Variance limits for duty-free re-importation of cut and polished diamonds set; dimensional and weight tolerances specified under customs notification amendment
Amendment to Notification No. 9/2012 Customs substitutes the proviso to condition (v) to allow tolerances for duty free re import of cut and polished diamonds: 0.05 mm in diameter for round shapes, 0.07 mm in length and breadth for other shapes, and 1 cent in weight, thereby defining variance limits that determine eligibility under the exemption.

Exemption for solar machinery requires Deputy Secretary level certification specifying quantity, description and necessity for initial setup.
Amends Notification No.15/2010 to extend the exemption to goods required for solar energy production and substitutes condition (1) to require an officer not below the rank of a Deputy Secretary to recommend the exemption, specifying quantity, description and specification of the goods and certifying they are required for initial setting up of a solar power generation or solar energy production project or facility.

Export duty rate on bauxite revised under customs notification, changing specified rates for the listed tariff entries.
Amendment revises the effective export duty rates on natural bauxite by substituting the column (4) entries for serial numbers 24A and 24B in the Table to Notification No.27/2011-Customs; Notification No.15/2014 effects this tariff modification under the statutory powers conferred by the Customs Act and records the antecedent publication and prior amendment history of the principal notification.

Resident private limited company specified as class for advance rulings, clarifying corporate and residency eligibility.
Specification designates resident private limited company as a class of persons eligible for Advance Ruling under the Finance Act, clarifying that "private limited company" takes its meaning from the Companies Act and "resident" from the Income tax Act for determining eligibility.

Place of Provision rules: clarified intermediary definition and temporary-import repair exclusion; narrowed short-term transport hire exclusion.
Amendments redefine intermediary as a broker, agent or any person who arranges or facilitates a service or supply between parties but excluding those who provide the main service on their own account; exclude from a territorial provision rule services related to goods temporarily imported for repair and exported without being used except for repair; and narrow the transport-hire exclusion to means of transport other than aircraft and vessels (except yachts) for periods up to one month.

Customs amendment expands exemption to include goods for solar energy production alongside solar power generation.
Amendment broadens the customs exemption by inserting and substituting terms so that goods and components required for the initial setting up of a solar power generation project are expressly covered when used for solar energy production, thereby aligning the notification's permitted use to include both solar power generation and solar energy production.

Compressed bio-gas exemption extended to initial project setup, aligning evidentiary obligations with power generation projects.
Amendment incorporates compressed bio-gas (Bio-CNG) into the exemption scheme for initial setting up of projects originally limited to power generation and inserts Bio-CNG references into the opening paragraph and condition (i); it also modifies condition (ii) to specify that the requirement to "prove" applies to projects for the generation of power, clarifying evidentiary obligations while extending notification coverage to Bio-CNG projects.

Excise duty exemption for AIDS programme drugs and diagnostics subject to production of an authorized Health Ministry certificate.
Exempts specified ARV drugs and listed diagnostics and equipment from excise duty for use in the National AIDS Control Programme funded by the Global Fund, conditional on production at clearance of a certificate from an officer not below Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare confirming the goods are required for that programme; the notification ceases to have effect on or after the first day of April, 2015.

Exemption for compressed bio gas projects expanded to include Bio CNG in initial project import exemptions under customs notification.
The notification amends Customs Notification No. 81/2005 to include compressed bio gas (Bio CNG) projects within the exemption for goods required for the initial setting up of a project for generation of power, revises condition (i) to mention Bio CNG explicitly, and substitutes condition (ii) so that the requirement that the importer proves applies specifically to projects for generation of power.

Point of Taxation amendment changes timing of tax liability where invoice payment delayed, adds transitional rule for pre-effective invoices.
Amendment alters the Point of Taxation Rules so that if payment is not made within three months of the invoice date the tax point is the day after that three month period, and adds a transitional rule: for invoices issued before the amendment but unpaid on its commencement, payment made within six months of invoice fixes the tax point as the payment date, otherwise the tax point is determined as if these amendments do not apply.

Customs tariff amendments expand specified import exemptions and impose certification and use-condition requirements for preferential duty treatment.
Amendments modify the customs tariff table by substituting, inserting and reclassifying numerous entries and adjusting duty rates and exemptions for specified imports-covering agricultural inputs, metallurgical minerals, coal and petrochemical feedstocks, LPG/LNG, inputs for soaps, oleochemicals, solar photovoltaic and display panel manufacture, security paper raw materials and various electronic goods. The changes add time-bound proviso language and new Annexure conditions requiring LNG export verification by Customs, Department of Electronics and Information Technology certification plus importer undertakings for certain exemptions, and a Ministry certificate for police/security imports used in bomb detection or disposal.

