Search and seizure uncover unaccounted cash and alleged illegal mining links, triggering expanded tax investigations.
Search and seizure operations on 06 10 2020 in Patna, Sasaram and Varanasi targeting a mining and hotel businessman and a cooperative bank Chairman uncovered unaccounted cash and documents of substantial cash transactions not reflected in returns, linked to alleged illegal stone mining and large accounting credits now under examination; unexplained cash up to Rs. 1.25 crore was seized and FDRs worth Rs. 6 crore placed under prohibitory orders, with further investigations into investments and the genuineness of books ongoing.

State borrowing incentive for implementing ration portability and ease-of-doing-business reforms, to raise funds via open-market borrowings.
Ministry of Finance authorized additional borrowing for States as a conditional incentive tied to specified reforms. Two States received permission to raise funds through Open Market Borrowings after completing PDS reforms implementing One Nation One Ration Card-requiring Aadhar seeding, biometric authentication, and FPS automation-and Ease of Doing Business reforms. Each eligible reform attracts an additional borrowing allowance equal to 0.25 percent of GSDP, assessed by the nodal Departments, and forms part of a broader temporary increase in State borrowing capacity linked to completion of enumerated reform categories.

Emergency credit guarantee expansion enables collateral-free lending to MSMEs and promotes tax and insolvency relief measures.
Implementation of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package combines government backed liquidity and credit measures-notably a 100% guaranteed Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme for eligible MSMEs, a Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs, NABARD and Special Liquidity facilities, and interest subvention for small MUDRA loans-with enacted legislative measures: tax law amendments effecting TDS/TCS relief and date extensions, and insolvency and companies law changes creating a temporary suspension of insolvency proceedings and decriminalisation of certain Companies Act defaults.

Tax Collection at Source applicability clarified: TCS applies only to post-effective receipts and sellers above the turnover threshold.
The TCS applies to sellers above the turnover threshold who must collect tax on sale consideration received on or after the commencement date when a buyer's cumulative receipts from that seller in the financial year exceed the receipt threshold; exports are excluded, pre-commencement receipts are not subject to collection, running-account receipts after the commencement date are treated as subject to TCS without allocation to prior sales, and TCS operates as advance tax creditable against the buyer's income-tax liability with excess refundable.

Tariff value fixation sets customs valuation benchmarks for specified imported edible oils, metals, seeds and areca nut.
The notification amends Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) by substituting TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 to prescribe tariff values in US dollars for specified imported goods, including categories of edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nut, and specified forms of gold and silver, thereby fixing benchmark values for customs valuation and determining applicability of existing concessional entries.

Scrip-wise reporting required only for grandfathered long-term capital gains to enable correct computation and verification.
No statutory requirement exists to furnish scrip-wise details in the return for short-term capital gains or business income from share trading; scrip-wise reporting in the return is required only for computing long-term capital gains on listed shares/units eligible for the grandfathering mechanism introduced by the Finance Act, 2018, because per-scrip comparison of cost, sale price and market price as of the cut-off date is necessary for correct computation and departmental verification.

Undisclosed cash transactions trigger search and seizure, exposing shell-company loans and unaccounted real estate receipts under probe.
Income-tax authorities carried out search and seizure operations at multiple premises of a group active in trading, edible oil production, real estate and tea estates, uncovering evidence of transactions outside regular books, unaccounted cash expenses, cash advances and cash-paid interest, and cash injected into shell companies then advanced as loans to a real estate company. Seized digital and handwritten records indicate cash loans, out-of-books receipts for bookings, out-of-books payments to contractors and fictitious payments, suggesting understated project costs; investigations and examination of advances and cash dealings are ongoing.

Faceless Appeals: online finalisation of income tax appeals eliminating physical interface and enabling e-hearings and orders.
Faceless Appeals creates an end-to-end electronic adjudication process for income tax appeals-e allocation, e communication of notices with Document Identification Numbers, e verification/enquiry, e hearing and e issuance of appellate orders-using data analytics and AI under a dynamic jurisdiction model to promote objective, transparent, and accountable disposal of appeals, while excluding specified categories such as serious fraud, major tax evasion, sensitive/search matters, international tax and Black Money Act cases.

Additional borrowing permission tied to One Nation One Ration Card reform enables states to access extra market borrowings.
The Department of Expenditure authorised additional Open Market Borrowings for five States after they implemented the One Nation One Ration Card system: Andhra Pradesh (2,525 crore), Telangana (2,508 crore), Karnataka (4,509 crore), Goa (223 crore) and Tripura (148 crore). This allocation forms part of a 2 percent of GSDP additional borrowing framework for 2020-21, in which 1 percent is contingent on four specified reforms (0.25 percent weight each) and the remaining 1 percent is disbursed in two 0.50 percent instalments, the first of which was released as untied borrowing in June 2020.

Startup regulatory and tax incentives sustain investment and liquidity by easing finance, compliance and ESOP treatment.
Support measures for recognised startups during the pandemic focus on finance, regulatory ease and tax relief. The Fund of Funds channels capital to SEBI-registered AIFs and is managed by SIDBI, which reports continuation of private AIF investments. SIDBI schemes provide targeted loans, concessional MSME financing for Covid-related activities and healthcare soft loan windows. Regulators enacted reforms to ease capital raising and compliance, including RBI foreign investment permissions, SEBI easing for Angel Funds and AIFs, MCA procedural relaxations and SPICe+ incorporation streamlining. Tax measures align startup eligibility, capital gains exemptions, ESOP treatment and loss carry forward rules to support investment and liquidity.

