Anti-dumping duty on Synthetic Grade Zeolite 4A imposed for injury caused by dumped imports from Thailand and Iran.
Anti-dumping duty was imposed on Synthetic Grade Zeolite 4A imported from Thailand and Iran, following final findings of dumping, injury, and price underselling. The notification specifies different duty rates based on origin, export country, and producer, and provides that the duty will operate for five years from publication unless earlier revoked, superseded, or amended. Customs authorities may verify claimed UAE origin, and the exchange rate for duty calculation is determined under the Customs Act.

Aadhaar authentication permitted for specified reporting entities to fulfil anti-money laundering compliance requirements.
Permission is granted to specified reporting entities to perform Aadhaar authentication for the purposes of compliance with the Prevention of Money laundering Act, 2002, conditional on adherence to privacy and security standards under the Aadhaar Act and following consultation with the Unique Identification Authority and the appropriate regulator.

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2023-24 offers 8 year government gold linked bonds with 2.5% interest and tradability.
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2023-24 issues Government of India Stock denominated in grams of 999 purity gold, available to resident individuals, HUFs, trusts, charitable institutions and universities. Bonds (min one gram) have fiscal-year subscription ceilings (4 kg individuals/HUF; 20 kg trusts), nominal value fixed by a three day IBJA average, Rs.50 per gram discount for digital applicants, 2.50% p.a. interest payable semi annually, eight year tenor with premature redemption after year five on coupon dates, transferability, Demat conversion, tradability, loan collateralisation subject to LTV and lender discretion, and specified tax treatment.

Special condonation procedure for late GST appeals: deadline and payment conditions permit limited reopening of time-barred appeals.
Notification permits taxable persons who missed the deadline for appeals against tax demand orders to file appeals in FORM GST APL-01 within a limited window, subject to payment conditions: full payment of admitted amounts and payment of twelve and a half percent of the remaining disputed tax (subject to a cap), with at least twenty percent paid from the Electronic Cash Ledger. No refunds of excess pre-notification payments are allowed until appeal disposal. The procedure excludes non-tax demands and applies appeal rules mutatis mutandis.

Related-party corporate guarantee valuation is prescribed, while provisional attachment duration, registration cancellation, reporting and practitioner enrolment procedures are revised.
Corporate guarantee services supplied between related persons to a banking company or financial institution for the recipient are valued at one per cent of the guarantee amount or actual consideration, whichever is higher. Settlement under rule 142 requires an intimation. Provisional attachment ceases on release or after one year, whichever is earlier. Registration, cancellation, tax collected at source reporting, and GST practitioner enrolment forms are revised, including recognition of One Person Companies and specified qualifications for GST practitioners.

Condonation procedure for delayed GST appeals permits belated filing subject to admitted payments and a mandated partial deposit.
Notification enables taxable persons whose appeals against demand orders were time-barred to file grievances in FORM GST APL-01 by the extended date, treating certain pending appeals as compliant if payment conditions are met. Filing requires full payment of any admitted liabilities and a further specified deposit of the disputed tax subject to a cap, with a minimum portion debited from the Electronic Cash Ledger. No refunds of excess pre-notification payments will be allowed until appeal disposal. Appeals concerning demands not involving tax are excluded, and Chapter XIII of the State GST Rules applies mutatis mutandis.

Online gaming tax law expands GST coverage for specified actionable claims, platform operators, and overseas suppliers.
The Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 2023 amends the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 with retrospective effect from 1 October 2023. It introduces the definitions of online gaming, online money gaming, specified actionable claim, and virtual digital asset, and treats a person who organises or arranges the supply of specified actionable claims, including through a digital or electronic platform, as a supplier liable to pay tax. It also brings suppliers of online money gaming from outside India to persons in India within registration provisions and substitutes "specified actionable claims" in Schedule III.

Export prohibition on De Oiled Rice Bran extended, maintaining export controls through a revised foreign trade policy amendment.
The Foreign Trade Policy amendment continues a export prohibition on De Oiled Rice Bran under the applicable HS classifications by modifying Chapter 23 of Schedule 2 of the ITC HS export policy; a subsequent substitution further revised the operative text and extended the administrative export restriction until the revised date specified in that substitution.

Import policy change: Yellow peas imports are free until 31 March with mandatory import monitoring registration.
Imports of Yellow Peas under ITC(HS) Code 07131010 are declared Free until 31 March 2024, with the Minimum Import Price and Kolkata port restriction suspended for that period. Consignments cleared after 31 March 2024 will not qualify for this liberalisation. All imports during the liberalised period require compulsory registration under the Import Monitoring System, and procedures for prior registration will be notified separately.

