3 April 2020
EY Tax Alert
Tax Alerts cover significant
tax news, developments and
changes in legislation that
affect Indian businesses. They
act as technical summaries to
keep you on top of the latest tax
issues. For more information,
please contact your EY advisor.
1. Notification No. 57/2015-2020
and Public Notice No. 67/2015-
2020 dated 31 March 2020
Government extends FTP
2015-2020 till 31 March
2021 and announces various
relief measures
Executive summary
This Tax Alert summarizes Notification and Public Notice[1] issued by the Directorate
General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) extending Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP) by one
year and announcing various relief measures due to unprecedented current situation arising
out of the pandemic COVID-19.
The validity of FTP, Handbook of Procedures (HBP) and export promotion schemes (except
Service Exports from India Scheme) have been extended by one year from 31 March 2020
to 31 March 2021. Decision on continuation of Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)
will be taken and notified subsequently.
Category of services eligible under (SEIS) and rate of reward on the said services for the
period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 will be notified separately.
Exemption from payment of integrated tax and compensation cess on imports made under
Advance Authorisation (AA) and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme has been
extended from 31 March 2020 to 31 March 2021.
A similar extension is also given for imports made by Export Oriented Units (EOU),
Electronic Hardware Technology Park (EHTP), Software Technology Park (STP) and Bio-
Technology Park (BTP).
For all Duty-Free Import Authorisation (DFIA), AA and EPCG authorizations, where validity
for import of goods and export obligation period (wherever applicable) is expiring between 1
February 2020 and 31 July 2020, extension of six months from the date of expiry has been
provided.
Amendments are also made in HBP for extending due dates for filing various applications
and refund claims.

Background
► Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (FTP) was
notified by the Central Government, in exercise of
powers conferred under section 5 of the Foreign
Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 and
was valid till 31 March 2020.
► In view of COVID-19 outbreak, the validity of FTP
has been extended by one year.
► Consequential changes have also been made in
Handbook of Procedures 2015-20 (HBP).
Key changes
Validity
► The validity of FTP, HBP, Standard Input Output
Norms (SION), Appendices & Aayat Niryat forms is
extended from 31 March 2020 to 31 March 2021.
Thus, benefit under all Export Promotion Schemes
(except Service Exports from India Scheme) under
FTP will continue to be available till 31 March
2021.
Decision on continuation of SEIS post 31 March
2020 will be taken and notified subsequently.
Exemption from payment of Integrated tax
and Compensation cess on imports
► Imports made under Advance Authorisation (AA)
and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG)
scheme are exempt from payment of Integrated
tax and Compensation cess.
Similarly, imports made by Export Oriented Unit
(EOU), Electronic Hardware Technology Park
(EHTP), Software Technology Park (STP) and Bio-
Technology Park (BTP) units are also exempt from
payment of integrated tax and cess.
► The said exemption which was available up to 31
March 2020 has been extended till 31 March
2021.
Validity of imports under various schemes
► Validity for importing inputs and capital goods
under various schemes is as follows:
► AA and Duty Free Import Authorisation
(DFIA) - 12 months from date of its issue;
► EPCG scheme – 18 months from date of its
issue.
► It is now provided that in cases where period for
making import is expiring between 1 February
2020 and 31 July 2020, the same shall
automatically extend by six months from date of
expiry.
Recognition of Pre-shipment Inspection
Agencies (PSIA)
► The recognized PSIAs are notified for a period of
3 years. At the end of 3 years, PSIA has to make a
fresh application for further recognition.
► Any recognition which has extended validity up
to 31 March 2020 or original validity up to 29
June 2020, would now deemed to be valid up to
30 June 2020.
Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)
► Category of services which will be covered under
SEIS scheme and the rate of reward on such
services for the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March
2020 will be notified separately under Appendix
3X.
Application for Duty Credit Scrips
► Under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme
(MEIS), application has to be filed within12
months from the Let Export (LEO) date for
obtaining duty credit scrip.
For the shipping bills where LEO date falls
between 1 February 2019 to 31 May 2019,
applications can now be filed within a period of
15 months instead of 12 months.
► Similarly, under Service Exports from India
Scheme (SEIS), the application has to be filed
within12 months from the end of relevant
financial year.