Interest on delayed service tax charged at stepped simple rates escalating with length of delay; notification fixes effective date.
Fixes stepped simple interest rates for delayed payment of service tax, replacing the earlier notification. Interest is applied by reference to the duration of delay: a base rate for the first six months, a higher rate for delay beyond six months up to one year, and an additional higher rate for any delay beyond one year. The notification specifies its coming-into-force date and notes later supersession by a subsequent notification.

Central excise exemptions expanded for solar photovoltaic and renewable manufacturing inputs, with altered duty rates and certificate conditions.
The notification amends the central excise exemption Table by substituting tariff entries and duty rates, inserting new Nil-duty and concessional-duty serial entries for inputs used in solar photovoltaic manufacturing, wind-generator bearings, photovoltaic ribbon, EVA sheets and backsheets, RO membrane elements, LED components and other specified goods, and revises footwear duty treatment by retail sale price. The Annexure is revised to require pre-clearance certificates from designated officials for certain exemptions and to update LIST 8 references to new serial entries.

Transfer of exempt goods to new projects permitted with certificates; alternatively duty may be paid on depreciated value.
Where goods cleared before March 1, 2008 under the exemption to certain international organisations are no longer required for the original project, the manufacturer may either transfer the goods to a new, Government-approved project on production of certificates from the competent government officer and the relevant international organisation, or pay excise duty on the depreciated value of the goods. Depreciated value is determined by a straight-line quarterly depreciation schedule applied to the original cleared value, subject to a maximum depreciation cap, and the required certificates must be produced to the Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction over the factory.

Service tax valuation: works contracts for repair, maintenance and finishing taxed on a fixed portion of total contract value.
The amendment specifies that for works contracts not excluded elsewhere, including maintenance, repair, reconditioning, restoration or servicing of goods and maintenance, repair, completion and finishing services of immovable property (such as glazing, plastering, tiling or installation of electrical fittings), service tax shall be payable on seventy per cent of the total amount charged for the works contract, effective from 1 October 2014 under the Finance Act empowered amendment to the 2006 valuation rules.

Exemption scope narrowed: finished telecom goods excluded while inputs for their manufacture qualify for concessional import on procedural compliance.
The notification excludes specified finished telecom and networking products from the general exemption and inserts a new entry exempting all goods imported for the manufacture of those listed telecom products, provided the importer follows the procedure set out in the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 1996.

Reverse charge: recovery agent services taxed to recipient; director services and split liability updated effective October.
The notification expands the reverse charge scope by inserting recovery agent services to banks, financial institutions or NBFCs as taxable entirely on the service recipient (provider Nil; recipient 100%), substitutes the entry describing director-to-company services, and amends the TABLE to show separate percentage columns. It also revises the liability split for a specified item to 50% provider / 50% recipient effective from October, with the notification operative from the date of issue except as provided.

Duty exemption for goods supplied to radar projects requires a certificate confirming purchase orders and intended use.
Exemption for all goods manufactured by an Indian Offset Partner and supplied for use in radars acquired under contract, contingent on a duty exemption certificate from an authorized officer certifying: the procuring agency's purchase order on the contractor; the contractor's purchase order on the IOP with quantity and description; and that the goods are intended for use in the acquired radars. The exemption is limited by an explicit expiry provision.

Tariff amendment adds sports gloves classification, revises sewing machine description and omits a prior tariff entry.
Notification No. 9/2014 dated 11 July 2014 amends Notification No. 2/2011 by inserting a new tariff entry for gloves specially designed for use in sports (420321), substituting the description for the sewing machine entry to read "Sewing machines other than those operated with electric motors, whether in-built or attachable to the body," and omitting the entry at serial number 63; the amendment implements the option to pay duty at six percent with cenvat credit and is issued under section 5A(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Electronic payment requirement: service tax must be paid via internet banking, with limited written exemption by the commissioner.
The amendment clarifies that recovery agent services to banking and financial institutions and director services to their company are attributed to the recipient, and requires that every assessee electronically pay service tax through internet banking, subject to written discretionary exemption by the relevant Assistant or Deputy Commissioner.