Cost Inflation Index guides indexed cost computation for long term capital gains, affecting tax liability on asset transfers.
The Cost Inflation Index is the annually published statutory index used to compute indexed cost of acquisition for long term capital gains. For FY 2022-23 the CII is 331. The indexed cost equals the purchase price multiplied by the ratio of the CII in the year of transfer to the CII in the year of acquisition; the long term capital gain is the sale consideration minus this indexed cost. The CII applies only to long term gains and must be the government's updated yearly figure. (AI Summary)

NDH 3 filing requirements: half yearly return, detailed financial schedules and mandatory professional certification required promptly.
NDH-3 is a half yearly return to be filed within thirty days from the end of the half year by a Nidhi company to the Registrar of Companies; it requires corporate details, branch particulars, membership movements, categorized deposit and loan schedules with opening/received/repaid/closing balances, litigation particulars, a financial summary including net owned funds and unencumbered deposits, specified attachments (member lists with PAN and addresses, deposit particulars, advertisement and Registrar intimation), and mandatory certification and digital signatures by company officers and a practicing professional who accepts statutory liability for the certification. (AI Summary)

Ad-hoc disallowance of business expenses curtailed; expenses require commercial expediency and proper evidentiary nexus for allowance.
Ad-hoc disallowance of business expenditures is impermissible where the assessee produces detailed vouchers and records showing genuine outlays; sustaining a percentage cut without identifying defects in books is arbitrary. Taxpayers must nonetheless prove commercial expediency and nexus for claimed expenses, and where documentation is deficient assessing officers may disallow promotional costs, advances, salary write-offs and bad debts. (AI Summary)

Income tax slab rates updated: new regime equalises individual rates and revises surcharge structure applicable this fiscal year.
Income tax slab rates have been revised with the New Tax Regime applying uniform slab rates to all individual categories without enhanced basic exemption for senior citizens; the tax rebate threshold is retained across regimes, Health and Education cess remains applicable in all cases, and the Budget revises the surcharge structure, reducing the previously highest surcharge rate under the new regime. (AI Summary)

Related party transactions: require arm's length terms, audit committee oversight and shareholder clearance where materially affecting the entity.
Related party transactions are transfers of resources, services or obligations between an entity and persons or entities connected by control, significant influence, board or management relationships or family ties; they must be conducted on an arm's length basis, reviewed by the audit committee, and, if material, approved by shareholders, with parallel disclosure obligations under accounting standards and tax, customs and GST rules to prevent misuse and ensure transparency. (AI Summary)

Sale of land developed with mandated amenities treated as land sale; advances classified as non-taxable under GST.
The AAAR treated transfer of title in subdivided plots as the dominant intention and held that development works mandated by planning authorities are incidental; consequently, amounts received, including advances, are consideration for sale of land under Entry 5 of Schedule III of the CGST Act and are not leviable to GST, while additional or voluntary development services supplied separately remain taxable. (AI Summary)

Taxability of liquidated damages under GST may constitute taxable consideration in specified service contract cases.
Administrative updates expand GSTN portal functionality with temporary late fee caps for pending annual and final returns and impose a seven day reporting window for past invoices on the e invoice IRP portal for large taxpayers; a State has mandated a Document Identification Number on GST communications. An advance ruling treats liquidated damages received by a service recipient as potentially taxable consideration under GST. Statutory amendments enacted by the Finance Act revise return timelines, enable rules for revocation of cancelled registrations, restructure the Appellate Tribunal and benches, clarify registration provision precedence, and adjust place of supply rules for cross border goods transport. (AI Summary)

ITR filing deadlines: audit status and entity type determine differing filing and reporting obligations for taxpayers.
Due dates for Income Tax Return filing for FY 2022-23 are set by taxpayer category, ITR form, and audit requirement. Companies normally file in Form ITR 6 (with some exceptions) and may also file in Form ITR 7 where applicable; LLPs file in Form ITR 5; partnership firms, sole proprietors and certain HUFs may file in Form ITR 4, while HUFs with business income use ITR 3 or ITR 2. Audit status affects filing deadlines and a distinct due date applies for Tax Audit Reports, transfer pricing filings, revised returns and belated returns. Dates are subject to official change. (AI Summary)

TCS on e commerce platforms requires operators to collect tax on suppliers' net supplies, register separately and file specified returns.
E commerce operators must register for GST irrespective of turnover, treat commission as taxable support services enabling supplier ITC, obtain a separate TCS collection registration, collect TCS on the net value of supplies made through the platform, remit TCS monthly by the statutory due date and file specified periodic and annual e commerce returns; penalties apply for permitting unregistered sellers, ineligible inter state supplies or inaccurate e commerce filings. Under income tax, e commerce operators must withhold tax on gross sales through the platform, with limited exemptions for certain small individual/HUF sellers and payment gateways relieved where the ECO has deducted tax. (AI Summary)

Aadhaar-PAN linking: unlinked PANs will stop functioning, triggering higher withholding rates and no refunds-link online immediately.
The notification requires Aadhaar-PAN linking for PAN holders eligible for Aadhaar, extends the compliance deadline to 30 June 2023, and provides that unlinked PANs will be inoperative from 1 July 2023 with higher rates of tax deduction/collection, no refunds against such PANs while inoperative, and no interest payable for the inoperative period. (AI Summary)

