Representation before Authority of Advance Rulings: require senior officer representation and timely submission of briefing materials.
Officers below the level of Addl. CIT/JCIT should not be nominated to represent before the Authority of Advance Rulings; important cases may be represented by Pr. CIT/CIT. Where represented by CIT (DR), that officer must be briefed well in advance. Updated reports and paper books must be sent to the Secretary AAR, with a copy to CIT (DR), at least ten days before the application is taken up for hearing, and regional officers must be instructed for strict compliance.

Rectification under section 154: lists of pending demand cases released for Assessing Officers to download and dispose expeditiously.
Assessing Officers are directed to download the exhaustive lists of demand cases with pending section 154 rectification from i-taxnet and to dispose of the rectification applications expeditiously in accordance with citizen charter timelines to reduce infructuous demands; system issues should be reported to the ITRA Helpdesk and the instruction circulated to all field officers.

Due date for wealth-tax return extended to align with income-tax return extension for specified assesses.
The due date for filing Wealth-tax returns is governed by the corresponding Income-tax filing date; therefore, an administrative extension of the Income-tax filing deadline for a specified class of assesses results in an identical extension of the Wealth-tax filing deadline for those assesses, and the circular directs departmental dissemination of this clarification.

Jurisdiction for STR investigations clarified: residence or principal place of business determines the investigating directorate and transfer protocol.
Jurisdiction for investigation into Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) is determined by the main subject: for individuals, jurisdiction is the place of residence; for companies, firms or other entities, jurisdiction is the principal place of business activity. Directorates receiving STRs outside their jurisdiction must forward them to the correct Directorate within a fortnight and inform the Nodal Officer, DS, Inv. IV, CBDT. Disputes over jurisdiction should be resolved between PDIT (Inv.)/DGIT (Inv.), and if unresolved the DGsIT (Inv.) shall escalate to the Board.

Electronic Verification Code validation permitted for specified electronically filed returns, enabling taxpayers to validate returns within extended filing window.
CBDT authorises Electronic Verification Code (EVC) as a valid mode of validating electronically filed returns for specified categories of persons and directs that returns filed electronically without digital signature, for which the ITR V submission period to CPC Bengaluru has been extended, may be validated through EVC within that extended period to facilitate processing.

New taxpayer targets prompt region-specific identification and enforcement measures to enroll taxpayers and address compliance gaps.
Regionally apportioned targets for enrolment of new taxpayers are set, requiring region-specific identification strategies, engagement with professional bodies, coordination with collection/intelligence units, completion of tiered verification of NMS defaulters within prescribed timeframes, PCCsIT decision and dissemination on Non PAN data for PAN population by jurisdictional officers or special units, and follow-up action against TDS defaulters to secure TDS statements and identify non- or short-deduction transactions.

PAN Migration requirement: transfer PANs from old or defunct jurisdictions to nodal and correct assessing jurisdictions to ensure timely processing.
Movement of PANs recorded under obsolete, orphaned or defunct jurisdictions must be effected to their correct present assessing officers using the Nodal framework under CIT(CO); CsITs are to expedite transfer into Nodal custody and RCCs must reassign PANs to correct current jurisdictions, while PANs in administrative placeholders like TDS AO or CIB AO should be moved out; a detailed PAN wise dataset is available on ITAXNET to support reconciliation and transfers.

Inter-se seniority revision: revise ITO seniority lists giving effect to judgment; promotions stayed pending revised lists.
Administrative direction to expedite Revised Inter-se Seniority Lists of ITOs to give effect to the referenced judgment, noting implementation in certain charges and representations for seniority revision; an ongoing OA produced an interim order restraining further promotions based on the existing Final All India Inter-se Seniority List until revised lists are prepared.

Taxpayer information confidentiality: mandates committees, classification, access controls and incident reporting to protect sensitive tax data.
Confidentiality of taxpayer information is enforced through an Information Security Committee (ISC) and a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), with mandated Local Information Security Committees (LISCs) at cadre-controlling levels to implement an Information Security Policy and Procedures (ISPP). Information must be classified into prescribed categories and protected by domain-specific controls-physical security, personnel security, identity and access management, and security monitoring and incident management-supported by adoption matrices, reporting, audits, user records, training, and breach investigation and escalation procedures.

Restriction on manual refunds: manual refunds barred for cases processed on AST; exceptions require supervisory approval and system entry.
Manual refunds are prohibited for cases processed on AST and must be routed through the Refund Banker or system workflows; exceptions are limited to specified Online TMS contingencies or where initial orders were passed outside AST, subject to mandatory supervisory approval, recording of reasons, mandatory PAN/AY/bank details on cheques, prohibition where a prior identical manual refund was encashed, and mandatory entry of refund details in the new ITD manual-refund screen for OLTAS matching and monitoring.

