Emergency working capital facility: concessional term loans with full government guarantee to provide immediate MSME liquidity support.
Measures provide immediate liquidity and credit support to businesses, focusing on MSMEs via an Emergency Working Capital Facility of concessional term loans with full government guarantee, subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs, and an equity Fund of Funds; revise MSME eligibility by raising investment limits and adding turnover criteria; implement government guaranteed liquidity schemes for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs and DISCOMs; temporarily reduce EPF contributions; and extend tax and contractual compliance deadlines while reducing TDS/TCS rates to improve cash flow.

Approval and registration procedure deferred; filing deadline extended and amended procedure to commence later due to COVID-19.
Implementation of the revised procedure for approval, registration and notification of entities under the Income-tax Act has been deferred to 1 October 2020; previously approved or registered entities must file intimation within three months from that date, and the amended procedure for new entities will apply from 1 October 2020, with legislative amendments to be proposed.

Residency status: COVID 19 related lockdown and quarantine periods excluded from stay-count to protect intended non resident status.
To prevent involuntary change of tax residence due to travel restrictions, specified periods of stay caused by the COVID 19 lockdown and quarantine are excluded from the computation of an individual's residential status for the previous year: the lockdown period for those unable to depart, the quarantine period until departure or year-end for those quarantined, and the lockdown-to-departure period for those on evacuation flights. A further circular will address exclusions up to resumption of normal international flight operations for the following year.

Health sector emergency financing supports national COVID-19 response and strengthens disease surveillance and healthcare capacity.
The agreement establishes an emergency health financing project to support India's national COVID-19 response by financing immediate public health measures-procurement of PPE, oxygen systems, medicines, and testing capacity-enhancing disease detection and patient management, and strengthening system resilience through upgrades to surveillance, hospitals, high-containment laboratories, zoonoses detection, and biomedical research. Primary beneficiaries include infected and at-risk populations, medical and emergency personnel, service providers, and public and animal health agencies. Implementation is assigned to the National Health Mission, the National Center for Disease Control, and the Indian Council of Medical Research under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with joint financing from multilateral lenders.

Investor protection: mutual funds urged to prioritize returning investor funds amid risks from unlisted bespoke debt holdings.
SEBI directs Franklin Templeton to prioritize returning investor money due to concentrated exposures in opaque unlisted debt. Following credit events since September 2018, SEBI formed working groups and, via MFAC recommendations, approved phased prudential norms requiring fresh investments only in listed NCDs and listed CPs, while allowing limited unlisted NCD exposure subject to simple structure, rating, security and monthly coupon conditions. SEBI set compliance timelines, permitted grandfathering of existing unlisted holdings until maturity, extended dates for COVID disruptions, and criticized schemes that failed to rebalance high-risk unlisted concentrations.

Research funding for corporate governance establishes MCA-21 data access, eligibility rules and a staged grant disbursal framework.
The scheme provides grant-in-aid for corporate governance research using MCA-21 data, specifying eligible institutional and individual applicants, mandatory use and purchase of MCA-21 data, expert-committee review and ministerial sanction, requirements for undertakings/bonds, audited separate accounts, three-stage grant disbursal linked to deliverables and audited utilisation, and a data classification framework (sharable, restricted, sensitive, negative list) requiring NDAs or MoUs for non-sharable items; final reports must include methodology, data, analysis, findings and policy suggestions.

National Infrastructure Pipeline aims to scale infrastructure investment and create governance and financing mechanisms to accelerate project delivery.
The NIP Final Report projects consolidated infrastructure capital expenditure for FY2020-25, classifies projects by stage and sector concentration, and assigns implementation shares between Centre, States and private sector. It identifies preparation gaps and sectoral challenges, recommends sectoral reforms to improve project readiness, and proposes governance measures including ministry-level steering committees, a DEA steering committee for financing, a central monitoring framework, and publication of a project database on a national investment grid. Financing strategies recommended include deepening bond markets, establishing development financial institutions, and monetising assets and land.

Budget support for pandemic response enables rapid containment, expanded social protection and strengthened implementation capacity.
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank executed a loan agreement providing budget support to enable rapid scale-up of COVID-19 containment and prevention measures and to expand social protection for poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, with accompanying ADB technical engagement to strengthen implementation, monitoring and evaluation so benefits reach intended beneficiaries and follow-on support options contemplated for MSME finance, credit guarantee schemes and health system strengthening.

Violation of conduct rules prompts disciplinary inquiry after unauthorized public statements contradict official position by officers.
A press release clarifies that a circulated report by certain IRS officers was not requested by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, was published without prior permission in violation of Conduct Rules, and that a disciplinary inquiry has been initiated; the report does not reflect the official position.

Refund adjustment notices seek taxpayer status to permit adjustment of refunds against outstanding tax demands, not harassment.
Emails sent by the Income Tax Department are routine refund adjustment communications requesting assessees to confirm payment status or provide evidence of a stay so refunds are not withheld by adjustment against any outstanding tax demand; these messages are broadly issued including to start-ups and aim to protect public funds while allowing taxpayers an opportunity to update the department to enable timely refund release.

