Condonation of delay: tax commissioners may admit late filings of specified forms if reasonable cause exists and investment conditions met.
The CBDT authorizes Commissioners of Income-tax to admit condonation applications for delays up to 365 days in filing Form No. 9A and Form No. 10 for AY 2018-19 and subsequent years, and authorizes Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners to admit applications where delay exceeds 365 days up to three years, to be decided on merits. Admitting authorities must be satisfied that delay was due to reasonable cause; for Form No. 10 they must also ensure accumulated amounts were invested or deposited in modes specified in sub-section (5) of section 11. Disposal is preferably within three months.

Condonation of delay: authority extended to admit late Form 10B filings up to three years, subject to reasonable cause.
Authorization under Section 119(2) permits Pr. Chief Commissioners and Chief Commissioners of Income-tax to admit applications for condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10B where delay is beyond 365 days up to three years, subject to satisfaction that the applicant was prevented by reasonable cause; such applications are to be decided on merits and preferably disposed within three months.

Condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10BB: authorities may admit applications if reasonable cause shown, senior officers handle longer delays.
Commissioners of Income-tax may admit and decide applications for condonation of delay in filing Form No. 10BB where delay is up to one year, subject to satisfaction that the applicant was prevented by reasonable cause; delays exceeding one year up to three years may be admitted and decided by Principal Chief Commissioners or Chief Commissioners on merits, who should preferably dispose applications within three months.

Electoral Trust approval process standardized; checklist and compliance requirements mandated for applications under Section 2(22AAA).
Standardizes filing for approval/renewal of an Electoral Trust under Section 2(22AAA) by requiring Form A in duplicate with a prescribed checklist and supporting documents to the jurisdictional CIT/DIT and Member(IT&R), CBDT; the checklist mandates proof of company registration, inclusion of "electoral trust" in the name, sole object to distribute to eligible political parties, disclosure of shareholders, submission of past returns for renewals, certified constitutional documents, accounts, beneficiary details, and a sworn undertaking to comply with Rule 17CA(2)-(15) including receipt issuance, donor identification, distribution rules, recordkeeping, audit, return filing with Form No.10BC and intimation of shareholder changes.

TDS on virtual digital asset transfers: payer must deduct, deposit, and report tax before releasing consideration.
Payers must deduct tax at source when paying consideration for transfer of virtual digital assets at the time of credit or payment; buyers in peer-to-peer trades are responsible for TDS, must deposit the tax, and file prescribed TDS statements. Specified person status determines higher exemption thresholds. For in-kind or VDA-for-VDA consideration, tax must be paid before release of consideration and proof produced; both parties in exchanges report TDS and challan details. Once TDS under the VDA mechanism is made, the separate purchase-related TDS provision need not apply.

TDS on virtual digital assets: 1% withholding at credit/payment, Exchanges may assume deduction and reporting responsibilities.
Section 194S mandates 1% TDS on consideration for transfer of virtual digital assets at time of credit or payment, with exemptions where aggregate consideration in a financial year does not exceed specified thresholds for specified persons and others. For Exchange transactions, the Exchange paying the seller is primarily liable to deduct; brokers may be responsible per agreement; Exchanges may assume deduction when they are sellers or where consideration is in kind, converting withheld non primary VDAs into primary VDAs and INR via prescribed verifiable market orders and reporting in Form 26Q/26QF, with deposits made as per Income tax Rules.

Tax deduction on benefits and perquisites requires deductors to withhold TDS subject to turnover and threshold exclusions.
Section 194R requires a person providing any benefit or perquisite to a resident, arising from business or profession, to deduct tax at source before providing it, subject to a financial year monetary threshold and turnover based exemptions for Individual/HUF deductors. The deductor need not verify taxability in the recipient's hands; the obligation applies to cash, kind or partly cash/kind benefits. Valuation is by fair market value except where purchase price or manufacturer's sale price applies, GST is excluded, and specified trade discounts/rebates are excluded from deduction.

Mutual Agreement Procedure access: guidance clarifies applicant disclosure duties and interplay with domestic settlement schemes.
The guidance reaffirms MAP as the bilateral DTAA mechanism governed by Form No. 34F and rule 44G, describes the MAP lifecycle and an endeavour to resolve cases within 24 months, and sets out grounds for access and denial (including delayed applications, incomplete filings, prior binding orders from ITSC/AAR, APAs, and settlements under the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act). It emphasises the applicant's duty of true and complete disclosure and to provide up to date material information, and clarifies negotiable outcomes, restrictions on downward adjustments under domestic law, treatment of interest/penalties, and implementation steps after MAP resolution.

Compulsory scrutiny selection for returns arising from search and seizure mandates administrative approval and central transfer after statutory notice service.
Procedures require prior administrative approval for compulsory selection of returns arising from search and seizure or requisition actions, and mandate transfer of such matters to Central Charges within a prescribed short period after service of statutory notices by the Assessing Officer; if not centralized, the Assessing Officer must serve a notice for return when a return is filed in response to the statutory communication, or a notice calling for information when no return is filed.