Amount sought to be evaded clarified as including tax, penalty or interest, affecting compounding fee calculations.
Clarification that the phrase "amount sought to be evaded" for offences under section 276C(1) means the amount of any tax, penalty or interest chargeable or imposable under the Act, and that compounding fee calculations and related assessments must be based on that measure.

Undisclosed foreign assets declaration: voluntary compliance permits tax and specified statutory immunity subject to eligibility and disclosure conditions.
Voluntary tax compliance under Chapter VI permits declaration of undisclosed foreign assets acquired from income chargeable to tax in India prior to assessment year 2016-17, subject to eligibility limits where assessment notices, searches, surveys, or government information (including DTAA disclosures) pre-date specified cut-offs. Tax and penalty are payable on fair market value as per the Rules; the declared value becomes the cost for future capital gains and declared assets are granted immunity only under specified Acts, with other laws and bad faith declarations remaining actionable.

Due diligence in filing appeals: ensure careful authorization to avoid adverse judicial criticism and wasted departmental resources.
Departmental officials are instructed to exercise due diligence and caution in authorising appeals, ensuring appeals are filed on merits and not in a routine manner. The circular highlights examples of mechanical filings, failure to explain challenging later orders after accepting earlier ones, disregard of higher authority decisions, and prolonged procedural neglect causing dismissal of appeals. It requires timely follow up, accountability for inaction, and that limited resources be deployed only for litigation that promises tangible benefit.

Commissioner (Judicial) jurisdiction designated to coordinate High Court litigation and ensure uniform departmental legal stance.
The Commissioner of Income-tax (Judicial) is designated as the nodal officer for High Court litigation and inter-regional coordination to ensure a uniform Departmental interpretation of the Income-tax Act, 1961 within assigned territories. The CIT (J) must process and examine Central Scrutiny Reports for conformity with Departmental views, identify cases for bunching, disseminate settled judicial positions, support Screening and Regional Technical Committees, manage counsel engagement and oversight, maintain appeal and prosecution databases in prescribed formats, and monitor post-filing court proceedings while actual filing remains with jurisdictional PCIT/CIT.

Undisclosed foreign assets compliance window requires payment of special tax and penalty to regularise offshore holdings.
Chapter VI provides a one time compliance window for residents to declare undisclosed foreign assets (acquired from taxable income prior to 2016 17) in Form 6, subject to authorized signatories and time limits. Declarants must pay a special tax and penalty totalling 60% of the asset value; the window excludes assets already subject to specified notices, searches, surveys, or competent authority information received on or before 30 June 2015. Valid declarations exclude the declared asset from total income, bar use of the declaration in certain prosecutions, and exempt the declared value from Wealth Tax.

Augmenting tax collections: conference participants asked to submit multiple suggestions to widen the tax base and boost compliance.
The Board directed conference participants to submit proposals focused on augmenting tax collections and widening the tax base, recalling prior requests including a Ministerial instruction and a Chairperson video conference; several regional offices had already sent suggestions, and the memorandum reiterates that designated senior income-tax officials must forward the required proposals to the Board by the stated deadline for administrative consolidation and consideration.

Clerkage entitlement expanded to include drafting fees, capped per case; immediate amendment to counsel fee rules.
Clerkage is payable at the rate of 10 per cent of the appearance and drafting fee, subject to a maximum per case or batch of cases; this amendment replaces para-5 of Annexure-II of Instruction No. 3 of 2012 and takes immediate effect for all concerned.

Information security committee constitution updated: adds a member and reallocates the chief information security officer role accordingly.
Constitution of the Information Security Committee of the Central Board of Direct Taxes is modified: membership adjusted to add Joint Secretary (FT & TR-II) and to replace CIT (M & TP) with CIT (International Taxation-3), New Delhi, who will perform the role of Chief Information Security Officer; committee remains chaired by Member (IT).

Timely issuance of appellate orders required; non-compliance will be viewed adversely and strict compliance is mandated.
CBDT requires that appellate orders by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) be issued within 15 days of the last hearing and that any lapse will be viewed adversely; this timing requirement also applies to orders by CIT (Administration) and CCIT, including matters under specified income tax provisions and orders under Rule 86 of the Second Schedule, and Principal Chief Commissioners are to ensure strict compliance.

Decision not to file appeals: jurisdictional CCIT's choice will not be referred to a CCsIT panel under the procedure.
Where a jurisdictional CCIT proposes or decides not to file an appeal before the High Court, the case will not be referred to the panel of CCsIT constituted for decisions on filing appeals; the panel and referral procedure therefore applies to decisions to file appeals but does not apply to decisions not to file, and this clarification is to be communicated to all concerned.