Extension of due date for belated and revised income tax returns - resident individuals granted additional filing time.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, exercising powers under section 119 of the Income tax Act, extends the last date for furnishing belated returns under sub section (4) of section 139 and revised returns under sub section (5) of section 139 for resident individuals, moving the prior deadline to a later specified date and directing that the extended date be treated as the operative filing deadline for those taxpayers.

Due date extension for amount determination under Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme; declarations by the extended deadline use column three.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes extends the due date for determining the amount payable as per column (3) of the Table in section 90 of the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2024 to 31st January, 2025; declarations filed on or before that date will have amounts determined under column (3), and declarations filed on or after 1st February, 2025 will have amounts determined under column (4), notwithstanding the Scheme, Rules, or Guidance Note.

Employer-paid medical expense exemption for specified diseases at approved hospital - non-perquisite treatment and no TDS deduction required.
Approval is granted to The Panacea Multi Super Specialty Hospital under Rule 3A enabling employer paid medical expenditures for specified diseases or ailments incurred by an employee or family member at the approved hospital to be excluded as a perquisite and exempt from income tax in the employee's hands, with no obligation on the employer to deduct tax; the approval is time limited, non transferable and subject to Rule 3A(2) compliance, inspection, notification of violations and timely renewal.

DTVSV Scheme eligibility clarifies which pending appeals and assessments qualify and how disputed tax is computed under the settlement mechanism.
The Guidance Note defines eligibility for settlement under the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme by reference to appeal pendency as of the cut off date, clarifies exclusions (including specified search year assessments, review petitions and settlement commission matters), and explains that set aside issues admitted to appellate authorities are eligible to the extent set aside. It states that prosecution instituted before declaration disqualifies the relevant assessment year but not other years, that the payable amount depends on the declaration date with statutory timelines for payment, and that earlier taxes paid are creditable.

Extension of return filing deadline for taxpayers required to furnish transfer pricing report granted under section 119.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, exercising powers under section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, extends the due date for furnishing the Return of Income under sub-section (1) of section 139 for assessees covered by clause (aa) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139 who are required to furnish the report under section 92E, thereby postponing the statutory filing deadline to a later specified date to enable compliance with the transfer pricing report requirement.

Condonation of delay in filing tax-option forms: authorities may admit applications subject to specified eligibility conditions.
The CBDT delegates power to admit and decide condonation applications for delay in filing Form No. 10-IC and Form No. 10-ID: Principal Commissioners/Commissioners for delays up to one year, and Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners/Directors General for delays exceeding one year. Applications must show timely filing of the return, election of the relevant tax option in the ITR, and reasonable cause with genuine hardship; no application is maintainable beyond a three-year limitation and authorities should aim to dispose within six months.

Condonation of delay under section 119(2)(b) permits delegated officers to admit late Form filings subject to reasonable-cause conditions.
Condonation under section 119(2)(b) authorises Principal Commissioners/Commissioners to admit delays up to 365 days and Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners/Director Generals to admit delays beyond 365 days for late filing of Form Nos. 9A, 10, 10B and 10BB, subject to satisfaction of reasonable cause and genuine hardship. Applications must be made within three years from the end of the relevant assessment year (for applications filed on or after the Circular), should be disposed of within six months where possible, and delay in respect of Form 10 additionally requires that accumulated amounts be invested or deposited in modes specified under section 11(5).

Hospital approval for tax-exempt employer-paid medical treatment benefits under income-tax rules, covering specified illnesses subject to conditions and renewal.
Approval is granted to M/s. Gurjar's Multispeciality Hospital for the limited purpose under the proviso to clause (viii) of sub-section (2) of Section 17 read with Rule 3A; employer-paid sums for medical treatment of employees or family at the approved hospital for diseases listed in Rule 3A(2) shall not be treated as a perquisite for sections 15, 16 and 17 and are exempt in the hands of the employee, with the employer not liable to deduct tax under section 192, subject to conditions, inspections, non-transferability and a three-year validity.

Reduction or waiver of interest: monetary limits fixed for tax authorities, subject to hardship, uncontrollable default and cooperation.
The Board fixes tiered monetary thresholds allocating competence to specified income tax authorities to grant reduction or waiver of interest payable under the tax default provision: the lowest tier to Pr.CIT/CIT, intermediate to CCIT/DGIT, and highest to Pr.CCIT. Any exercise of these powers is conditional on genuine hardship to the taxpayer, default due to circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control, and the taxpayer's cooperation in relevant inquiries or recovery proceedings.

Condonation of delay under section 119 extended to AY2023 24 for returns claiming deduction under section 80P.
Condonation of delay under clause (b) of sub section (2) of section 119 is extended to returns claiming deduction under section 80P for assessment year 2023 24 where delay arose from delayed statutory audits; Circular No.13/2023 is applied to such returns, subject to its conditions, so they may be treated as returns furnished on or before the due date under sub section (1) of section 139 if conditions are met.

