Relief from estate duty: statutory duty to allow gift tax relief is not barred by the rectification limitation period.
The Controller of Estate Duty has a statutory duty to allow relief under section 50A for gift-tax paid, and the rectification time-limit for estate duty assessments does not apply to that statutory obligation; relief for gift-tax cannot be denied solely because the limitation for rectification has expired.

Transfer of assessment records: standardized consent, direct dispatch and mandatory acknowledgement to prevent duplicate arrear entries.
Prescribes a standardized mechanism for transfer and acknowledgement of income-tax assessment records and arrear demand, requiring transferee ITO identification and consent routed via IAC/CIT as applicable, maintenance of a general folder and Register of Transfer of Records, use of revised Transfer Memo (ITNS 110) and separate Acknowledgement Form (ITNS 110A), direct dispatch of records from transferor to transferee with supervisory monitoring, prompt diarisation and acknowledgement in prescribed quadruplicate form, and special simplified procedure for bulk transfers accompanied by a duplicate proforma listing arrears and pending actions.

Communication of Commissioner approval and recorded reasons required; delays make continued retention invalid and must be promptly notified.
Section 132(8) requires that Commissioner approval for continued retention of seized books and the reasons recorded for that approval be communicated expeditiously to the person whose documents were seized; further retention without such communication is invalid. Assessing officers must complete scrutiny promptly; officers seeking retention must record cogent reasons before expiry, the Commissioner must record detailed reasons, the approval must be forwarded to the authorised officer before expiry, and the authorised officer must notify the assessee of approval and reasons without delay, and in any event within thirty days after expiry of the authorised period.

Communication of approval and reasons required for continued retention of seized books, failure renders further retention invalid.
Section 132(8) retention beyond the authorised period requires the Commissioner to record detailed reasons and communicate approval to the authorised officer before expiry; the authorised officer must then inform the assessee of the approval and the Commissioner's recorded reasons without delay and, in any event, within thirty days after the expiry of the authorised retention period.

Communication of Commissioner approval required promptly and reasons must be conveyed to the assessee within a short statutory period.
Approval for continued retention under section 132(8) must be communicated expeditiously along with the Commissioner's recorded reasons; assessing officers should complete scrutiny promptly and record cogent reasons before expiry when seeking further retention. The Commissioner must record detailed reasons and send approval to the authorised officer before the expiry of the applicable retention period, and the authorised officer must inform the assessee of the approval and supply the recorded reasons without delay and not later than 30 days after that expiry. Previously granted approvals require immediate communication of reasons to assessees.

Provident fund recognition timelines reaffirmed; pending applications must be reviewed and backlog cleared under Board directive.
The Board recalls its earlier directive that applications for recognition of a Provident Fund be disposed of within three months of receipt, regrets substantial non compliance and long pendency, directs Commissioners to review all pending applications and take suitable action to clear the backlog, and reiterates that future applications must be disposed within three months as previously instructed.

Settlement of audit objections through interdepartmental coordination to expedite resolution and reconcile pending audit memos.
An organised interdepartmental machinery is mandated at three levels-monthly meetings between IAC(Audit) and DAG/Sr. DAG/Joint Director, quarterly meetings between CsIT and AGs/Directors of Audit, and bi-monthly meetings between DS(PAC), CBDT and Joint Director (Receipt), C&AG-to reconcile pending major audit objections, expedite settlement of high-revenue and common disputed issues, address administrative impediments, and pursue legal references; outcomes must be reported quarterly to CBDT in prescribed proforma and field officers must ensure timely, categorical replies to audit memos.

Extension of applicability of Board instruction to State Bank of India, maintaining all existing conditional requirements for officers.
Scope of Board Instruction No.1226 is extended to include the State Bank of India, subject to all other conditions and procedural requirements remaining applicable; recipients are directed to bring this clarification to the notice of all officers under their charge.

Reference application under section 256(2): prior Board authorisation for an assessee on an issue removes need for repeat approvals.
Where the Board has authorised filing of a reference application under section 256(2) on a particular issue in an assessee's case, the Commissioner of Income Tax is not required to obtain fresh Board approval to file a reference application under section 256(2) on that same issue for the same assessee in respect of other assessment years.

Six months holding requirement waived: National Deposits Scheme deposits qualify for wealth-tax exemption if continuously held.
Deposits in the National Deposits Scheme qualify for the wealth-tax exemption only if held continuously, and as a special concession the usual six-month holding requirement is treated as satisfied where the depositor has continuously held the deposit from the date of subscription until the relevant valuation date, even if that continuous holding is less than six months.

Inspection of superannuation and gratuity fund accounts must follow established provident fund procedure and be reported annually.
Inspection of accounts of approved superannuation funds and approved gratuity funds must follow the procedural framework laid down for recognised provident funds under Instruction No.1357. Questionnaires for trustees (Annexures A and B) are provided to standardize scrutiny. A report on inspections, made in the prescribed proforma annexed to Instruction No.1357, must be submitted annually to the D.I. (Income-tax) for monitoring and onward reporting to the Board.

Verification of tax payments: annual April drive to verify and adjust credited taxes and restore misplaced returns.
The Board directs a special drive each April to verify and effect all pending adjustments of taxes paid, and to restore any missing papers to assessee files; officers must certify completion and Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners must maintain special supervisory vigilance.

Self-assessment tax compliance under Section 140A: higher-threshold returns must be scrutinised and non-compliance invites show-cause and penalties.
Returns of companies and non-company assessees above the revised income thresholds must be scrutinised to verify payment of self-assessment tax under Section 140A. Where tax on self-assessment has not been paid, show-cause notices under the provision should be issued and penalties levied where appropriate. Officers must communicate and implement these instructions, ensuring defaults are followed up administratively.

Valuation of medical perquisites: employer reimbursements taxable only above prescribed annual exemption, changing previous salary-based limit.
Reimbursement of medical expenses or provision of medical facilities by an employer is taxable only in excess of Rs. 5,000 per annum; this clarification applies to all classes of employees, including managers and directors, and is effective from the year 1983-84 (assessment year 1984-85).

Ad hoc expense deduction for insurance agents increased for lower-earning commissions and extended to PPF deposit commissions.
Where insurance agents do not maintain detailed expense accounts, an ad hoc allowance equal to 50 per cent of the year's commission is to be allowed for agents whose gross commission is below Rs.60,000, modifying the prior 40 per cent rule and extending the same treatment to authorised agents' commissions on Public Provident Fund deposits.

Verification of assessees' estimates required by an independent clerk; officer must seek amendment and recovery when errors produce additional tax.
Statements or estimates filed in lieu of assessees' statements must be checked immediately after entry in the departmental records by a UDC other than the dealing clerk, or by a Head Clerk or Inspector, to ensure correct declaration of total income and tax. Checks are confined to cases above the existing income threshold; where checking discloses errors producing additional tax beyond the reporting threshold, the Income tax Officer must ask the assessee to amend the statement/estimate, recover the additional tax and draw attention to penal provisions if unrectified.

Disability exemption under section 80U clarified: guidelines illustrative; eligibility depends on individual facts, including deafness and mental retardation.
Clarification on the disability exemption under section 80U explains that earlier guidance was illustrative and that other impairments, including deafness, speech impairment and mental retardation, may be covered. Following consultation with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Board directs that eligibility must be determined by a fact specific inquiry into each case to decide whether the statutory requirements of section 80U are met, rather than limiting assessment to the previously listed examples.