MM TAX CLUB

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) today celebrated the International Customs Day- 2024 in New Delhi. This year, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) has dedicated the International Customs Day to the theme of ‘Customs engaging traditional and new partners with purpose’.

Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, presided over as the chief Guest and Shri Sanjay Agarwal, Chairman, CBIC, was the guest of honour. In tune with the theme, the celebration saw widespread participation of the officers of Customs from across the country, various partnering agencies, and dignitaries from other government departments.

In her message on the occasion, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman stated, “This year's theme of International Customs Day, with the theme of ‘Customs Engaging Traditional and New Partners with Purpose’, completely resonates with the Motto of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ given by Our Prime Minister. Every partner needs to collaborate to put India on course to becoming the third-largest economy by 2027-28, with a GDP surpassing $5 trillion.”

“With a common purpose of ease of doing business for nation building during India's ‘Amrit Kaal’, all the stakeholders need to come together and contribute for benefits to citizen of India. Many initiatives taken by Customs such as Faceless Assessment, Direct Port Delivery, Single Window Clearance, AEO Scheme need to evolve with overall objective of growth of trade and business. Special focus on MSMEs, new start-ups and inclusivity will align with the vision of our PM,” Smt. Sitharaman added.

In his message on the occasion, Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary stated, “Customs plays important role of continuity amidst international political boundaries and said that to facilitate businesses from India, Customs must forge partnerships on the lines of initiatives like use of postal network through Dak Niryat Kendra and encouraging MSMEs to supply jewellery through e-commerce.

In his address on the occasion, Shri Malhotra praised the manner in which technology was increasingly being leveraged by the department and acknowledged the crucial role played by Customs and the partner agencies in the significant improvement in the dwell time of cargo across the ports and airports in the country.

In his address on the occasion, Shri Agarwal focused on reinvigorating Customs engagement strategies for successful collaborations, the need to forge new partnerships and improve ourselves constantly and strive to achieve global benchmarks, and to continually assess the impact of implemented strategies.

Shri Agarwal also made a call to action in reference to the clarion call made by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to inculcate global best practices in Customs during the recent interaction with the Officer Trainees at NACIN Palasamudram.

In his welcome address, Shri Surjit Bhujabal, Member (Customs), CBIC, said, “This year’s theme ‘Customs Engaging Traditional and New Partners with Purpose’ comes at an apt time and resonates very much with our ambitions. It is obvious that, future of all international trade stakeholders is closely linked and depends very much on the ability to work together.”

One of the highlights of the evening was the award of the WCO Certificate of Merit to various officers and partner agencies for their exemplary service to the department and Nation.

Among the partner agencies, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) were awarded for their partnership and association with Customs department in significant improvement in cross-border cargo clearance time.

In his vote of thanks, Shri Samanjas Das, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Delhi, expressed gratitude to the officers and partner agencies for their continuous support that has helped in Indian Customs being at the forefront of the reforms and economic progress of the Country.

F. No. HQ-13073/1/2024-AUTH-II-HQ/C-13751(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 54, read with sub-section (1) and clauses (g), (k) and (l) of sub-section (2) of section 23, subsection (3) of section 28 and sub-section (2) of section 29 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act,2016,the Unique Identification Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations to amend the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulations, 2016, namely:— 1. Short title and commencement.—(1) These regulations may be called the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Amendment Regulations, 2024.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. 2. In the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulations, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as the principal regulations),for the words, brackets and figures “the Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulations, 2016” wherever they occur, the words, brackets and figures “the Aadhaar (Authentication and Offline Verification) Regulations, 2021” shall be substituted.

3. In the principal regulations, in regulation 2, in sub-regulation (1), after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—

‘(f) “section” means a section of the Act.’

