Tax audit reporting requirement for Form 3CD clauses 30C and 44 kept in abeyance due to COVID-19.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, invoking section 119 of the Income-tax Act, has ordered that the requirement to report under clause 30C and clause 44 of Form 3CD for Tax Audit reports under section 44AB/read with rule 6G shall be kept in abeyance in view of the COVID-19 pandemic; this continues earlier deferrals of those specific reporting obligations introduced by the Form 3CD amendment and successive circulars.

Perquisite exemption for medical treatment: employer-paid expenses at approved hospital not treated as perquisite and exempt from TDS.
Approval is granted to M/s Maa Ram Pyari Super Specility Hospital, Ranchi, under sub-clause (b) of clause (ii) of the proviso to clause (viii) of sub-section (2) of section 17 read with Rules 3A(1) and 3A(2), permitting employer-paid sums for specified medical treatments at the approved hospital to be treated as non-perquisites for the purposes of sections 15, 16 and 17, and relieving the employer from TDS obligation for such payments while the hospital continues to satisfy the statutory conditions; the approval is limited to the stated premises and is subject to inspection, renewal and withdrawal conditions.

Pre-arrival filing requirement under Section 46 mandates advance Bills of Entry to enable pre-arrival customs assessment and faster clearance.
The amendment to Section 46 will mandate pre-arrival filing of Bills of Entry before the end of the day preceding arrival of the conveyance at the customs port/station to enable pre-arrival processing and assessment. The Board may prescribe different time limits in specified cases, but any relaxation can be notified only after the amendment comes into effect. Field formations must urgently issue Public Notices/Trade Notices to sensitize trade; a detailed clarificatory circular will follow enactment.

GST registration suspension for return anomalies requires electronic notice, a thirty-day response, and allows revocation pending detailed verification.
GST registration may be suspended where return comparisons or other prescribed analysis reveal significant anomalies indicating contravention capable of leading to cancellation. The registered person must receive electronic intimation and explain within thirty days why cancellation should not follow. Pending dedicated portal functionality, notice is made available through FORM GST REG-17, with reply submitted in FORM GST REG-18. The proper officer may drop proceedings and revoke suspension through FORM GST REG-20, or cancel registration through FORM GST REG-19 after examining the response.

Import authorization centralization for restricted items: applications must be filed online and authorizations issued from headquarters.
Import authorizations for restricted items are to be filed via DGFT's new online module and issued centrally from DGFT(HQ). Pending applications have been migrated to the new system. Re-validation or amendment requests for authorizations issued before the transition must go to the Regional Authority and may be handled manually; those issued after the transition must be submitted electronically to DGFT(HQ) with original copies presented for endorsement. Help manuals, FAQs and helpdesk channels are provided for assistance.

Delivery default penalty updated for sellers in commodity futures, with replacement cost and apportionment mechanisms enforced.
Sellers who default on delivery will incur a penalty consisting of a fixed percentage of the settlement price plus a replacement cost component, with differing replacement cost calculations for agricultural and non agricultural commodities; Clearing Corporations may vary penalties in consultation with the regulator. Penalty apportionment requires a mandatory deposit into the Settlement Guarantee Fund, a limited retention by the Clearing Corporation for administration, and payment of the balance plus replacement cost to the buyer entitled to delivery. Buyer default penalties are to be levied based on losses to the non defaulting seller but capped at delivery margins collected from the defaulting buyer.

Metric Million British Thermal Unit as a commercial unit is accepted in Customs EDI declarations for natural gas trade.
Metric Million British Thermal Unit is added as a standard commercial unit of quantity for import and export declarations. Recognised for measuring natural gas by energy content, it is used in commercial negotiations, invoices and ship ullage survey reports. The unit is accepted in the Customs EDI System, and import and export declarations using it must apply the unit quantity code MBT.

Black Money appeals jurisdiction assigned to designated Commissioners to ensure specified appeals remain outside the faceless scheme.
Appeals under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act are excluded from the faceless finalisation mechanism; the Board approves notification of specified Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) to exercise jurisdiction region-wise, superseding its earlier letter. Principal Chief Commissioners must issue the notifications and forward copies to the Board. The approval is effective from 25 September 2020 or the date of creation of the designated post, whichever is later, reflecting repurposing of appellate posts for the National Faceless Appeal Centre.

Search case classification under Vivad se Vishwas clarified to include assessments or reassessments based on searches or requisitions.
A search case for Vivad se Vishwas means an assessment or reassessment made under sections 143(3), 144, 147, 153A, 153C or 158BC in respect of a person referred to in sections 153A, 153C, 158BC or 158BD, where the assessment is based on a search initiated under section 132 or a requisition under section 132A; FAQ 70 of Circular 21/2020 is modified accordingly.

Business continuity requirements mandate rapid failover to disaster recovery sites and zero data loss to protect market infrastructure operations.
MIIs must maintain a Primary Data Centre, a geographically separated Disaster Recovery Site and a Near Site to ensure data and transaction integrity and zero data loss; staffing at DR locations must be trained to operate independently; an Incident and Response Team/ Crisis Management Team chaired by the MD or CTO must declare disasters and invoke BCP. Technical parity between sites, synchronous replication to NS, unannounced live trading tests, documented DR drills with root cause analysis, and Board approved BCP DR policies subject to periodic review and system audit are required, with prescribed RTO and RPO targets for critical systems.

