Restriction on follow-up assessments during election period limits notices for preceding years when searches yield no evidence.
Restriction on issuance of assessment notices for six preceding years applies where searches or requisitions during an election period seize cash or assets but yield no evidence or investigation for earlier years. The investigating officer, with Director General approval, must certify that the search/requisition occurred in a notified constituency or that seized assets are connected to the election process and that no evidence exists for previous years; the certificate is to be communicated to the Commissioner and Assessing Officer, limiting unnecessary proceedings.

Delegation of Financial Powers allows chief commissioners to sanction office accommodation works without IFU vetting, subject to checklist certification.
Chief Commissioners are authorised to grant Administrative Approval and Expenditure Sanction for Original Works for Office Accommodation funded under MoUD/CPWD grants up to One Crore without IFU vetting, provided the proposals conform to prescribed norms and standard checklists; a completed proforma certifying personal satisfaction must be sent to DIT(Infrastructure), DIT(Expenditure Budget) and the Under Secretary, Ad.VIII, CBDT for record and monitoring.

E-Payment of tribunal fees requires countersignature or attestation, otherwise the fee remittance will be invalid.
E-Payment of tribunal fees requires that electronic challans be countersigned by the bank manager or attested by the authorized representative or the assessee; failure to comply will render the remittance invalid.

Adjustment of refunds: AO certification and CPC intimation enable held refunds to be adjusted after AO confirmation.
AOs must verify demands from all sources, notify assessees and allow hearing, certify genuine actionable demands, and upload them to CPC-FAS. CPC issues a statutory intimation to assessees proposing adjustment of refunds against uploaded demands and informs supervisory offices. Assessees may contest within a short period; the AO must rectify or confirm the demand within a prompt timeframe and inform CPC. CPC will hold refunds pending AO confirmation and, upon confirmation, adjust refunds against the confirmed demands; online AO-to-CPC functionality is to be developed with interim manual timelines.

Outsourcing of support staff to ensure assessing officers have secretarial assistance; departments must provide staff and report manpower details.
Every assessing officer must be provided adequate secretarial assistance and other office help either through regular departmental staff or by outsourcing under Rule 178 of GFR 2005; Commissionerates should utilise the sanctioned budget for such expenses and requisition additional funds from DIT (Expenditure Budget) under DG (Logistics) if needed, with actions completed by the end of the month. Chief Commissioners must submit detailed manpower information in the prescribed format covering numbers of assessing officers and the allocation of secretarial assistants, DEOs and MTS as regular employees and through outsourcing.

Video conferencing hearings enable appeals to be heard remotely, with notice, opt out option, and electronic pronouncement of orders.
Establishes an e Bench hearing mechanism where appeals at an Original Bench may be heard by Members at an E Bench via video conferencing; notices must state OB and EB, include an Assistant Registrar's annexure and permit a one week opt out. Original files (with duplicates) and paper books must be transmitted in advance; loose documents are not accepted except with Bench permission. Bench clerks at OB and EB make simultaneous order sheet entries (EB entry prevails) and signed orders are uploaded the same day. Records and certified copies follow existing retention and issuance rules.

Verification of uploaded arrear demands required before refund adjustment; CCITs must certify within prescribed timeframe and report compliance.
Assessing officers must verify and certify arrear demands uploaded to the CPC Portal before those demands are adjusted against refunds claimed in e returns; the cases have been listed on I Taxnet for review. CCITs must monitor this verification, ensure certification within a short prescribed period, and send compliance reports to respective Zonal Members of the CBDT with a copy to the Chief Commissioner (CPC) Bangalore at the designated e mail address.

Delegation of Financial Powers allows Chief Commissioners to approve original office works funded by specific grants without central vetting.
Chief Commissioners of CBEC and CBDT are authorized to give administrative approval and expenditure sanction for Original Works for Office Accommodation up to Rupees One Crore when funds are provided under MoUD/CPWD grants without IFU vetting, subject to prescribed norms and the standard checklist issued by IFU/HRD; Chief Commissioners must certify personal satisfaction with the proposal against the checklist and enclose a copy of the sanction order to the respective Boards.

Tax deduction on gas transportation charges: where seller transfers ownership, charges are not TDS liable; third party transport is.
Where the Owner/Seller transports gas and transfers ownership to the purchaser at the point of delivery, transportation is part of the overall contract for sale and the transportation charge billed by the Owner/Seller is not subject to TDS under the relevant provisions. Payments made to a third party transporter, however, continue to be governed by the TDS provisions applicable to such payments.

PAN transfer procedure change requiring transferor officers to confirm or reject requests to prevent PAN blocking and misuse.
Withdrawal of the auto PAN transfer facility requires transferor officers (AO/Range/CIT) to allow, confirm, or reject PAN transfer requests on the system; pendency blocks PANs and hinders e-return processing, so field formations are directed to clear pending requests using provided MIS reports and system links with RCC contact support for assistance.

