Refund voucher controls: strengthen issuance, recordkeeping and bank cancellation to prevent fraudulent encashment through supervisory oversight.
Supervisory officers must enforce adherence to prescribed procedures for issuance, security, custody and quarterly verification of refund voucher books; maintain proper records of issue and utilisation; and ensure that when the signing officer changes, the incoming officer immediately cancels the earlier bank authorisation and updates custody controls to prevent fraudulent encashment.

Tax clearance certificate issuance expedited to prevent harassment of low-income workers seeking overseas employment abroad.
Insistence on production of tax clearance certificates by economically disadvantaged workers departing India for overseas employment may cause harassment; the Department is directed to ensure such certificates are issued promptly and without undue delay to avoid hardship.

Tax withholding rules expanded to cover broader payments, allow treaty-adjusted rates and provide procedural reliefs.
The Finance (No. 2) Act, 1991 amends tax law to set rates and surcharge treatments for 1991-92, expands and clarifies the scope of tax deduction at source and withholding (including new TDS provisions on bank interest, lottery agents, National Savings withdrawals, commission/brokerage), creates substantive amendments and new sections for sectoral incentives (software exports, processed minerals, hotels in remote areas, social welfare projects), revises depreciation and bad debt taxation for financial institutions (section 43D), modifies procedural and assessment timelines, and introduces an Interest tax on credit institutions with accompanying compliance and penalty regimes.

Timely SLP filing: submit complete proposals 45 days before limitation with specific recommendations to avoid delay.
Chief Commissioners/Directors General must submit complete proposals for special leave petitions (SLP) to the Board at least 45 days before the limitation expiry to permit Board and Law Ministry processing and timely filing; annexure documents must accompany every proposal and officers must give specific recommendations or refrain from forwarding proposals if they do not recommend filing.

Tax collection at source on specified goods requires sellers to collect, remit promptly, issue certificates and file returns.
Collection of tax at source is required on receipts from trading in specified goods - alcoholic liquor (excluding Indian-made foreign liquor), timber and other forest produce - by sellers at the time of debiting the buyer's account or on receipt of payment. Preserved rates are subject to a surcharge where the buyer is a domestic company or otherwise. Sellers must remit collected tax within seven days, issue collection certificates within ten days, and file prescribed half yearly returns; failures attract penalties, interest and possible criminal sanction for non payment.

Tax deduction at source on commission and brokerage requires timely withholding, deposit, certificate issuance, and TAN compliance.
Section 194H requires non-individual payers to deduct tax at source on commission or brokerage at the time of credit or payment; commission includes payments for non professional services and credits to any account are treated as payment. Constructive receipt by agents triggers deduction by principals. Deductors must deposit tax within prescribed timeframes, may seek quarterly deposit permission, and face interest, penalties and possible prosecution for failures; they must also issue prescribed deduction certificates and quote TAN in documentation.

Bogus TDS certificates: refuse credit or refund for specified TDS book and reopen cases to recover revenue.
Instruction directs that no credit or refund be allowed in respect of TDS certificates issued from TDS-book No. WB-1335051-1335100, since specified Form No.16 serials were confirmed not to have been issued and the book is counterfeit; where credit or refund has been given, matters should be reopened and recovery of the revenue effected.

Tax Deduction at Source on National Savings Scheme withdrawals: TDS and surcharge apply, with exemptions and payer obligations.
Section 194EE mandates deduction of tax at source at twenty per cent on payments falling under clause (a) of sub section (2) of section 80CCA (notably NSS withdrawals), with a twelve percent surcharge on such tax. Exemptions include payments below the two thousand five hundred rupee threshold in a financial year, payments to heirs of a deceased depositor, and where an individual resident furnishes Form No.15-I declaring nil tax. Deductors must remit deducted tax timely, issue Form No.16A, obtain and quote a TAN, file annual returns of deduction, and comply with prescribed penalties and interest for defaults.

Tax deduction at source on bank time deposit interest now applies; deduct at credit or payment, subject to exemptions and compliance.
Section 194A was amended to make tax deduction at source applicable to interest on time deposits with banking companies and certain cooperative societies from 1 October 1991, with deduction required at the time of credit or payment. Cumulative deposits credited in the payer's books trigger deduction on each credit; interest relating to periods before 1 April 1991 on earlier deposits is excluded. Exemptions include a threshold for aggregate interest in a year and declarations or certificates permitting nil or lower deduction. Payers must obtain TAN, issue TDS certificates, file returns, and face interest, penalties and criminal sanctions for non-compliance.

TDS on lottery commissions requires 10% withholding plus surcharge and triggers strict depositor and reporting duties.
Sections 194B and 194BB require withholding from winnings from lotteries, crossword puzzles and horse races at the existing rate of forty percent plus surcharge, with section 194BB's exemption limit reduced; section 194G, effective 1-10-1991, requires ten percent withholding (plus surcharge) on commission, remuneration or prize paid to persons involved in sale or distribution of lottery tickets where payments exceed the prescribed threshold, and crediting to any account (including suspense accounts) is deemed payment for withholding purposes.