Specified violation power: registration and approval conditions in Form 10AC treated as updated, enabling cancellation for breaches.
The Circular clarifies that conditions in Form No. 10AC issued between 01.04.2021 and the Circular's date are to be read as substituted by Table 1 conditions effective 1 April 2022, aligning Form 10AC with Finance Act, 2022 amendments granting the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner power to examine and cancel or refuse cancellation of registration/approval for specified violations. It rectifies technical "provisional" headings to reflect substantive registration/approval and reproduces annexed standard conditions (income application, no non incidental business, separate books, no non genuine activity, compliance with law, truthful Form 10A, timelines and re registration/re approval obligations).

Specified person determination under TDS/TCS rules updated; automated compliance list simplifies deductor checks and removal criteria apply.
Finance Act amendments revise specified person to require non-filing in the relevant previous year plus an aggregate TDS/TCS threshold; an automated portal generates a start-of-year list of specified persons, no new names are added during the financial year, and names are removed when valid returns are filed or TDS/TCS aggregates fall below the threshold. Deductors may rely on the start-of-year list but must perform due diligence for non-residents with permanent establishments; portal users are discouraged from requesting external proof of filing.

Compulsory scrutiny selection for specified returns: upload supporting records and transfer cases to central faceless processing for assessment.
Parameters require compulsory scrutiny selection for returns linked to surveys, search and seizure/requisition actions, non compliance with notices under section 142(1), notices under section 148, cancelled or non granted registration/approval claims, recurring additions on issues of law or fact, and specific information of tax evasion. Assessing Officers must prepare and submit lists with prior administrative approval, upload underlying documents to ITBA for NaFAC access, and ensure transfer to Central Charges as directed; notices are to be served through NaFAC and timelines for selection and transfer are prescribed to meet statutory limits.

Extended reassessment notices treated as show cause under section 148A, triggering new law procedure and reply rights.
Extended reassessment notices issued during the extension period are to be treated as show cause notices under the new section 148A and processed under the new reassessment regime. The Assessing Officer must provide the information and material relied upon within the prescribed short period (with specified exclusions for cases below the monetary threshold), allow the assessee a limited reply with possible extension, and then pass a reasoned order under the new procedure with prior specified authority approval before issuing any fresh notice or serving an order declining issuance.

Exemption for sovereign wealth and pension funds: investment linked tax relief conditioned on holding, thresholds, and reporting.
Exemption for specified persons on dividend, interest and long term capital gains from infrastructure investments is subject to a three year holding period, minimum investment thresholds for intermediate vehicles, and prescribed proportional computation of exempt income. Transfers in breach of the holding period or other essential conditions cause withdrawal of exemption for the year of breach and taxability of previously exempt amounts in that year. Hybrid entities require separate books and proportionate allocation of exempt income. Downstream transfers trigger capital gain computation using fair market value on the date of each downstream transfer, and audit and quarterly reporting may be limited to Indian investments where accounts are segmented.

Local Committees to review high pitched scrutiny assessments and recommend administrative follow up for fairness in assessments.
CBDT, under section 119, directs constitution of three member Local Committees in each Pr.CCIT region to examine grievances from High Pitched Scrutiny Assessment arising under Faceless and non Faceless regimes. Committees must acknowledge petitions, maintain records, examine prima facie cases of high pitched assessments or procedural lapses, call for assessment records, and submit reasoned reports to the Pr.CCIT. Committees must endeavor to dispose petitions within two months, meet regularly, and Pr.CCITs shall take administrative follow up and submit quarterly reports.

Electronic filing deadline for Form 10AB extended to permit later submissions for institutional registration and approval.
CBDT, exercising administrative powers, extends the electronic filing deadline for Form No.10AB: applications for registration or approval under the income tax provisions relating to institutions, whose original last date falls on or before 29 September 2022, may be filed by 30 September 2022; the extension addresses difficulties with electronic filing implemented w.e.f. 01 April 2021.

Specified date for proviso to rule 114AAA designated, clarifying when that proviso becomes applicable under the Income tax Rules.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes formally designates the first day of April, 2023 as the specified date for the proviso to sub rule (2) of rule 114AAA of the Income tax Rules, 1962, providing a clear temporal point for the proviso's applicability under that rule.

PAN Aadhaar linking: transitional deferral of adverse consequences for inoperative PANs while fee liability remains applicable.
Requirement to link PAN with Aadhaar makes PANs inoperative if Aadhaar is not intimated by the notified date; failure attracts a prescribed fee when Aadhaar is later intimated and ordinarily triggers the legal consequences of an inoperative PAN when it is furnished or quoted. The Board provides a one year transitional deferral of those negative consequences, subject to payment of the linking fee, to mitigate disruption to filing, refunds, withholding and KYC processes.

Exclusion from assessment procedure for cases with expiring limitation pending with AO unable to be completed due to technical constraints.
The order excludes from the scope of section 144B assessments cases whose time limit for completion expires at the end of March 2022 and which are pending with the jurisdictional Assessing Officer as on the mid March cut off or thereafter, where technical or procedural constraints prevent completion under the section 144B procedure. The directive is effective immediately and modifies prior orders by adding these cases to the list of exclusions from the faceless assessment framework.

Assessment completion exception allows jurisdictional officers to finalise pending cases where procedural constraints prevent standard completion.
Administrative order provides a limited exclusion permitting jurisdictional Assessing Officers to complete assessments that cannot be finalised under the prescribed procedural regime due to technical or procedural constraints where the limitation period for completion expires on the specified date; the exception is confined to that class of cases and takes immediate effect.