CENVAT credit expanded to include secondary and higher education cess, with utilisation, reconciliation and reporting conditions.
Amendments permit CENVAT credit treatment of the Secondary and Higher Education Cess and allow interchangeability in utilisation with existing education cess credits. Providers of specified output services may opt to utilise CENVAT credit for taxable services subject to written notification, monthly provisional computation and payment of credit attributable to exempted services, annual reconciliation by 30 June, interest on shortfalls, and reporting; annual-only reconciliation is allowed where no taxable service existed. Revised returns permitted within sixty days; exemptions invoked by manufacturers or service providers require payment of CENVAT credit on inputs in stock, with residual credit lapsing; penalties and rule wording are also revised.

Exemption for incubatee services: service tax waived for entrepreneurs in recognized TBIs/STEPs subject to agreement and turnover limit.
Exempts taxable services provided by an entrepreneur within a recognized Technology Business Incubator or Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park where the entrepreneur enters into an incubatee agreement to develop hi tech products and whose total business turnover did not exceed the prescribed threshold in the previous financial year; the exemption applies for three years from the date of the agreement and ceases once turnover exceeds the threshold.

Service tax exemption for services by recognized incubators and parks granted, subject to annual reporting requirements.
Exempts all taxable services provided by a Technology Business Incubator or a Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park recognized by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board from service tax, subject to submission of prescribed information in two formats - one for the incubator's details and service summaries and one with per incubatee project and taxable service details - to the concerned Commissionerate before availing the exemption and annually by the 30th of June each year.

Valuation of job worked goods: transaction value governs when principal sells at removal; otherwise normal value or other rules apply.
Where excisable goods are produced by a job worker for a principal manufacturer, if the principal sells the goods at removal to an unrelated buyer for a price that is the sole consideration, value is the transaction value of that sale; if goods are transferred elsewhere and sold from that other place to an unrelated buyer for price as sole consideration, value is the normal transaction value of such sales at or about the same time or nearest thereto; otherwise existing valuation rules apply mutatis mutandis. Transportation cost from the selling premises to place of delivery is excluded from value. "Job worker" is defined as a person manufacturing goods on behalf of a principal from inputs supplied by the principal or an authorised person.

Surcharge rate amendment: substitution of notified entry alters the tariff provision under Central Excise authority.
Amendment to Notification No. 6/2005-Central Excise substitutes, in the Table, against S.No. 1 the entry in column (4) with a new notified percentage rate. The change is effected under sub section (1) of section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with sub section (3) of section 85 of the Finance Act, 2005, and is declared necessary in the public interest.

Small-scale exemption threshold increased, amending existing notification to raise monetary eligibility and alter related provisions.
Amendment to notification No. 8/2003-Central Excise substitutes the previously stated monetary ceiling with a higher monetary limit in the Table (column (2)), in paragraph 2 sub-paragraphs (iii) and (iv), and in paragraph 3, thereby raising the small scale exemption threshold across the principal notification.

Electronic payment requirement for high-duty assessees mandates online deposit; false excise invoices attract penalties for enabling ineligible credits.
Mandates electronic deposit of excise duty by assessees exceeding the specified prior-year duty threshold (excluding CENVAT-paid duty) and expands the rule definition of duty to include amounts payable under the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004. Adds the address of the concerned Central Excise division to required registration particulars. Revises multiple monetary limits in existing provisos and substitutes specified amounts in rules contingent on assent to the Finance Bill. Inserts a penal sub-rule making issuers or abettors of excise invoices or documents that produce ineligible benefits, such as wrongful CENVAT credit or refund, liable to a penalty up to the amount of the benefit or a prescribed minimum, whichever is greater.

Service tax exemption for resident welfare association services to members, subject to a per member payment cap.
Exempts taxable services supplied by a resident welfare association to its members where membership is solely determined by residential status, under powers of the Finance Act, subject to the condition that total consideration charged to any individual member for those services does not exceed three thousand rupees per month.

Service tax registration threshold increased for a specified special category, changing required amount and effective from April.
The notification amends Form ST 1 (serial number 4, category (b)(ii)) by substituting the existing monetary threshold wording with a higher monetary wording under rule 3 of the Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005; the amendment is effective from 1 April 2007 and forms part of Notification No. 32/2005-Service Tax.

Duty exemption for preparations for infant use in unit containers inserted into central excise notification; another entry omitted.
The Central Government, under section 5A, amends notification No. 3/2005 by inserting a new tariff entry for "Preparations for infant use, put up in unit containers" with a Nil effective rate of duty (S.No. 5A) and omits the existing S.No. 78 and its entries from the Table of the principal notification.