Extension of return filing due date for specified category of assessees under section 139(1) to a later deadline.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, invoking powers under section 119, grants an extension of the due date under sub-section (1) of section 139 for furnishing return of income for the Assessment Year 2024-25 for assessees referred to in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to that sub-section, moving the earlier deadline to a later date specified in the circular.

Compounding of tax offences: streamlined guidelines set eligibility, procedure, authority and computation of compounding charges.
Guidelines set a consolidated framework for compounding offences under the Income Tax Act: they apply from issuance to new and pending applications, require a prescribed affidavit, payment of a non refundable application fee, and settlement of all outstanding tax, interest and penalties. The jurisdictional Principal CCIT/CCIT/Principal DGIT/DGIT is the Competent Authority; certain high gravity or specified cases require prior Board approval. Procedure, timelines, electronic processing, and computation rules for compounding charges (based on tax excluding interest) are specified, including multiplicative increases for repeat or delayed applications and provisions for co accused and consolidated filings.

Dispute settlement scheme: declarants may file declarations and pay prescribed percentages to secure full and final tax settlement.
The Guidance Note sets out the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2024 as a statutory settlement mechanism whereby an eligible appellant may file a declaration, pay prescribed percentages of the disputed tax or disputed interest/penalty as determined by the Designated Authority, and obtain a Form 4 order recording full and final settlement; it specifies eligibility limits, excluded categories (including search based assessments, prosecutions and undisclosed foreign income/assets), prescribed Forms and timelines, non refundability of payments, and collateral effects on TDS/TCS and prosecution immunity.

Furnishing of Audit Reports: deadline extended to allow trusts and institutions to correct Form 10B/10BB filings and comply.
CBDT, under section 119, permits trusts, institutions and funds that filed audit reports in the incorrect form (Form 10B/10BB interchangeably) for assessment year 2023 24 to furnish the correct audit report in the applicable Form No. 10B or 10BB by 10 November 2024, extending the earlier deadline set by Circular No. 02/2024 to relieve genuine hardship and enable compliance.

High risk refund cases: investigation of email-linked clusters with sample-based verification and portal reporting for potential refund fraud.
High Risk Refund email-based clusters are disseminated to CRU Nodal Officers for allocation to Investigation Officers, who must initiate enquiries within seven days and complete investigations within three months using the Insight portal case type "High Risk Refund Cases-Inv." IOs apply a sample methodology (top 10% or top 10 claimants), attempt to identify the KEY PERSON via internal databases or statutory information requests delivered by registered post and email, call for documentary support from the KEY PERSON for 20-30% of the cluster, and then close cases, quantify income escapement for non-genuine claims, or mark unexamined ITRs as "Further Verification Required," with supervisory approvals and portal feedback required within four months.

High-Risk refund cases: JAOs must verify and give feedback within 30 days via the Insight portal.
JAOs must verify high risk refund ITRs received via the Insight portal and, within 30 days, submit either "ITR can be processed" or "Further risk assessment required." The latter feedback is required only where specified criteria are met, including recent disallowances confirmed on appeal, penalty orders for incorrect facts, repeated revised return refund increases, repeated high risk flags on the PAN, or CRIU/VRU information suggesting under reporting or disallowed deductions. If a revised return is filed for the relevant year, no further activities may be performed; when marking further assessment, the JAO must enter the refund at risk amount and provide mandatory remarks via Insight.

High risk refund cases: TAN-based clusters sent to TDS officers; AOs must verify and mark further risk or no risk.
TAN-based clusters of high-risk refund ITRs for AY 2024-25 are disseminated to CIT(TDS) for verification. AOs must allocate clusters, follow the SOP, examine historical risk flags and compliance indicators in Insight/TRACES, and submit mandatory feedback as either "No Further Risk Assessment required" or "Further risk assessment required" with remarks and supporting documents; presence of multiple historical flags, penalty/prosecution, repeated demands, or defaulter listing requires marking for further risk assessment.

Delegation of powers enables local disposal of condonation applications for delayed refund and loss carry forward claims.
Delegation of administrative authority permits Commissioners and CPC Bengaluru to accept or reject condonation applications for delayed refund claims and carry forward/set off of losses within prescribed monetary bands; a five-year bar from the end of the assessment year applies to applications filed on or after the effective date, with target disposal within six months. Decisions must ensure reasonable cause and genuine hardship, permit AO inquiries, exclude court-pending periods for certain claims, and limit supplementary refund admissions to specified conditions including no interest and source of excess tax.

Extension of audit report filing deadline: specified assessees under Income-tax Act permitted to file by October 7.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, invoking its authority under Section 119 of the Income-tax Act, extends the specified date for furnishing report of audit under any provision of the Act for the Previous Year 2023-24 from 30th September, 2024 to 07th October, 2024 for assessees referred in clause (a) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139.

Monetary limits for appeals revised; filing to be determined on merits to curb unnecessary litigation and ensure certainty.
Revision of monetary thresholds governs departmental appeals in income tax matters, specifying increased monetary limits for initiating appeals and making those limits applicable to cases involving tax deduction and collection at source, while reiterating that decisions to appeal where exceptions apply must be taken on merits without regard to monetary effect.