E filing exemption: agents of non-residents and private discretionary trusts relieved from compulsory electronic returns for a specified assessment year.
CBDT relaxed compulsory electronic filing for the specified assessment year in two situations: agents of non-residents facing difficulties due to multiple-agent or multi-principal arrangements incompatible with the one-assessee-one-PAN-one-return e filing software, and private discretionary trusts required to file in the status of an individual where the e filing system does not accept such returns.

Due date extension for mandatory e-filing granted under Section 119 following power disruption to facilitate timely tax compliance.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, invoking Section 119 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, extends the due date for filing returns for Assessment Year 2012-13 to accommodate assessees and HUFs required to e-file who were affected by a failure of power, applying to those otherwise liable to file by the original statutory date under section 139.

Safe harbour provisions to be finalised, providing tax certainty through sector-by-sector rules and stakeholder consultations for IT taxation.
A Committee has been constituted to review the taxation of Development Centres and to finalise Safe Harbour provisions for the IT sector through stakeholder and inter-departmental consultations; it will recommend approaches, draft circulars and clarifications on taxation of captive development centres and onsite services, and submit staggered sector-by-sector Safe Harbour drafts while receiving administrative support from the Department of Revenue.

Taxation of portfolio investments under amended law seeks clarification on liability for non-resident transfers and FII treatment.
Taxation of portfolio investments under the amended transfer provisions raises a question concerning the tax liability of non-resident portfolio investors, including Foreign Institutional Investors, for investments made through a registered stock exchange under SEBI guidelines and held purely as portfolio investments; clarification must be harmonised with GAAR guidelines and address residual concerns outside GAAR.

Government securities auction using uniform price method permits competitive and non competitive electronic bids and when issued trading.
Announcement prescribes a uniform price auction for re issuance of central government stocks, permitting competitive and non competitive electronic bids on the Negotiated Dealing System within specified time windows, allocating up to a capped share to eligible individuals and institutions under the Non Competitive Bidding Facility, and confirming eligibility of the stocks for When Issued trading subject to RBI guidelines, with results and payment scheduled per the auction timetable.

Quarterly public debt report summarises issuance, cash management, outstanding debt composition and secondary market activity.
The quarterly report details the Government's April-June 2012 debt management: macroeconomic drivers; primary market operations including issuance, auctions, weighted average maturity and yields; cash management tools (treasury bills, cash management bills, WMA) and Reserve Bank liquidity operations; composition and maturity profile of outstanding public debt and holding patterns; and secondary market activity including yield curve movements, trading volumes, turnover ratios and top traded securities.

Disclosure of tax avoidance schemes: proposals to expand reporting, tighten promoter obligations, and improve public warnings.
The consultation proposes strengthening the DOTAS regime and public information on tax avoidance by extending disclosure obligations and hallmarks, requiring more detailed information about scheme structure and parties, enhancing client list and intermediary reporting to identify end users, raising the threshold for a promoter's reasonable excuse for non-disclosure, imposing additional reporting obligations where penalties arise, and potentially creating a personal obligation on an individual alongside a firm to ensure DOTAS compliance.

Tax Return Preparer scheme adds online help and home visit assistance for individual and HUF taxpayers to ease compliance.
The Income Tax Department expanded the Tax Return Preparer Scheme with two assistance mechanisms: Online Tax Help, where individual and HUF taxpayers submit queries to certified TRPs and receive responses by e mail or phone within 24 hours; and Register for Home Visit, where taxpayers request on site assistance, the help desk assigns a nearby TRP and fixes appointments. TRPs are trained, authorised preparers permitted to charge a nominal fee up to a prescribed cap and to receive departmental incentives for returns they prepare.

Verification certificate confirming identity and recommending PAN issuance upon attested photograph, issuer declaration, and contact details.
Verification certificate under rule 114(4) certifies an applicant's identity and residence and recommends PAN issuance; the issuer must affix and attest the same photograph as on the PAN application, sign and stamp so the stamp and signature overlap the photograph and certificate, and provide issuer particulars-name, designation, organisation, office address, identity card number (with photocopy), contact number-together with applicant details including name, parentage, date of birth, addresses and previous name if any.

Customs Act 1962 milestone: commemorative postage stamp and coffee table book released to mark the Act's fiftieth year.
A commemorative postage stamp and coffee table book have been released as part of Golden Jubilee celebrations marking the Customs Act, 1962, recognizing five decades of the statute's role in regulating customs, documenting its origins from earlier sea and land customs statutes, and highlighting the department's role in protecting the nation's economic frontiers.

