Affidavit verification requirement: income tax authorities to assess discrepancies in candidates' asset declarations and report concealment.
The Election Commission instructed Income Tax investigation authorities to examine and classify candidates' 2014 affidavits for Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir into prescribed categories-specific cases, exceptional asset growth, winners compared with income tax returns, absence of PAN with high-value assets, and additions of immovable assets-requesting a six month report estimating additional concealment and requiring a statewise report on political parties' annual return filing and audit status via the annexed proforma.

Reasonable cause defenses in TDS/TCS defaults now to be considered before prosecution; compounding prioritized for prompt disposal.
Instruction requires that before initiating prosecution for TDS/TCS defaults under 276B/276BB authorities must consider the defence of reasonable cause under 278AA, including voluntary remittance with interest prior to detection. Compounding applications must be prioritised and disposed within CAP timeframes, and senior commissioners and directors must disseminate the clarifications and monitor prosecution and compounding processes to ensure timely and judicious action.

Compounding of offences: structured discretionary regime for direct tax offences with eligibility, exclusions, and fee schedule.
Guidelines provide a discretionary compounding regime for Chapter XXII offences under the Income-tax Act, classifying offences into Category 'A' and 'B', setting eligibility conditions (prescribed application, payment of outstanding tax/interest/penalty, undertaking to pay compounding charges and to withdraw or modify appeals), listing exclusions (such as repeated prior compounding, earlier prosecutions, involvement in specified investigations or convictions), designating CCIT/DGIT as competent authority with enhanced committee review for high-value Category 'B' matters, prescribing procedural timelines for processing, payment and orders, and establishing a detailed compounding charge structure including fees, prosecution establishment expenses and litigation costs; the framework applies similarly to other direct tax laws.

Compounding of tax offences permits administrative settlement subject to eligibility, prescribed fees, procedural limits and exclusions.
Compounding under the Income-tax Act permits the CCIT/DGIT to compound certain Chapter XXII offences classified as Category 'A' or 'B' when prescribed eligibility conditions are met, including payment of outstanding tax and an undertaking to pay compounding charges. The competent CCIT/DGIT must follow a prescribed procedure-processing by the Assessing Officer, disposal by speaking order within set time limits, communication and collection of compounding charges with limited extensions, and issuance of the compounding order after payment-subject to exclusions for specified classes of offenders and situations and to prescribed fee formulas and minimums; the Finance Minister may relax exclusions in exceptional cases.

Admissions under coercion: CBDT directs that coerced disclosures during searches be avoided and will be viewed adversely.
Admissions of undisclosed income obtained under coercion or undue influence during Searches and Surveys are prohibited and will be viewed adversely by the Board. The CBDT emphasises prioritising independent evidence-gathering over recorded admissions, avoiding pressure on taxpayers to make disclosures, and directing senior officers to circulate guidelines regionally and closely oversee conducting officers so that statements and disclosures are free from coercion and supported by credible evidence.

Work allocation among CBDT leadership assigns investigative control to Member (Investigation) and zonal oversight to other Members.
Distribution of functional and territorial responsibilities among the Chairperson and Members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes is prescribed. The Chairperson retains overall authority while Member (Investigation) supervises all DGsIT(Inv.), all CCsIT(Central Circle) and DGIT (I&CI). Other Members are allocated specific zonal and subject-matter charges covering policy, regions, legal coordination, appeals and administration, effective immediately and until further orders.

Interest payment directive: timely disbursement to Special Deposit Scheme account holders by electronic transfer or account-payee cheque.
Directs prompt payment of interest to holders under the Special Deposit Scheme 1975 for calendar year 2014 at the rate of 8.7% per annum, payable on 1 January 2015. Payments are to be effected by electronic channels (ECS/NECS/NEFT/RTGS) or account-payee cheque, subject to the procedural instructions set out in the December 30, 2003 circular. Banks must issue instructions to Deposit Offices and acknowledge receipt.

Income tax deduction from salaries: employers must deduct TDS at prescribed rates, comply with PAN, forms and timelines.
Employers must deduct income tax from salaries for FY 2014 15 under Section 192 using the prescribed age based slab rates, including surcharge and education cesses, by estimating total salary (including taxable perquisites), allowing permitted deductions (including Chapter VI A), and deducting tax monthly; deductors must obtain PAN/TAN, deposit TDS by prescribed dates, file electronic quarterly statements (Form 24Q) and, for government book entries, Form 24G, issue Form 16, observe perquisite valuation rules, and face interest, penalties and prosecution for non compliance.

Scrutiny assessment procedures adjusted for flood-affected taxpayers: verify damage, avoid punitive additions, and consider hardship in recovery.
Advisory directs assessing authorities to verify flood impact with district administration and, where records are destroyed, complete pending scrutiny assessments on available materials; avoid high pitched additions for non production of books; restrict third party verification to appropriate cases and use special audit or surveys only with substantial merit and prior CIT approval; consult prior years' scrutiny records to infer business trends; decide recovery actions case by case considering post flood financial condition; act expeditiously and sensitively and issue a press note for affected taxpayers.

