Limitation for penalties under section 275(1)(c) governs timing for penalties relating to prohibited loan transactions.
A penalty for granting loans above the prescribed limit otherwise than through banking channels is independent of assessment and the limitation for imposing such penalty is governed by section 275(1)(c). The limitation period is the expiry of the financial year in which the proceedings in the course of which action for imposition of penalty has been initiated are completed, or six months from the end of the month in which action for imposition of penalty is initiated, whichever is later; it is not dependent on pendency of appeal against the assessment.

Limitation for penalty proceedings begins at the range head, requiring assessing officers to refer and not issue penalty notices.
Limitation for imposition of penalties under sections 271D and 271E commences at the Range Head (Joint/Additional Commissioner), not at the Assessing Officer; Assessing Officers should refer alleged violations of section 269SS/269T to the Range Head who will issue penalty notice and complete proceedings within the prescribed limitation period, and conflicting High Court decisions will render the Departmental View inoperative in that High Court's area while the matter is referred to the Central Technical Committee for consideration.

Standard definitions for taxpayer and tax-base clarify who counts as taxpayer and criteria for data generation and reporting.
Standard definitions for reporting: for a Financial Year, tax-base equals persons who filed ITRs or had tax paid/deducted/collected in any of the three preceding years as on the first date; taxpayer is any person who filed a return or had tax paid/deducted/collected during the year; new taxpayer and potential taxpayer are defined by entry into or evidence of liability relative to the tax-base. For an Assessment Year, assessee follows the Act and non-filer is a liable person with no return entered on the System. "Tax paid" and "information available on record" are clarified for reporting.

Perquisite exemption: employer-paid medical treatment at approved hospital not treated as taxable perquisite for specified illnesses.
Approval is accorded to Shri Sai Hospital, Patna, under the proviso to clause (2) of Section 17 read with Rule 3A(1) & 3A(2) so that any sum paid by an employer for medical treatment at the hospital for the specified diseases and ailments listed under Rule 3A(2) shall not be treated as a perquisite for the purposes of Sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, subject to the qualifying durations and compliance conditions set out in the Rules.

Foreign Tax Credit rules proposed: draft uploaded for stakeholder consultation, inviting written submissions to designated contacts.
Proposed procedural rules set out the mechanism for grant of Foreign Tax Credit under domestic provisions implementing tax-treaty or unilateral overseas tax relief, specifying required documentation, submission channels and administrative procedures. The draft has been published for stakeholder consultation with written comments invited to designated email and postal addresses within the stated consultation period, and the Central Board of Direct Taxes identified as the notifying authority.

Foreign Tax Credit entitlement clarified: residents may claim credit for foreign income tax against Indian tax subject to documentation and limits.
Draft rules set out grant of Foreign Tax Credit to resident assessees where corresponding income is taxed in India: foreign tax definitions depend on treaty status or domestic law, credit applies against tax, surcharge and cess (not interest/penalty), is disallowed for disputed taxes, is computed per source per country as the lesser of Indian tax on that income and foreign tax paid converted at the telegraphic transfer buying rate, and requires specified foreign tax certificates, payment proof and a non-dispute declaration.

Applicability of Section 234B(2A): CBDT issued administrative clarification on whether it applies to pending or newly filed cases.
The Board received representations about whether the Finance Act, 2015 insertion of Section 234B(2A) (effective 01.06.2015) applies to cases pending before the Settlement Commission as on that date or only to applications filed after it. CBDT has enclosed a communication from its TPL division clarifying the applicability issue and has directed principal chief commissioners and other concerned officers to note the clarification and ensure necessary compliance.

Recording of PD Account and Strong Room balances enables standardized entry and MIS reporting through the new ITBA investigation module.
The first-phase ITBA Investigation Module provides an offline excel utility to record pending investigations (TEP, STR and other non-search matters) with basic validation, pending a later upload feature. It includes functionality to record deposits, withdrawals and balances in PD Accounts and Strong Rooms - including transfers and withdrawals linked to deposits - and requires entry of balances as on the cut-off, deposits after the cut-off, and withdrawals/releases after the cut-off. The Cut off Date for recording is 31.03.2016 and MIS reporting for these records is available within the module.

E filing enabled for ITR 1 and ITR 4S; Form 35 and substituted withholding forms available online with DSC required.
E filing of ITR 1 and ITR 4S for AY 2016 17 has been enabled on the Income Tax Department portal; other ITRs will follow. Electronic filing of appeals using newly notified Form 35 is enabled for taxpayers required to e file with a Digital Signature Certificate, with EVC support to be provided for other categories. Substituted Forms 15CA, 15CB and 15CC (per Notification No. 93/2016) and Forms 9A and 10 (per Notification No. 3/2016) are available for e filing effective 1 April 2016, with DSC required for online submission and EVC to be enabled shortly.

