Oral directions lack statutory force; written confirmation is required to validate supervisory instructions and prevent disciplinary exposure.
Directions from an official superior must ordinarily be in writing; oral directions should be avoided and, if given, must be confirmed in writing immediately thereafter. Oral or informal directions not confirmed in writing carry no statutory force and cannot be used by either subordinate officers or supervising officers to shield official actions from disciplinary scrutiny. Both superiors and recipients must ensure prompt written confirmation, failing which reliance on such directions is not permissible.

Exchange of Information proforma revised and a separate Transfer Pricing proforma proposed to standardise international tax information requests.
Requests for foreign tax information under mutual agreements must follow prescribed checklists channelled through the FT&TR Division of the CBDT; a separate Transfer Pricing proforma is to be developed alongside improvements to the general Exchange of Information proforma. Submission rules require Commissioner/Director to address requests to designated Joint Secretaries by geographic allocation, with separate proformas for each taxpayer and each country, and duplicate checklists where multiple countries are involved. Annexures specify required data elements for general information and detailed banking information.

Tax deduction at source on interest applies to court-ordered deposits; banks must credit TDS to the named depositor.
Where a court directs one or more litigants to deposit specified sums in a bank, the bank must deduct TDS on interest accruing on such deposits at rates in force and issue the certificate of deduction in the name of the depositor; where multiple depositors are involved, TDS is to be apportioned to each depositor's share and separate certificates issued. Depositors must submit a prescribed declaration to the court for transmission to the bank. The procedure excludes deposits held or administered by the court or arising from attachment and cases of a representative assessee.

Challan correction mechanism allows banks to amend specified challan fields within prescribed windows, subject to validation and conditions.
Banks are authorised under OLTAS to correct specified fields in digitized physical challans - Assessment Year, Major Head Code, Minor Head Code, TAN/PAN, Total Amount, and Nature of Payment - subject to prescribed taxpayer request and bank action windows, strict validation conditions (including prohibition on name changes, matching of PAN/TAN with challan name, and amount corrections limited to amounts actually received), a one-correction-per-challan rule with a limited exception, and required supporting documentation; assessing officers may correct challans after the bank window to ensure tax credit.

Extension of tax filing deadline for assessees in Sikkim: income tax returns and tax audit reports now due October thirty-first.
Administrative relief extends the due date for filing income-tax returns and the specified date for furnishing tax audit reports for assessees in Sikkim from the end of September to the end of October, enacted under the Income-tax law as a temporary deadline adjustment in response to earthquake-related disruption.

Tax deduction at source conflicts: refund procedure extended where treaty rate exceeds domestic rate, enabling relief for excess withholding.
The Board extends the refund procedure in Circular No. 7/2007 to cases where tax has been deducted at a higher rate under a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement than the lower rate prescribed under domestic law, recognizing the genuine hardship to the resident deductor and modifying the earlier Circular to cover such treaty-rate withholdings.

Monetary limits on tax appeals require filing review or recall petitions as advised, despite policies limiting higher appeals.
Field officers must file either a review petition or a recall petition in the High Court as recommended by the Senior Standing Counsel; recall may be used where review time limits have lapsed. Even where the Board has decided not to pursue higher petitions for cases of small tax effect, review or recall petitions are to be filed if an appeal to the High Court was permissible under the instructions applicable at the time of the original filing.

Application of revised monetary limits: do not apply ipso facto to pre instruction appeals; seek High Court review instead.
The revised monetary thresholds in CBDT Instruction No. 3/2011 do not apply automatically to appeals filed before its issuance; earlier appeals remain governed by the monetary limits operative at filing, and where matters have common principles or cascading effect the Department should seek High Court review rather than accept ipso facto application of the Instruction.

TDS refund deadline extended: affected refund claims may be submitted to the Assessing Officer (TDS) by the revised deadline.
Refund claims for excess TDS deducted and/or paid for periods up to March 31, 2009 may be submitted to the Assessing Officer (TDS) by the extended deadline, pursuant to a partial modification of an earlier circular and with the approval of the competent authority.

Tax Deduction at Source on Salaries: updated withholding rates, employer perquisite payment option, reporting and compliance obligations.
Employers must deduct income tax on estimated salary income for FY 2011-2012 at age and gender based slab rates, add applicable education cesses, and are subject to higher withholding where PAN is not furnished. Employers may opt to pay tax on non monetary perquisites and must compute such tax at an average rate, deposit it when salary tax is otherwise deductible, issue Form 12BA and Form 16 with required PAN/TAN/receipt identifiers, file quarterly TDS statements (Form 24Q) electronically where mandated, and comply with specified deposit timings, e filing validation procedures and penalties for non compliance.