Investment facilitation through central coordination and project development cells to fast-track domestic and foreign investments.
Make in India advances manufacturing and services through sectoral action plans, investment outreach and facilitation to attract domestic and foreign investment. The Government supplements schemes with infrastructure planning, fiscal and liquidity measures, procurement policies, Phased Manufacturing Programmes and Production Linked Incentives. Central coordination and investor handholding are supported by an Empowered Group of Secretaries, Project Development Cells in line ministries and an investment facilitation agency; the administering Department coordinates interactions but does not maintain consolidated records of line ministries' sectoral programmes.

Simplified company incorporation via integrated web-form reduces procedures and consolidates registrations for new companies seamlessly.
Deployment of the SPICe+ web form integrates ten services - including name reservation, incorporation, DIN allotment, PAN, TAN, EPFO, ESIC, profession tax registration, bank account opening and GSTIN allotment - allowing either staged (Part A then Part B) or combined filing with on screen submission and real time validation, thereby reducing procedures and time for starting a business.

Public debt management: lower government security yields and larger dated securities issuance reshaped liabilities and market liquidity.
The quarterly report records increased dated securities issuance, lower weighted average yields on primary issuances, and shorter weighted average maturities for new issuances. It notes issuance of cash management bills, a special open market operation, and substantial liquidity absorption by the central bank. Public debt remains the principal component of total liabilities with a significant share of securities having short residual maturities, a concentrated ownership pattern among banks and insurers, and dominant trading share for dated securities in the secondary market.

Unexplained cash investments and transactions trigger tax searches probing undisclosed income and potential Section 269SS breaches.
Searches uncovered extensive cash-based unexplained investments and unsecured loans treated as prima facie non-genuine, unexplained foreign education expenses, an unregistered trust with taxable receipts, and a restrained bank locker suggesting undisclosed income. Separate searches in a jewellery business revealed lack of books, an undeclared bank account with large deposits, alleged non-payment of capital gains, and cash receipts on lease and sale transactions prima facie violating Section 269SS, with buyer source of funds and other expenditures under further investigation.

Investment facilitation framework creates empowered coordination and project development cells to fast track investible projects and approvals.
The government established an investment facilitation framework by constituting an Empowered Group of Secretaries to coordinate timely clearances and attract investments, and approved Project Development Cells in ministries to create investible projects with necessary approvals, land allocation and detailed project reports, while identifying issues for escalation to the Empowered Group.

Industrial promotion measures strengthen MSME credit guarantees and incentives to boost domestic manufacturing and investor facilitation.
Fiscal, regulatory and facilitation measures target domestic manufacturing and investor ease: the Atmanirbhar Package with MSME credit guarantees, subordinate debt, Fund of Funds, timely receivable clearance and domestic procurement preference; corporate tax reductions and PLI schemes to incentivise manufacturing; customs duty rationalisation under Phased Manufacturing Programme. Institutional facilitation includes liberalised automatic-route FDI, Empowered Groups, Project Development Cells, and a centralized Investment Clearance Cell, while the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the National Infrastructure Pipeline are identified as systemic supports.

Corporate tax reform and targeted incentives to spur investment, market stability, and employment through tax and regulatory relief.
Corporate tax reform lowered statutory rates for existing and new domestic companies, introduced a concessional tax option for newly incorporated manufacturers that forgo other exemptions, and reduced the Minimum Alternate Tax for companies availing incentives. The amendments exempted specified capital gains and qualifying announced buy backs from an enhanced surcharge, expanded allowable CSR expenditures to include incubators and public research institutions, and were paired with structural measures supporting MSME financing, investment liberalisation and infrastructure policies to promote growth and employment.

Faceless assessment expands to faceless appeals and a taxpayers charter to streamline and modernise direct tax compliance.
Government reforms focus on reducing taxpayer authority interface through the Transparent Taxation platform, comprising Faceless Assessment with team based assessment and dynamic jurisdiction, extension of faceless disposal of appeals by Commissioners (Appeals), and a Taxpayers Charter to enhance efficiency, transparency and accountability in direct tax administration.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme expands collateral-free concessional loans, enhancing liquidity and credit access for MSMEs.
Aatma Nirbhar Bharat measures deploy targeted credit, liquidity and refund instruments to support farmers, NBFCs, HFCs, MFIs, MSMEs and businesses. Key instruments include a NABARD emergency working capital facility and a Structured Finance & Partial Guarantee for unrated NBFCs/MFIs; a Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme enabling portfolio purchases by banks; a Special Liquidity Scheme using an SPV to provide market liquidity to NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs; and the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme offering collateral-free concessional loans with government guarantee. Income tax and corporate tax refunds were expedited as part of liquidity support.

Taxpayer outreach webinars clarify CPC ITR filing, grievance, refund and rectification procedures amid transition to upgraded processing platform.
Outreach webinars by CPC ITR and Regional Councils of ICAI will provide uniform, moderated presentations by senior CPC ITR officers on advanced return processing technology, error free filing practices, grievance redressal, post processing and rectification procedures. The sessions will cover operational issues that generate demands or delays-legal heir and amalgamation matters, refund adjustments, fraudulent PAN/TAN issues, NRI refund procedures, bank account pre validation and refund reissue processes-and explain enhancements as CPC transitions from CPC 1.0 to an upgraded CPC 2.0 platform.