment replaces prior entries to define package tour and to classify tour-operator services into package tours, accommodation-booking-only services, and other tour-related services; applicability of service tax or exemption depends on the invoice/bill indicating that charges are inclusive of tour cost, specify accommodation charges, or state the gross amount for the tour, and exemption does not apply where the invoice only records service charges for arranging or booking accommodation without the accommodation cost.

Import restrictions on specified agricultural products: certain high-duty items barred while edible oils limited to state trading companies.
Amendment permits imports of agricultural products in Chapters 1-24 of the ITC (HS) under the Scheme while excluding garlic, peas and vegetables with duty above thirty percent (Chapter 7); certain fruits with duty above thirty percent (Chapter 8); spices with duty above thirty percent except cloves and specifically tea, coffee and pepper (Chapter 9); all oilseeds (Chapter 12); and natural rubber (Chapter 40). Imports of edible oils (Chapter 15) are allowed under the Scheme only through STC and MMTC.

Director General of Income-tax (International Taxation) reconstitutes jurisdictional directors for international taxation and transfer pricing oversight.
Substitutes the Schedule entry for the Director General of Income-tax (International Taxation), designating New Delhi as headquarters and enumerating the Director of Income-tax (International Taxation) and Director of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing) posts at specified cities as within the Director General's jurisdiction, thereby reorganising the structural composition and territorial coverage of the Directorate for international tax and transfer pricing.

Transfer pricing jurisdiction clarified through amendment assigning Transfer Pricing Officers to specified Directorates and offices.
Amendment substitutes the Table to reallocate transfer pricing jurisdiction by specifying the reporting structure and office-wise assignment of Transfer Pricing Officers, pairing each Director of Income-tax (Transfer Pricing) in principal regional centres with a roster of Joint Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners to act as Transfer Pricing Officers under the control of the Director General of Income-tax (International Taxation).

Jurisdiction of transfer pricing authorities allocated by territorial area and taxpayer name ranges under amended notification.
Substitutes the Schedule to a prior notification to allocate jurisdiction for transfer pricing by listing designated Transfer Pricing Officers, their headquarters, territorial areas and the classes of taxpayers they will oversee, including geographic assignments and, for metropolitan areas, divisions by taxpayer name ranges, with subsequent notes recording later insertions, omissions and renumbering.

Anti-dumping withdrawal on partially oriented yarn after review; duties rescinded for affected imports under customs authority.
The Central Government, acting under powers conferred by the Customs Tariff Act and associated anti-dumping rules, rescinds the notification imposing anti-dumping duty on partially oriented yarn (POY) originating in or exported from the Republic of Korea and Turkey, following the designated authority's review finding no justification for continued imposition, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such rescission.

Anti-dumping duty on nonylphenol imports addressing dumped exports from Chinese Taipei, applicable to direct and transshipped consignments.
Imposition of anti-dumping duty on nonylphenol (tariff item 2907 13 00) following findings that exports from Chinese Taipei were below normal value and caused material injury. The duty applies to goods originating in or exported from Chinese Taipei and to goods exported via any country, fixed per metric tonne in the stated foreign currency, payable in Indian currency using the official exchange rate on the bill of entry date. The measure is enacted under the Customs Tariff Act and the anti-dumping rules and is effective from Gazette publication, with a specified validity period unless earlier revoked.

Appointment of adjudicating authorities designates specified customs officers to adjudicate listed show cause notices under Customs Act.
Exercising powers under section 4(1) and section 5(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Board of Excise and Customs designates specific Commissioners of Customs to act as the officers responsible for adjudication of four listed show cause notices directed at the same party, thereby allocating jurisdiction and administrative responsibility for adjudicating those notices.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointed to centralise adjudication of specified customs show cause notices under delegated powers.
A Common Adjudicating Authority is designated under the Customs Act, appointing the Commissioner of Customs (Exports) at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House to exercise the powers and discharge duties of another Commissioner of Customs for adjudicating specified show cause notices issued by a customs intelligence unit, thereby centralising responsibility for those adjudications.

Research approval under Section 35(1)(ii): donations valid only if used for scientific research and statutory audit/reporting.
Approval subjects the organization to conditions: donations must be used for scientific research performed by faculty or enrolled students; the institution must maintain books, obtain audit by a defined accountant, submit the auditor's report to the tax authority by the return due date, and provide a separate auditor certified statement of donations received and amounts applied for scientific research.

