Pensioners' Service Portal launched to centralize pension status access and expedite grievance redressal across ministries, departments and banks.
A new Web Responsive Pensioner's Service Portal developed by the Central Pension Accounting Office will provide a one stop interface for pensioners to access the status of pension cases and payments processed by Central Ministries/Departments and banks, and to facilitate speedy redressal of pensioners' grievances; a CPWD designed green building with planned grid integrated solar panels will house the Office of the Controller General of Accounts.

Indirect tax collections rose year on year, driven by strong central excise and service tax growth across April-August 2016.
Indirect tax receipts recorded a year on year increase of 27.5% through August 2016 and reached 43.2% of the 2016-17 Budget Estimate, with central excise up 48.8%, service tax up 23.2% and customs up 5.7% for April-August 2016 versus the same period in the prior year.

Direct tax collections show increased growth, with corporate and personal tax trends diverging after adjustment for refunds.
Direct tax revenue collections up to August 2016 report net collections of Rs. 1.89 lakh crore, achieving 22.30% of the 2016-17 Budget Estimates; gross Corporate Income Tax and Personal Income Tax grew at different rates, but after accounting for refunds net Corporate Income Tax declined while net Personal Income Tax rose, with refunds during April-August 2016 higher than the same period in the prior year.

Due date extension for audited taxpayers' income-tax returns to ease compliance following overlapping deadlines notification.
An administrative relief extended the filing deadline for income-tax returns that must be accompanied by an audit report, moving the final date for audit-mandatory returns to a later date to address overlapping compliance obligations with a concurrent declaration scheme and to facilitate ease of compliance, without changing the underlying audit obligation or the eligibility thresholds that trigger that obligation.

Tax amendment recognises demerger linked reconstruction, adjusts apparel employment deduction, and raises duties on specified imports.
Insertion into the Income tax Act recognises reconstruction or splitting up of a company that ceased to be a public sector company due to a demerger when done to satisfy a condition attached to the transfer and other notified conditions, effective from the specified April date; the Explanation to the employment deduction provision treats apparel manufacturers as subject to a reduced qualifying days requirement from the same date. The Customs Tariff First Schedule substitutions raise the duty rate for specified tariff items in two chapters, altering import duty incidence on those goods.

Income declaration scheme confidentiality preserves non-investigation and sets valuation, instalment payment and electronic filing options for declarants.
The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 permits declarations of undisclosed income and assets with an instalment payment schedule and prescribed valuation methods; declarations are confidential and shall not be shared or used to initiate enquiries, with electronic filings kept from jurisdictional tax officers. Valuation is by cost or fair market value determined by a registered valuer (with an alternative stamp-duty based option for immovable property); credit for unclaimed TDS is permitted; fictitious liabilities in audited accounts may be disclosed; valuation reports are to be accepted while valuers remain accountable; and transfers of declared benami property to the declarant without consideration attract no capital gains tax or TDS.

Monetary policy framework reform and international reserve cooperation shape the new central bank leadership's regulatory agenda.
Dr. Urjit R. Patel assumed charge as Governor with prior service as Deputy Governor and chairmanship of the Expert Committee to revise and strengthen the monetary policy framework; he also played a leading role in negotiating inter-central bank arrangements that advanced the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), and has extensive advisory experience on debt markets, banking and pension reforms, and public finance policy.

No Objection Certificate process streamlined for foreign shipping companies, aligning PCC issuance with voyage return assessment and DTAA relief.
The directive prescribes unified guidelines for assessing officers to issue No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Port Clearance Certificate (PCC) for foreign shipping companies and requires that the same framework govern assessment of subsequently filed voyage returns; it removes the administrative voyage NOC requirement for foreign shipping companies fully relieved from Indian tax under a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with their country of residence.

Closure of financial accounts under FATCA alternative procedure: temporary non-closure permitted while financial institutions complete due diligence.
Financial institutions must obtain self-certification and complete prescribed due diligence for accounts opened between 1 July 2014 and 31 August 2015 by 31 August 2016 or close and report any reportable account; owing to stakeholder difficulties, bilateral discussions seek an alternative allowing a short extension, and in the interim institutions need not close accounts by 31 August 2016 while they continue to complete due diligence and obtain self-certifications, with revised timelines to be notified.

Advance Pricing Agreements secure transfer pricing certainty as CBDT signs additional unilateral APAs with rollback options.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes executed multiple Advance Pricing Agreements using the Income tax Act framework to fix transfer pricing methods and determine the arm's length price for prospective years; several agreements include a rollback option to apply agreed pricing to preceding years, and the scheme spans numerous sectors and transaction types to promote a non adversarial tax regime.

