Employer pension contribution revised for eligible joint-option members under the pension scheme, with higher wages-based contribution rules applied.
Central Government notification brings into force the relevant provisions of the Code on Social Security, 2020 to align the Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 with the Supreme Court's directions concerning the additional employer contribution structure for eligible members who have exercised the joint option under paragraph 11. For such members, the employer's contribution is fixed at 9.49% of basic wages, dearness allowance and retaining allowance, reflecting an increase of 1.16% from the earlier 8.33% rate. The increased contribution applies only to the portion of wages above fifteen thousand rupees per month.

Code on Social Security provisions for Employees' Pension Scheme commence, and certain provident fund provisions are repealed.
The notification appoints 3 May 2023 as the date on which specified provisions of the Code on Social Security, 2020 come into force: sub section (3) of section 15 and selected parts of section 16 relating to the Employees' Pension Scheme, section 143 insofar as it gives effect to specified sub clauses of section 16, and sub section (1) and clause (b) of sub section (2) of section 164 to repeal corresponding provisions of the prior provident fund legislation.

Reportable professional transactions: client-facing financial activities by practicing accountants and secretaries classified as PMLA activity.
Central Government notifies that financial transactions carried out by specified practicing professionals on behalf of clients-including immovable property transactions, management of client money, securities or accounts, organising contributions for company formation, and creation or management of companies, LLPs or trusts-are activities within the meaning of the relevant PMLA provision. "Relevant person" is defined to include individuals holding certificates of practice as chartered accountants, company secretaries, or cost and works accountants, whether practicing individually or through a firm, with "firm" given the Income tax Act meaning.

Double taxation avoidance treaty effects tax allocation, PE rules, withholding limits and anti abuse measures between India and Chile.
The notification gives effect in India to the India-Chile Agreement and Protocol eliminating double taxation and preventing fiscal evasion on income. The treaty applies to residents, specifies covered taxes, treats fiscally transparent entities as resident income when domestic law does so, and allocates taxing rights across major income categories-including immovable property, business profits attributable to a permanent establishment, dividends, interest, royalties, fees for technical services and capital gains-while providing methods for elimination of double taxation, a Mutual Agreement Procedure, Exchange of Information, and a comprehensive Limitation of Benefits regime.

Special Additional Excise Duty rate revision alters the per tonne SAED for petroleum crude and related exports, effective immediately.
Revision of the Special Additional Excise Duty applicable to production of petroleum crude and export of aviation turbine fuel by substituting the rate entry for the first table item in Notification No. 18/2022 Central Excise with a new per tonne rate, effectuating a change in the chargeable SAED; the amendment takes effect from the stated commencement date and is recorded as an administrative update to the principal notification.

RoDTEP schedule realignment aligns export rebate tariff entries with the amended Customs Tariff Act, updating covered items.
Realignment of the RoDTEP Schedule w.e.f. 01.05.2023 aligns Appendix 4R with amendments to the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act effected by the Finance Bill, 2023; the Government has added and deleted specific tariff lines under the authority of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 and the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, with RoDTEP rates and value caps specified for the included tariff items and published on the DGFT portal.

Customs tariff alignment updates HS codes in exemption notifications, revising concessional duty entries and inserting amended tariff lines effective May.
Amendments revise numerous customs exemption notifications by substituting, omitting and inserting HS code entries and related table lines to align tariff classification with the Finance Act, 2023, thereby changing concessional and nil duty applicability for specified imported goods; the notification takes effect on 1 May 2023.

Alignment of HS codes: amends customs tariff entries and replaces specified tariff headings, altering duty treatment for listed imports.
The notification substitutes tariff headings in the customs exemption table to align with the Finance Act, 2023: S. No. 226, column (2) is replaced with "3102 10"; S. No. 451A is replaced by specified subheadings under 8419 89 (8419 89 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 19) with the table recording the description and applicable duty incidence; and S. No. 515A, column (2) is replaced with "8524." The amendments take effect from 1 May 2023 and a corrigendum corrected the S. No. 515A entry.

HS code alignment updates exemption notifications to realign tariff classifications and specified entries for electronic goods.
Amendments revise tariff classification entries in multiple customs exemption notifications to align specified electronic goods with updated HS Codes introduced by the Finance Act, 2023. The changes omit certain serial entries and substitute revised HS subheadings for listed entries across three principal notifications, thereby altering the scope of goods covered by those exemptions. The notification takes effect on 1 May 2023.