Section 35 approval requires research institutions to use funds for scientific research and comply with audit, reporting, and withdrawal rules.
Matrivani Institute of Experimental Research and Education, Kolkata is approved from 1 April 2004 as an other Institution partly engaged in research, provided it applies sums for scientific research, conducts research through faculty or enrolled students, maintains books of account and obtains an accountant's audit with the audit report filed by the return due date, and maintains a separately certified statement of donations received and amounts applied for scientific research; approval may be withdrawn for failures including nonmaintenance of books, nonfurnishing of audit or donation statements, cessation of genuine research, or noncompliance with governing rules.

Approval under section 35(1)(iii) conditions donations for social science research with audit and reporting obligations.
Mudra Foundation is approved under section 35(1)(iii) read with rules 5C and 5E as an 'other Institution' partly engaged in research from 1 April 2004, subject to conditions: use of receipts for social science research; conduct of research through faculty or enrolled students; maintenance and audit of books with submission of the auditor's report to the Commissioner/Director by the return due date; and a separate auditor-certified statement of donations and amounts applied to research. Approval may be withdrawn for specified failures or cessation of genuine research activities.

Scientific research association approval - Maharashtra Medical Research Society recognized for tax benefits subject to audit and donation disclosure.
Maharashtra Medical Research Society, Pune is approved as a scientific research association effective 1.4.2003, subject to conditions: sole objective of undertaking scientific research carried out by the organization itself; maintenance of books of accounts; audit by a qualifying accountant with submission of the auditor's report by the return due date; and maintenance of a separate auditor-certified statement of donations and amounts applied for scientific research. Approval may be withdrawn for failures to comply or for non-genuine or ceased research activity.

Customs port appointment: Gangavaram designated for unloading imported goods and loading export goods under amended notification.
Amendment designates Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh as a customs port where unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods or any class of such goods may be carried out, by inserting a new item in the table of the principal notification under the powers conferred by the Customs Act.

Special Economic Zone designation for textile industry notified, enabling development, operation and maintenance under the SEZ Act.
Notification designates a Special Economic Zone for the textile industry at Additional Yavatmal Industrial Area, District Yavatmal under the SEZ Act and SEZ Rules. It records that the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation proposed the sector specific SEZ and that the Central Government granted a letter of approval for development, operation and maintenance. The notification declares the specified survey numbers and land parcels as the SEZ, aggregating to 208 hectares.

Special Economic Zone designation for an IT/ITES zone in Navi Mumbai notifies specific land parcels and regulatory status.
The Central Government, having granted approval for development, operation and maintenance, notifies a sector-specific Special Economic Zone for information technology and information technology enabled services at Raheja Infocity-II, Navi Mumbai, by listing specific survey parcels and their areas and declaring a total notified area of 13.07 hectares under the SEZ statutory and rule-making powers.

Special Economic Zone expansion adds additional land to an IT sector SEZ under SEZ Act notification.
Notification under the SEZ Act and SEZ Rules adds specified survey parcels totaling 1.8563 hectares to the sector specific IT/ITES Special Economic Zone previously notified for Infopark; the Government exercises powers under section 4 proviso and rule 8 and records that statutory prerequisites have been met.

Mandatory filing of DVAT-30 requires composition dealers to submit purchase details alongside periodic DVAT-17 returns, effective immediately.
Composition dealers must submit Form DVAT-30 containing purchase details along with their periodical return in Form DVAT-17, under statutory authority, with the requirement effective immediately and administrative circulation for publication and departmental implementation.

Rules of Origin govern preferential tariff eligibility under India Chile trade pact, requiring certification, value content tests and controls.
Sets the criteria for goods to qualify as originating under the India-Chile Preferential Trading Agreement, defining key terms and providing that goods wholly produced in a Party or those meeting regional value content or change in classification requirements qualify. Non qualifying low value or minimal processes are listed; rules address accessories, fungible materials, sets, packaging, neutral elements and direct transport. Certification procedures require a sworn producer declaration, specific invoice and valuation details, government issuance of Certificates of Origin, document retention, and administrative timelines. A verification regime allows information requests, visits, guarantees, investigations, confidentiality protections, and penalties for non compliance.

Tariff value fixation updated: substituted tariff table for specified edible oils and brass scrap under Customs Act.
The Board, exercising powers under sub-section (2) of Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, substitutes the Table in Notification No.36/2001-Cus (N.T.) with a new Table specifying tariff values (US$ per metric tonne) for crude palm oil, RBD palm oil, other palm oil, crude palmolein, RBD palmolein, other palmolein, crude soyabean oil, and brass scrap (all grades), indicating the values remain unchanged.