Deferred import duty payments now allowed up to 30 days for trusted entities; March entries payable by March 31st.
Substitutes rule 4 of the Deferred Payment of Import Duty Rules, 2016 to require that duties on goods with Bills of Entry returned for payment in any month other than March be paid by the 1st day of the following month, and duties on goods with Bills of Entry returned during March be paid by 31st March; amendment effective 1 March 2026 under the proviso to section 47(1) and section 156 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Customs importers: Eligible Manufacturer Importers may defer import duty payment until 31 March 2028 as Manufacturer Importer.
Adds Eligible Manufacturer Importer as a new class authorized to make deferred payment of import duty, permitting deferred payment up to 31 March 2028, and defines Eligible Manufacturer Importer to mean Manufacturer Importer; the amendment is effected by insertion into the existing notification and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Customs rescinds two prior baggage notifications under the Customs Act; rescission effective 2 February 2026.
Rescinds Notification No. 11/2004-Customs and Notification No. 27/2016-Customs under section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, except as regards things done or omitted before such rescission; rescission takes effect on 2 February 2026 in view of the new Baggage Rules, 2026.

Customs notification amends baggage rules, replacing 2016 with 2026 and coming into force on 2 Feb 2026.
Substitutes both occurrences of the words and figures "Baggage Rules, 2016" in Notification No. 26/2016-Customs with "Baggage Rules, 2026" under powers conferred by the Customs Act; the amendment takes effect on 2 February 2026.

Unmanufactured tobacco without brand name and not retail-packed attracts nil duty; other unmanufactured tobacco attracts 18%.
Supplies of unmanufactured tobacco or tobacco refuse that do not bear a brand name and are not packed for retail sale are subject to a nil rate; other unmanufactured tobacco is subject to an 18% duty, effected by substituting and inserting serial entries in the principal notification's tariff table.

Central Excise: Notification No.05/2023 rescinded under statutory power, effective 2 February 2026, savings clause preserved.
Rescinds Notification No. 05/2023-Central Excise by exercising powers under the Central Excise Act on public interest grounds, subject to a savings provision preserving actions done or omitted before rescission; the rescission takes effect on 2 February 2026.

Customs amendments revise SWS and AIDC treatment by inserting and omitting specified tariff subheadings with staged effective dates.
Amends notification Nos. 11/2018-Customs and 11/2021-Customs to revise Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS) and Agricultural Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) treatment by inserting, substituting and omitting specified tariff subheadings and serial entries, with staggered effective dates (1 April 2026, 1 May 2026) and a general commencement of 2 February 2026.

Customs tariff amendments extend concessions, omit multiple entries, and insert new items and certification conditions for imports.
This notification further amends Notification No. 45/2025-Customs by omitting numerous concessional entries, substituting tariff-column entries, inserting new tariff lines (including items for solar, wind, nuclear, aircraft maintenance, rare earths and specified metals), and extending many provisos from 31st March, 2026 to 31st March, 2028. The Annexure and Lists to TABLE I are updated with revised condition rates and two new conditions (export within twelve months; defence certification). TABLE II exemptions for nuclear projects are extended to 30th September, 2035 with a new contractual condition.

Compressed Natural Gas blended with biogas: biogas value and GST excluded from excise valuation; diesel duty deferred to 2028.
The amendment excludes the value of Biogas or Compressed Biogas and the amount of the appropriate Central, State, Union territory and Integrated taxes paid on such Biogas/CBG from the taxable value of blended Compressed Natural Gas for computation of central excise duty, prescribes a 14% rate for such blended CNG, clarifies the meaning of "appropriate" taxes under GST laws, and defers the additional Rs.2 per litre duty on unblended diesel by substituting the later year.

Chewing tobacco and related products: NCCD liability capped at 25%, effective 1 May 2026.
Exempts specified excisable goods under tariff items 2403 99 10, 2403 99 30, and 2403 99 90 from that portion of the National Calamity Contingent Duty in the Seventh Schedule which exceeds the amount calculated at the prescribed rate of 25%, with the exemption taking effect from 1 May 2026.

Customs notifications: validity extended to 31 March 2028 and Battery Energy Storage Systems added, effective 2 February 2026.
Amends specified customs exemption notifications to substitute expiry dates from 31st March, 2026 to 31st March, 2028; inserts "or Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)" after "Electrically Operated Vehicles" in Notification No. 25/2002; omits listed entries in Notification No. 36/2024 and adds a proviso ending its effect after 30th April, 2026; and inserts an expiry clause in Notification No. 29/2025. The amendments commence on 2nd February, 2026.