Appeal filing to ITAT: centralized CIT responsibility, mandated scrutiny reports and timelines ensure justified, properly documented appeals.
Responsibility for filing appeals under section 253 rests with the jurisdictional CIT who, after considering subordinate reports, decides whether to contest CIT(A) orders; once authorized, the Range Head ensures timely filing and follow-up while the AO effects actual filing. A prescribed timeline governs transmission, scrutiny report preparation, Range Head recommendation, CIT decision and filing. Annexure II prescribes a detailed scrutiny report to compute tax effect, identify perversity, note additional evidence or remand reports, and produce draft grounds; the CIT must record issue wise decisions with reasons and issue authorization under section 253(2) where appeal is to be filed.

Administrative appointment assigns additional charge to DGIT for CCIT functions until further orders in departmental administration.
Shri K. Madhavan Nair is appointed as a Member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and, consequently, Shri B.T. Luckose, DGIT(Inv.), Kochi, is directed to hold the additional charge of the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Kochi, with immediate effect and until further orders to secure continuity of departmental functions.

Return filing exemption allowed; taxpayers may still file returns and tax offices must accept voluntary filings.
Exemption under the Notification relieves specified individuals from the requirement to furnish a return of income where their income falls below the prescribed threshold, but qualifying taxpayers may elect to avail the exemption. Tax office personnel are instructed to accept Returns of Income from any taxpayer who chooses to file voluntarily even if they satisfy the Notification conditions, and must not refuse receipt on the ground of entitlement to exemption.

Filing exemption clarified: taxpayers eligible for exemption may still voluntarily submit income tax returns; offices must accept them.
The Board directs that taxpayers who satisfy the conditions of the exemption under Section 139(1) may nevertheless voluntarily file a Return of Income and that departmental officers and staff must accept such returns from taxpayers who choose to submit them, despite their eligibility for exemption.

Prior permission to create charge on assets requires specified application, payment or indemnity, and strict AO timelines.
Taxpayers must file a prescribed application at least thirty days before transferring assets or creating a charge; permission is granted where no demand or no likelihood of demand exists, where undisputed demand is paid with interest, or where disputed demand is stayed and indemnified by bank guarantee, sufficient assets, or by Department retaining first charge. Range head approval is required for transactions with asset value or charge amount of ten crores or more. Assessing Officers must adhere to specified ten- and fifteen-working-day timelines. Permission validity is 180 days or until service of an attachment order.

Dispute Resolution Panel under section 144C constituted to address transfer pricing and international tax matters with immediate effect
The Board, in partial modification of a prior order and exercising powers under section 144C of the Income tax Act, constitutes a three-member Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP II) at Delhi by appointing three Commissioners/Directors to perform dispute resolution duties in addition to regular duties, effective immediately and until further order, with the Chairman's approval.

PPF interest entitlement clarified - HUF accounts closed after maturity but before scheme amendment may receive PPF rate interest.
Interest at the PPF rate is to be paid on HUF Public Provident Fund accounts that attained maturity after restriction of new HUF accounts but were closed by subscribers before the later scheme amendment, where deposits were retained beyond maturity without further subscriptions and the accounts were not extended thereafter.

Substantial Question of Law: High Court appeals require clear SQL framing, rigorous scrutiny reports and strict SOP timelines.
Instructions prescribe an SOP for filing appeals to the High Court under section 260A, assigning the CCIT authority to decide contesting ITAT orders after considering scrutiny reports and recommendations from CIT and Range Head, and requiring the CIT to ensure timely filing and follow up. Annexure I sets a detailed timeline for each stage from receipt of ITAT order to filing; Annexure II prescribes a multi part scrutiny report to identify issues, tax effect and any Substantial Question of Law; judicial folder management, vetting of appeal memos, coordination with Standing Counsel, and monitoring registers and quarterly reporting are mandated.

TDS certificate authentication: TIN-generated Form 16A is required for specified banks and companies; digital or manual signature permitted.
A TIN website facility will enable deductors to download Form No.16A generated from their e-TDS statements with a unique certificate number; specified companies and banking institutions must use TIN-downloaded Form No.16A for relevant deductions, others may elect to do so. Downloaded certificates may be authenticated by digital or manual signature, while non-TIN-issued certificates require manual signature. The systems authority will prescribe procedures, formats and standards, and TIN-downloaded certificates issued per those procedures will be treated as valid for statutory TDS certification requirements.

Refund of excess TDS: procedure for adjustment or AO claim, subject to a two year time bar.
Refunds of excess TDS equal the difference between actual payment to the Government and tax deductible at source. Within the same financial year the excess can be adjusted in the next quarter's TDS statement; beyond that year the deductor must apply to the Assessing Officer (TDS) and no refund claim is permitted after two years from the end of the financial year in which tax was deductible. The circular is applicable for claims up to 31 3 2010 due to processing provisions for TDS statements and refunds.