Indirect tax laws and procedures in India involve extensive use of abbreviations across Goods and Services Tax (GST), Customs, Central Excise, and the erstwhile Service Tax regime. Whether reading notifications, circulars, audit reports, show cause notices, judicial pronouncements, or departmental correspondence, professionals frequently encounter short forms such as GST, ITC, IGST, CGST, CBIC, ICEGATE, DRI, EGM, SCN, OIO, OIA, CESTAT, EPCG, SEZ, and AEO.
For Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, Cost Accountants, Advocates, tax consultants, importers, exporters, customs brokers, departmental officers, students, and businesses engaged in indirect taxation, understanding these abbreviations is essential for interpreting legal provisions and complying with statutory requirements.
This comprehensive A–W glossary brings together the most commonly used abbreviations from GST, Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax, Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), export-import procedures, customs administration, and related regulatory laws. While many abbreviations continue to be relevant under the GST regime, several others belong to the legacy Central Excise and Service Tax framework and remain important because they frequently appear in judicial decisions, departmental records, audit reports, and historical tax literature.
The glossary has been compiled primarily from official departmental references and includes abbreviations relating to:
- GST Acts, Rules and procedures
- Customs laws and import-export documentation
- Central Excise and erstwhile Service Tax administration
- Foreign Trade Policy and export promotion schemes
- Regulatory authorities and government departments
- Audit, adjudication and appellate proceedings
- International trade and customs terminology
This ready reference aims to serve as a quick lookup guide whenever you encounter an unfamiliar abbreviation in tax practice or legal research.
A
AAI : Airport Authority of India
AAR : Authority for Advance Ruling
AC/DC : Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner
ACAO : Assistant Chief Account Officer
ACES : Automation of Central Excise and Service Tax
ACES-CFC : ACES Certified Facilitation Center
ACP : Accredited Client Programme
ACC : Air Cargo Complex
AD /DD : Assistant Director/Deputy Director
ADC : Additional Commissioner
ADC : Assistant Drug Controller
ADD : Anti-dumping duty
ADG : Additional Director General
AEO : Authorised Economic Operator
AIIS : Agri-Infrastructure Incentive Scrip
AIR : All Industry Rate
AIU : Air Intelligence Unit
AL : Advance License
AML : Anti Money Laundering( measures)
AO : Adjudication Order/ Administrative Officer
AP : Audit Para
ARTS : Automated Recordation and Targeting System
ASIDE : Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (Scheme)
ATA : Admission Temporaire /Temporary Admission
AWB : Air Way Bill
B
B/E : Bill of Entry
B/L : Bill of Lading
BCD : Basic Customs Duty
BDF : Baggage Declaration Form
BED : Basic Excise Duty
BOA : Board of Approval
BSF : Border Security Force
C
CA, 1962 : Customs Act, 1962( 52 of 1962)
CAN : Cargo Arrival Notice
CAO : Chief Account Officer
CBEC → CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs)
CBDT : Central Board of Direct Taxes
CBN : Central Bureau of Narcotics
CCSP : Customs Cargo Service Providers
CC : Chief Commissioner
CCC : Customs Cooperation Council
CCR : Compulsory Compliance Requirement
CCR, 2004 : CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004
CDF : Currency Declaration Form
CEIB : Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
CENVAT : Central Value Added Tax
Abbreviations commonly used in Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax
CER, 2002 : Central Excise Rules, 2002
CERA : Central Excise Revenue Audit
CEA, 1944 : Central Excise Act, 1944 (No. 1 of 1944)
CECA : Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement
CETA : Central Excise Tariff Act
CESTAT : Customs, Excise and Service tax appellate tribunal
CFS : Container Freight Station
CHA : Customs House Agent
CB→ Customs Broker
CIF : Cost Insurance and Freight
CISF : Central Industrial Security Force
CITES : Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
CKD : Complete Knocked Down
COD : Condonation of Delay/ Committee on Disputes
COFEPOSA Act : Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (No. 52 of 1974)