Direct Benefit Transfer via PFMS enabled targeted digital welfare payments during the COVID lockdown, reducing leakage and delays.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) executed through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) was used to disburse cash benefits to beneficiaries under central and state schemes during the COVID-19 lockdown. PFMS was mandated for payment, accounting and reporting; supports beneficiary data upload via Excel or secure SFTP and pre-validates bank/postal accounts and Aadhaar via NPCI. Payment routes include direct ministry transfers, state treasury accounts, or implementing agencies. Stated benefits are reduced pilferage and duplication, improved targeting, faster payments and electronic transfers.

Tax timeline extension enables taxpayers to report relief-period investments to claim statutory deductions and rollover benefits.
Income tax return forms are being revised to permit taxpayers to report investments and transactions made during the Covid 19 relief period so as to claim deductions under Chapter VIA B (including examples such as Section 80C, 80D, 80G) and to record investments qualifying for capital gains rollover relief under sections 54-54GB; these form changes will require corresponding updates to the e filing software and return filing utility to enable such claims.

Income-tax refunds support MSMEs; refunds issued and pending cases require taxpayer response for reconciliation to proceed.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes issued a concentrated programme of income-tax refunds to small businesses in the MSME sector, prioritising expedited payments up to a stated per-case threshold to support operations. A set of cases remains pending for reconciliation with outstanding tax demands; taxpayers in these cases have been sent reminder emails and asked to respond through the e-filing portal within a short timeframe to enable refund processing.

Income tax refund issuance accelerated as a COVID relief measure; taxpayers must respond to reconciliation emails to enable payment.
CBDT implemented a government directive to expedite issuance of pending income tax refunds up to Rs. 5 lakh as COVID 19 relief, disbursing over 10.2 lakh refunds totaling around Rs. 4,250 crore by 14 April 2020 and processing additional refunds. Refunds are credited to bank accounts within 5-7 business days from issuance. Approximately 1.74 lakh cases await taxpayer responses to reconciliation emails seeking confirmation of outstanding demands, bank details, and defect reconciliation within seven days; such computerised emails are routine procedural steps to enable refund processing.

Sovereign Gold Bond scheme expands retail gold investment with tradability, fixed interest and defined tax treatment; eligibility limits apply.
The Government will issue Sovereign Gold Bonds through the RBI in multiple tranches, sold via banks, SHCIL, designated post offices and recognised exchanges to specified resident investors. Bonds are denominated in grams, have an eight-year tenor with exit after five years, and are subject to minimum and per-fiscal maximum subscription limits with self-declaration. Issue and redemption prices are based on the three-day simple average of 999 purity gold prices; online subscribers receive a price discount. Bonds pay fixed semi-annual interest (taxable), provide exemption for capital gains on redemption for individuals with indexation on transfers, are tradable, convertible to demat, usable as collateral, and subject to KYC and PAN requirements.

Immediate tax refund release to provide prompt liquidity relief to individual taxpayers and business entities.
Immediate administrative disbursement of pending income-tax refunds up to the announced per-taxpayer threshold to accelerate processing and provide liquidity to individual taxpayers. Parallel instructions require immediate release of pending GST and customs refunds to extend cashflow support to business entities, including micro, small and medium enterprises, creating a coordinated administrative mechanism for prompt financial relief.

E filing account security: report suspected unauthorised access to police or cybercrime portal and protect credentials.
The Income-Tax Department warns of increased risk of unauthorised access to e-filing accounts and directs taxpayers who suspect compromise to report to police or the cyber cell, or lodge complaints via the government cybercrime portal; it advises against sharing login credentials and states the Department will share incident information with law enforcement when summoned.

Extension of TDS/TCS certificates temporarily preserves existing lower or nil deduction certificates to ease taxpayer compliance burdens.
CBDT directed that existing lower or nil TDS/TCS certificates issued for the prior fiscal year remain effective for the current year until 30.06.2020 or until disposal of pending applications, and the same interim relief applies to assessees unable to file fresh applications, subject to prompt submission of transaction and deductor/collector details to the TDS/TCS Assessing Officer; Assessing Officers must dispose pending lower/nil applications through a liberal, expedited procedure, and valid Forms 15G/15H already submitted remain effective up to 30.06.2020.

Insurance renewal extension permits delayed payment to maintain policy cover during COVID-19 lockdown for affected policyholders.
Renewal dates for health and compulsory third-party motor insurance policies due between 25 March and 14 April 2020 are extended to permit payment of renewal premiums on or before 21 April 2020; such payments will ensure continuity of the statutory third-party motor insurance cover and continuity of health insurance cover from the original renewal date.

Extension of tax compliance deadlines: Ordinance postpones multiple filing and payment obligations and grants 80G treatment to donations.
Ordinance extends time limits under the Taxation and Benami Acts and related rules or notifications, postponing numerous direct tax and Benami compliance deadlines (including income tax return filing, Aadhaar PAN linking, Chapter VIA B investments, capital gains rollover investments, SEZ commencement for section 10AA, and issuance of tax notices), extends timelines under indirect tax regimes and dispute resolution schemes, enables the Government under the CGST Act to extend GST related compliance dates, and grants the PM CARES Fund 100% deduction treatment under Section 80G without the 10% gross income cap.