Relief for court-fee under estate duty must be allowed despite expiry of limitation, statutory obligation requires allowance.
Relief under Section 50 of the Estate Duty Act for court-fees paid to obtain probate is a statutory obligation on the Controller of Estate Duty and must be allowed even if the rectification time-limit has expired; the limitation provision does not apply to this relief, a position accepted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

Proper books of account must be maintained in indelible ink, prohibiting pencil entries to ensure records' permanence.
Companies must prepare and maintain the books of account required by section 209 in indelible ink; pencil entries do not satisfy the statutory requirement that proper books of account be kept and that records be preserved in good order for the prescribed retention period.

Gift tax on transfer of firm interest applies only if not exempt and the consideration received is inadequate.
Gift tax on transfer of a firm interest is chargeable only if the statutory exemption for certain partnership transfers does not apply and the consideration received by the person in whose favour the transfer is made is inadequate. Consideration may consist of capital introduced, labour or services (as from a working partner), or both; Gift Tax officers must examine and determine the adequacy of such consideration when new partners are admitted, profit sharing ratios change, or a sole proprietorship is converted into a partnership.

Appellate recordkeeping obligations require proper registers and timely dispatch of appellate orders to supervisory authorities.
Appellate proceedings records must be properly maintained, with appeal fixation registers completed and order-sheet notations recording attendance, hearing status, causes of adjournment and the date of the appellate order. Inspectors found cryptic entries and inordinate delays in despatching batches of appellate orders to Commissioners of Income Tax; inspecting authorities are directed to examine record completeness and timeliness of despatch during inspections of appellate officers.

Gross maintainable rent: where rent is pegged and not increasable, actual rent received ordinarily determines valuation.
Where a residential house's rent is pegged and cannot be increased, the basis for arriving at gross maintainable rent under the Wealth tax valuation rule is ordinarily the rent actually received or receivable by the owner, rather than a notional or market rent.

Summary assessment allowed for low-return new cases; random selection increased and separate register entry required.
The Board permits summary assessment of new cases with returned income at or below the specified low-income threshold, whether detected in survey or from voluntary returns, subject to the summary assessment scheme conditions; increases the random selection proportion for such cases and requires their separate entry in the Demand and Collection Register, thereby modifying existing instructions with immediate effect.

Discharge certificate issuance: grant with assessment when no estate duty payable, and after full collection when duty demanded.
Discharge certificates under the Estate Duty Act, 1953 are to be issued with the assessment order where no estate duty is payable. If assessment results in a demand, the certificate should be issued after full collection of the duty without requiring an application. Section 67 does not prohibit issuing a certificate without an application and only requires issuance when an application is made.

Cost auditor independence: cost auditors must not serve as internal auditors during the period of their cost audit.
The Department advises that because the Cost Auditor must comment on the scope and performance of internal audit under the Cost Audit Report Rules, the Cost Auditor should not act as the company's internal auditor for the same period during which the cost audit is conducted.

Search and Seizure reporting: standardized monthly pro forma and strict submission, with itemised asset valuation and serialised entries.
Standardized monthly reporting of search and seizure operations under section 132 requires use of a revised pro forma, submission by the specified monthly deadline, endorsement to the Director of Inspection, separate serialised entries for each authorisation/search warrant, and consolidated returns from all charges.

Time bound liquidation of search cases to ensure prompt disposal and development of prosecution-ready assessments.
Instruction requiring a time-bound programme to liquidate pending search and seizure assessments, noting the Estimates Committee's criticism of delays and low prosecution rates. The Board directs that pending assessments in other Direct Taxes be disposed of together with Income-tax assessments, that assessing officers be guided to develop prosecution-ready cases, and that investigation quality be improved through special training courses, with monitoring and remedial action where cases exceed specified timeframes.

Judicial proposal submission: required procedural safeguards, supporting documentation and strict timelines for appellate references and board review.
Proposals to the Board must be complete, contain officers' comments on facts and legal issues with reasons and advisability of further pursuit, include assessment years, tax effect, limitation dates and Standing Counsel/Ministry of Law opinion, and follow annexure formats. All Review Applications and leave petitions must be sent promptly after receipt of the relevant order, carry a distinguishing rubber stamp when limitation is imminent, and be routed to the appropriate Under Secretary; any further information requested by the Board must be supplied immediately and reasons given for late or non compliant submissions.