Tariff value revision: customs notification updates import valuation for specified oils, metals, scrap, seeds and nuts.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs, invoking section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, substitutes TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 of Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) to set updated tariff values in US dollars for specified imported goods including crude palm oil and derivatives, crude soybean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and unit values for gold and silver where certain concessional notification entries are availed.

Loan agreement formalises tranche financing to improve urban services and institutional capacity in Agartala and Aizawl.
A signed loan agreement provides an $80 million third tranche under the North Eastern Region Capital Cities Development Investment Program to fund water supply, solid waste management, sanitation, and urban reforms in Agartala and Aizawl, strengthen service institutions, and expand sustainable urban services. The tranche, financed from ordinary capital resources with a 20-year term, is to be implemented and overseen by the Ministry of Urban Development, with tranche activities and the overall program due for completion by the program end date.

Mutual Agreement Procedure enabling resolution of cross-border transfer pricing disputes and renewed bilateral APA cooperation for tax certainty.
The Framework Agreement invoking the Mutual Agreement Procedure under the India-USA DTAC targets historical transfer pricing disputes in the IT and ITeS sectors, resolving a substantial portion of pending cases and addressing arm's-length pricing controversies. Its success led to renewed bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement cooperation from the US and complements ongoing MAP engagement with other jurisdictions to enhance tax certainty for multinational enterprises.

Alternate Investment Fund structure: NIIF enables government and strategic partners' equity for long term infrastructure investment.
A central operative feature is the Government backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, established as a Category II Alternate Investment Fund, to be financed through government contribution alongside equity from foreign and domestic strategic anchor partners with the Government retaining a specified minority share; NIIF's mandate is to maximise economic impact by investing in commercially viable greenfield and brownfield infrastructure projects, rehabilitating stalled projects and supporting nationally important initiatives, offering long term opportunities to sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other long term investors.

Exchange of information expands tax information sharing between India and Armenia to address tax evasion and banking secrecy.
Amendment revises the Exchange of Information provision in the India-Armenia Double Taxation Avoidance Convention to align the treaty's information sharing framework with updated OECD Model standards, broadening scope to include financial and banking transaction data and establishing standardized mechanisms, confidentiality protections and use limitations for administrative exchange of information to address cross border tax evasion.

Advance Pricing Agreements expand programme to strengthen transfer pricing certainty and reduce dispute risk for international transactions.
Advance Pricing Agreements provide transfer pricing certainty by specifying pricing methods and fixing prices for international transactions. The tax authority has executed additional unilateral APAs across service and manufacturing sectors, expanding the programme and signalling continued taxpayer uptake. The APA regime, introduced in 2012 with rollback provisions added in 2014, permits extended retrospective certainty and is promoted as a measure to reduce transfer pricing disputes and enhance tax policy stability.

Second appellate authority: ITAT highlights tax jurisprudence, cross-border issues and technology in justice delivery celebration.
Recognition of the Income tax Appellate Tribunal as a Second Appellate Authority established in 1941, mandated to provide impartial, accessible and speedy adjudication in tax disputes with further appeals to the High Court; and a programme focusing on tax jurisprudence in cross border transactions, technology in justice delivery, and the interaction between tax litigation and ease of doing business.

Taxation of SEZs threatens investor confidence and growth; industry seeks reversal of recent MAT/DDT measures and extension of sunset relief.
Imposition of MAT/DDT on Special Economic Zones has dented investor confidence, slowed SEZ growth and affected exports; industry asked for withdrawal or reduction of MAT, and warned that abolition of direct tax benefits for SEZs not operationalized by April 2017 would further weaken the SEZ scheme. The Ministry of Commerce & Industry is examining the slowdown and has raised the Sunset Clause issue with the Ministry of Finance while also addressing preferential FTA rates and land-use concerns in Non-Processing Areas.

Tax litigation reduction: limit reopenings on audit objections and clarify capital gains treatment for shares, simplifying TDS rules.
The Committee recommends statutory and administrative reforms to reduce tax litigation and simplify compliance: treat shares held beyond twelve months (unless declared stock in trade) as capital assets with gains as capital gains; amend Section 14A to deem economically taxed income (e.g. dividends after DDT and firm profits) part of total income and cap disallowances to claimed expenditure; align Section 50C with sale agreements fixing consideration and delete Section 56(2)(vii)(b)(ii)Sections 147 and 263; rationalise TDS thresholds and rates; expand presumptive schemes and defer ICDS; improve refund timelines and provide enhanced interest for delayed refunds.