PAN migration to jurisdictional AOs: Nodal officers under CIT(CO) to transfer PANs from orphan jurisdictions for processing.
Instruction requires migration of PANs from old, orphan or defunct jurisdictions to correct territorial Assessing Officers by Nodal Officers appointed under CIT(CO), mandating creation of a Nodal jurisdiction hierarchy in AIS with AO type 'NO', assignment of restricted roles (AR_NODAL_XFER and AR_CIT_CO), and use of Push/Pull PAN transfer functionality; RCCs must define hierarchies, keep OLD flags intact, and expedite transfers while AIS/AST must restrict Nodal functions to PAN migration and return view.

Income-tax deduction from salaries: employers must deduct TDS on estimated salary (including perquisites), report and remit per rules.
For FY 2012-13 employers must deduct TDS under section 192 on estimated salary income (including perquisites) at prescribed slab rates by age, add education cesses, and may opt to pay tax on non-monetary perquisites themselves using the average rate method. Employers must value and report perquisites (Form 12BA/Form 16), obtain and quote PAN/TAN (non furnishing triggers section 206AA higher rates), deposit TDS within prescribed timelines (including book entry 24G/BIN procedures), file quarterly Form 24Q electronically, and face specified interest, fees, penalties and prosecution for failures.

Taxpayer convenience: weekend receipt counters opened to facilitate filings and payments at income tax offices nationwide.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes ordered that income tax offices all over India shall make special arrangements by opening receipt counters on 29th and 30th September 2012 to facilitate taxpayers, requiring local offices to ensure availability of counters on those weekend dates to accept filings and receipts.

Monitoring of High Court appeals: directive to submit overdue and quarterly reports to DGIT(L&R) to ensure compliance.
The Directorate reiterates the Monitoring Mechanism under Instruction No. 7 of 2011: CITs must maintain the prescribed register and submit quarterly High Court appeal reports (Annexure-IV and V) to CCIT(CCA) by the 15th of the month following each quarter; CCIT(CCA) must compile and send consolidated digital reports to DGIT(L&R) by month-end. The overdue report for quarter ended 30/06/12 is to be sent by 3rd October 2012 and future reports must meet prescribed timelines.

Improving quality of scrutiny assessments requires strict adherence to CAP guidance and focused completion of pending cases.
The Board directs Chief Commissioners to ensure Assessing Officers adopt the CAP strategy in Annexure II and scrupulously follow the prescribed steps and scrutiny guidelines, sensitize staff to prioritize pending scrutiny assessments for completion by year end, and provide meaningful lists of quality assessments, so as to improve assessment quality and augment post assessment tax revenues.

COD clearance requirement removed; departments must revive cases dismissed for lack of COD clearance and report compliance.
The Cabinet Secretariat's clarification has wound up the Committee on Disputes and removed the requirement to obtain COD clearance before approaching courts or tribunals. Field formations must prioritise revival of cases dismissed for want of COD clearance, and Chief Commissioners/Directors must report identified cases, their statuses, and any revival petitions filed, or submit a nil report where no such pendency exists.

Reduced withholding tax on foreign currency borrowing permitted when loans and infrastructure bonds meet ECB and RBI approval conditions.
Lower withholding tax under Section 194LC applies to interest on qualifying foreign currency borrowings where loan agreements or long term infrastructure bonds meet ECB regulations, have an RBI Loan Registration Number, comply with end use and other RBI conditions, are not restructurings solely for tax benefit, and where interest rates fall within the RBI specified All in cost ceilings; non ECB covered bond issues require case by case approval.

Delay in filing appeals and SLP proposals may attract administrative action; strict timeline compliance required.
Delay in filing appeals to High Courts and in seeking Special Leave Petitions is a serious procedural lapse; proposals for SLPs must reach the Directorate complete within the prescribed post judgment period, with field officers required to monitor compliance, give date wise explanations naming responsible officers for late submissions, and note that routine excuses are unacceptable and may lead to administrative action.

Jurisdiction over non-resident PANs: transfer to correct assessing officers ordered to resolve operational and compliance difficulties.
Jurisdiction over non-resident assessees rests with AOs under DGIT (Intl. Tax); 64,697 PANs for non-resident taxpayers were found with AOs lacking jurisdiction, causing inability to view e-filed returns and hampering scrutiny selection, survey, TDS monitoring, grievance handling and accurate reporting. CBDT directed concerned CCsIT/DGITs to transfer these PANs to the correct jurisdictional AOs within the prescribed short timeframe, with automatic transfer to be effected for any PANs not shifted by the deadline.

Dispute Resolution Panel composition adjusted to replace conflicted supervising officers, with alternative members and taxpayer objection mechanism.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes constitutes three-member Dispute Resolution Panels for specified areas, naming primary and alternate members; where a listed member was the supervising officer of the Transfer Pricing Officer or Assessing Officer at the time of issuance of the transfer pricing or draft assessment order, the alternate members shall constitute the Panel for that draft assessment. Taxpayers may consent to the primary panel; members will perform DRP duties in addition to regular duties until directions are issued, and the order supersedes earlier orders and is effective from the notified effective date.