Last date for filing application for FY 2018-19 in
case of SEIS, which was 31 March 2020, has
been extended till 31 December 2020.
► Further, last date for filing application under
Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Levies
and Taxes (RoSCTL) for the period 7 March
2019 to 31 December 2019 was 30 June 2020.
The same is now extended till 31 December
2020.
Validity of Status certificate
► Status certificate is valid for 5 years from the
date on which application for recognition was
filed.
The validity of Status certificates is extended till
31 March 2021 (for those certificates which
would have otherwise expired before 31 March
2021).
Export Obligation (EO) period under AA
► For all AAs, where the period for fulfillment of
EO is expiring between 1 February 2020 and 31
July 2020, such period has been automatically
extended by six months from the date of expiry.
No separate application with composition fee,
amendment or endorsement is required.
The option to avail further validity extensions
would remain available, as per the eligibility.
EPCG Authorization
► An EPCG Authorization holder has to produce a
certificate confirming installation of capital
 goods within six months from date of import.
For cases where the six months period expires
between 1 February 2020 and 31 July 2020, the
period for submission of installation certificate
has been extended by six months from the original
due date.
► Further, if the block wise EO period expires during
1 February 2020 to 31 July 2020, the EO period
has been automatically extended by six months
from the date of such expiry.
EOU, EHTP, STP, BTP
► Where the time limit for commencement of
production as per Letter of Permission (LoP)/
Letter of Intent (LoI) expires on or after 1 March
2020, the same has been extended till 31
December 2020.
► In case the EO period expires during 1 March
2020 to 30 June 2020, the obligation can be
fulfilled up to 30 September 2020.
► Quarterly performance reports for the quarter
ending 31 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 and
annual performance report for FY 2019-20 can be
now filed up to 30 September 2020.
► Service exports reporting forms to be filed by STP
units for the months February 2020 to June 2020
can be filed up to 31 July 2020.
► The last date to file application for reimbursement
of Central Sales Tax for the quarters ending 30
September 2019 and 31 December 2019 has
been extended till 30 September 2020.
Gems and Jewellery sector
► Extension of six months has been granted in the
following cases where the last date for
replenishment, import, export and filing of
application, as the case may be, falls between 1
February 2020 and 31 July 2020:
► Exports by status holder/ specified exporters
where foreign buyer supplied gold, silver, etc.
in advance and free of charge
► Re-exportation of diamonds imported for
certification/ grading
► Application for replenishment authorisation
► Replenishment, booking with nominated
agencies and re-import in cases of export of
branded jewellery and exports through
exhibitions or export promotion tours
► Exports and drawl of precious metals in case
of export against supply by nominated
agencies.
However, the relaxation in repatriation/ forex
realisation period (wherever applicable) would be
equal to the period as allowed with further
extension of six months, or as subject to RBI
guidelines, whichever is earlier.
Application for claim of Transport and
Marketing Assistance (TMA)
► Application for claim of TMA for quarters ending
31 March 2019 and 30 June 2019 can now be
filed up to 30 September 2020.
Refund applications of Terminal Excise
Duty (TED) refund/ Drawback
► If the due date of filing application for refund of
TED/ drawback in case of deemed exports by
manufacturer falls on or after 1 March 2020,
the said date has been extended till 30
September 2020.
Late Cut
► Wherever the due dates have been extended as
aforesaid, such new dates shall be considered for
the purpose of applying the provisions of late
cut.
Comments
a. Extension of various due dates in
respect of duty credit scrips,
refunds and reimbursements is
likely to benefit exporters who
faced challenges in meeting
statutory timelines due to
disruption caused by COVID-19.
b. Authorisation holders whose
exports are impacted due to
current global situation would
benefit from the extension of
export obligation period.
c. Having regard to unprecedented
situation, it would be beneficial
for the industry if the
government considers granting
extension also in all such cases
where time limit with late cut
falls between March 2020 to
June 2020.
d. It is pertinent to note that the
government has approved
scheme for Remission of Duties
or Taxes on Export Product
(RoDTEP) which will be
introduced in a phased manner,
replacing the existing
Merchandise Export from India
Scheme (MEIS).

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