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Metric Million British Thermal Unit is added as a standard commercial unit of quantity for import and export declarations. Recognised for measuring natural gas by energy content, it is used in commercial negotiations, invoices and ship ullage survey reports. The unit is accepted in the Customs EDI System, and import and export declarations using it must apply the unit quantity code MBT.

Proposed amendment of Section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962 would mandate advance filing of Bills of Entry, subject to enactment of the Finance Bill, 2021. Importers would be required to file a Bill of Entry by the end of the day preceding arrival of the carrying vessel, aircraft or vehicle. The Board may prescribe different time limits in specified cases, but not beyond the day of arrival. Relaxation is under consideration for certain land, airport, neighbouring-country and short-haul imports.

Agentic AI-enabled credit assessment uses alternative financial and commercial data to support formal credit access, including rural payment records, UPI transactions, GST data, trade data and banking data. Lending functions include automated assessment, AI-assisted underwriting, data intelligence and document processing. AI applications also support fraud and anti-money-laundering investigations, data-protection compliance, insurance operations, customer servicing and collections actions subject to compliance and policy guardrails.

Sales tax subsidy received under an identical scheme retains its capital-receipt character and is not taxable as revenue where that character has already been determined between the same parties. The prescribed method for disallowing expenditure related to exempt income may be applied only after the Assessing Officer examines the accounts and records specific dissatisfaction with the taxpayer's claim. A broad discussion is insufficient; the absence of an identified nexus between interest expenditure and exempt-income investments prevents recomputation under that method.

Advance filing of Bills of Entry is required to support pre-arrival processing and assessment of imported goods. The general deadline is the end of the day preceding arrival of the carrying vessel, aircraft or vehicle. Sea imports from specified neighbouring countries, and all imports arriving by airport or through a Land Customs Station, may be filed by the end of the day of arrival. Bills of Entry may continue to be presented up to 30 days before expected arrival.

Revision under Section 263 requires an assessment order to be both erroneous and prejudicial to Revenue interests. A different preference of the revisional authority, inadequate detail in the assessment order, or alleged inadequacy of inquiry does not justify revision where the Assessing Officer made inquiries, considered the material and adopted a legally sustainable view. For a builder using the project-completion method, interest on borrowed capital used for stock-in-trade is revenue expenditure. Disclosure and explanation of that method, interest expenditure and fixed-deposit interest during assessment supported validity of the assessment; revision was invalid because no omitted necessary inquiry or legal unsustainability was established.

Supply-chain flexibility, interoperable data systems and strategic use of logistics infrastructure are central to the next phase of logistics development. Flexible warehousing can help businesses adjust capacity to changing demand and inventory needs, while specialised third-party logistics providers may add sector-specific value. Digital integration is necessary before artificial intelligence can effectively support forecasting, visibility and route planning. Geopolitical disruption also increases the importance of inventory optionality, rerouting capacity, Special Economic Zones and Free Trade Warehousing Zones.

Deficiency memos for drawback claims under Section 74 of the Customs Act, 1962 must use the standardised format prescribed in Annexure-I to CBIC Circular No. 31/2026-Customs. Immediate adoption is required for all such claims to ensure uniformity, transparency and timely disposal. Supervisory officers must sensitise staff, ensure strict compliance and communicate the requirements through official channels.

Resolution-plan approval under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is confined to verifying compliance with the statutory conditions in Sections 30(2) and 31 after approval by the requisite Committee of Creditors voting share. The plan addressed insolvency-resolution costs, operational-creditor payments, post-approval management, implementation and supervision, and met the applicable requirements of Regulations 37, 38 and 39(4) of the Insolvency Resolution Process Regulations. Communication of the approval order to group-company stakeholders did not make implementation conditional on approval of their separate resolution plans. The plan was therefore treated as compliant and approved under Section 31(1).

Brand Rate of Drawback applications must be scrutinised by the Brand Rate Fixation Cell, supported by verification where required, and submitted with a clear recommendation for final rate determination. Original duty-paid documents are generally not required for post-facto endorsement, subject to risk-based random cross-verification. Sanction requires timely filing, completed exports, positive value addition, prescribed professional certification, shipping-bill declaration of the drawback code, compliance with applicable input-output and market-value conditions, and a verified drawback calculation worksheet.

