Monetary Policy Committee keeps policy repo rate at 4% and retains accommodative stance to support growth.
The MPC decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 4.0 per cent, maintain the reverse repo at 3.35 per cent and MSF/Bank Rate at 4.25 per cent, and continue an accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth while ensuring CPI inflation is guided toward the medium term target of 4 per cent within a +/- 2 per cent band. This followed review of macroeconomic projections, surveys and risks; headline inflation has moderated but core inflation and fuel prices remain elevated, and real GDP recovery is uneven though projected at 9.5 per cent for 2021 22. All members voted to keep the repo rate unchanged; one member recorded reservations on the accommodative stance.

Sovereign Gold Bond scheme issues four tranches with prescribed eligibility, tenure, pricing, tradability and tax treatment.
Issuance of the Sovereign Gold Bond 2021-22 is scheduled in four tranches from October 2021 to March 2022; bonds will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government and sold through designated banks, SHCIL, CCIL, recognised stock exchanges and post offices. Eligibility is limited to resident individuals, HUFs, trusts, universities and charitable institutions; tenor is eight years with exit after the fifth year. Minimum investment is 1 gram, annual caps apply, issue and redemption prices are based on the three day simple average of 999 purity gold prices, interest is paid at a fixed semi annual rate, bonds are tradable and convertible to demat, interest is taxable while redemption gains for individuals are exempt with indexation available.

Search and seizure uncover tax-evasion via accommodation entries, hawala transfers and bogus expenses, prompting further investigation.
Search and seizure operations of two corporate groups uncovered suspected tax-evasion: the digital marketing group used accommodation entries, hawala-mediated cash transfers, inflated expenditures, under-reported revenue, misclassified personal expenses and purchases of vehicles in others' names; the solid waste management group booked bogus bills and sub-contracts, with detection of unaccounted property and seizure of cash and jewellery, and investigations continue.

Under-invoicing and customs evasion exposed; shell entities and hawala channels used to move value and acquire properties.
Search and seizure operations uncovered widespread under-invoicing of imported electronics and wrongful description of goods via shell entities, with sales routed as out-of-books cash transactions and payments to foreign consigners effected through hawala channels; proceeds were concealed through property acquisitions, bogus rental income and loans, and foreign deposits, and unaccounted cash was seized pending further investigation.

Unaccounted income exposure: search operations uncover suspected benami transfers and dubious fund flows prompting asset seizures and probe.
Search and seizure operations against two real estate groups uncovered prima facie unaccounted income and alleged benami transactions facilitated via bogus share premium, suspicious unsecured loans, unsubstantiated advances and collusive arbitration, with funds used to acquire various assets; investigations and asset-linked seizures are ongoing.

E-verification via Aadhaar OTP enables processing of income-tax returns and facilitates timely refund issuance.
The Department's revamped e-filing portal has recorded extensive uptake with over two crore returns filed and substantial e-verification, largely via Aadhaar-based OTP, which enables commencement of return processing and issuance of refunds; the portal also supports one-time DSC registration, broad statutory form submission, e-PAN allotment, faceless proceedings with video-conferencing, and urges taxpayers to view Form 26AS and file outstanding returns for processing.

Undisclosed income uncovered through searches revealing bogus purchases, inflated labour costs and accommodation entries, prompting further probe.
Searches of three Bengaluru contractor groups uncovered suppression of income through bogus purchases, inflated labour expenses, sham sub contracting in names of unconnected individuals, and accommodation entries from paper companies; physical and digital evidence plus unaccounted cash and valuables were seized, substantial undisclosed income was detected and partly admitted by the entities, and investigations continue.

Unaccounted income uncovered after searches leads to seizure and further investigation into chit fund and retail group.
Searches uncovered undisclosed income and asset concealment in two investigations: an unauthorised chit fund operation transacting predominantly in cash with unreported commission, dividends and interest, and a garments retailer manipulating sales through software to suppress revenue and divert cash into investments and lavish expenditures. Collateral and property documents, promissory notes, post dated cheques, cash and significant quantities of gold were seized; associates admitted unaccounted investments and substantial undisclosed income has been detected. Investigations are ongoing to trace unreported receipts, assets and transactional records.

Cash seizure prompts tax probe into pharmaceutical group's alleged bogus purchases, inflated expenses and undisclosed income.
Income-tax search and seizure operations on a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical group uncovered cash and documentary digital evidence including data from SAP/ERP and a second set of books; seizures include multiple bank lockers and unexplained cash with preliminary estimates of substantial unaccounted income under further investigation.

Search and seizure uncover extensive undisclosed income and use of shell companies to conceal taxable receipts.
Search and seizure operations across multiple locations uncovered extensive undisclosed income and concealment mechanisms. One group in cement manufacturing generated unaccounted income through out-of-books sales, bogus expenses and use of paper/shell companies to launder funds, with evidence of bogus loans, fictitious commissions, bogus share premiums, and undeclared offshore accounts and purported tribal creditors. A second group executing railway contracts showed undisclosed investments in land and properties, numerous sale deeds without corroborated source of funds, and documents evidencing significant cash property transactions. Seizures included unaccounted cash and prohibitory orders on several bank lockers; investigations continue.

