Tax treatment of foreign news agencies: suspend pending assessments and recoveries where activities are limited to news collection.
The tax board directed that pending assessment and recovery proceedings against foreign news agencies whose activities in India are confined solely to collection of news be kept in abeyance pending further orders, and instructed that this suspension applies only to agencies limited to information collection and not to those conducting other activities in India.

Gift-tax information collection to detect transfers and enable tax action via prescribed periodic proforma reporting.
The Board prescribes proforma reporting: Form A (monthly) for court records on succession certificates, Form B (monthly) for State agency records on gift/partition/trust/settlement/transfer deeds, and Form C (half-yearly) from Cs.I.T. on gifts and deemed gifts. Reports are routed via ITO(CIB) to the concerned G.T.O. and are intended to detect surrenders or transfers at succession and to facilitate action for levying Gift-tax; the Board requests confirmation of implementation and acknowledgement of receipt.

Administrative control centralisation by Chief Commissioner ensures coordinated transfers, discipline, budget and reporting across commissionerate charges.
The Chief Commissioner (Admn) centralises administrative authority across multiple commissionerate charges: formulating and communicating principles for transfers and postings of gazetted and non-gazetted staff; deciding intra-charge postings unless otherwise directed by the Board; forwarding proposals for special pay; centralising handling of confidential reports for gazetted officers and vigilance and disciplinary matters at headquarters; and exercising budgetary and appointing authority in specified grades while preserving combined cadres for promotion, confirmation and seniority.

Industrial company status for book publishers recognized, enabling concessional tax treatment despite outsourcing printing and binding.
Book publishing companies whose activities include folding, stitching and converting printed sheets into books qualify as industrial companies because such activities constitute processing or manufacturing; a publisher need not own a press or perform binding personally, and outsourcing printing or binding does not preclude industrial company status for purposes of section 104 and concessional tax treatment.

Tax concessions for savings and investment expand exemptions and deductions to encourage remittances, housing, exports and foreign projects.
The Finance Act, 1982 revises income tax and deduction at source rates and introduces targeted exemptions and deductions to promote savings, investment, house construction, exports and foreign contracting. Key reforms relax residence tests for Indian citizens employed abroad, exempt certain interest receipts for qualifying non residents, expand capital gains relief for reinvestment in residential property, enhance Chapter VIA savings deductions, allow specified charitable trust investments in immovable property, and create a reserving and repatriation regime for profits from prescribed foreign projects, subject to audit and utilisation conditions.

Restriction on cash repayment of term deposits: mandated account-payee repayment methods and criminal penalties for noncompliance.
The amendment mandates that repayments of term deposits and Special Bearer Bonds be made only by credit to the payee's account or by account payee cheque or account payee bank draft where prescribed thresholds and aggregate holding conditions are met, with defined exceptions for accounts maintained with the paying branch. Contravention without reasonable cause attracts imprisonment and a fine equal to the deposit; repeat convictions invoke enhanced custodial sentences and fines, and prosecutions may proceed only at the Commissioner's instance.

Requirement to include tax computations in assessment orders can invalidate assessments if omitted, stressing procedural compliance.
Assessment orders must expressly record the tax computations; omission of tax quantification within the assessment order has led tribunals and high courts to annul assessments and order refunds. The Board's instruction requires inclusion of tax calculations in companies' assessment orders, permitted placement for small non-company cases, and transmission of prescribed computation forms with demand notices in other non-company cases. Field officers must follow these requirements to prevent procedural invalidation, and departmental representatives should invoke the distinction that strict construction applies to charging provisions but not to machinery provisions.

Registration of property transactions now triggers acquisition rules, alters valuation and compensation, and imposes penal sanctions.
Amendments extend Chapter XXA to include transfers via co operative societies, part performance agreements and long term leases, redefine apparent consideration and fair market value to encompass premiums, rent and discounted deferred payments at 8%, require prescribed statements and registration for specified transactions, adapt jurisdiction and time limits for acquisition proceedings to registration under the new regime, adjust vesting and compensation rules for post acquisition payments, and create penal sanctions for failure to register or comply with vesting directions.

Arithmetical mistakes in tax computation trigger ledger records and disciplinary oversight to strengthen audit compliance.
Arithmetical mistakes in tax computations must be recorded on a ledger card for each ITO when audit reports show mistakes meeting prescribed tax-effect thresholds; these entries inform character rolls without unduly influencing overall appraisal. Explanations must be called where there is failure to follow instructions or where palpable mistakes, gross negligence, or malafide action are involved. Disciplinary authority handles punishment while DI(Audit) monitors compliance and enforces stronger punitive action where audit objections are found acceptable. Directives apply to both Internal and Revenue Audit objections.

Exemption registration requirement: filing under section 12A is procedural precondition for trusts, registration does not confer tax exemption.
Filing an application for registration is a procedural precondition for claiming income-tax exemption for public charitable or religious trusts; receipt and registration of the application satisfy only one necessary condition and do not itself confer exempt status. The substantive eligibility for exemption must be examined and determined by the assessing officer, and Commissioners may admit applications without assessing eligibility at the registration stage.

