Time limit extensions under Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation) Act: specified compliance deadlines extended and certain dates substituted.
The notification supersedes the earlier supersession notice and prescribes that, generally, time limits under the relaxation Act shall be treated as ending on the 30th day of March, 2021 with an extended completion date of 31st March, 2021, subject to substituted earlier January dates for certain specified enactments and certain income-tax orders. For income-tax compliance for the assessment year beginning 1 April 2020, specified categories of taxpayers have return due dates extended to 15th February, other taxpayers to 10th January, and audit report filing is extended to 15th January, 2021.

Filing deadline extension under the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act: declaration due date amended and enforced on publication.
The Central Government amended Notification No. 85/2020 under section 3 of the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, substituting the previously specified due date in clause (a) with a later date for filing declarations under the scheme. The amendment is confined to changing the deadline and comes into force upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Tax exemption under section 10(46) grants specified income treatment subject to conditions and retrospective application.
Notification under section 10(46) designates Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority as entitled to tax treatment for specified income: state grants; proceeds and charges from disposal of land, buildings and other properties; interest on bank deposits; and interest/penalties on deferred payments from allottees. The exemption is conditional on non-engagement in commercial activity, unchanged nature of activities and income, prescribed return filing, and an audit report with a chartered accountant's certificate confirming compliance; the notification is given retrospective effect for specified assessment years.

Information sharing for Direct Benefit Transfer: designation of an authorised official to identify eligible income-tax assessees for beneficiary transfers.
The Central Government designates the Secretary, Citizen Resources Information Department, Government of Haryana to receive and share information concerning income-tax assessees for identifying eligible beneficiaries for transfer of financial assistance through the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, limiting the authorised role to information exchange necessary for beneficiary identification and linkage to the disbursal mechanism.

Sovereign wealth fund exemption specified for MIC Redwood 1 subject to compliance, audit and ownership conditions for Indian investments.
MIC Redwood 1 RSC Limited, Abu Dhabi is specified as a specified person under clause (23FE) of section 10 of the Income tax Act for investments in India up to 31st March, 2030, subject to conditions including timely filing of returns, statutory audit and prescribed audit report, quarterly disclosure in Form II, maintenance of segmented accounts, continued government ownership and Abu Dhabi regulation, earnings credited to the government account, prohibition on borrowings for the purpose of making investments, asset vesting on dissolution, and no participation in day to day operations of investees.

Tax deadline extensions for Income-tax returns and audit reports extend filing dates for affected assessees nationwide.
Compliance deadlines under the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment) Act, 2020 extend Income tax return filing for the assessment year commencing 1 April 2020: specified classes of assessees as per Explanation 2 are given an extended due date to the end of January 2021, other assessees to the end of December 2020; the fourth proviso applies mutatis mutandis. Filing of audit reports under the Income tax Act is extended to the end of December 2020.

Equalisation levy electronic verification introduced; statements and payments must follow prescribed electronic filing and challan procedures.
Amendments to the Equalisation Levy Rules, 2016 prescribe an electronic verification code and require statements under section 167 to be furnished in Form No.1 either electronically under digital signature or via the electronic verification code; the Principal Director-General/Director General of Income-tax (Systems) shall prescribe procedures, data structures, standards and security, archival and retrieval policies for electronic filing. Assessees and e-commerce operators must remit equalisation levy using an equalisation levy challan to specified banks; forms and appeal processes (Forms No.1-No.4) are revised to reflect these requirements and verification norms.

Special Court designation under section 280A establishes a designated forum for prosecution of specified income tax offences.
The Central Government, under the Income tax Act, designates the Court of Munsiff No. 3 cum Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Kamrup (M), Guwahati as the Special Court to try specified income tax offences for Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, following consultation with the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court; the notification supersedes the earlier notification for future effect and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Vivad se Vishwas payment deadline extended, allowing later filing of declarations and staggered payment windows under the Act.
The Central Government, under section 3 of the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, notifies extended dates for filing declarations with the designated authority in respect of tax arrears and for payment of amounts due: a postponed declaration deadline, a date on or before which amounts under the Act's third-column payment schedule must be paid, and a date on or after which amounts under the fourth-column schedule become payable. The notification also inserts a last date under clause (l) of sub-section (1) of section 2 and takes effect from its publication in the Official Gazette.

Rule 67 amendment replaces double-letter proviso citations with single-letter references, simplifying income-tax rule citations and administration.
Amendment to Rule 67 substitutes occurrences of the proviso reference "AA" with "A" in sub-rule (2) at the fifth, eighth and eleventh provisos, effected by departmental notification and taking effect from the assessment year specified in the notification.

Arm's length price deemed equal to transaction price where variation falls within minimal thresholds for specified trading categories.
Notification under the third proviso to section 92C(2), read with rule 10CA proviso, deems the actual transaction price to be the arm's length price for the specified assessment year where the variation between the statutory arm's length price and the transactional price falls within prescribed minimal thresholds for wholesale trading and other cases. "Wholesale trading" is defined by two objective criteria: purchase cost of finished goods being at least eighty per cent of total trading cost, and average monthly closing inventory being ten per cent or less of sales for the trading activity.