4. In the principal regulations, in regulation 3, after sub-regulation (4), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely:— 

“(5) The Authority may, for omitting or deactivating an Aadhaar number and information relating thereto, pursuant to an inquiry as referred to in sub-regulation (1) of regulation 29 of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016, give access to or use or disclose information of the Aadhaar number holder, in its possession or control, including information stored in the CIDR, in accordance with sub-regulation (1A) of regulation 29 of the said regulations.”.

5. In the principal regulations, after regulation 11, the following regulation shall be inserted, namely:—

“12. Doing of act or thing related to delegated power or function.—

(1) Any act or thing that is to be or may be done by the Authority under these regulations may also be done by any Member or officer of the Authority or any other person to whom the Authority has delegated the related power or function by general or special order in writing, under section 51 of the Act.

(2) The Authority may determine whether or not an act or thing done by a Member, officer or other person under sub-regulation (1) is related to a power or function delegated as referred to in the said sub-regulation.”.

Continuing its fight against smuggling of gold into the country, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officers developed an intelligence and intercepted seven consignments of “Electric Current/Potential Meters” declared as “Current Guiaor Machine”, which had arrived from Hong Kong at the Foreign Post Office, New Delhi.

Upon examination, the said electric meters were found to be functional, having genuine populated circuit boards. However, on preliminary examination, these appeared to be unusually heavy. The outer covers of these 56 electric meters were painted black. On scratching the black paint of these covers, white-colour metal was noticed, similar to steel. However, analysis by spectrometer revealed that these covers were made of alloy of Gold and Silver, roughly in the ratio of 30:70.

A total of 56 electric meters were imported in these eight consignments. 56 back covers of these electric meters containing 16.67 kg gold and 39.73 kg silver, having approximate market value of Rs. 10.66 crore have been seized.

From the initial investigation, it appears that a well-organised syndicate was involved in the smuggling of gold. They used to alloy the gold with silver to change its colour from yellow to white. This white-colored alloy was used to manufacture the cover of electric meters and it was painted black to avoid any suspicion.

Further investigation is in progress.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Department of Commerce in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and other Government Agencies is organising the National Conference on Strategic Trade Controls (NCSTC), focusing on India's Strategic Trade Control [related to Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) and Export Controls] system and its International Best Practices, for ensuring compliance related to the export of dual-use (industrial and military) goods, software and technologies.

The conference will be held on 30th of January, 2024 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Registrations for the conference have been invited by DGFT from all the interested industry and other stakeholders, through its website and other relevant platforms. Key International speakers including the Chair of 1540 Committee of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Chair of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), senior government officials including Commerce Secretary, Member (Customs) of CBIC, Director General of DGFT, etc. would be participating in the Conference and addressing the industry and other stakeholders. More than 500 industry representatives are expected to attend the conference.

The Conference is expected to see participation from officials of various departments/organisations of Government of India which are part of India’s Strategic Trade Control System and the Industry. The conference mainly focuses on outreach to the Industry especially for those dealing in sectors regulated under India’s SCOMET list including special materials and high tech equipment, chemicals, biotechnology, defence, aerospace (comprising Drones/UAVs), electronics and semiconductors, telecommunications, information security, etc. and related software and technology.

Various Industry leaders will also be sharing their experience related to the export of dual-use goods and technologies during the conference. The thematic sessions planned during the day-long conference will focus on various aspects of India’s Strategic Trade Control system, including the legal and regulatory framework, the steps taken to streamline the SCOMET policy and licensing processes, the enforcement mechanism and supply chain compliance programs.

As part of India’s Strategic Trade Control system and in consonance with the relevant control lists, guidelines and provisions of the international conventions, mechanisms and regimes, India regulates the exports of dual use items, nuclear related items, and military items, including software and technology under the SCOMET list, which is notified by DGFT under the Foreign Trade Policy.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) vide Notification No. 116/2024 dated January 24, 2024 notified the Income Tax Return Form ITR-6 for the Assessment Year 2024-25 applicable with effect from April 01, 2024.

ITR-6 Form used for Companies other than companies claiming exemption under section 11.