Increase in tariff rates for plastics, consumer and laboratory chemicals to take immediate provisional effect; additional tariff amendments from October.
The Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2024 amends the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 to implement immediate provisional increases in specified basic customs duties using the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 2023 for certain PVC flex films, consumer goods and laboratory chemicals in small packings, and further tariff adjustments to be given effect in the Schedule from October while preserving current BCD levels for other affected goods via notification amendments.

Basic customs duty reductions across sectors to incentivise domestic manufacturing and simplify export-duty treatment.
The Finance (No.2) Bill, 2024 revises Basic Customs Duty rates effective 24 July 2024, lowering or nil-rating duties across agricultural inputs, aquaculture, critical minerals, metals, chemicals, IT and electronics, medical equipment, renewable energy inputs and precious metals; it also simplifies and rationalises export duties on hides, skins and leather to streamline export taxation.

Validation of customs notification restores duty exemption for specified oil imports subject to TRQ and bill of lading conditions.
The Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2024 validates Notification No. 37/2023 to confirm exemption from basic customs duty and anti-dumping/countervailing duties on imports of crude soybean oil and crude sunflower seed oil, conditional on unutilized TRQ quota and a bill of lading issued on or before 31 March, 2023; it also exempts GST Compensation Cess on imports into SEZs by SEZ units or developers for authorized operations.

New Shipper Review introduced for countervailing duty rules, enabling review of new exporters under amended procedures.
Amendment inserts a New Shipper Review provision into the Customs Tariff Rules, 1995 to permit review of new exporters or suppliers within the existing framework for identification, assessment and collection of countervailing duty and for determination of injury; effective from 24.7.2024.

Temporary import time limits extended for aircraft, vessels and warranty exports, enabling longer duty-free re-import and repair periods.
The notifications extend temporal reliefs and adjust tariffs: aircraft and vessels imported for maintenance, repair and overhaul may remain imported for one year (further extendable by one year), warranty exports qualify for duty free re import for five years (further extendable by two years), and the India-UAE CEPA tariff notification is amended to revise duty rates on precious metals; changes effective 24 July 2024.

BCD exemption extensions preserve duty-free treatment for specified imports, with targeted scope adjustments for certain inputs.
The Finance measure extends conditional Basic Customs Duty (BCD) exemptions for numerous specified goods-inputs, parts, capital goods, and medical supplies-preserving duty-free import treatment subject to existing notification conditions, while narrowing or broadening the scope of certain entries and maintaining targeted provisions for SEZ-related supplies and bona fide exporters; stakeholders must refer to the notification for full descriptive and documentary eligibility requirements.

Customs duty exemptions extended and expiry clauses removed, preserving specified import concessions for listed goods and sectors.
Amendments extend Basic Customs Duty (BCD) exemption timelines for specified notifications and remove prescribed end dates for another subset, thereby sustaining concessional import treatment for listed categories such as media content, specialised machinery, castor products, artworks, precious stones on approval basis, copper products, export-jobbing inputs, instructional materials and other sectoral items; notifications remain authoritative for full descriptions.

Customs duty exemptions lapse removing concessional import treatments across multiple sectors and specified notification-based exemptions.
Customs duty exemptions and concessional notifications listed in earlier customs instruments are being allowed to lapse, removing specified concessional import treatments. Affected provisions include selected entries of notification No. 50/2017-Customs covering inputs and equipment for sectors such as solar manufacturing, electric vehicles, medical devices, telecommunication equipment, and certain industrial catalysts, and several standalone notifications granting exemptions for gold imports by banks, donated second-hand computers, SAD-related exemptions, SEZ to DTA transfers, and aviation re-imports.

Social Welfare Surcharge exemption for specified minerals and metal inputs removes surcharge on listed imported goods.
Amendment to Notification No. 11/2018 exempts a specified list of imported goods from the levy of the Social Welfare Surcharge with effect from 24 July 2024, covering raw minerals, metal ores and concentrates, high purity silicon and silicon products, rare earth metals and compounds, various oxides, hydroxides, salts and carbonates, graphite and a range of unwrought metals, powders, waste and scrap.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess rate reduction alters customs duty incidence on specified precious metal imports.
Amendment revises the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) rates on specified precious metal goods by modifying Notification No. 11/2021 - Customs, effective 24 July 2024, reducing AIDC and altering the effective customs duty incidence on listed tariff entries including gold, silver, platinum group metals, coins of precious metals, and related findings.

Exemption of Clean Environment Cess on stock, subject to GST compensation cess on subsequent supplies.
The amendment extends the submission period for the final Mega Power Project certificate under Notification No.12/2012 Central Excise from 120 to 156 months. It also exempts Clean Environment Cess on excisable goods in stock as of 30 June 2017, conditional on payment of applicable GST Compensation Cess on supplies of those goods on or after 1 July 2017. Both changes take effect from the date of enactment of the Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2024.