Depreciation caps imposed for taxpayers opting into new tax regimes; electronic forms and expanded disclosures now required.
Depreciation allowance for blocks of assets is capped at forty per cent of written down value for taxpayers who opt into specified concessional tax regimes; where prior-year additional depreciation or unabsorbed depreciation attributable to higher depreciation rates was not set off, the written down value on specified base dates must be increased by such unallowed amounts. Options to adopt these regimes by individuals/HUFs and resident co-operative societies must be filed electronically in prescribed forms (Form 10-IE and Form 10-IF), with procedural, verification and security standards to be specified by the income-tax systems authority. Audit and return forms are amended to record these adjustments and disclosures.

Faceless Appeal Scheme: regional faceless appeal centres empowered to conduct appeal proceedings under income tax appellate provisions.
The Board directs specified Income-tax authorities to serve as Regional Faceless Appeal Centres to implement the Faceless Appeal Scheme, empowering those listed units to exercise powers and perform functions to facilitate faceless appeal proceedings in respect of appeals under the appellate provisions of the Income-tax Act, covering territorial areas, persons or classes of persons, incomes or classes of incomes, and classes of cases, for appeals pending or instituted on or after the Scheme's commencement.

Faceless Appeal Proceedings: National Faceless Appeal Centre authorised to exercise appeal powers for specified appeals and territories.
Notification empowers the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, and specified NFAC officers to exercise powers and perform functions to facilitate Faceless Appeal Proceedings under the Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020, in respect of appeals instituted or pending on or after the notification's effective date, limited to the territorial areas, classes of persons, incomes or cases specified by the Board.

Prescribed Income-tax Authority designated: Assistant/Deputy Commissioner (National e-Assessment Centre) authorised to issue notices under section 143(2).
The Central Board of Direct Taxes authorises the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax (National e-Assessment Centre) to act as the Prescribed Income-tax Authority for purposes of sub-section (2) of section 143, empowering that officer to issue notices under that provision in respect of returns furnished or in response to notices issued under the Act's enquiry provision; the notification is effective from 13th August 2020.

Tax notification amendment updates designated Principal Commissioners/Commissioners and deletes specified entries under Income tax Act notification.
Amendment under statutory powers of the Income tax Act deletes entries numbered 11, 20, 21 and 35 from the principal notification and inserts additional Principal Commissioner/Commissioner designations against serial numbers 10 (two Chennai entries), 18 (one Delhi entry), 19 (one Delhi entry) and 32 (two Mumbai entries), thereby revising the schedule of recognised Commissionerates in the Gazette notification.

Faceless appeal procedure: automated allocation, remote evidence and risk based review determine appeal finalisation and communications.
Directions implement the Faceless Appeal Scheme via an automated allocation and review framework: NFAC assigns appeals to appeal units; units admit/reject appeals, request information or reports, and handle additional grounds and evidence under rule 46A; draft orders are prepared under section 251 and may be reviewed by other units or automated risk management; NFAC finalizes and communicates orders and initiates penalty processes as provided.

Faceless Appeal: centralized electronic appellate procedure using automated allocation and review, with hearings by video conferencing.
The Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020 establishes a centralized electronic appellate framework with a National Faceless Appeal Centre, Regional Centres and appeal units using automated allocation and examination tools. Appeals, additional grounds and evidence are processed electronically through a designated portal, with authentication by digital signature or electronic verification code and delivery followed by real time alerts. Draft orders undergo risk based or inter unit review before finalisation. Personal appearance is generally excluded; approved hearings occur via video conferencing. The Scheme provides procedures for penalty recommendations, rectification of mistakes and appeals to the tribunal, and empowers officials to prescribe detailed technical and procedural standards.

Certificate for non-deduction of tax on interest: Form 15C covers banking companies and insurers to receive interest without withholding.
Amendment substitutes "banking company or an insurer" for "banking company" in rule 29B, adds an explanation adopting the Insurance Act definition of "insurer", and replaces Form 15C. The new Form 15C is for banking companies or insurers to apply for a certificate authorising receipt of interest (other than interest on securities) and other non-dividend sums without deduction of tax, requiring declarations on non-resident status, branch operations in India, head office location, entitlement to receive specified receipts, and compliance with rule 29B.

Infrastructure debt fund recognition: L&T Infra Debt Fund notified under tax exemption provision, subject to statutory compliance and filing.
Notification designates L&T Infra Debt Fund (PAN: AACCL4493R) as an infrastructure debt fund for the stated assessment year and subsequent years, subject to compliance with the Income-tax Act, applicable rules including rule 2F, Reserve Bank of India conditions, and timely filing of its return of income as required.