Tax exemption for COVID-19 medical aid: employer and donor support and ex gratia to families treated as non taxable.
Proposed income-tax exemptions cover amounts received from employers or other persons for COVID-19 medical treatment and ex-gratia payments to family members on death from COVID-19, with employer payments exempt without limit and other payments exempt up to a capped aggregate; legislative amendments will be proposed. Multiple compliance deadlines and administrative time limits for filing statements, certificates, registrations, linkage of personal identifiers with tax records, payment under the dispute settlement scheme, and processing returns have been extended by notifications and a circular to relieve pandemic-related compliance burdens.

Public debt management: increased dated securities issuance and yield hardening amid liquidity operations and ownership concentration.
The Government issued substantially more dated securities in Q4 FY21, with a higher weighted average yield and shorter weighted average maturity than the prior quarter; no Cash Management Bills were issued. The Reserve Bank conducted multiple OMOs and maintained net liquidity absorption under LAF. Provisional end March 2021 liabilities rose quarter on quarter, public debt formed the bulk of liabilities, and a notable share of dated securities had residual maturity under five years. Yields hardened-particularly at the short end-due to increased supply and resumed normal liquidity operations, partially offset by the MPC's unchanged policy rate and accommodative stance.

Performance-based financing to strengthen state health governance, expand insurance synergies and improve quality of care.
The project establishes a loan-supported health systems strengthening program to enhance governance, management capacity, and service quality across Mizoram, introduce a comprehensive Quality Assurance program for facility certification, and expand coverage for underserved and vulnerable groups. It implements performance-based financing via Internal Performance Agreements between the Department of Health and Family Welfare and its subsidiaries to increase accountability, strengthens the state health insurance agency with synergies to the central insurance scheme to reduce financial barriers, and invests in infection prevention and biomedical waste management.

Unaccounted cash seizure prompts investigation into hawala network, accommodation entries and forensic analysis of digital transaction records.
Income-tax authorities executed coordinated search and seizure operations at multiple premises linked to a Raipur-based hawala operator after credible intelligence, seizing substantial cash and digital storage devices. Searches focused on the operator's facilitation of accommodation entries, transportation and end-use of unaccounted funds; seized digital media are under forensic analysis to trace transactions and quantify undeclared amounts for tax enforcement.

Taxpayer service priority: Infosys to remedy technical faults in the new income tax e filing portal and publish timelines.
Senior officials, tax professionals and Infosys reviewed numerous functional failures in the new Income Tax e filing portal affecting e proceedings, Form 15CA/15CB processing, TDS statements, DSC handling and viewing past ITRs; the Finance Minister emphasised taxpayer service, directed prompt vendor remediation, and required that resolution timelines be published, while Infosys reported resource augmentation, partial fixes and ongoing work with expected timelines for remaining issues.

Specified person determination enables deductors to apply higher withholding rates using an online PAN search functionality for compliance.
The Income-tax Department portal provides a "Compliance Check for Sections 206AB & 206CCA" enabling tax deductors/collectors to determine specified person status via single PAN search or bulk PAN upload; responses are downloadable and the CBDT Circular permits a single verification at the start of the financial year for non-specified persons, reducing the need for repeated due diligence while ensuring application of the higher rate where applicable.

Net direct tax collections surge, driven by higher corporation and personal income tax receipts and increased advance tax payments.
Net Direct Tax collections for the Financial Year 2021-22 increased by over 100%, with net receipts at Rs. 1,85,871 crore comprising Corporation Tax and Personal Income Tax (including Security Transaction Tax). Gross direct tax collections stood at Rs. 2,16,602 crore before refunds, with major components including Tax Deducted at Source, Self Assessment Tax, Regular Assessment Tax and Dividend Distribution Tax. Advance Tax collections for the first quarter rose substantially versus the prior year, and refunds have been issued and netted against gross collections.

E filing portal glitches prompt stakeholder meeting to seek vendor remedies and collaborative resolution.
Senior Finance Ministry officials will hold an interactive meeting on 22 June 2021 with the portal vendor and other stakeholders to address persistent e filing portal technical failures causing taxpayer inconvenience. The session will gather written representations and stakeholder inputs, with vendor representatives present to answer queries, clarify issues and collaborate with the ministry and stakeholders to identify and remove glitches and stabilise portal operations.

Tax form filing relaxation permits manual submission of cross border remittance forms to authorized dealers pending e filing portal upload.
Requirement to furnish Forms 15CA and Form 15CB electronically is temporarily relaxed; taxpayers may submit these Forms in manual format to authorized dealers until June 30, 2021, and authorized dealers must accept them for the purpose of foreign remittances. A later facility on the new e filing portal will allow uploading of the forms to generate the Document Identification Number.

Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant released monthly to eligible states under Article 275 following Finance Commission recommendations.
The central government released the third monthly instalment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to 17 States under Article 275, following the 15th Finance Commission's recommendation that eligibility and grant quantum be determined by the assessed gap between State revenue and expenditure and by assessed devolution for 2021-22; the Commission recommended an annual grant to be released in twelve monthly instalments, with state-wise instalments and cumulative April-June releases reported.

Taxpayer e filing portal with pre filling, unified dashboard, and assistance tools to streamline return filing and responses.
Launch of a new e filing portal introducing integrated return processing, a unified taxpayer dashboard, free interactive ITR preparation software, and proactive profile updates to enable pre filling of returns once TDS and SFT statements are uploaded. The portal provides filing of Income Tax Forms, addition of tax professionals, and submission of responses in faceless scrutiny or appeals, alongside a new taxpayer assistance suite including a call centre, FAQs, guides, chatbot and live agents; the tax payment module and mobile app will be rolled out subsequently.

Project readiness financing enables preparation and design for Sikkim road upgrades, integrating safety, maintenance and climate adaptation.
Project readiness financing will fund feasibility studies, detailed engineering designs, and capacity building to prepare major district and other road upgrades that incorporate road safety, maintenance planning, and climate adaptation, improving all-weather connectivity and links to the national and state highway network.