ROC annual filing compliance requires timely submission of specified forms to avoid statutory penalties and maintain corporate good standing.
Companies and LLPs must comply with ROC Annual Filing obligations under the Companies Act, 2013 and the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, submitting specified annual and event-based forms-such as annual returns, financial statement filings, director KYC, deposit returns, auditor appointment notices and share capital reconciliation-within prescribed due windows; non-compliance attracts statutory penalties and entities should maintain a calendar and watch for official date extensions. (AI Summary)

Payment as precondition for GST registration revocation; returns may be filed after revocation with statutory verification.
Payment of outstanding tax obligations, including tax, interest, penalty, fine, and fees, is a mandatory precondition to seek revocation of a cancelled GST registration; once such payments and required formalities are complied with the assessee may apply for revocation and file returns after revocation. The revenue must decide revocation applications within a short timeframe, ensure GST portal functionality to permit filing, and may subsequently verify returns and take action after affording the taxpayer an opportunity to be heard. (AI Summary)

Omissions of income tax provisions remove specific exemptions and rebate cross references, altering deduction and compliance rules.
Finance Act, 2023 omits multiple provisions of the Income Tax Act that change definitions, remove specified exemptions under section 10, delete provisos to section 12A affecting trust registration consequences, and excise sub clauses that linked capital gains reinvestment exemptions and various deductions to rebate provisions. It further removes words and sub paragraphs affecting deductions under life insurance and pension provisions, alters rules on taxation of share premium receipts, modifies procedural language on updated returns, assessment timelines, TDS PAN requirements, sanction for notices, and wording in penal provisions, thereby narrowing prior exemption, rebate and procedural regimes. (AI Summary)

Approval under section 10(23C)(vi) required for educational institutions with higher receipts; alternative exemption routes remain available.
The article explains that special statutory provisions govern tax exemption for educational institutions and that when the prescribed receipts threshold is exceeded a prescribed senior authority's approval is required for the special educational exemption; alternatively, taxpayers may rely on general charitable registration where the special low receipts exception applies, but general charitable limitations should not be imported into the specific educational exemption. (AI Summary)

Deemed supply between related parties: corporate guarantees without consideration attract GST under Schedule I, requiring tax compliance.
Under the service tax regime guarantees required receipt of consideration to be taxable, and in the cited decision guarantees to group companies lacked such consideration. Under GST, Schedule I and the CGST definition of related persons create a deemed supply so that corporate guarantees provided by directors, holding companies or subsidiaries are taxable even without consideration; valuation rules and deemed consideration provisions then determine the tax base, with implications for reverse charge, timing, and input tax credit. (AI Summary)

GSTN performance improvements: system reliability and reduced complaints supporting higher compliance and streamlined taxpayer services
Evaluation of the GST Network over five years highlights operational reliability improvements: taxpayer registrations rose markedly, complaint volumes and complaint-to-return ratios fell sharply, and user satisfaction steadied near 92-93%. Technology measures such as the GITA chatbot and Grievance Redressal Portal provide automated assistance. System defects, once concentrated in returns and registrations, have declined though several hundred bugs persisted recently; technical fixes typically take 3-5 days and call-centre resolutions about 22-24 hours. On-time return filing is around 76%, below aspirational targets, while revenue collections show a notable structural increase under GST. (AI Summary)

Burden of proof for input tax credit must be discharged by purchasing dealers or ITC may be denied.
Entitlement to Input Tax Credit requires the purchasing dealer to discharge the burden under Section 70 by proving genuineness of transactions and actual physical movement of goods through cogent material (seller identity and address, vehicle delivery details, freight payments, delivery acknowledgements, tax invoices and payment particulars); invoices or cheque payments alone and rule-based compliance are insufficient to establish ITC, and false documents attract statutory penalties. (AI Summary)

OPC annual filing deadlines: AOC 4 within statutory months and MGT 7A from AGM, with penalties for late ROC filings.
One Person Companies must file two annual ROC forms: AOC 4, the annual financial report (balance sheet, profit and loss, auditor's report and consolidated statements), within 180 days of the financial year end (text cites September 27, 2023 for FY 2022 23); and MGT 7A, listing directors and shareholders, within 60 days of the normal AGM date (text cites November 28, 2023 by example). Event based statutory compliances apply and late filing draws a daily penalty of INR 100. (AI Summary)

GST registration exemption expanded, revocation and assessment timelines relaxed and tribunal, place of supply and cess rules reformed.
The Finance Bill amends GST registration by exempting specified categories from compulsory registration through a retrospective non obstante clause; removes the 30 day limit for applying to revoke cancellation of registration; extends the period for furnishing returns after best judgment assessment with a further extendable window subject to a daily late fee; reorganises the GST Appellate Tribunal into a Principal Bench and State Benches with single member disposal for certain matters; shifts the place of supply for carriage of goods to the recipient's location; and revises maximum GST Compensation Cess rates with an Explanation defining retail sale price. (AI Summary)

TDS treatment of advertising agency payments as trade discount, not commission, removes withholding obligation on media payments.
The Board clarified that amounts retained by advertising agencies from media companies for booking or procuring advertisements are not subject to TDS, distinguishing such retentions from commission payable for engagement of models or artists; the Calcutta High Court characterised the media-agency relationship as principal-to-principal and treated the retentions as trade discount, placing them outside the TDS withholding provisions applicable to commission. (AI Summary)