Central Excise tariff amendments revise duty rates and add water purification and aircraft-related concession entries.
The notification amends Central Excise No.6/2006 by substituting the effective date, revising tariff-table entries and duty rates to 8% for specified items, inserting new nil-duty entries for defined water purification equipment and certain non-electric water filters, and adding tariff headings and parts for aircraft with associated duty treatment. The Annexure gains Conditions 21 and 22, which grant conditional concessions where aircraft are procured by government entities or operators for scheduled air transport or cargo services, or where goods are intended for servicing, repair or maintenance of such aircraft, with definitions of "operator", "scheduled air transport service" and "scheduled air cargo service".

Service Tax registration threshold increased for special category persons, raising the turnover limit for mandatory registration.
Amendment revises the registration threshold for special category persons under the Service Tax (Registration of Special Category of Persons) Rules, 2005 by substituting the previously specified monetary limit in the relevant rule with a new, higher monetary ceiling, thereby altering the turnover-based registration criterion and specifying the effective date in the notification.

Service Tax threshold change increases the registration limit under the Finance Act notification, effective from the notified commencement date.
Amendment to Notification No.26/2005 substitutes the monetary threshold in paragraph 1(ii) with a higher amount by authority of sub-section (2) of section 69 of the Finance Act, 1994. Issued as Notification No.5/2007-Service Tax, the amendment was published in the Gazette and takes effect from the notified commencement date, thereby changing the operative eligibility/threshold for the relevant service tax provision.

Tariff amendments: classification entries revised to add nylon filament yarn and synthetic gem dust, and several tariff headings altered.
The notification amends the tariff Table in the principal Central Excise notification by substituting the S.No.1 description to limit exclusions concerning nylon filament yarn of 210 deniers (with 6% tolerance), inserting S.No.1A to classify nylon filament yarn of 210 deniers (including monofilament) with an assigned effective duty rate, inserting S.Nos.5A and 5B to cover specified goods including umbrellas, omitting S.No.17, deleting the words "or synthetic" from S.No.22, and inserting S.No.22A to classify dust and powder of synthetic precious or semi-precious stones with its duty treatment.

Excise duty rates revised for cement and selected chemicals, redefining mini cement plant thresholds and packaging-based duty distinctions.
The notification revises tariff entries for cement by introducing S.Nos.1, 1A, 1B and 1C that differentiate mini cement plant manufacture and packaged versus unpackaged clearances, linking distinct excise duty rates to declared retail sale price and per-tonne equivalent price; it defines mini cement plant, prescribes computation rules for retail sale price and per-tonne equivalents, amends several other tariff entries (including for inputs and bio-diesels), substitutes specified duty expressions, and modifies Annexure conditions to exclude certain clearances from quantity computations while omitting Condition No.7.

Service tax monetary threshold increase amends notification to raise specified limits and takes effect on April first.
The government amends Notification No. 6/2005-Service Tax by substituting the existing monetary threshold wording in paragraph 1, sub paragraph (viii) of paragraph 2, and all occurrences in paragraph 3 with higher monetary limits; the substitution is a textual change of specified monetary expressions and takes effect on the first day of April following publication.

Sponsorship service brought within service tax scope when provided to Indian corporate or firm by amendment.
Substitution of sub paragraph (vi) in paragraph (A) of Notification No.36/2004 Service Tax classifies sponsorship service as covered by the notification when provided to a body corporate or firm located in India; the amendment is made under powers conferred by the Finance Act, 1994 and includes a commencement provision bringing the substitution into force from the first day of April.

Excise tariff amendments introduce new product classifications, duty rates, and an annual declaration requirement for biris manufacturers.
Amendments revise the excise tariff table by inserting entries that exempt packaged biscuits below a per kg retail sale price threshold and classify certain food products with specified duty rates or nil duty, modify existing tariff entries and numeric column values, and add an Annexure condition requiring manufacturers of biris to file an annual declaration in a prescribed format with jurisdictional central excise authorities detailing identity, PAN, manufacturing processes, job-worker arrangements and quantities.

Export of Service: treated as export when provided from India, used outside India and paid in convertible foreign exchange.
A taxable service shall be treated as export of service when the following conditions are satisfied: the service is provided from India and used outside India; and payment for such service is received by the service provider in convertible foreign exchange. "India" for this rule includes designated areas in the continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone as declared by Government notifications.

Adjustment of excess service tax payments permitted with conditions and limits, and revised returns allowed to correct mistakes.
Amendments clarify that for sponsorship service provided to an Indian body corporate or firm, the recipient is liable; permit an "intimation" in lieu of or alongside application forms; allow adjustment of excess service tax payments against succeeding liabilities subject to specified conditions and limits and mandatory intimation to the jurisdictional Superintendent; authorise submission of a revised return in Form ST-3 within a limited period with the revised submission date as the relevant date for recovery; and amend Forms ST-1, ST-2 and ST-3 to revise documentary and acknowledgement requirements.