Imported air cargo delayed by Customs or statutory processes may be considered for storage under Section 49 of the Customs Act, 1962. Officers should promptly notify importers or authorised Customs Brokers of this facility, while Custodians must issue reminders where cargo remains uncleared and maintain communication records. Complete storage applications should ordinarily be processed within three working days, subject to necessary consultation and legal, operational, revenue, security and regulatory considerations. Detention or demurrage waiver certificates may be issued only where legally admissible, after verification, and must specify the relevant waiver period and process details.

Unsecured loan additions as unexplained cash credits require consideration of evidence establishing the transaction and discharge of the assessee's initial statutory burden. Lender confirmation, income-tax records, bank statements, audited accounts, balance-sheet disclosure, and supporting documents furnished by the lender substantiated the loan despite non-delivery of a notice to the lender. As the addition did not address this material, the unsecured loan was not treated as unexplained cash credit and the addition was deleted.

Import container scanning requirements exclude empty containers manifested by shipping lines at import and international transshipment containers carrying cargo not intended for clearance in India. Examination, including scanning, may still occur on specific intelligence from revenue intelligence or field formations. These excluded categories are not to be scanned even if selected through the National Committee for Targeting Cargo, subject to applicable central indirect-tax and customs instructions. Stakeholders must ensure compliance.

SEZ units receiving taxable input services for authorised operations retain the substantive service-tax exemption where receipt and authorised use are established. Recipient-premises registration at the invoice date, invoice address differences, and non-production of original invoices are procedural defects under the refund mechanism and do not add substantive conditions for exemption. Refund limitation is governed by the period and extension mechanism in Notification No. 12/2013-ST, rather than the general limitation under the Central Excise refund provision. The competent authority must consider its power to extend the filing period before rejecting a claim as time-barred.

Partial de-notification reduces the Customs-notified premises of the Container Freight Station from 94,325 square metres to 82,800 square metres, excluding 11,525 square metres from Customs control. The retained area continues as the Customs Area under a revised layout plan identifying the retained and excluded portions. The operator's appointment as Custodian and approval as Customs Cargo Service Provider are confined to the retained Customs Area, while the validity and other terms of the existing appointment and approval remain unchanged.

Section 53(12) does not extend to inter-State transportation of goods. Goods moved from Goa to Kundapur under an e-sugama document and invoice, with their inter-State character undisputed. Applying the governing position, the penalty provision was inapplicable to that movement; consequently, a penalty imposed for the transportation could not be sustained.

FEMA regulatory rationalisation entails withdrawal of circulars that have ceased to operate because of subsequent amendments, redundancy, overlap, or supersession by later directions. The withdrawn circulars concern External Commercial Borrowings, overseas rupee-denominated bonds, non-resident investments in tax-free non-convertible bonds, and the Money Transfer Service Scheme. Authorised persons must bring these changes to the attention of their concerned constituents, without affecting permissions or approvals required under other laws.

Under Rule 96, a shipping bill for IGST-paid exported goods is deemed to be the refund application only after GSTR-3B filing, Export General Manifest filing, and matching of shipping-bill and GSTR-1 invoice details. SB005 concerns invoice or shipping-bill data discrepancies, while SB006 concerns missing or inconsistent Export General Manifest data. GST-return errors may be corrected through Table 9A, but shipping-bill-side discrepancies may require customs reconciliation through a concordance table. Exporters should verify invoice, shipping-bill, manifest, registration, authentication, and return-data compliance before seeking automated refund processing.

Section 54(11) of the CGST Act allows withholding of a refund only where an appeal or other proceeding is actually pending and the Commissioner records a reasoned opinion that release would adversely affect revenue because of malfeasance or fraud. Mere contemplation of a future appeal cannot justify refusing to consider a refund arising from an appellate order. Rule 92(2) requires a reasoned order in Part A of Form GST RFD-07, following an opportunity of hearing. Appellate orders bind subordinate officers unless stayed by a competent forum.