Scientific Research approval granted to a college unit enabling tax deductions for qualifying research expenditure.
Central Government approved Sri Paripoorna Sanathana Charitable Trust's college unit as a qualifying University, college or other institution under clause (ii) of sub section (1) of section 35 of the Income tax Act for Scientific Research, issued under rules 5C and 5E of the Income tax Rules. The notification takes effect from Gazette publication with retrospective application from the previous year 2024 25 and includes an explanatory memorandum certifying no adverse effect from retrospective operation.

TDS exemption on payments to Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises; no income-tax deduction at source.
No deduction of income-tax at source is prescribed for specified payments received by the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises; the Central Government notifies that payments to the Trust that fall within the clause conferring exempt status are not subject to withholding, and the notification takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Income exemption for Central Silk Board: specified receipts exempt subject to non commerciality, prescribed return filing, and unchanged activities.
Notification under clause (46) of section 10 notifies Central Silk Board, Bengaluru, as eligible for exemption for specified receipts: grants/funds from government or statutory bodies; compensation on sale or disposal of movable and immovable property; royalty and income from patented technologies and intellectual property; penalties and levies under statutes; fees/charges for services rendered under the Central Silk Board Act and Rules; and interest on bank deposits. Exemption is subject to non engagement in commercial activity, unchanged activities and income nature during the financial year, and filing the return required under clause (g) of sub section (4C) of section 139.

Amendment to notification updates the referenced file number under section 10(23FE), effective on Gazette publication.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 44/2020 by substituting in its opening paragraph "F. No. 13/3/2017-INF dated 13th August 2018" with "F. No. 13/1/2017-INF dated 11th October, 2022" under the powers conferred by item (b) and sub-clause (iii) of clause (23FE) of section 10 of the Income-tax Act, 1961; the amendment is effective from its publication in the Official Gazette.

Special Courts designation under income tax law centralises trial jurisdiction for undisclosed foreign income offences.
Designation of Special Courts is made under subsection (1) of section 280A of the Income-tax Act and section 84 of the Black Money Act for specified areas in Tamil Nadu. The Central Government, in consultation with the High Court, supersedes the prior notification and lists particular magistrate and judicial magistrate courts as the designated fora, assigning territorial jurisdiction by district for the purposes of hearing offences and proceedings under those statutes.

Scientific Research approval under Section 35 grants university-category tax recognition for research activities at IIIT Hyderabad.
Central Government approves International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad as an institution engaged in Scientific Research under the category 'University, college or other institution' for the purposes of clause (ii) of sub section (1) of section 35 of the Income tax Act read with the Income tax Rules, with effect from publication and applicable to the specified assessment years; the explanatory memorandum states no person is adversely affected by the retrospective effect.

Safe harbour for diamond mining income: eligible raw-diamond sales accepted at a prescribed margin, streamlining tax treatment and compliance.
The rules create a safe harbour for foreign companies engaged in diamond mining selling raw diamonds in notified special zones: an eligible assessee opting in must declare income meeting a prescribed profit margin relative to gross receipts. If the option is valid, deductions under routine business expense and depreciation provisions are treated as given, written down value is adjusted accordingly, and set off of unabsorbed depreciation and carried forward losses or losses from other businesses is disallowed. Form No. 3CEFC must be filed to opt in; the assessing officer may invalidate the option for incorrect or concealed facts, and mutual agreement procedure is barred for the eligible business.

TDS exemption: Foreign diplomatic and international representations excluded from section 194N obligations by government notification.
Section 194N is specified to not apply to Foreign Representations approved by the Ministry of External Affairs - including Diplomatic Missions, United Nations agencies, International Organisations, Consulates and Offices of Honorary Consuls - which are exempt from paying taxes in India under the Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention) Act, 1972 and the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947; the specification is made under the fifth proviso after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India and takes effect from 1 December 2024.

Transfer not regarded as transfer: capital asset moved between public sector companies under government approved reorganisation, exempting it from transfer charge.
Notification declares that the capital asset transfer from NLC India Limited to NLC India Renewables Ltd is not to be treated as a transfer for income-tax purposes under the statutory clause permitting exclusion for government approved intra public sector reorganisations, and that the notification takes effect from its publication in the Official Gazette.

Research Association approval under section 35 enables SKAN Research Trust to qualify for scientific research tax benefits.
Central Government approves SKAN Research Trust, Bengaluru, as a Research Association for Scientific Research under the Income-tax framework and rules, identifying the trust by PAN and confirming its categorisation for research-related tax treatment. The notification takes effect from the date of publication and is applied retrospectively to the previous year with specified applicability across ensuing assessment years; the Explanatory Memorandum states no person is adversely affected by the retrospective effect.

