Regional connectivity plans expand cross-border infrastructure and trade facilitation, enhancing integrated transport and energy networks.
A ten-year subregional strategy prioritises combined investment in cross-border infrastructure and harmonised border procedures to strengthen trade facilitation and mobility. Key operational elements include development of road corridors, Integrated Check Posts and Land Customs Stations, the East Coast Economic Corridor and port modernisation, plus power transmission, hydro projects and pipeline initiatives. Specialised forums on customs and electricity transmission and ADB-led technical support underpin capacity building and institutional coordination, reflecting the principle that regional cooperation complements domestic undertakings to realise shared growth and integration.

Presumptive taxation regime extended to larger small businesses and professionals, easing compliance and tax administration burdens.
Measures expand simplified taxation and deductions for small taxpayers: the maximum deduction under Section 80C has been increased subject to an additional National Pension System contribution, and the scope of the presumptive taxation regime has been extended by raising turnover thresholds for small businesses and for professionals to qualify for presumptive assessment.

Government e Marketplace procurement permits optional online purchases with simplified supplier selection and online auction tools.
Rule 141-A authorises DGS&D to host a Government e Marketplace (GeM) for common goods and services, requires DGS&D to publicise the portal and items, obliges procuring authorities to ensure price reasonableness, and permits direct online purchases through GeM with supplier selection according to quality, specification and delivery; GeM will also offer online bidding and reverse auction. The monetary ceiling in Rule 141-A applies only to GeM purchases; other procurements remain subject to existing GFR rules.

Direct Benefit Transfer expansion: states must identify beneficiaries, seed Aadhaar and bank accounts, and digitise records for cash transfers.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) was expanded to cover all central schemes delivering cash benefits to individuals, with implementation guidance issued in February 2015. State and UT governments are responsible for identifying eligible beneficiaries, capturing Aadhaar and bank account details, digitising and uploading beneficiary records to the IT portal, and regularly updating those records to support electronic cash transfers.

Customer rights charter requires banks to adopt Board approved policies ensuring fair treatment, transparency and grievance redress.
The Reserve Bank's Customer Rights Charter sets five core customer rights and directs banks to adopt a Board approved standalone Customer Rights Policy or integrate the Charter into existing Customer Service Policies, with Board review of implementation; banks must also frame Board approved Fair Practices Codes. RBI's lending guidance emphasises adequate disclosures and non coercive recovery, revising prior Fair Practices Code guidance for NBFCs to address sectoral changes. The Banking Ombudsman provides specified grounds for complaints, and an autonomous self regulatory Banking Codes and Standards Board of India has been supported to enhance customer service standards.

Gold Monetization Scheme mobilizes idle gold with awareness campaigns and iterative revisions to boost public participation.
The Gold Monetization Scheme mobilizes idle gold into the formal financial system, supported by a public awareness campaign across radio, print, SMS and social media, and has been amended periodically in response to stakeholder feedback; scheme details are published on the central bank's website and the government reported aggregate mobilization figures in a parliamentary reply.

Gold Monetization Scheme: temples may deposit gold voluntarily and redeem in gold under prescribed guidelines.
The Gold Monetization Scheme permits voluntary gold deposits by temples and religious bodies, with limited state-wise participation to date; the Government will not mandate deposits. Redemption of long term and medium term deposits is allowed in the form of physical gold, subject to prescribed guidelines issued by the monetary authority.

Unified Payments Interface enables mobile push and pull transfers via virtual addresses, enhancing interoperable person-to-merchant payments.
RBI has granted in-principle approval to NPCI to implement the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), enabling mobile push and pull transfers via a virtual address that removes the need to provide detailed account or beneficiary information, and facilitating interoperability of person-to-merchant payments; RBI also reported expansion of ATM capacity and increased debit-card ATM transaction volumes and has issued licensing guidelines for payments banks to promote financial inclusion through small savings and payments/remittance services.

Capital gains tax enforcement strengthened through integrated IT, legislative and investigatory measures to detect and prosecute offenders.
Action against evasion of capital gains tax is taken under the Income tax Act through searches, surveys, enquiries, assessment, tax, interest, penalty and prosecution; specific taxpayer information is restricted by law. The Government has strengthened detection and deterrence via legislative amendments, administrative capacity building and information technology measures including a Special Investigation Team, Benami law amendments and an information driven programme (Project Insight).

Income tax statistics publication to be restored in revised format after addressing sample representativeness and publication delays.
The Government proposes to restore publication of All India Income Tax Statistics in a revised format for public release after addressing prior deficiencies: reliance on estimates from a relatively small, non-representative sample of taxpayers, and a two- to three-year publication lag. The resumption is to follow measures to broaden the sample and to modernise data collection through computerisation and networking of tax offices to improve timeliness and representativeness.