COIN : Customs Overseas Intelligence Network
CONCOR : Container Corporation of India
CPC : Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (No. 5 of 1908)
Cr PC : Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (No. 5 of 1898)
CST : Central Sales Tax
CTA : Customs Tariff Act
CTM : Cargo Transfer Manifest
CVD → Countervailing Duty
CWC Act : Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000 (No. 34 of 2000)
CWC : Central Warehousing Corporation
D
DAP : Draft Audit Para
DDC : Direct Delivery of Cargo
DEPB : Duty Entitlement Pass Book Scheme
DFRC : Duty Free Replenishment Certificate
DG : Director General
DGCEI : Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence
DGFT : Directorate General of Foreign Trade
DFIA : Duty Free Import Authorisation Scheme
DIU : Docks Intelligence Unit
DO : Delivery Order
DOV : Directorate of Valuation
DRI : Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
DRIPS : Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Profiling System
DOC : Department of Commerce
DOR : Department of Revenue
DR : Detention Receipt
DGCEI : Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence
DGEP : Directorate General of Export Promotion
DGHRD : Directorate General of Human Resource Development
DGOV : Directorate General of Vigilance
DP&PR : Directorate of Publicity and Public Relation
DR : Departmental Representative
DRP : Duty Refund Procedure
DSA : Daily Stock Account
DSCN : Draft Show Cause Notice
DTA : Domestic Tariff Area
E
EASIEST : Electronic Accounting System in Excise & Service Tax
ED : Enforcement Directorate
EDI : Electronic Data Interchange
EFO : Export Freight Officer
EGM : Export General Manifest
EHTP : Electronics Hardware Technology Park
EOU : Export Oriented Unit
EPCG : Export Promotion Capital Goods
EO : Export Obligation
EODC : Export Obligation Discharge Certificate
F
FAFO : First Appeal against Final Order
FCL : Full Container Load
FEMA : Foreign Exchange Management Act
FICCI : Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
FICN : Fake Indian Currency Notes
FIEO : Federation of Indian Export Organisation
FIFO : First In First Out
FIU : Financial Investigation Unit
FMR : Finance Minister’s Report
FOB : Free on Board
FPO : Foreign Post Office
FSSAI : Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
FTA : Free Trade Agreement
FTDR Act : Foreign Trade Development and Regulation Act, 1992 ( No. 22 of 1992)
FTP : Foreign Trade Policy
FPS : Focus Product Scheme
FMS : Focus Market Scheme
G
GMO : Genetically Modified Organism
GST: Goods and Services Tax
H
HAWB : House Airway Bill
MAWB : Master Airway Bill
HTPEPS : High Tech Products Export Promotion Scheme
I
IB : Intelligence Bureau
ICAI : Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
ICC : International Chamber of Commerce
ICD : Inland Container Depot
ICEGATE : Indian Customs EDI Gateway
ICES : Indian Customs EDI System
ICSI : Institute of Company Secretaries of India
ICWAI : Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India
IFO : Import Freight Officer
IGM : Import General Manifest
IO : Intelligence Officer
IPC : Indian Penal Code, 1860 (No. 45 of 1860)
ISS : Intelligence Support System
ITC : Indian Trade Classification
INCOTERMS : International Commercial Terms
ISPM : International Standards for Phyto-sanitary Measures
J
JC : Joint Commissioner
JD/ADD : Joint Director/Additional Director
L
LAR : Local Audit Report
LCL : Less than Container Load
LCS : Land Customs Station
LEO : Let Export Order
LIFO : Last In First Out
LMO : Living Modified Organism
LMS : Learning Management Software
LTU : Large Taxpayers Unit
M
MCD : Manifest Clearance Department
MCM : Monitoring Committee Meeting
MEA : Multi-lateral Environmental Agreement
MFN : Most Favoured Nation (Status)
MLFPS : Market Link Focus Product Scheme
MMTC : Mineral and Metals trading Corporation
MoEF : Ministry of Environment and Forest
MOU : Memorandum of Understanding
MRP : Maximum Retail Price
MTR : Monthly Technical Report
N
NACEN → NACIN: National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics
NCB : Narcotics Control Bureau
NCCD : National Calamity Contingent Duty
NDPS Act : Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act
NFE : Net Foreign Exchange Earning
NFEP : Net Foreign Exchange Earning as a Percentage of Export
NIDB : National Import Data Base
NTT : National Tax Tribunal