Investor-State arbitration subject to exhaustion of domestic remedies and strict procedural and remedy limits.
The Model BIT defines covered investments and investors, excludes specified asset classes and pre-investment activities, and applies to admitted investments. It imposes obligations including protection from measures violating customary international law, national treatment in like circumstances, limited physical full protection and security, and detailed expropriation and transfer rules with specified exceptions. The Treaty conditions investor-State arbitration on exhaustion of domestic remedies and other prerequisites, prescribes arbitration rules and strict procedural safeguards, limits awards to monetary compensation, and preserves general and security exceptions and denial-of-benefits provisions.

Quality management certification reinforces tax processing compliance, data security alignment, and prompt refund procedures at CPC Bengaluru
Award of ISO 9001:2008 certification to CPC Bengaluru recognizes a Quality Management System covering all business and enabler services, demonstrating the Centre's ability to consistently provide tax processing services that meet customer and regulatory requirements; this complements prior certifications in information security and records management and is linked to efficient processing and expedited refund issuance.

Tariff value amendment sets revised import valuation benchmarks for specified commodities, affecting customs assessment and compliance.
Amendment substitutes tariff valuation tables in an existing customs notification to prescribe specific tariff values for listed import goods, updating TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 to set per metric tonne values for vegetable oils, brass scrap and areca nuts, and per unit values for gold and silver when notification benefits are availed, thereby providing revised import valuation benchmarks for customs assessment and compliance.

Foreign exchange data sharing enables secure e BRC transfers to support VAT refund verification and export compliance procedures.
A Memorandum of Understanding between DGFT and Bihar's Commercial Taxes Department implements transmission of electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e BRC) data from banks to a secured DGFT server and onward to authorized government recipients. The e BRC system centralizes transaction level foreign exchange realization records, replacing manual physical BRC processes and enabling state tax authorities and central agencies to access verified export realization information to facilitate VAT refund processing, compliance verification, and administrative data analysis.

Appeal monetary limits revised to curb tax litigation, enabling systematic withdrawal of appeals on settled issues.
Revision of appeal monetary limits and direction to a collegium to consider withdrawal of Departmental appeals where appeals are below the revised threshold, raise no question of law, are settled by the Department, or are rendered irrelevant by legislative amendment. Additionally, circulars withdraw or advise not pressing appeals on specified settled technical issues to reduce disputes and provide taxpayer relief.

Sovereign Gold Bonds issuance establishes investor eligibility, tenure, pricing and tradability rules, with fixed interest and tax treatment.
Issuance of Sovereign Gold Bonds sets the issuance framework, investor eligibility and subscription limits, denomination in grams, eight year tenor with exit from year five, pricing and redemption based on IBJA weekly average for 999 purity gold, fixed semi annual interest on initial value, conversion to demat and tradability from a notified date, use as collateral with RBI aligned LTV, KYC as for physical gold, and tax treatment equivalent to physical gold.

Fiscal consolidation central to budget strategy, backed by indirect tax-led revenue growth and deficit management recommendations.
The document stresses Fiscal consolidation as the central budgetary principle while reporting significant growth in gross tax revenues driven by indirect taxes and improved fiscal deficit performance relative to prior-year benchmarks; it also records the Government's completion of enhanced tax devolution to States.

Bank governance reforms introduce a Bank Board Bureau with generic Key Performance Indicators to streamline public sector bank appointments.
The Government attributes substantial growth in Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and proposes Public Sector Bank governance reforms by establishing a Bank Board Bureau to replace the Appointment Board and by adopting generic Key Performance Indicators in lieu of bank-specific Statements of Intent to streamline appointments and target-setting.

Auction of government securities: re-issue using multiple-price method with non-competitive allocation and electronic bidding windows.
Re-issue auctions for four central government stocks will be conducted using the multiple price method on the scheduled auction date. Both competitive and non-competitive bids must be submitted electronically on the central bank's core banking system within prescribed time windows; up to 5% of each notified amount is reserved for eligible individuals and institutions under the Non-Competitive Bidding Facility. Auction results and payment dates are fixed, and the stocks are eligible for When Issued trading under the central bank's guidelines.

Inflation-linked bond repurchase announced via reverse auction; multiple-price electronic bids to be submitted on E-Kuber.
Announcement of a government repurchase of 1.44 per cent Inflation Indexed Government Stock 2023 by reverse auction as an ad hoc early redemption to utilise surplus cash balances. The auction is price based using the multiple price method; bids must be submitted electronically through the Reserve Bank core banking system within the prescribed bidding window, and results will be declared the same day.

Performance accountability in tax assessments introduced to measure assessment quality, disposal pace and efforts to widen the tax base.
The APAR has been revised to include metrics measuring the quality of assessments, pace of disposal, and efforts to widen the tax base, thereby holding assessing officers accountable for the reasonableness of assessment orders and encouraging judicious application of tax law as part of administrative measures to promote a non-adversarial tax regime.