Taxation of foreign artists: payers must deduct withholding tax on India source fees, subject to DTAA benefits.
Foreign artists performing in India are taxable under applicable Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements or domestic law, whichever is more beneficial, and the payer is obliged to deduct tax at source where the income is chargeable in India; government records are not maintained on a country wise basis for taxes paid by such artists.

Equalization levy on digital services imposes tax on payments to non-residents for specified online advertising services.
The Finance Bill, 2016 proposes an Equalization Levy at six per cent on consideration for specified digital services received or receivable by a non-resident from an Indian resident carrying on business or from a non-resident with a permanent establishment in India where the aggregate annual consideration exceeds the statutory threshold; the levy targets payments for services such as online advertising and is structured as a business-to-business tax.

Disclosure of pledged shares required to protect investor transparency through stock exchange reporting and public dissemination.
Promoters and listed companies must disclose pledging, invocation and release of promoter shares to stock exchanges within specified timelines, and listed companies must include number and percentage of promoter pledged shares in the quarterly shareholding pattern filed in the prescribed format; stock exchanges disseminate the information publicly to support investor transparency.

Offshore tax evasion enforcement: strengthened legal frameworks and international information exchange to improve compliance and prosecution.
Offshore tax evasion is being tackled through legislative and administrative measures including the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, amendments to the Benami Transactions regime to enable confiscation and prosecution, strengthened enforcement capacity and IT-enabled information mining, prioritisation of high-impact prosecutions, and active international cooperation via tax treaties, tax information exchange agreements and participation in the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement/Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of information.

Use of technology in tax administration speeds online filing, automated processing and faster refunds for taxpayers.
Central tax administrations expanded technology deployment to accelerate processing and refunds: the majority of income tax returns were filed online and processed automatically at the Central Processing Centre, enabling large scale refund disbursements over successive years. E payment of excise and service tax refunds and rebates was implemented, with a high share of service exporter refunds granted within five days. A Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT) consolidated multi agency clearance to reduce documentation and costs, coinciding with an increased indirect tax to GDP ratio.

Holding period for unlisted shares shortened; income-tax compliance, deduction and penalty amendments affect capital gains and trust registration.
Amendments revise capital gains classification for unlisted shares, deem cost of acquisition for assets declared under the Income Declaration Scheme to be the fair market value used in that Scheme, and modify taxation options for patent royalties and certain securities transactions in International Financial Services Centres. They introduce mechanisms to treat subsequently non-complied deductions as wrongly allowed with AO recomputation and rectification; tighten eligibility and thresholds for housing project benefits and research incentives; clarify trust registration effects on accreted income; and expand withholding, return processing, and penalty provisions to address under-reporting and enforcement.

Capital Gain taxation of unlisted share transfers clarified; income from such transfers treated as capital gains subject to specified exceptions.
Income from transfer of unlisted shares is to be treated as Capital Gain regardless of holding period, with specified exceptions to be examined by the Assessing Officer; the direction seeks a uniform approach to reduce disputes and provide predictability in tax treatment.

International economic engagement: Finance Minister to discuss India's macroeconomic performance and regional development cooperation at ADB meeting.
Finance Minister will visit Frankfurt for the ADB Annual Meeting to address India's economic performance and development cooperation with ADB, highlight micro- and macroeconomic indicators and India's growth prospects, and hold bilateral meetings on regional assistance, hydropower project progress, and sub-regional cooperation before participating in a CNBC debate and returning the following day.

Income tax return statistics published: aggregated income head and taxpayer category distributions disclosed for analysis.
Publication of Income Tax Return Statistics for AY 2012-13 compiled from e-filed and captured paper returns up to a cut-off, using latest returns where multiple filed; aggregates (sum and average) are presented within predefined monetary slabs across income heads (Salaries, House Property, Business/Profession, Capital Gains, Other Sources, Interest), brought forward loss set-offs, returned income and tax payable, with "Top 20 values" review to identify data-entry errors. Limitations and a departmental disclaimer stress reliance on taxpayer-reported data and non-comprehensiveness.

PAN allotment distribution shows individuals dominate allocations; gender and age bands detail demographic shares.
PAN allotment statistics for Financial Year 2013-14 show that allocations are concentrated in the 'Individual' category with other taxpayer statuses comprising a small share; percentages are calculated relative to total PANs. The release also provides a gender- and age-bracketed breakdown for individuals as of 31 March 2013, reporting counts and percentage shares for each age band and aggregate male and female totals.