Tariff value fixation updates import valuation for designated edible oils, metals, brass scrap, and areca nuts effective from late April.
Amendment to Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) substituting TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 to prescribe tariff values for specified commodities-edible oils (including crude palm oil, RBD palm oil, palmolein variants, crude soybean oil), brass scrap (all grades), specified forms of gold and silver and areca nuts-for customs valuation. The changes are made under sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 and take effect from 29th April, 2023.

Reverse charge on services by courts and tribunals now applies, reallocating tax payment responsibility under GST rules.
The amendment substitutes the Explanation's clause (h) wording so that recipients expressly include State Legislatures, Courts and Tribunals, thereby expanding the category to cover services supplied by Courts and Tribunals. The change, made under the State GST Act, has effect from 1st March, 2023 and is intended to render services supplied by Courts and Tribunals subject to the reverse charge mechanism as notified.

Exemption for entrance-exam services clarifies government bodies conducting tests are treated as educational institutions for GST exemption.
The amendment inserts a clause clarifying that any authority, board or body set up by the Central or State Government, for the limited purpose of conducting entrance examinations for admission to educational institutions, shall be treated as an educational institution when providing services by way of conducting such entrance examinations, thereby placing those services within the GST exemption; the amendment is effective from 1 March 2023.

Exemption for Units in International Financial Service Centres: IFSC based financial service units regulated by the IFSC Authority are excluded from rule applicability.
Rule 53A substitutes an exemption excluding any Unit located in an International Financial Service Centre that provides financial services and is regulated by the International Financial Services Centres Authority from the applicability of rule 53, and adopts the Act's definitions of "financial service" and "International Financial Service Centre" for the purpose of that exemption.

National Savings Certificates updated maturity, interest and premature closure values for accounts opened on or after 1 April 2023.
The amendment deems the Scheme to be in force from 1 April 2023, narrows prior "on or after" references to specified date ranges, fixes the maturity value for an account opened on or after 1 April 2023 with Rs.1000 at Rs.1449.03 (proportionate for other sums), prescribes rounding of fractional rupees (>=50 paisa round up), inserts an annual interest accrual schedule for Rs.1000 certificates purchased on or after 1 April 2023, and adds a table of premature closure amounts for accounts opened on or after 1 April 2023.

National Savings Monthly Income Account: deposits from April 1, 2023 bear 7.4% interest per annum.
The amendment specifies that deposits between 1 January, 2023 and 31 March, 2023 fall within the substituted eligibility period and provides that deposits made under the Scheme on or after 1 April, 2023 shall bear interest at the rate of 7.4% per annum; the Scheme is effective from 1 April, 2023 and the memorandum states no person will be adversely affected by the retrospective operation.

Kisan Vikas Patra updates: new nine years seven months maturity and prescribed premature encashment values for post April accounts.
Amendments to the Kisan Vikas Patra Scheme revise transitional date references to cover "between 1st January, 2023 and 31st March, 2023 (both days inclusive)", set the maturity period for accounts opened on or after 1 April 2023 at nine years and seven months with deposits doubling on maturity, and insert TABLE 5 prescribing premature encashment values for a 1,000 rupee certificate opened on or after 1 April 2023, culminating in a 2,000 rupee maturity value.

Rate of duty application clarified: specified duty applies despite combined presentation if column five conditions are met.
The government inserted matching provisos into Notification No. 11/2022-Customs and Notification No. 12/2022-Customs clarifying that the rate of duty specified in Column (4) applies even when goods are presented together so as to attract rule 2(a) of the General Rules of Interpretation of the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, provided the respective conditions in Column (5) are met.

GST schedule amendment adds rab other than pre-packaged and labelled, altering the listed goods classification and application.
Amendment inserts Rab, other than pre-packaged and labelled as item (iii) after item (ii) against serial number 94 in the Schedule to Notification No. SRO-GST-2, thereby changing the goods description in that Schedule; the notification declares the amendment to be effective from the first day of March, 2023 under the statutory taxing authority.

GST amendment: pencil sharpeners reclassified to lower tax slab and excluded from higher slab; jaggery labeling updated.
The notification amends SRO-GST-1 by substituting a Schedule I entry to specify pre-packaged and labeled jaggery and related sugar products; inserting a new commodity entry classifying pencil sharpeners in the medium-rate schedule; and adding an explicit exclusion for pencil sharpeners from a higher-rate schedule entry. The amendments are declared deemed operative from an earlier commencement date.

Definition amendment expands covered public authorities to include courts and tribunals, broadening GST coverage and administrative reach.
The Explanation to Notification No. SRO-GST-13 is amended by substituting the words "and State Legislatures" with State Legislatures, Courts and Tribunals, thereby expressly including courts and tribunals within the specified category, and this amendment is deemed to have come into force from the first day of March, 2023.