Limitation on GST demand determination: new unified regime for post-change periods with restructured penalties and appeal pre-deposit rules.
Insertion of Section 74A establishes a separate regime for determination of tax not paid, short paid, erroneously refunded or incorrect input tax credit for periods from the Financial Year 2024-25 onwards, prescribes a uniform limitation period for issuing demands and orders for those periods, retains higher penalties where fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression is found, and triggers consequential amendments across assessment, recovery, credit, return-filing and appeal provisions to align procedures and pre-deposit requirements.

Zero rating changes in IGST allow notified classes to claim refunds subject to prescribed conditions and export duty restrictions.
The Bill amends IGST to exempt Extra Neutral Alcohol used in making alcoholic liquor from integrated tax; empowers the Government to regularize non levy or short levy arising from established general practice; revises the zero rating regime to allow notification of classes eligible for zero rated supplies and corresponding refunds under Central GST refund rules while barring refunds where export duty applies; and reduces maximum pre deposit amounts required to file appeals before the appellate authority and the Appellate Tribunal.

Tax exemption for extra neutral alcohol removes union territory tax when used to make alcoholic liquor, altering levy scope.
Amendment excludes union territory tax on Extra Neutral Alcohol used in manufacture of alcoholic liquor for human consumption, narrowing the UTGST taxable base and requiring suppliers and manufacturers to adjust tax treatment. A newly inserted Section 8A authorizes the government to regularize non-levy or short levy of union territory tax where such shortfall resulted from a general practice, creating a mechanism to validate or correct historical under-collection attributable to systemic practices.

Regularisation of cess shortfalls where non levy arose from general practice allows government to sanction corrective levy.
Section 8A empowers the government to regularize cases of non-levy or short-levy of the compensation cess where such under-collection arose from a prevailing general practice, providing an administrative mechanism to treat practice-driven cess shortfalls as regularizable liabilities under the GST compensation framework.

Optional personal tax regime clarified with default slab rules, restricted deductions, and surcharge plus cess implications.
Existing special-rate provisions for companies and cooperative societies remain unchanged for AY 2023-24 while Part I of the First Schedule prescribes standard slab rates for other assessees; the optional personal tax regime permits eligible individuals and HUFs to elect alternative slab rates with disallowance of most deductions except specified allowances, procedural rules govern exercise and revocation of the option, and surcharge, marginal relief and a fixed health and education cess apply with specified caps and computation rules.

TDS rates and surcharge framework for the fiscal year set; winnings from online games are subject to withholding at a specified rate.
TDS rates for non-salary incomes for FY 2023-24 remain as in the prior schedule and apply under the specified withholding provisions; the schedule now also covers withholding on online gaming winnings at the rate set in the Bill. Prescribed section rates govern deduction. A multi-tier surcharge regime increases deducted tax by differing rates across taxpayer categories and income bands, with caps limiting surcharge on dividend and specified capital-gains income and an alternative-regime surcharge restriction. Health and Education Cess of four percent applies on tax including surcharge where applicable.

TDS on salaries: prescribed deduction rates and advance-tax computation clarified, with limited change for incomes under section 115BAC.
Part III of the Finance Bill prescribes rates for TDS on salaries and the computation of advance tax for the fiscal year, and those rates also apply when charging tax in provisional or accelerated assessments. The schedules apply across categories of taxpayers-individuals, cooperatives, firms, local authorities and companies-and the overall rate structure remains unchanged except for incomes governed by the alternative optional tax regime; the Bill also notes the continuing framework for tax rebate entitlement.

New Default Tax Regime: revised slab rates apply for individuals and HUFs, with optional alternative regime and surcharge caps.
Default tax rates under section 115BAC(1A) govern income-tax computation for individuals, HUFs, AOPs, BOIs and specified artificial juridical persons for FY 2023-24, with a progressive slab structure; taxpayers may opt under proposed section 115BAC(6) to instead be taxed under the alternative rates in Part III, which set different exemption limits for ordinary residents and senior citizens. The Bill includes a graduated surcharge regime for higher incomes, provides caps on surcharge where income includes dividends or specified capital gains, limits surcharge for AOPs consisting only of companies, and restricts surcharge rates for persons taxed under section 115BAC(1A); marginal relief is provided at surcharge thresholds.

Co-operative society tax rates updated: surcharge tiers retained; new concessional options introduced for qualifying manufacturing societies.
Co-operative societies will continue under the existing income-tax rate structure with a tiered surcharge framework for higher total income and marginal relief. Resident societies satisfying statutory conditions may opt for an optional reduced tax regime with a specified surcharge. Newly established manufacturing co-operative societies that commence production within a prescribed window and do not claim specified incentives may opt into a concessional tax regime for subsequent assessment years, subject to surcharge.