Compounding of tax offences: revised guidelines require prior payment of dues and prescribed compounding charges before consideration. Administrative guidelines regulate compounding of offences under direct tax laws by classifying offences as technical or non-technical, requiring a written request, prior payment of tax, interest and penalties, and an undertaking to pay prescribed compounding charges and prosecution establishment expenses. Certain categories-including repeat non-technical offences (other than the first offence), major frauds, cases linked to anti national activity or central agency investigations, systematic large-scale concealment, pending plea-bargaining, and convictions-are ordinarily not compoundable. Competent authorities, procedural timelines and specified compounding fee scales and expense rules are set out, with application to pending matters and other direct tax statutes.