Sovereign Gold Bond issuance offers resident investors tradability, fixed semi annual interest, collateral use and SLR eligibility.
The fifth tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds is a government issued, gram denominated security sold to resident Indian entities via banks, SHCIL, designated post offices and recognised stock exchanges. Issue and redemption prices are set in rupees by reference to the IBJA weekly average for 999 purity gold; payment modes include cash (subject to a cap), draft, cheque or electronic banking. The eight year bond carries a fifth year exit option, fixed semi annual interest on initial investment, SLR eligibility, tradability on exchanges after RBI notification, collateral use with RBI mandated LTV, a per person subscription ceiling enforced by self declaration, and specified tax treatment for interest and capital gains.

Source-based taxation of capital gains introduced, transitional reduced treaty benefit limited and Limitation of Benefits restricts access.
The Protocol shifts capital gains on shares of Indian resident companies to source-based taxation for acquisitions after 1 April 2017 while grandfathering prior investments; it phases in full domestic taxation after a transition period during which a reduced treaty rate applies subject to a Limitation of Benefits test that includes main purpose and bonafide business requirements and a shell/conduit expenditure threshold. It also imposes withholding on interest to Mauritian banks for post-cutoff debt claims, updates exchange-of-information standards and provides assistance in collection and other measures to prevent treaty abuse and improve tax transparency.

Courier shipping documentation amended to introduce CSB V for specified exports and require related declarations and MEIS option.
The regulations insert Courier Shipping Bill CSB V into regulation 6 (sub regulations (1) and (3)) and substitute the proviso to require that goods in Appendix 3C of the Foreign Trade Policy (2015 20) be entered in Form CSB V. The draft CSB V lists exporter and courier identification, shipment particulars, invoice and HS details, and declarations including authorization to act as agent, intent to claim MEIS e commerce rewards, and a signed accuracy declaration by the authorized courier.

Source-based taxation of capital gains enables the source jurisdiction to tax gains, with grandfathering and expanded PE rules.
The revised treaty shifts taxation of capital gains on share transfers to source-based taxation, with a Protocol grandfathering clause excluding shares acquired before a specified cutoff; it also subjects gains from shares of companies whose principal assets are immovable property in a Contracting State to source taxation.

International arbitration in BRICS to evaluate dispute resolution mechanisms and enforcement of treaty awards and foster cooperative frameworks
International arbitration among BRICS nations focuses on assessing national arbitration regimes, challenges in dispute settlement and enforcement of arbitral and treaty awards, and on developing an international arbitration mechanism to strengthen dispute resolution, institutional capacity, procedural harmonization, and enforcement practices to support cross border commerce and investment.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code implementation urged in a time bound manner, with institutions and rules to be notified promptly.
The Finance Minister directed immediate, time bound implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, prioritising establishment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board, notification of rules for Insolvency Professionals and Insolvency Professional Agencies, and issuance of Corporate Insolvency rules. Officials were instructed to notify NCLT benches for corporate insolvency and to complete registration processes for professionals and agencies, with coordinated action among relevant ministries and regulators to follow a roadmap for operationalisation.

Government e-procurement modernisation: GeM training promotes transparent, accountable, and efficient online procurement by government buyers.
The release announces training for procurement officers on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), presenting GeM as an online, end-to-end integrated e-procurement portal to deliver transparent, accountable and efficient procurement; it stresses portal security and integrity, mandatory vendor payment within ten days of receipt with encouragement to reduce this period, and plans for broader pan-India training and system improvements based on user feedback.

Deduction under Section 35AC restricted; approvals for eligible projects beyond the statutory cut-off will not be considered.
Section 35AC allowed a business-income deduction for payments to a public sector company, local authority, or association/institution approved by the National Committee for eligible projects. The Finance Act, 2016 removed the deduction for assessment years commencing on or after 1 April 2018. Accordingly, the deduction is available only for payments to associations or institutions already approved for periods up to the previous year ending 31 March 2017, and requests received after 31 December 2016 for approvals or extensions beyond 31 March 2017 will not be considered.

Property valuation option allows declarants to use indexed stamp duty value as fair market value under the declaration scheme.
The Rules under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 now allow a declarant whose immovable property acquisition is evidenced by a registered deed to elect to declare the fair market value by applying the cost inflation index to the stamp duty value. The fifth set of FAQs clarifies that fictitious liabilities may be declared without linking to a specific asset, earlier-year declarations may explain related later transactions where a nexus exists, no adverse action will be taken solely for cash deposits made consequent to declarations, and holding period is based on actual acquisition date.

Black money legislation strengthens enforcement and information exchange, increasing detection and coordinated investigations.
The Government adopted a multi-pronged approach to combat black money held abroad, anchored by the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, its classification as a scheduled offence under the prevention of money laundering regime, enabling domestic attachment/confiscation of equivalent property, amendments to the Benami law to permit confiscation and prosecution, and strengthened information exchange and coordinated enforcement mechanisms.