CHANGES IN BASIC CUSTOMS DUTY

Tariff measures taken to curb the imports of non-essential items

The Central Government has taken tariff measures, by way of increase in the basic customs duty, to curb import of certain imported items. These changes aim at narrowing the current account deficit (CAD). In all the customs duty has been increased on 19 items as detailed below:

S. No.	Item	Tariff code (HSN)	Basic customs duty
			From	To
1	Air conditioners	8415	10	20
2	Household Refrigerators	8418	10	20
3	Washing machines less than 10 Kg	8450	10	20
4	Compressor for air conditioners and refrigerators	8414 30 00 / 8414 80 11	7.5	10
5	Speakers	8518 29 00	10	15
6	Footwears	6401        to 6405	20	25
7	Radial Car tyres	4011 10 10	10	15
8	Non industrial diamond (other than rough diamonds), i.e., cut and polished diamond	71	5	7.5
9	Diamonds-semi processed, half cut or broken	71	5	7.5
10	Lab grown diamonds	71	5	7.5
11	Cut and polished Colored gemstone	71	5	7.5
12	Articles of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal	7113	15	20
13	Articles of Goldsmith or silversmith wares and parts thereof of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal	7114	15	20
14	Bath, shower bath, sink, wash basin, etc. of plastics	3922	10	15
15	Articles of plastics for conveyance and packing such as boxes, case, containers, bottles, insulated ware etc.	3923	10	15
16	Tableware, kitchenware and other household items of plastics	3924	10	15
17	Miscellaneous items of plastics such as office stationery, fitting for furniture’s, decorative sheets, statuettes, beads, bangles etc.	3926	10	15
18	Trunks, Suitcase, Executive cases, Brief Cases, travel bags and other bags etc.	4202	10	15
19	Aviation turbine fuel	2710 19 20	0	5

Notifications are being issued today. These changes in rates of basic customs duty (BCD) will be effective from 27.09.2018 (i.e., midnight of 26^th September/27^th September, 2018)

EXAMINATION FOR CONFIRMATION OF ENROLLMENT OF GST PRACTITIONERS

The National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) has been authorized to conduct an examination for confirmation of enrollment of Goods and Services Tax Practitioners (GSTPs) in terms of the sub-rule (3) of rule 83 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, vide Notification No. 24/2018-Central Tax dated 28.5.2018. The GSTPs enrolled on the GST Network under sub-rule (2) of Rule 83 and covered by clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 83, i.e. those meeting the eligibility criteria of having enrolled as sales tax practitioners or tax return preparer under the existing law for a period not less than five years, are required to pass the said examination before 31.12.2018 in terms of second proviso to rule 83(3). The examination for such GSTPs shall be conducted on 31.10.2018 from 1100hrs to 1330 hrs. at designated examination centres across India. It will be a Computer Based Exam. The registration for this exam can be done by the eligible GSTPs on a registration portal, link of which (https://nacin.onlineregistrationform.org/) will also be provided on NACIN and CBIC websites. The registration portal will be activated on 25th September, 2018 and will remain open up to 10Th Oct 2018. For convenience of candidates, a help desk will also be set up, details of which will be made available on the registration portal. The applicants are required to make online payment of examination fee of Rs. 500/- at the time of registration for this exam.
Pattern and Syllabus of the Examination
PAPER : GST Law & Procedures
Time allowed	2 hours and 30 minutes
Number of Multiple Choice Questions	100
Language of Questions	English and Hindi
Maximum marks	200
Qualifying marks	100 No negative marking
Syllabus
1. Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
2. Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
3. State Goods and Services Tax Acts, 2017
4. Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
5. Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017
6. Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017
7. Integrated Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017
8. All State Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017
9. Notifications, Circulars and orders issued from time to time

IMPOSITION OF PENALTY IN E-WAY BILL

CBIC clarification on imposition of penalty in case of minor discrepancies in the details mentioned in the e-way bill although there are no major lapses in the invoices accompanying the goods in movement vide Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST Dated 14th September, 2018. In case a consignment of goods is accompanied with an invoice or any other specified document and also an e-way bill, proceedings under section 129 of the CGST Act may not be initiated, inter alia, in the following situations:
a	Spelling mistakes in the name of the consignor or the consignee but the GSTIN, wherever applicable, is correct;
b	Error in the pin-code but the address of the consignor and the consignee mentioned is correct, subject to the condition that the error in the PIN code should not have the effect of increasing the validity period of thee-way bill;
c	Error in the address of the consignee to the extent that the locality and other details of the consignee are correct;
d	Error in one or two digits of the document number mentioned in the e-way bill;
e	Error in 4 or 6 digit level of HSN where the first 2 digits of HSN are correct and the rate of tax mentioned is correct;
f	Error in one or two digits/characters of the vehicle number.
In case of the above situations, penalty to the tune of Rs 500/- each under section 125 of the CGST Act and the respective State GST Act should be imposed (Rs.1000/- under the IGST Act) in FORM GST DRC-07 for every consignment.