Personal examination of grievances: senior officers to perform designated CPGRAMS reviews weekly with centralized monthly reporting.
Senior officers are required to personally examine a designated number of CPGRAMS grievances weekly according to rank, with monthly monitoring reports forwarded by principal field officers to Zonal Members by the fifth of the succeeding month; Members of the Board will consolidate and forward reports to the Chairman for submission to the Secretary (Revenue). CIT(C&S) will provide CPGRAMS access credentials to Members to enable direct zonal monitoring.

Verification of agricultural income data entry errors requested; priority consolidated feedback submission required for identified cases.
Field formations must verify 289 probable data-entry-error cases of agricultural income reported in ITRs for AY 2007-08 to 2015-16, using the list published on i-taxnet, and submit a consolidated region-wise electronic report (xls/xlsx) by the stated deadline by e-mail to the Directorate so corrected figures can be compiled for reporting in connection with the PIL.

Discontinuation of physical savings certificates: transition to electronic-mode issuance, banks and post offices to follow notified serial rules.
Physical pre printed NSC and KVP certificates are discontinued and replaced by e mode issuance; until CBS transitions, banks and post offices may issue a physical certificate recorded on a passbook. Banks and DoP must use the new serial numbering pattern allocated to them and may rely on the referenced G.S.R. notifications available on the e gazette when issuing certificates.

Reopening assessments for penny stock transactions: AIMS listing prompts consideration of actions under income tax reassessment powers.
AIMS now contains a validated list of penny stock cases (P1/P2 priority) involving suspected long term capital gains/short term capital losses; tax authorities are directed to examine those listings and consider reopening assessments under section 147/148 pursuant to EFS instructions issued by the Directorate of Income Tax (Systems).

Transfer pricing floor limits established for audit reporting, with specified submission thresholds and mandatory OMNIDOCS uploads.
Establishes floor limits for transfer pricing draft paragraphs to guide inclusion in the Compliance Audit Report: corporate assessees-Rs. 2 crore (Category A) and Rs. 1 crore (Category B); non corporate assessees-Rs. 1 crore (Category A) and Rs. 50 lakh (Category B). Cases meeting these thresholds must be submitted and complete key documents uploaded through the OMNIDOCS system only.

Interest on tax under section 234B applies to amounts disclosed in settlement applications, including cases pending when amendment commenced.
Amendment imposes simple interest at one percent per month on additional tax where an application is filed under the settlement regime, calculated from the first day of April of the relevant assessment year until the date of application, and on any increase in disclosed income following a Settlement Commission order from the same commencement point until the date of the order; the amendment applies to cases pending before the Commission on its commencement, while waiver of interest for earlier cases is an administrative decision and the central board cannot direct the Commission as it is not an income-tax authority for that purpose.

Timely reporting requirement: investigation findings from search and seizure cases must be forwarded to CEIB, enhancing information sharing.
Investigation findings from search and seizure operations must be shared with the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau within fifteen days of finalisation of the Appraisal Report, replacing the practice of endorsing PSRs. The submission must use a specified format listing date of search, taxpayer name/address/PAN, gist of findings, and the law enforcement agencies for which the information is relevant, and information regularly shared with Regional EICs must also be sent to CEIB, under intimation to CBDT.

TDS on property sales: online correction of Form 26QB enabled; SOP withdrawn, AO approval required without DSC.
CPC TDS has enabled an online correction facility for Form 26QB (TDS on sale of property under section 194 IA) from 29/02/2016 and the interim SOP is withdrawn. Corrections made with a Digital Signature Certificate are auto approved for permitted fields; corrections without a DSC affecting PANs, amount, or dates require approvals by affected PAN holders and subsequent verification and approval by the TDS Assessing Officer via TRACES, with taxpayers required to present hard copies and supporting identity and transfer documents for AO verification.

Non-filing Prosecution under section 276CC: non-filers flagged in AIMS for Assessing Officers to review and act under income tax law.
Non-filers whose return filing deadline had lapsed and who did not respond to NMS identification have been designated as potential candidates for prosecution under section 276CC. These matters are recorded in the Actionable Information Monitoring System (AIMS), which allows marking cases as "Proposed for prosecution" or "Not proposed for prosecution," and Assessing Officers are instructed to review AIMS data and take action if the statutory conditions for prosecution are met.

Access to reasons for manual scrutiny enabled in ITD system, allowing AOs to view CPC-based selections pending section 143(3) order.
The ITD system functionality to view cases manually selected for scrutiny on the basis of CPC suggestions for A.Y. 2013-14 has been re-enabled; this applies to cases selected under Manual Scrutiny where an order under section 143(3) has not yet been passed and is accessible via AST Processing CPC Interface List of scrutiny cases from CPC.

Book profit computation for MAT: use Ind AS net profit excluding other comprehensive income, with timing rules for unrealised items.
The MAT book profit for Ind AS-compliant companies should, as a general rule, be the net profit excluding net other comprehensive income, subject only to the adjustments already specified in section 115JB. Permanent OCI items that will never be reclassified to profit or loss should be included in book profit at specified times (revaluation and fair-value equity gains on realisation; defined benefit plan remeasurements annually). Transition adjustments on first-time adoption should be included in book profit according to whether and when they are reclassified or realised.