Re-designation of Tax Officers updates GST Rules to substitute officer titles and revise appeals authorities accordingly.
Amendments to the Kerala GST Rules revise officer designations: rule 56(20A) substitutes Deputy Commissioner of State Tax with Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Intelligence and Enforcement; rule 109A substitutes Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) with Joint Commissioner of State Tax (Appeals), Assistant Commissioner of State Tax with Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Joint Commissioner (Appeals) with Additional Commissioner of State Tax (Appeals), and Deputy Commissioner with Joint Commissioner of State Tax, reflecting departmental reorganisation.

Exchange Rate Determination: revised foreign currency rates set for customs valuation, governing import and export conversions nationwide.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs determines exchange rates for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for customs valuation of imported and export goods, effective 8th December, 2023, listing distinct rates for imports and exports across two schedules and superseding Notification No. 84/2023 Customs(N.T.) with preservation of prior acts; the notification records subsequent administrative amendments to particular currency entries and later supersession.

Customs duty exemption for Yellow Peas applies to imports with bill of lading issued by specified cut off.
Exempts imports of Yellow Peas under the specified tariff item from the whole of customs duty and from the whole of the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess when the Bill of Lading for the goods is issued on or before the specified cut-off date, with the exemption granted under statutory powers in the Customs Act and the Finance Act and subject to the condition set out in the notification Table.

Onion export prohibition imposed; exports restricted until end March with limited transitional consignments and govt to govt permissions.
Export policy for onions (HS 0703 10 19) is amended from Free to Prohibited until 31 March 2024, effective 8 December 2023, with Paragraph 1.05 transitional arrangements not applicable. Limited consignments already in the export chain are allowed only if loading commenced before the notification, or shipping bills and vessel berthing/anchoring with port confirmation existed prior, or consignments were registered with Customs/custodian systems with verifiable date/time stamping; such exports are permitted up to 5 January 2024. Government to Government requests may also justify export authorization.

Export permission for Non-basmati White Rice to specified African countries via NCEL authorized under Foreign Trade Policy.
Authorization is granted for export of Non-basmati White Rice under HS/ITC HS Code 10063090 to Comoros, Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt and Kenya, subject to routing through a designated cooperative export agency and in accordance with the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act and the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 and related notifications.

Export exemption for non basmati white rice allows charitable shipment as donation to Nepal earthquake victims under revised FTP.
A one time exemption to the prohibition on exports of non basmati white rice is granted to the Indian Rice Exporters Federation to export a specified consignment, classified under the relevant Harmonized System code, as a donation to the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority of the Government of Nepal for earthquake victims; all other exports under the same classification remain prohibited.

Refund of input tax credit extended to imitation zari thread from metallised polyester or plastic film, applied retroactively.
Amendment inserts an entry permitting refund of input tax credit for imitation zari thread or yarn made from metallised polyester film or plastic film, with an explicit explanation that the refund applies only where the input is polyester film or plastic film, and provides retrospective effect to the specified earlier date.

Government entity inclusion clarified: central (excluding railways), state, union territory and local authorities covered by the notification.
The notification substitutes the Table entry for S. No. 6 to read: Central Government [excluding Ministry of Railways (Indian Railways)], State Government, Union territory or a local authority, thereby specifying covered public entities and excluding the Ministry of Railways.

GST schedule amendment adds millet flour preparation category, altering tax applicability and making it retroactively effective.
The Schedule is amended by inserting S. No. 94A under HSN 1901 to cover food preparations of millet flour in powder form containing at least 70% millets by weight, other than pre-packaged and labelled goods; the amendment is made under State tax powers and is deemed to have come into force from 20 October 2023.

GST rate changes: reclassifies molasses, specified millet flour products and industrial spirits, and omits a prior schedule entry.
Amends Department Notification No. 1125-F.T. to modify GST schedule entries: inserts molasses and a specified millet flour food preparation into a lower-rated schedule, revises an existing heading to include that millet flour product, adds spirits for industrial use into an intermediate-rated schedule, and omits a specified entry from a higher-rated schedule. The amendments take effect retrospectively from an earlier notified date under powers of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Electronic commerce operator tax liability narrowed: omnibus passenger services excluded except when supplied by a company through an ECO.
Amendment narrows ECO tax scope by excluding services transporting passengers by omnibus from ECO-taxable services, except where the supplier through an electronic commerce operator is a company; and adds that "Company" bears the meaning in clause (20) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013.