Tariff classification update: notification entries revised to clarify exclusions and omit redundant entries in customs schedule.
Amendments to notification No. 50/2017-Customs revise HS transpositions and commodity descriptions, specify exclusions for pulses, omit temporally redundant or duplicate entries, replace broad chapter references with specific headings, insert an explanation to exclude toy balloons of natural rubber latex from an exemption, simplify concessional-rate language for newsprint and similar uncoated papers, and delete redundant proviso clauses to prevent misclassification and remove ambiguity.

Social Welfare Surcharge changes narrow its application, exempting AIDC and limiting levy to value plus basic customs duty.
Modification to the Social Welfare Surcharge: Notification No. 12/2018-Customs prescribing a 3% rate on certain items including gold and silver is rescinded; SWS is rescinded on goods under headings 2515 11 and 2515 12; SWS is exempted on the value of AIDC for gold and silver, so SWS will apply only on value plus basic customs duty.

Anti-dumping duty rules revised to require earlier final findings and permit provisional anti circumvention assessments; select duties revoked.
Amendments require designated authorities in ADD and CVD review cases to issue final findings at least three months before duty expiry and allow provisional assessment in anti circumvention investigations; safeguard rules are reworked to detail implementation and renamed Safeguard Measures. Specific temporary revocations and discontinuations of anti dumping and countervailing duties on listed steel and alloy products from specified origins are announced.

Excise duty definitions clarified in Finance Bill, with specified duties and amendments effective on enactment.
The Finance Bill, 2021 defines Basic Excise Duty by reference to the Fourth Schedule of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and identifies Road and Infrastructure Cess, Special Additional Excise Duty, and NCCD with their statutory origins; it also indicates clause numbering conventions and provides that amendments in the Bill take effect on enactment unless otherwise stated.

Tariff amendment: retrospective validation of a prior Fourth Schedule change and insertion of new harmonised tariff items with prescribed duty.
The document amends the Fourth Schedule: a prior notification amending the Schedule is made effective retrospectively from the start of the stated year; new tariff items are inserted in Chapter 24 to align with the upcoming Harmonised System nomenclature and a prescribed tariff rate is imposed on those items effective from the commencement of the new nomenclature year.

Retrospective tariff amendment clarifies classification and prescribes increased excise duty rates effective retrospectively from budget measures.
Retrospective amendments to Chapter 27 of the Fourth Schedule to the Central Excise Act correct the Indian Standard for tariff item 27101249 to IS 17076 and prescribe a combined ad valorem and specific per litre excise duty for tariff items 2710 20 10 and 2710 20 20, all effective from 01.01.2020, as proposed in the Finance Bill, 2021.

Tariff amendment revises Chapter 27 classifications for petroleum oils, altering excise duty treatment effective next fiscal year.
Amendment substitutes entries in Chapter 27 of the Fourth Schedule to the Central Excise Act, 1944 revising tariff items for petroleum oils: petroleum crude is classified under tariff item 2709 00 10 assessed per kilogram with a nil excise duty, and a substituted entry for other petroleum oils appears under 2709 00 20 assessed per kilogram with the duty entry not specified in the extract; the amendment is linked to the Finance Bill and is stated to take effect from the next fiscal year.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on petrol and diesel imposed for agriculture infrastructure funding, effective immediately.
An additional duty of excise, the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, is proposed on motor spirit (petrol) and high speed diesel by the Finance Bill, 2021 to finance agriculture infrastructure and related development expenditure. The proposal sets fixed per litre cess rates for each fuel and declares the levy effective immediately through the provisional tax collection mechanism, thereby earmarking cess proceeds for agriculture infrastructure and development spending.

Excise duty adjustment: reductions in basic and special additional excise duties offset the new AIDC to protect consumers.
A new AIDC on petrol and high speed diesel takes effect from 02.02.2021, with concurrent reductions in Basic Excise Duty and Special Additional Excise Duty so consumers do not face additional burden. Revised per litre compositions: petrol unbranded BED 1.4, SAED 11, AIDC 2.5; petrol branded BED 2.6, SAED 11, AIDC 2.5; diesel unbranded BED 1.8, SAED 8, AIDC 4; diesel branded BED 4.2, SAED 8, AIDC 4.

