Section 56(2)(viia) limited to transfers of shares for no or inadequate consideration; fresh issuances excluded from its scope.
Section 56(2)(viia) applies only where a specified company or firm receives shares of a specified company through transfer for no or inadequate consideration as an anti abuse measure; it does not apply to receipt of shares resulting from fresh issuances such as bonus, rights or preference shares by the specified company.

Country-by-Country Reporting deadline extended for certain constituent entities to alleviate genuine filing hardship caused by reporting accounting year alignment.
The Board extended the timeframe for furnishing Country-by-Country Reports by constituent entities, adopting a twelve-month standard period from the end of the reporting accounting year and a six-month period where a systemic failure in the parent's jurisdiction is notified; as a one-time administrative measure, the Board extended the filing deadline for constituent entities for reporting accounting years ending up to February 28, 2018, to March 31, 2019, to address genuine hardship caused by calendar-year reporting and lack of exchange arrangements.

Taxation of long-term capital gains: new concessional regime applies to specified equity transfers, replacing prior exemption.
Finance Act, 2018 prescribes the income tax rate structure and surcharge/cess regime, withdraws the general exemption for specified long term capital gains and introduces a concessional tax regime with consequential valuation and computation rules, expands the domestic nexus for taxing non resident business profits by aligning "business connection" with modified PE concepts and by creating a "Significant Economic Presence" test for digital and other prescribed transactions, and makes multiple targeted amendments to dividend taxation, stock to capital conversion, insolvency linked loss carry forwards, deductions, reporting, withholding and assessment procedures.

Exception to electronic filing allows manual Form 13 submissions for NRIs and residents, temporary relief for TDS/TCS applications.
Exercising powers under section 119(1), the Board temporarily permits manual submission of Form No. 13 by non-resident Indians unable to register on TRACES and by resident applicants, allowing filing before the TDS officer or at ASK Centers until the specified cut-off dates, as an exception to the rule-mandated electronic filing requirement for lower or nil TDS/TCS applications under Section 197 and Section 206C(9).

Condonation of delay: Commissioners may admit belated Form 9A and Form 10 filings where reasonable cause prevented timely submission.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes authorized Commissioners of Income-tax to admit belated electronic Form 9A and Form 10 submissions where the assessee was prevented by reasonable cause from timely filing; for Form 10 the Commissioner must also verify that accumulated amounts have been invested or deposited in modes prescribed for accumulated income.

Limited Scrutiny scope expanded to permit examination of law enforcement information with prior administrative approval, with assessee notification.
Assessing Officers in Limited Scrutiny cases from CASS 2017 and 2018 may examine issues arising from credible information provided by law enforcement, intelligence or regulatory agencies with prior administrative approval of the Principal CIT/CIT. The expansion is limited to those specific issues and does not convert the case into Complete Scrutiny. The AO must record reasons, obtain Pr. CIT/CIT approval, intimate the assessee, and may invoke Section 144A and ensure Review/Inspection to prevent fishing and roving enquiries.

FINnet access continuity: require transfer of user IDs, registered emails and operational briefing to ensure uninterrupted FINnet operations.
Require inclusion of FINnet operation details in handing over notes when designated FINnet users change or transfer, ensuring both nodes/accounts' credentials and operational information are recorded and the predecessor briefs the incoming user. Changes must be intimated to the CBDT per SOP for new-user registration, and requests for FINnet training should be notified to the undersigned for coordination with the FIU.

Drafting New Direct Tax Legislation: reconstituted task force authorised to co-opt members and report recommendations.
Reconstitution of a Task Force to draft a new Direct Tax Legislation and review the Income-tax Act, 1961, naming a Convenor and five additional members, authorising the Convenor to co-opt additional persons, retaining earlier terms and conditions, and requiring submission of a report to the Government within the prescribed timeframe with Finance Minister approval.

Spontaneous exchange of rulings identifies cross-border pricing mismatches and informs action to prevent base erosion and profit shifting.
Templates received under BEPS Action 5 cover preferential regime rulings, unilateral APAs, cross-border downward profit adjustments, PE rulings and conduit rulings; where Indian residents (ultimate parent, immediate parent, related party, head office, payer or ultimate beneficial owner) are involved, the templates must be used to assess whether economic activity and taxable income in India are commensurate with value creation and to detect pricing mismatches risking base erosion. Additional information may be requested via Exchange of Information and all received information is subject to treaty confidentiality requirements.

Amendments mandate electronic filing and standardized documentation for approvals of charitable, educational and hospital institutions and donation deductions.
The draft mandates electronic filing of applications for approvals of funds, trusts, educational institutions and hospitals previously filed manually, substituting rules and Forms 56/56D/10G. Applications must be filed under digital signature or electronic verification code and verified by the person authorised to verify income-tax returns. Applicants must attach self-certified instruments of creation, registration certificates, audited accounts/balance sheets for preceding years or since inception, prior registration or approval orders, a note on activities and other prescribed documents. The Systems wing shall specify data structures, verification procedures and security, archival and retrieval policies.