NVOCC : Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier
O
OIA : Order-In-Appeal
OIO : Order-In-Original
OOC : Out of Charge
OPM : Office Procedure Manual
OSPCA : On-site Post Clearance Audit
OPCW : Organization of prohibition of Chemical Weapon
P
PAO : Pay and Accounts Officer
PCA : Post Clearance Audit
PH : Personal Hearing
PIC : Prior Informed Consent
PITNDPS Act : Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988
PLA : Personal Ledger Account
PMLA : Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (No. 15 of 2003)
PO : Preventive Officer
PSU : Public Sector Undertaking
PTA : Preferential Trade Agreement
PTFC : Permanent Trade Facilitation Committee
R
RAW : Research and Analysis Wing
RACEN : Regional Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics
RC : Registration Certificate
RMD : Risk Management Division
RMS : Risk Management System
ROM : Rectification of Mistake
RTI : Regional Training Institute
RUD : Relied Upon Document(s) (of SCN)
S
S/B : Shipping Bill
SAD : Special Additional Duty
SAFEMA : Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of
Property) Act, 1976 (No.13 of 1976)
SCN : Show Cause Notice
SEZ : Special Economic Zone
SFIS : Serve from India Scheme
SHIS : Status Holder Incentive Scrip
SIIB : Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch
SIO : Senior Intelligence Officer
SION : Standard Input Output Norms
SLP : Special leave Petition
SKD : Semi Knocked Down
SMTP : Sub-Manifest Transshipment Permit
SOF : Statement of Facts
SPCB : State Pollution Control Board
STP : Software Technology Park
STC : Strategic Trade Controls
T
TEU : Twenty foot Equivalent Units
TP : Transshipment Permit
TRIPS : Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
U
UAC : Unit Approval Committee
UB : Unaccompanied Baggage
UNEP : United Nations Environment Programme
UNODC : United Nations Office of Drug and Crime
V
VAT : Value Added Tax
VKGUY : VisheshKrishi and Gram UdyogYojana
W
WCO : World Customs Organization
WLO : Wild Life Officer
WMD : Weapons of Mass Destruction
WMD Act : Weapons of Mass Destruction and Their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005 (No. 20 of 2005)
2026 GST Additions and Updates
| Abbreviation | Full Form |
| AAAR | Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling |
| AATO | Aggregate Annual Turnover |
| B2B | Business to Business |
| B2C | Business to Consumer |
| B2CL | Business to Consumer (Large) |
| B2CS | Business to Consumer (Small) |
| CBIC | Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs |
| CGST | Central Goods and Services Tax |
| CGST Act | Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 |
| CIN | Challan Identification Number |
| CPIN | Common Portal Identification Number |
| CTIN | Counterparty GST Identification Number |
| DRC | Demand and Recovery Forms |
| ECL | Electronic Credit Ledger |
| Electronic Cash Ledger | Electronic Cash Ledger |
| Electronic Liability Register | Electronic Liability Register |
| EWB | E-Way Bill |
| EWBN | E-Way Bill Number |
| GSP | GST Suvidha Provider |
| GSTIN | Goods and Services Tax Identification Number |
| GSTN | Goods and Services Tax Network |
| GSTP | GST Practitioner |
| GSTR | GST Return |
| GSTR-1 | Statement of Outward Supplies |
| GSTR-3B | Summary Return |
| GSTR-4 | Annual Return/Return for Composition Taxpayers |
| GSTR-5 | Return by Non-Resident Taxable Person |
| GSTR-5A | Return by OIDAR Service Providers |
| GSTR-6 | Return by Input Service Distributor |
| GSTR-7 | TDS Return |
| GSTR-8 | TCS Return |
| GSTR-9 | Annual Return |
| GSTR-9C | Reconciliation Statement |
| HSN | Harmonized System of Nomenclature |
| IGST | Integrated Goods and Services Tax |
| IGST Act | Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 |
| ISD | Input Service Distributor |
| ITC | Input Tax Credit |
| ITC-04 | Job Work Return |
| LUT | Letter of Undertaking |
| NACIN | National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics |
| OIDAR | Online Information and Database Access or Retrieval Services |
| QRMP | Quarterly Return Monthly Payment Scheme |
| RCM | Reverse Charge Mechanism |
| RFD-01 | Refund Application |
| SAC | Services Accounting Code |
| SGST | State Goods and Services Tax |
| SGST Act | State Goods and Services Tax Act |
| TCS | Tax Collected at Source |
| TDS | Tax Deducted at Source |
| UIN | Unique Identity Number |
| URD | Unregistered Dealer |