Deemed residual maturity for Basel III bonds revised into a phased schedule, impacting valuation and Macaulay duration calculations.
The circular prescribes a phased glide path for the deemed residual maturity applied to Basel III AT 1 and Tier 2 bonds for valuation, requiring Macaulay Duration to be calculated on those deemed maturities; if an issuer does not exercise a call option, all its ISINs are to be valued using 100 years' maturity for AT 1 and contractual maturity for Tier 2, with any issuer stress or adverse news reflected in valuation. AMFI must issue detailed valuation guidelines.

Deemed export refund entitlement clarified: recipients may avail input tax credit while claiming refund, subject to portal debit requirement.
Recipients of deemed export supplies may claim refund of tax paid and are not statutorily barred from availing input tax credit on invoices for which refund is claimed; paragraph 41 of the earlier circular is amended accordingly. The portal requires debiting the equivalent ITC from the electronic credit ledger to prevent dual benefit, and the claimant must furnish an undertaking limiting refund to invoices in the relevant statement and declaring the supplier has not claimed refund. The definitionally amended cap on turnover of zero rated supplies applies when computing Adjusted Total Turnover under Rule 89(4), affecting refund calculations.

Dynamic QR Code requirement for B2C invoices clarified with data, deemed compliance, and exceptions.
Clarifies that the Dynamic QR Code requirement under Notification No.14/2020 State Tax applies to B2C tax invoices issued by registered persons exceeding the aggregate turnover threshold, excludes certain supplier categories and OIDAR and export supplies treated as B2B for e invoicing, prescribes specific data elements to be contained in the QR Code (GSTIN, UPI ID, bank account/IFSC, invoice number/date, total value and GST breakup) and provides that an invoice is deemed compliant if it displays the QR Code or records a payment cross reference (transaction id/date/time/amount/mode), with special rules for electronic payment interfaces, pre paid supplies and supplies via e commerce operators.

Non-repatriation investments by NRIs treated as domestic, excluded from indirect foreign investment computation under FDI rules.
Investments by Indian companies owned and controlled by NRIs made on a non-repatriation basis are treated as domestic investments at par with resident investments and shall not be considered in the calculation of indirect foreign investment for downstream investment purposes under the consolidated FDI Policy.

Certificate of origin requirement: Imports under the MoU must be verified and NOC issued before customs clearance.
Imports of pigeon peas under the MoU are authorised only through five designated ports and require a Certificate of Origin from the authorised Mozambican institute with government stamps; the issuing authority must send a scanned copy to specified Indian email addresses and the Indian importer must email the same certificate to those addresses to request an NOC, which the Directorate will verify against the exporter's submission before allowing customs clearance.

Transit cargo RFID seal requirement: mandatory electronic sealing and verification for Bhutan transit consignments through India.
The notice mandates use of an RFID seal and e-office data exchange for goods transiting to and from Bhutan through India. Importers must clear consignments against a Letter of Guarantee issued by the Royal Government of Bhutan; Indian Customs at port and at Land Customs Stations will verify documents, affix and scan RFID seals, endorse specified copies of the Letter of Guarantee, and forward verification data for monthly reconciliation. Tampered seals may prompt examination and duty recovery where variances exist, and the same import procedure applies to Bhutan exports transiting India.

Bank account updates for IGST refund and drawback required after bank mergers; exporters must update IFSC and AD code online.
Exporters with accounts in banks undergoing merger must identify affected accounts and update new IFSC codes and correct bank account numbers via the ICEGATE Bank Management/AD code registration facility using the "modify" option, and submit an AD code letter from the bank to prevent rejection of IGST refund and Customs drawback scrolls; ACC export shed custodians are to assist exporters and the Assistant Commissioner (Drawback) is available for support.

Change of shareholding approvals: altered SEZ developers must maintain continuity and comply with tax reporting and eligibility conditions.
The Board considered LoA extensions, approvals for changes in developer/co developer shareholding or identity, and co developer admissions, subject to conditions requiring seamless continuity of SEZ activities, fulfilment of eligibility and security clearances, compliance with revenue, company and securities rules, immediate furnishing of financial details to Member (IT), CBDT and jurisdictional authorities, and recognition of the Assessing Officer's right to assess taxability under the Income Tax Act; several matters were deferred or remitted to Development Commissioners or Unit Approval Committees for further action.

Delay reporting in CIRP: form requires periodic status filings when specified insolvency process activities miss prescribed deadlines.
The Board mandates filing Form CIRP 7 when specified CIRP activities remain incomplete by their prescribed dates: an initial filing within three days after the missed date and repeated every thirty days thereafter until completion, with only one form filed at a time. The form collects IP and corporate debtor details, identifies the delayed activity, lists categorical reasons for delay (including stays, non cooperation, late orders, or CoC matters), requires a brief narrative and upload of any relevant adjudicating authority order, and must be digitally signed by the IP.

Deemed export refund: recipients may claim tax refund while availing ITC, with portal debit requirement upheld.
Recipients of deemed export supplies may claim refund of tax paid even if ITC has been availed, though the portal requires debit of the equivalent ITC from the electronic credit ledger when filing refund applications; para 41 is amended to remove the previous prohibition and sets out undertaking and declaration requirements. The earlier relaxation for misreporting zero-rated supplies in GSTR-3B is extended subject to refund claims not exceeding the aggregate integrated tax/cess declared in columns 3.1(a)-(c). For Rule 89(4) refunds, Adjusted Total Turnover must include export/zero-rated goods turnover as determined under the amended definition, applying the 150% cap to that turnover.