Jurisdiction orders communication: nodal officers must promptly acknowledge and respond to emails regarding jurisdiction orders.
The circular directs that nodal officers handling jurisdiction orders under section 120 must regularly monitor official email accounts, promptly acknowledge all communications regarding draft jurisdiction orders, and send requisite responses without delay to ensure timely processing and coordination on jurisdictional matters.

Revision of monetary limits for departmental appeals clarifies limits are guidance; appeals must be filed only on merits.
The Central Board issued an instruction revising monetary limits as guidance for filing departmental appeals and directed immediate communication to Chief Commissioners, Directors General, departmental representatives and counsels. The instruction requires strict compliance and emphasizes that the prescribed monetary limits are guiding factors only; appeal filings must result from a proper application of mind and be decided strictly on the merits to reduce unnecessary litigation.

Special Leave Petition filing requires revised Proforma B and procedural compliance, including limitation tracking and document certification.
Revised Proforma B prescribes a standardized departmental submission to propose filing Special Leave Petitions, requiring identification of the case and disputed issues, itemised tax effect, confirmation whether monetary limits or specified exceptions apply, precise dates for the High Court order and certified copy process with computed limitation excluding delay between request and readiness, explanation for any forwarding delay, enclosure and legibility of specified appellate documents with a soft MS Word copy, a focused factual note identifying errors of law or fact, articulation of substantial questions of law, disclosure of related-year litigation and relied-upon precedents, and communicable contact and certification details of the forwarding CIT.

Departmental Representative nominations required for ITAT representation seminar - nominations and travel plans needed to secure participation.
Nominations are requested for a two-day training on effective representation before ITAT for officers ranked JCIT to CIT; at least two to three officers who are posted or likely to be posted as Departmental Representatives should be nominated by the stated deadline. Nominated officers must submit travel plans by email using the provided proforma to permit accommodation and transport arrangements, with contact details supplied for coordination.

Sharing of wealth return asset details: permitted to public sector banks for loan recovery with confidentiality and NOC safeguards.
Asset information from wealth tax returns may be furnished under Section 42B when the Commissioner is satisfied it is in the public interest to assist public sector banks in recovering loans; disclosures are limited to borrower, mortgagor or guarantor, require a bank undertaking and confidentiality clause, and mandate a No Objection Certificate from the jurisdictional tax authority before appropriation of any surplus to protect departmental tax dues.

Administrative supervision under Section 264 requires CITs to report revision orders and briefs to CCIT and CBDT.
The Instruction requires Commissioners to prepare a brief and submit a copy of every order made under the Commissioner's revision power to the Principal Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner in the monthly DO letter. Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners must report the number of such orders and any observations to the Zonal Member of the Board in their monthly DO letter and communicate observations to the Commissioner, while revisionary action remains subject to enquiry and to the Act's safeguards.

Deduction under section 80-IA: transferee may claim unexpired period when transfer for operation and maintenance unless amalgamation/demerger.
Eligibility for deduction under section 80-IA turns on whether an undertaking was formed by splitting or reconstruction and on the nature of any transfer. If operation and maintenance of an infrastructure facility or industrial park/SEZ is transferred to a transferee in accordance with the proviso, and the transfer is not by way of amalgamation or demerger, the transferee is eligible to claim the deduction for the unexpired period; however, transfers in a scheme of amalgamation or demerger on or after the specified date disqualify the amalgamated or resulting company. Profit of the transferee is to be computed under the applicable subsections for deduction calculation.

Centralized judicial repository to digitize and manage income tax appeals, streamlining litigation management for department officers.
Implementation of a centralized web based National Judicial Reference System (NJRS) consisting of an Appeals Repository with status tracking and workflows, and a Judicial Research and Reference System of indexed judgments and statutory material. Under a PPP, the Implementation Agency will provide scanning, metadata extraction, headnote creation, data centre and O&M for five years; the department must designate nodal officers, provide space and appeal documents for regional scanning centres, and ensure accurate metadata in appeal forms to enable searchable, cross referenced litigation records.

Transfer under section 127: non-search cases may be centralized for coordinated investigation or administrative centralization.
Transfer under section 127 is not confined to search cases; non-search matters may be centralized when coordination, investigative integrity or the interest of revenue require transfer to a Central Charge. Illustrative categories include non-search cases connected to searches, survey/enquiry cases involving systematic manipulation or fraud, matters arising from other agencies' investigations, complex revenue significant cases, and other cases identified by senior officers for administrative centralization.

Amortization of BOT project costs permitted; construction costs may be spread evenly over concession period as business expenditure.
The Board clarifies that capitalized costs of constructing roads/highways under BOT concession agreements where ownership is not vested in the assessee may be amortized as allowable business expenditure. Amortization must exclude the construction period and be computed so the entire reduced initial cost is spread evenly over the remaining concession term; any earlier deductions claimed are to be deducted from the initial cost before equal amortization over the remaining period.