Search and seizure uncover syndicate facilitating land allotments and clearances, with digital evidence and assets seized; investigations continue.
A coordinated search and seizure operation targeted a syndicate of businessmen, middlemen and public-office holders in Maharashtra, yielding documentary summaries, back-dated records, voluminous digital evidence and a secret hideout. Recovered materials show systematic cash receipts and disbursements tied to facilitation of land allotments, clearances, tenders and postings, with payments recorded under code names and routed through cash couriers; physical seizures included cash, jewellery and restrained lockers, and forensic analysis of seized digital data is ongoing.

Corporate compliance partnership: company secretaries urged to partner with regulators to streamline compliance and support governance.
Company Secretaries are urged to partner with Ministries and regulators to ease taxpayer compliances and strengthen the regulatory ecosystem. ICSI's contributions include advice on statutory amendments, promotion of Good Corporate Governance, launch of an overseas centre in Australia, and publication of a Referencer on SEBI share based employee benefit and sweat equity regulations, underscoring priorities of globalisation, skill development, technology use, research centres, and governance standard propagation.

Transfer pricing capacity building launched to strengthen tax audit skills in tourism and financial services sectors.
A 12 month TIWB programme, delivered with multilateral partners and a Partner Administration, will second a Tax Expert to Seychelles to transfer audit know how to local tax auditors, emphasising capacity building and best practices in tax audits with an operational focus on Transfer Pricing cases in the tourism and financial services sectors.

Undisclosed foreign assets: searches reveal cross-border tax-evasion networks and seizure of unaccounted cash, lockers and ongoing investigations.
Search and seizure operations uncovered documentary and digital evidence of undisclosed foreign assets held via a Dubai-based financial service provider and offshore companies and trusts, showing layering of funds through foreign bank accounts to acquire overseas properties, meet personal expenses and route funds back to Indian entities; investigations also revealed bogus payments, hawala transfers and over-invoicing, with unaccounted cash and jewellery seized and multiple bank lockers restrained.

Search and seizure operations uncover extensive undeclared real estate and broker transactions, prompting detailed tax investigation.
A coordinated search and seizure on a real estate developer group and connected brokers uncovered extensive documentary and digital evidence of systematic unaccounted land investments, cash receipts from land sales, and properties held in apparent benami names; broker records show large cash and cheque payments. The seizures indicate unaccounted income in the hundreds of crores for the developer group and for parties recorded in broker documents, with lockers restrained and cash and jewellery seized; investigations are continuing.

Transparency standards: Chartered accountants urged to adopt mission-mode reforms to boost investor confidence and catalyze value.
Shri Piyush Goyal called on the chartered accountancy profession to implement standards in transparency on a mission-mode basis to de-risk the financial sector, strengthen investor confidence, catalyze reform and create value, urging CAs to build globally competitive Indian audit firms and to invite UAE business houses to invest in India.

Regional language exams to be conducted alongside Hindi and English for clerical recruitments in public sector banks, expanding language access.
The Ministry of Finance recommends that Preliminary and Main clerical examinations for public sector banks be offered in regional languages in addition to Hindi and English, following a committee review intended to broaden local employment access; the change applies to vacancies advertised henceforth and will extend to upcoming vacancies in the largest national bank after completion of its ongoing process.

Settlement of Tax Cases: authority authorised acceptance of pending settlement applications from taxpayers eligible before cessation.
The CBDT authorised the Commissioner of Income tax (Secretary to the Settlement Commission prior to cessation) to admit and treat as pending settlement applications filed after the cessation date, provided the assessee was eligible to file on the cessation date and all relevant assessment proceedings remained pending at the time of filing; this administrative relief establishes a deadline for accepting such applications and channels them for processing by the Interim Board for Settlement.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code underscores matured ecosystem and strengthened regulatory oversight enhancing insolvency resolution framework.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has consolidated into a strengthened ecosystem with IBBI oversight, nationwide adjudicatory presence, substantial registered insolvency professionals and associated agencies, an operational information utility, and widespread corporate insolvency filings with outcomes including resolution, liquidation, closure and voluntary winding up; IBBI exercises regulatory powers over professionals, entities and valuation practice and will mark its institutional milestone by releasing quinquennial publications and outreach materials.

Public debt management: increased government securities issuance and longer average maturity recorded, affecting liquidity and market yields.
Quarterly report for April-June 2021 describes central government dated securities issuance with higher weighted average yield and longer weighted average maturity; no cash management bills were raised; Reserve Bank conducted open market purchases and special operations while absorbing liquidity; total government liabilities rose quarter on quarter with public debt dominant and a significant portion of dated securities having shorter residual maturity, ownership concentrated in banks and insurers, and secondary market yields hardening amid increased supply.