Exemptions for blended fuels: cesses and surcharges waived for M-15 and E-20 where inputs are duty paid.
Exemptions align excise cesses and surcharges for M-15 and E-20 with existing treatment for lower blends, provided the blended fuels are produced from duty-paid inputs; amendments to central excise notifications extend tax relief to higher-percentage blends on the same eligibility condition tied to the duty status of upstream inputs.

NCCD on newly inserted tobacco tariff items imposed under the finance measure, becoming chargeable upon HS 2022 implementation.
Two new tariff items, inserted to align with the HS 2022 nomenclature, are added to Schedule VII of the Finance Act, 2001 and made subject to National Calamity Contingent Duty; the prescribed NCCD rate applies to these tariff entries with effect from the implementation date of HS 2022.

Commencement of GST amendments: Finance Bill measures effective on notification and aligned with state enactments.
Amendments to the Goods and Services Tax framework introduced in the Finance Bill, 2021 will come into effect only when they are notified, and, insofar as practicable, will be notified concurrently with corresponding amendments enacted by States and Union Territories having legislatures; the Bill treats the CGST Act, 2017 and the IGST Act, 2017 as the governing central and integrated GST enactments.

CGST amendments tighten taxation of related party supplies and revise returns, credit, interest, enforcement and appeal rules.
Finance Bill, 2021 amends the CGST Act to: tax supplies between non individuals and members retrospectively; limit input tax credit to supplier reported outward supplies; replace mandatory audited reconciliation and account audits with self certified annual returns; charge interest on net cash liability retrospectively; separate seizure/confiscation from tax recovery; make provisional attachment valid through proceedings and one year after order; condition certain appeals on payment of part of penalty; clarify self assessed tax includes outward supplies omitted from returns; expand information calling powers while preserving a hearing requirement.

Zero-rating of supplies to SEZs limited to authorised operations; zero-rating on payment restricted to notified taxpayers, refund linked to forex.
Amendments narrow zero-rated supplies to Special Economic Zone developers or units to transactions for authorised operations; restrict zero-rating on payment of integrated tax to notified classes of taxpayers or notified supplies; and connect export refund entitlement to actual foreign exchange remittance, thereby conditioning refunds on realization documentation.

Retrospective GST amendments change exemption and levy rules and bar refunds on paid GST in specified goods.
Amendments give retrospective effect to changes in GST treatment for specified goods: fishmeal exemption is limited with no refunds for paid GST; reduced levy treatment for certain pulley and wheel parts used in agricultural machinery is applied retrospectively, also without refunds; and refunds of accumulated compensation cess credit on tobacco products arising from an inverted duty structure are disallowed retrospectively.

Removal of difficulties orders extended under GST compensation law to allow continued issuance for an additional statutory period.
Amendment to Section 14 of the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 expands the temporal scope for issuing removal of difficulties orders, enabling the grant of such orders for an additional two-year period and thereby extending authority to issue orders until five years from the Act's commencement.

Removal of difficulties orders extended to permit issuance beyond the original timeframe, enabling continued administrative corrections.
The UTGST Act is amended by modifying Section 26 to extend the statutory authority to issue removal of difficulties orders, permitting continuation of those orders beyond the Act's initial transitional window and thereby lengthening the period during which administrative corrections and clarifications may be made under the Act.

Extension of removal of difficulties orders: continuation permitted for two years under amended IGST Act provision.
The amendment to Section 25 extends the authority to issue removal of difficulties orders for an additional two years, allowing such orders to be made up to five years from the date of commencement of the IGST Act, thereby prolonging the administrative mechanism to address implementation issues.

Composition scheme exclusions expanded, affecting service suppliers and inter state service supplies and tightening input tax credit rules.
Amendments revise the definition of Union territory, narrow the composition scheme to exclude specified categories of service supplies, delink debit note date from invoice date for input tax credit, prescribe manner and time limits for transitional credit, and strengthen registration, procedural and enforcement provisions including cancellation and revocation rules, invoice issuance for services, removal of TDS certificate obligations, and enhanced penalties and cognizable treatment for fraudulent availment of input tax credit.

Excise duty increase and higher NCCD rates on tobacco products raise tax incidence and apply immediately.
Amendment increases excise and NCCD rates for specified tobacco and tobacco substitute tariff items in the Seventh Schedule to the Finance Act, 2001, listing revised unit and ad valorem rates by tariff heading and measurement unit. The changes take effect on enactment and are applied immediately under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931.