Tax credit mismatch verification enables taxpayers to submit rectification requests online to correct TDS and tax particulars.
Taxpayers must verify whether a tax demand results from a tax credit mismatch due to incorrect particulars (such as invalid TANs, wrong TDS schedules, or incorrect challan details) and submit rectification requests with correct TDS/tax particulars and documentary evidence. Rectification must be made to the jurisdictional assessing officer where applicable or submitted online via the e-filing portal for CPC-processed cases, following the Standard Operating Procedure to enable verification and correction of outstanding demands.

Objection rights on corporate amalgamation clarified: Income Tax Department must be consulted before reconstruction schemes proceed.
Tax administration identified retrospective-dated amalgamation schemes designed to offset group losses against profits to the detriment of public revenue and experienced rejection of its court intervention for lack of locus standi. Consequently, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs directed Regional Directors to obtain and incorporate comments from the Income Tax Department on reconstruction or amalgamation proposals, inviting those comments within fifteen days, and required Commissioners of Income Tax to promptly transmit objections to the Regional Director for inclusion in responses to courts.

Adjustment of seized cash: seized cash cannot be applied to tax payable on income declared in a Settlement Commission application.
Seized cash is to be applied against liabilities already determined by assessment, penalty or interest arising from search proceedings and does not include the additional tax and interest payable on income declared in an application before the Income Tax Settlement Commission, since that amount must be paid on or before filing and therefore is not an existing liability for the purpose of applying seized cash.

Demand Verification via CPC portal requires AO confirmation, rectification procedures and specified safeguards and supervisory approval where required.
Assessing Officers must verify and confirm outstanding demands in CPC FAS via AST and the CPC Demand Verification Portal. Demands are treated as Category 1 (CPC generated or post cut over AST) to be rectified in AST, or Category 2 (pre cut over AST/manual PAN demands) to be uploaded, modified and updated on the portal. Verification requires evidence of payment (CIN/OLTAS confirmation or documentary proof), validation of TDS credits in 26AS, and adherence to safeguards-indemnity bonds and Range Head approval-when reductions are permitted without CIN. AOs must record outcomes using CAP I attributes and annexed data fields.

Satisfaction note requirement: assessing officer must record satisfaction before transferring seized records under section 153C.
Assessing Officers must record a satisfaction note before transmitting seized or obtained records under section 153C, following the Supreme Court's ruling on section 158BD that such a note is a sine qua non and may be prepared at initiation, during assessment, or immediately after assessment of the searched person.

Advance Pricing Agreements provide five-year certainty for covered international transactions and streamline transfer pricing compliance.
The CBDT executed five unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements on 31 March 2014 specifying the arm's length price for covered international transactions for a five year term. The APA regime, effective from 1 July 2012, provides pre filing consultations, detailed fact finding including site visits, and a Functions, Assets and Risks (FAR) analysis which the CBDT examines before submitting the report for final approval by the Central Government.

Seizure-based jurisdiction: seized material triggers assessment proceedings against other persons upon recorded satisfaction and timely handover.
Proceedings under section 153C must be initiated only after the AO of the searched person records a distinct written satisfaction that specific seized material belongs to a particular other person; that satisfaction should identify the seized items, give clear reasons, and be recorded separately for each other person. Where jurisdiction lies with another AO, the transferor AO must hand over the relevant seized material and a copy of the satisfaction within the prescribed timeframe, following Search and Seizure Manual procedures, to enable the transferee AO to initiate consequential assessment action within limitation periods.

Central Action Plan for Q1 FY2014-15 mandates verification of disputed demands, tax credits, audits and appeals deadlines.
Directive establishing the Central Action Plan for Q1 FY 2014-15 requiring Assessment Units to verify and clean disputed demands, credit prepaid taxes reflected in Form 26AS, implement appellate orders and dispose rectification applications received up to March 31, 2014, with specified timelines for CPC FAS demand certification. It mandates surveys' post-action, issuance of notices under section 143(2)/148, audit reconciliations and settlement of internal audit objections, migration of PAN, processing carried-forward paper returns, recovery of recent demands and completion of set-aside and section 147 reopened assessments.

Allocation of Zonal Charges reallocates regional responsibilities among CBDT members, including placement of DGIT divisions under specified members.
Distribution of zonal responsibilities is ordered among members effective 01.04.2014: Member (L&C) - North West Region, Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur; Member (inv.) - all DGsIT(Inv.), all CCsIT (Central Circle) and DGIT(1&C1); Member (IT) - Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi; Member (Revenue) - Kolkata, Guwahati, Patna, Bhubaneswar; Member (P&V) - Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur; Member (A&J) - Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhopal. DGIT (International Taxation) and FT & TR Division are placed with Member (IT); Directorate General of Income Tax (Logistics) is placed with Member (P&V).

Exemption of partner's share: partners are not taxable on firm income including amounts exempted or deducted at firm level.
The firm's total income for the non-attribution rule includes amounts exempt or deductible under the tax law; once the firm is assessed and taxed on that income, the profit credited to partners cannot be taxed again in their hands, and partners' credited profits remain exempt even if the firm's taxable income becomes nil due to exemptions or deductions.