Tax Deduction at Source on interest on securities requires deduction on credit or payment, with exemptions and strict compliance obligations.
Deduction of income-tax at source from interest on securities for 1991-92 requires tax to be deducted at the earlier of credit to the payee's account (including credit to suspense accounts) or payment, at specified rates and surcharges for residents, non-residents and companies. Identified exemptions include prescribed declarations by resident individuals, exemption or abatement certificates issued by Assessing Officers, and notified exempt securities or exempt corporations. Deductors must deposit tax within prescribed times, issue TDS certificates, quote TAN, file an annual TDS return with copies of certificates, and face penalties, interest and possible prosecution for noncompliance.

Tax deduction at source on insurance commission requires prescribed rates, surcharge and compliance with certificate, deposit and reporting obligations.
Tax deduction at source on payments by way of insurance commission for residents is subject to prescribed rates with an additional surcharge; payments to non-residents are handled under separate withholding provisions. No deduction is required where annual aggregate commission does not exceed the small threshold. A resident may obtain a certificate for lower or nil deduction under the statutory procedure, and the payer must deposit deducted tax within prescribed time, issue Form No.16A, quote TAN and file annual return in Form No.26D, with statutory penalties and interest for noncompliance.

Deduction of tax at source from contractor payments requires prescribed withholding, procedural filings, and possible certificate-based relief.
Section 194C requires deduction of tax at source on payments to resident contractors and sub contractors for carrying out work, including supply of labour, at prescribed withholding rates and subject to a monetary exemption threshold; Assessing Officers may, on application in Form No.13C, issue certificates directing lower or no deduction. Deductors must pay amounts to government in the prescribed manner and time, furnish Form No.16B certificates, quote TAN, and file annual returns in Form No.26C; statutory provisions prescribe interest, penalties and prosecution for failures.

Tax deduction at source on salaries: compute on estimated annual salary after statutory exemptions; verify claims and remit timely.
Employers must deduct income-tax at source from salary payments by computing tax on the employee's estimated annual salary at the average rate in force, after allowing statutory exemptions, prescribed deductions and rebates; valuation of perquisites follows Income-tax Rules; deductors must verify claims, deposit tax within prescribed time, furnish TDS certificates and annual returns, quote TAN, and face interest, penalties and possible prosecution for failures to deduct, remit or report correctly.

Immunity from inquiry for foreign remittances prevents tax investigations and disclosure of source, shielding recipients under the Act.
Statutory immunities bar disclosure and bar inquiry or investigation into specified foreign exchange remittances and gifts or ownership of India Development Bonds; such remittances are inadmissible as evidence and are not to be taken into account in Income tax Act proceedings. Exceptions apply where foreign exchange must be repatriated under applicable foreign exchange provisions within an unexpired statutory period, and for prosecutions and civil liabilities under specified penal statutes. Tax authorities may not treat scheme remittances as taxable gifts, and transfers of cumulative bonds for nominal value plus accrued interest do not produce taxable capital gains.

Refund approval procedure requires staged officer certification and higher-level referrals before issuing large tax refunds.
The Assessing Officer must verify refund calculations, adjust outstanding demands, check records for withholding grounds under Section 241, and make prima facie adjustments for provisional intimation refunds. Refunds exceeding specified thresholds must be referred by the Assessing Officer to the Deputy Commissioner for examination and approval; exceptionally large refunds in metropolitan charges or above higher thresholds must be forwarded by the Deputy Commissioner, with certification, to the Commissioner for final approval. These instructions supersede the prior guidance.

Pre-emptive purchase in real estate: exercise only when fair market value materially exceeds declared consideration to prevent evasion.
The instruction directs Appropriate Authorities under Chapter XXC to curb black money in immovable property transfers by ensuring true value declaration, while exercising the right of pre-emptive purchase only on cogent reasons showing fair market value materially exceeds apparent consideration and applying any reserve margin with moderation to avoid harassment of bona fide parties.

Administration of section 80HHB remains with the Assessing Officer; approvals under section 80-O may be qualified to reserve AO scrutiny.
CCIT/DGIT must assess agreements solely under section 80-O while administration of section 80HHB vests with the Assessing Officer; the Board accepts that approvals under section 80-O may be qualified to state explicitly that the Assessing Officer can examine whether whole or part of the income falls under section 80HHB and thereby be disentitled from section 80-O benefits.

Interest exemption under section 10(15)(iv)(c): Department of Revenue to approve foreign loan interest rates following ministry recommendations.
Applications for foreign loan agreements and approval of interest rates under section 10(15)(iv)(c) are filed with the administrative Ministry, which processes loan approvals in consultation with the Department of Economic Affairs and issues loan agreement approval, but refers its recommendations on the rate of interest to the Foreign Tax Division of the Department of Revenue, which will issue the rate approval; the procedure is effective from 1 September 1991, pending applications will be transferred, and prior approvals remain valid.

Treatment of securities: withdrawal of administrative circular after judicial judgment affects classification as stock in trade or investment.
Treatment of securities concerns whether holdings are treated as stock-in-trade or as investment. The circular states that, consequent to a judicial judgment, an earlier administrative guidance (Circular No.599) is withdrawn, altering the administrative stance on classification of securities and removing that circular from continued application.