Capital gains on asset contribution to partnership: market-value credit to capital account triggers taxable capital gains inclusion.
When an individual brings a capital asset into a partnership and his exclusive rights in the asset are extinguished, that contribution is a transfer under sec.2(47); crediting the asset's market value to the partner's capital account constitutes consideration. Consequently, any profits or gains arising from the transaction are chargeable as capital gains and should be included in the partner's income for assessment.

Estate duty clearance exemption allows limited provident fund payments without certificate, subject to affidavit and indemnity bond.
Trustees of recognised provident funds may make limited payments to legal heirs without an Estate Duty Clearance Certificate, but their statutory liability for estate duty remains; any subsequent estate duty demand is to be met from the fund's Reserve and Forfeiture Account and may be recovered from payees under their indemnity. Trustees should secure an affidavit from claimants that the property does not attract estate duty and an indemnity bond/undertaking before payment.

Mistake apparent from record: tax authorities may rectify assessments suo motu following higher court interpretation.
The Board clarifies that an error resulting from subsequent Supreme Court interpretation is a mistake apparent from the record and may be corrected either on an assessee's application or suo motu by the assessing officer under the rectification provisions; assessing officers must rectify and recalculate enhanced Wealth Tax penalties in line with the Supreme Court decision and issue instructions to implement corrections.

Interest tax accounting changed: separate major head established with specified minor/subheads and registers to be amended.
With effect from 1-4-1982 interest tax collections must be recorded under a separate major head 024 Interest Tax, comprising three minor heads: collection under the Interest Tax Act, other receipts, and receipts awaiting transfer. Specified subheads include advance interest tax from banks, ordinary collections, and deduct refunds; miscellaneous collections and deduct refunds under other receipts; and a reference for transfers to the corporation head. Correction slips to the schedule of heads will be issued and central daily collection registers must be amended before use in the current financial year.

Tax deduction at source: revised salary withholding rules require inclusion of perquisites and compliance with prescribed exemption and remittance procedures.
Employers must deduct income-tax at source from salaries by computing tax on the estimated annual salary income at the average rate and deducting the aggregate tax divided into monthly instalments, with withholding required only if the estimated annual salary exceeds the prescribed threshold. The estimate must include the value of employer-provided perquisites and certain benefits; specific rules and exemptions (including limited leave encashment on retirement, standard deduction limits and reductions for employer-provided vehicles, specified savings deductions, HRA evidentiary requirements, foreign remuneration relief, and disability deductions) govern what is included or excluded for withholding. Employers must remit withheld tax correctly using designated challans, observe rounding rules, and are subject to interest and penal consequences for failure to deduct or pay.

Parliamentary question replies must be personally signed by Commissioners to ensure correctness and completeness before forwarding.
Replies and information supplied to Parliament questions must be factually correct, complete and to the point. Commissioners of Income-tax must personally scrutinise and sign such replies before forwarding them to the Board; if the Commissioner is absent, the ITO (Headquarters) must verify the reply and, where prior approval by the Commissioner exists, record that the reply was seen and approved by the Commissioner.

Deduction basis under Section 80MM: changed to net income by Section 80AB, leaving prior assessments governed by gross income rule.
Deduction under Section 80MM was judicially held to be computed with reference to gross income, but insertion of Section 80AB changed the computation to net income. Section 80AB was made effective from 1 April 1981 and not retrospectively; therefore the gross income rule applies to assessments up to and including assessment year 1980-81, while subsequent assessments must apply the net income basis.

Tax deduction at source on insurance commission remains unchanged for the current financial year, subject to proposed sub paragraph changes.
Deduction of income-tax at source on insurance commission is to continue at the rates notified in Circular No. 300 for 1981-82, to be applied during the 1982-83 financial year, subject to any applicable modifications set out in the annexed proposed Sub Paragraph I of Paragraph A of Part III of the Finance Bill, 1982; where doubts arise, the Income tax Officer or Public Relations Officer should be consulted.

Deduction of tax at source on horse race winnings: continue prior-year rates unless revised schedule applies.
Deduction of tax at source on winnings from horse races must continue at the previously communicated rates for the financial year, except where modified entries in Sub Paragraph I of Paragraph A of Part III of the Finance Bill apply; the Finance Act remains the authoritative reference for any differences.

Deduction of income-tax at source from lottery winnings continues at prior rates unless specified schedule provisions alter them.
Deduction of income-tax at source from lottery and crossword winnings for 1982-83 is to continue at the rates in Board Circular No. 303 except where the annexed Sub Paragraph I of Part III of the First Schedule to the Finance Bill, 1982 prescribes different rates, in which case deductions must follow that Sub Paragraph; the Finance Act is the authoritative reference for any discrepancies.