Extension of filing due date for income-tax returns and audit reports; interest under Section 234A remains payable.
The Board, under Section 119 of the Income-tax Act, further extends the due date for filing return of income and audit reports for the relevant assessment year for assessees covered by the return-filing explanation, and specifies that assessees filing within the extended period shall remain liable for interest under Section 234A as provided in the earlier order.

Filing deadline extension for income tax returns and audit reports, but interest under Section 234A continues to apply.
CBDT, by an order under Section 119, extended the due date for filing income tax returns and all audit reports for assessment year 2018-19 for assessees covered by clause (a) of Explanation 2 to section 139(1) from 30th September, 2018 to 15th October, 2018. The order clarifies there is no extension for the purpose of Explanation 1 to section 234A and assessees remain liable for interest under section 234A.

Confidentiality of FIU information must be maintained; source cannot be disclosed and communications routed through nodal officer.
Information from FIU-IND must be maintained with strict confidentiality; the source must not be disclosed and all communications to FIU-IND must be routed through the CBDT Nodal Officer. Dissemination is on a need-to-know basis, information shall not be transferred to third parties without consent, and information received from FIU-IND will not be used as evidence in departmental or judicial proceedings.

Extension of return filing deadline for flood-affected Kerala assessees under Section 119 granting additional time to file returns.
Under Section 119 the Board extends the due date specified under Explanation 2 to section 139(1) for assessees in Kerala who were liable to file returns by the original filing deadline, postponing the filing date for that class of taxpayers affected by severe floods and thereby modifying the operative compliance date for furnishing income-tax returns.

Manual selection for complete scrutiny prioritises returns with recurring large adjustments, searches, surveys, and registration issues.
Manual selection for Complete Scrutiny in 2018-19 targets returns with recurring substantial additions, transfer pricing confirmations, survey related issues (including retracted disclosures or impounded records), assessments linked to search and seizure, returns filed after reassessment notices, claims of exemptions despite cancellation or non grant of registrations/approvals, and cases flagged by other government agencies alleging specific tax evasion-with some selections requiring prior administrative approval by the relevant principal tax authority. CASS centrally selects Limited and Complete Scrutiny cases by non discretionary data analytics and communicates lists to jurisdictional authorities.

Electronic assessment proceedings: default use of E Proceeding for scrutiny assessments, subject to specified operational exceptions.
Directive mandates that scrutiny assessments be conducted electronically through the E-Proceeding facility using ITBA integrated with the E filing portal, requiring Assessing Officers to send communications via ITBA and assessees to submit responses and attachments through their E filing accounts. Electronic proceedings are the default for assessment framing in the specified year, subject to listed exceptions (including reassessments, set aside matters, non PAN/paper filed returns, limited bandwidth stations, prior substantial conventional hearings, and administrative approvals). Personal hearings remain available in specified circumstances and must be recorded in ITBA.

Restoration of struck-off companies: references to NCLT must be filed and regional status reported promptly.
Regions must identify struck-off/de-registered companies requiring restoration and file references before the NCLT, recording cases in which references have been made and those pending. Each Region shall submit a consolidated status report showing number of cases requiring references, number of references filed, pending cases, list of revived companies and a note on cooperation from MCA/Regional RoCs/NCLT to the Board's designated official within the prescribed timeframe to ensure time-bound compliance with restoration procedures under the Companies Act, 2013.

Contesting adverse tax judgments on merits required for specified issue categories regardless of monetary thresholds or tax effect.
Adverse tax decisions on specified categories must be contested on merits irrespective of monetary thresholds or absence of tax effect. The amended paragraph directs appeals in cases involving constitutional validity challenges; findings that a Board order, notification, instruction or circular is illegal or ultra vires; accepted Revenue Audit objections; additions for undisclosed foreign income/assets or foreign bank accounts; additions based on information from external law enforcement agencies; and matters where prosecution has been filed and is pending.

Adverse judgments should be contested on merits irrespective of tax effect, including constitutional challenges and undisclosed foreign assets.
Para 10 is amended to mandate that adverse judgments in specified categories be contested on merits notwithstanding that the tax effect is below prescribed monetary limits or there is no tax effect. The specified categories are constitutional validity challenges; findings that Board orders/notifications/instructions/circulars are illegal or ultra vires; accepted Revenue Audit objections; additions for undisclosed foreign income/assets/bank accounts; additions based on information from external law enforcement/intelligence agencies; and cases where prosecution is pending.

Tax Audit reporting: Form 3CD GAAR and GST disclosure deferred, auditors not required to furnish those details for now.
Reporting obligations in Form No. 3CD for proposed clause 30C (GAAR-related information) and proposed clause 44 (GST compliance particulars) are deferred; tax auditors are not required to furnish the details called for under those clauses for Tax Audit Reports furnished on or after the amendment's notified date but before the deferred implementation date, as the reporting obligation is kept in abeyance until 31st March, 2019.