Retail-based valuation for specified tobacco products sets taxable value as retail price less extracted tax component.
A new rule deems the value of supply for specified packaged tobacco and related products to be the declared retail sale price on the package less the applicable tax; tax is extracted from the retail sale price by a formula. Definitions clarify applicable tax, retail sale price as the maximum printed price inclusive of taxes, treatment of multiple or altered prices, and area-specific prices. An amendment exempts non-manufacturer registered persons from the relevant rule where the supplier has paid tax on the retail sale price.

Retail sale price declared on packaged tobacco and nicotine products governs GST valuation and applies by area and packaging.
Valuation for specified packaged goods shall be based on the retail sale price declared on the package. The listed goods include pan masala; unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse; cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes of tobacco or substitutes; other manufactured tobacco and substitutes; and products containing tobacco or nicotine substitutes intended for inhalation without combustion. "Retail sale price" means the maximum declared packaged price inclusive of all taxes and levies; where multiple prices exist the maximum applies; altered higher prices apply; and area specific declared prices govern valuation in that area. Customs Tariff First Schedule definitions and interpretation rules apply to tariff references.

GST rate amendment revises taxation of tobacco products, biris, pan masala, and inhalation goods under amended schedules.
A GST rate amendment under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 revises the tax treatment of specified tobacco and tobacco-related goods. The amendment inserts biris under Schedule II at 9%, and inserts pan masala, unmanufactured tobacco, cigars, cheroots, cigarillos, cigarettes, other manufactured tobacco and tobacco substitutes, and certain inhalation products into Schedule III at 20%, with biris specifically excluded from the broader tobacco entry. The notification also omits Schedule VII at 14%, thereby removing that rate category from the amended notification.

GST rate reclassification: pan masala and specified tobacco products shifted to higher rate schedules, effective from February.
Amendment modifies the Puducherry GST rate notification by inserting biris into the 9% schedule and adding pan masala, unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco refuse, cigars/cheroots/cigarillos/cigarettes of tobacco or substitutes, other manufactured tobacco and substitutes (excluding biris), and products intended for inhalation without combustion (including those with nicotine substitutes) into the 20% schedule; it also omits entries in the 14% schedule and takes effect on the first day of February, 2026.

Chewing tobacco packing machines: a formula and form amendments set how machine capacity and duty are determined.
An Explanation is inserted into rule 5 prescribing the formula S = (r/g) x n to calculate the maximum rated speed in pouches per minute, where r is motor RPM, g is overall gear ratio and n is number of funnels in a horizontal machine or number of cups in a vertical machine; rule 6(2) and multiple entries in FORM CE DEC-01 and FORM CE CCE-01 are amended to substitute "cups" for "tracks," replace "track" with "cup or funnel," and insert specified multiplicative factors and bracketed calculation notations to align forms and instructions with the revised capacity metric.

Tobacco and pan masala valuation now based on retail sale price less tax under newly inserted rule.
Rule 31D deems value of supply of specified packaged goods (pan masala; various tobacco products; inhalation products) to be the declared retail sale price less applicable tax, prescribes the tax component formula as (Retail sale price x tax rate) / (100 + sum of applicable tax rate), and defines applicable tax and retail sale price including rules for multiple, altered, and area-specific retail prices; rule 86B is amended to exempt registered persons (other than manufacturers) when suppliers have paid tax on such goods on the basis of retail sale price.

Valuation of pan masala and tobacco products now based on declared retail sale price for GST.
The amendment adds a clause prescribing valuation of specified packaged goods by reference to the retail sale price, listing pan masala and various tobacco and inhalation products by Customs Tariff classification; it defines retail sale price as the maximum declared consumer price on packages and sets rules for multiple, altered, and area-specific declared prices, and applies First Schedule interpretative rules of the Customs Tariff Act.

Option for taxpayers with low monthly output tax liability: electronic registration with mandatory Aadhaar authentication and portal processing.
The amendment creates an electronic registration mechanism whereby the common portal shall grant registration within three working days upon identification based on data analysis and risk parameters. It establishes rule 14A permitting taxpayers with monthly output tax liability below a threshold to opt for electronic registration, conditions mandatory Aadhaar authentication, limits one registration per PAN per State/Union territory under this rule, and prescribes procedures for withdrawal, verification, and portal-based processing.

Wage ceiling for supervisory employees set at Rs. 18,000 per month; those earning above are excluded from "worker" definition under the Code on Wages.
The notification fixes a wage ceiling of eighteen thousand rupees per month for persons employed in a supervisory capacity under the Code on Wages, 2019; persons in supervisory capacity drawing wages exceeding eighteen thousand rupees per month are excluded from the definition of "worker" under sub clause (d) of clause (z) of section 2 of the Code.