Due date extension for income tax returns under section 119 provides relief to Jammu & Kashmir assessees affected by floods.
Exercising powers under Section 119, the Central Board of Direct Taxes extends the due date for furnishing returns of income and for obtaining and furnishing statutory audit reports for assessees in Jammu & Kashmir covered by Explanation 2 clauses (a) and (aa), in consequence of flood-related disruption, and directs distribution of the order to departmental offices and stakeholders for publicity and compliance.

Auditable cases MIS enables CsIT(CO) to generate structured scrutiny-case lists and export detailed reports for audit use.
An IT-enabled Management Information System function allows CsIT(CO) to extract auditable-case lists from the Income Tax Database for scrutiny-completed cases within a recent rolling period; detailed reports may be exported in CSV and PDF, summary reports in PDF only, accessible via AST Reports Scrutiny MIS Reports using CsIT(CO) login, with procedure documented in the i-Taxnet user manual.

PSR transmission to CEIB discontinued; officers must instead supply specified data for suspected tax evader database and REIC shares.
Directive to cease routine forwarding of Preliminary Search Reports (PSRs) to the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB); the revised PSR proforma removed the endorsement requirement, and CBDT directs that PSR copies not be sent to CEIB while officers may still supply information/data to CEIB for a suspected tax evader database. Information shared in the REIC forum must also be sent separately to CEIB.

Correction of member designation: CIT four posting changed to Ahmedabad in the DRP entry, other order terms unchanged.
Corrigendum to Order No.15/FT&TR/2014 corrects the DRP, Ahmedabad table entry at serial number 11, column (3), replacing the panel member designation CIT-4, Pune with CIT-4, Ahmedabad, and confirms all other contents of the Order remain unchanged.

Dispute Resolution Panels under section 144C constituted to allocate members and reserve members for statutory income-tax dispute resolution.
Dispute Resolution Panels are constituted under section 144C of the Income-tax Act for specified jurisdictions, each comprising three Commissioners of Income-tax as Members and one Reserve Member under the Income-tax (Dispute Resolution Panel) Rules, 2009; the order supersedes earlier constitutions and takes effect from 15-11-2014, with Members to perform Panel duties in addition to regular functions and issuance approved by the Chairperson of the Board.

Deemed completion of assessment clarified as date assessment order is passed; settlement applications allowed after intimation.
Para 61.2 is replaced (with effect from 1 June 2007) to clarify that an assessee may apply to the Settlement Commission only during pendency before the Assessing Officer; intimation under section 143(1) is not an assessment order and does not bar filing an application after such intimation; and an assessment is deemed to have been completed on the date on which the assessment order is passed.

Survey powers under the Income Tax framework require stricter pre-survey verification to prevent actions on unreliable information.
The Chairperson/Member (Investigation) observed that numerous surveys under section 133A were initiated in one region on largely inaccurate information, and directed that case selection require better homework and verification of source material before invoking survey powers; this instruction is to be circulated to all Income Tax Authorities in the administrative region with the Chairperson/Member's approval.

Section 119(1) direction: income-tax offices to remain open to implement jurisdictional restructuring during normal hours.
Direction under Section 119(1) that income-tax offices shall remain open on 15th November during normal office hours to conduct administrative work required for implementation of the restructuring of jurisdictions coming into effect that day; recipients are to notify concerned officers and ensure publication on departmental websites and officer portals to facilitate coordinated implementation.

Dispute Resolution Panel constitution under Section 144C appoints three members and a reserve member, effective from 11 November.
Constitution of a Dispute Resolution Panel under Section 144C appoints three named members and one reserve member for DRP, Ahmedabad, superseding earlier orders; members shall perform DRP duties in addition to regular duties and the order is effective from the stated date with Chairperson approval.

Dispute Resolution Panel under statutory provision constituted at Chennai; members appointed and additional duties assigned.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes constitutes a three-member Dispute Resolution Panel at Chennai with a designated Reserve Member under the statutory dispute-resolution provision, naming senior Commissioners/Director as members and assigning Panel duties in addition to regular responsibilities; the order supersedes prior constitutions, is effective from the stated commencement date, and is issued with the Chairperson's approval for administrative circulation.

Non-adversarial tax regime: limit scrutiny scope to specified information and enforce supervisory review and remedies.
Directives implement a non-adversarial tax regime by limiting the scope of scrutiny in cases selected from automated information to specified issues unless widened with senior sanction, requiring supervisory review to prevent frivolous or high pitched additions, mandating credit for TDS evidence to avoid refund withholding, confining remand reports to specified matters, applying merit-based discretion for appeals and references, enforcing timely grievance disposal, and requiring summons to be issued only in deserving cases.