Tax exemption for National Aviation Security Fee Trust: specified aviation security receipts exempt subject to compliance conditions.
Notification under clause (46) of section 10 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 notifies the National Aviation Security Fee Trust as eligible for exemption in respect of specified receipts: grants or subsidy approved by the Ministry of Civil Aviation; Aviation Security Fee collected at Ministry-prescribed rates; amounts transferred from escrow accounts of passenger service fee (security component) for the Ministry; and interest on bank deposits. The exemption is subject to conditions that the trust shall not engage in commercial activity, its activities and specified income remain unchanged through the financial years, and it files returns under clause (g) of sub section (4C) of section 139.

Exemption from specified income: District Legal Service Authority incomes exempted subject to non commercial and filing conditions.
Notification under section 10(46) of the Income-tax Act designates District Legal Service Authority in Haryana as a class of body exempt in respect of specified income: grants from judicial and legal services authorities, grants or donations from central or state government for Legal Services Authorities Act purposes, amounts under court orders, recruitment application fees, and interest on bank deposits. Exemption is subject to conditions: no commercial activity, unchanged activities and nature of specified income across financial years, and filing returns as per clause (g) of sub-section (4C) of section 139. Applicability is for assessment years 2024-2025 to 2028-2029; a Schedule lists the authorities and PANs.

Electronic filing requirement: specified Appendix II fund appeal forms must be furnished electronically and duly verified.
Specification that certain Appendix II forms under Rule 131 of the Income tax Rules, 1962 must be furnished electronically and verified as prescribed, covering appeals concerning recognition or withdrawal of recognition of provident funds, and approval or withdrawal of approval of superannuation and gratuity funds.

Exemption from specified income granted to a regulatory board, effective from the stated assessment year subject to continuing statutory purposes.
The Central Government notifies the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board for exemption from specified income under sub-clause (b) of clause (46A) of section 10 of the Income-tax Act, identifying the board by PAN and making the notification effective from assessment year 2024-25, subject to the board's continued constitution under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 and its carrying out one or more purposes specified in sub-clause (a) of clause (46A).

Electronic filing requirement: specified Appendix II forms must be furnished and verified under Rule 131 from late October.
Specifies that, under sub rule (1) and (2) of Rule 131, certain Appendix II forms must be furnished electronically and verified in the manner prescribed under sub rule (1); the listed forms are Form 3CEDA (rollback of an Advance Pricing Agreement) and Form 3C O (approval under sub section (1) of section 35CCC).

Tax exemption under section 10(46): specified incomes of a pollution control board exempted subject to non commerciality and filing conditions.
Notification exempts specified receipts of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board from income tax under clause (46) of section 10, listing categories such as consent and authorisation fees, monitoring and analysis fees, cess reimbursements, reimbursements under national monitoring programs, non profit sales and training fees, interest on deposits and loans to staff, public hearing and testing fees, processing and tender fees, forfeiture of bank guarantees and miscellaneous non-commercial receipts. The exemption is conditional on non-commercial activity, unchanged nature of incomes across years, and prescribed filing of income tax return, and is retrospective to assessment year 2015-16.

Arm's length price tolerance set to deem transaction price as arm's length for specified trading categories this assessment year.
Notification under the third proviso to section 92C(2) read with rule 10CA(7) proviso prescribes tolerance limits such that where the variation between the arm's length price and the actual price of an international or specified domestic transaction does not exceed the notified tolerance, the actual transaction price shall be deemed the arm's length price for the assessment year 2024-2025; a distinct definition of "wholesale trading" based on purchase cost and inventory-to-sales thresholds determines eligibility for the narrower tolerance.

Tax collection at source exemption for payments from the central bank - no TCS to be collected on such receipts.
The Central Government, exercising its statutory specification power under the Income-tax Act, directs that no collection of tax at source shall be made on any payment received from the Reserve Bank of India; the notification applies to any such payment and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Tax collected at source: credit can be assigned by collectee to another person, with declaration and reporting required.
Amendments require furnishing particulars where tax was not collected or collected at a lower rate due to a notification under the TCS provision, and add a rule that when a collectee's income is assessable in another person's hands the tax credit shall be given to that other person; the collectee must file a declaration with details and reasons, the collector must report and issue the TCS certificate in that person's name and retain the declaration, and Form 27EQ gains Note 8A to indicate such cases with code "J".

Tax deduction at source reporting: new Form 12BAA lets employees supply non-salary income and TDS/TCS details to adjust withholding.
The Income-tax Rules, 1962 are amended by inserting rule 26B and Form No. 12BAA to allow an assessee to submit to the payer details of non-salary income, tax deducted or collected at source under Chapter XVII Part B/BB, and losses under "Income from house property" in Form No. 12BAA for computing tax deduction at source under section 192(1); consequential amendments are made to rule 21AA, Form 10E, Form 16 and Form 24Q to reflect these reporting and withholding changes.