Foreign direct investment approvals: 14 proposals cleared while others were deferred, rejected, or found not to require approval.
The Central Government, on FIPB recommendations dated 29 June 2012, approved 14 FDI proposals aggregating approximately Rs.1584.11 crore, covering inductions and increases of foreign equity, LLP formations with foreign participation, rights issues, ex post facto regularisations, and activity expansions across defence, telecom/ISP gateways, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and infrastructure engineering; 15 proposals were deferred, 7 rejected, 3 held not to require FIPB approval, and 3 withdrawn.

Taxpayer assistance scheme expands with online help and scheduled home visits to simplify return preparation and reduce compliance costs.
The Income Tax Department introduced two assistance channels-Online Tax Help for resolving taxpayer queries within 24 hours, and Register for Home Visit to connect taxpayers with trained Tax Return Preparers for in person assistance; TRPs are department trained, authorised to prepare returns and quarterly TDS statements, may charge a nominal preparer fee subject to a maximum, and receive departmental incentives, with home visits initially available in selected cities and call centre support for bookings.

Exchange rate determination for customs purposes sets distinct import and export conversion rates under statutory authority.
Under statutory authority, the revenue authority fixes conversion rates for specified foreign currencies for customs valuation of imported and export goods, superseding the prior notification and supplying two annexed schedules that state separate import and export conversion rates to apply prospectively except for prior acts or omissions.

Exemption from filing income tax returns for salaried employees meeting specified salary, TDS and documentation conditions.
Exemption from the requirement to file income tax returns for AY 2012 13 applies to salaried employees whose taxable income consists only of salary and savings bank interest (below a small threshold), whose total income after Chapter VIA deductions does not exceed the notified ceiling, who have reported PAN and savings interest to their employer, received Form 16, and whose employer has fully discharged tax liability through TDS; the employee must also have no refund claim, receive salary from one employer only, and have received no filing notice.

Disinvestment of equity stake via Offer of Sale under SEBI rules, reducing government shareholding in a Maharatna public enterprise.
Approval is granted for the disinvestment of a specified portion of the Government of India's paid-up equity in Steel Authority of India Limited by means of an Offer of Sale through stock exchanges, to be conducted in conformity with SEBI rules and regulations, reducing the government's equity stake in the company; SAIL is a listed Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprise engaged in mining, production and marketing of iron and steel, with paid-up equity capital stated as at the accounting date.

Authorized Economic Operator Programme strengthens supply chain security while granting certified operators preferential customs facilitation.
Implementation of an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Programme aligns with the WCO SAFE Framework to secure the supply chain and provide certified operators preferential treatment including faster clearance and fewer physical inspections; the programme is threshold-free and covers a wide range of economic operators with a pilot awarding three AEO certificates and plans for Mutual Recognition Agreements. Separately, an Interactive Customs Tariff web application was launched to display duties, apply exemption notifications for effective duty calculation, and provide alerts on anti-dumping duties, abatements and Compulsory Compliance Requirements to enhance trade transparency and facilitation.

Tariff value revision for gold, silver and brass scrap updates import valuation under customs notification and tariff tables.
The Department of Revenue issued Notification No. 58/2012 Customs (N.T.) dated July 13, 2012, revising tariff values for listed imports: Brass Scrap (all grades) at 4090 US$ per metric tonne; Gold, where specified benefit entries are availed, at 506 US$ per ten grams; and Silver, under corresponding benefit entries, at 866 US$ per kilogram, while other listed goods show no change.

Pension Fund Manager registration liberalisation allows open entry and market-driven fees subject to a regulatory fee ceiling.
Revised guidelines replace the prior bidding and uniform-fee system with an eligibility-based registration for Pension Fund Managers, allowing unlimited entrants who meet criteria. PFMs may prescribe their own fees subject to a regulator-set overall ceiling and determine their own marketing and distribution approaches to promote NPS, aiming to foster viable business models, attract new entrants, and induce competition to achieve market-driven fee structures for subscribers.

Regulatory facilitation for pharma and petroleum investment: faster drug registration and contractual payment protections to enable cross border projects.
Regulatory facilitation and investment structuring measures are sought to enable Indian company participation in Venezuela's petroleum, pharmaceutical and infrastructure sectors, including expedited drug registration, incorporation of sourcing and payment protections in health cooperation agreements, finalisation of a Double Taxation Avoidance framework, remedies for foreign exchange and nationalisation risks, and contractual guarantees for dividend payments prior to further investment.

Service tax on foreign currency remittance not leviable when the transaction is money; offshore provision and fees fall outside scope.
Clarification states that remittance of foreign currency is not a taxable service because transactions in money are excluded from the definition of service, and thus such remittances are not subject to service tax. Fees or conversion charges are likewise not taxable when the remitter and remittance provider are located outside the territory, as the Place of Provision of Services Rules deem those services provided outside the territory. Charges by an Indian receiving bank on an overseas recipient are also not taxable since the place of provision is the recipient's location outside the territory under Rule 3.