Securitisation regulation updates: tightened eligibility, retention, disclosure and liquidity rules for securitised debt instruments.
Amendments tighten securitisation eligibility and prohibited structures, introduce a minimum holding period and minimum retention requirements, expand trustee custodial and governance duties including a Code of Conduct and investor meeting protocols, mandate quarterly originator reports and half yearly Board filings, prescribe detailed liquidity facility conditions to prevent credit enhancement by third parties, require dematerialised issuance and specify minimum ticket sizes, and set transaction conditions such as asset homogeneity, full upfront payment, track record requirements with RBI regulated carve outs, and concentration limits subject to Board relaxation.

Aadhaar authentication permissions extended to specified reporting entities for PMLA compliance and Aadhaar privacy and security standards.
Central Government permits specified reporting entities to perform Aadhaar authentication for purposes of the Prevention of Money laundering Act under section 11A, on the basis that those entities will comply with the privacy and security standards of the Aadhaar Act and following consultation with the Unique Identification Authority of India and the appropriate regulator.

ITR-2 form notified for AY 2025-26; new schedules expand reporting on capital gains, foreign assets, VDA and deductions.
CBDT has substituted FORM ITR-2 in Appendix II of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 by the Income-tax (Fifteenth Amendment) Rules, 2025, effective 1 April 2025, prescribing the return format and detailed schedules for individuals and HUFs (not carrying on business/profession) for Assessment Year 2025-26, including enhanced disclosures for residential status, capital gains (with pre/post 23 July 2024 distinctions), virtual digital assets, foreign assets/income, pass through income, Chapter VI A deductions, AMT/AMT credit, and related procedural identifiers.

Partial withdrawal of appeal permits appellant to limit challenge to specified period, enabling authority to decide remaining period.
Amendment provides that no refund shall be available for tax, interest or penalty already discharged for an earlier period when a demand encompasses amounts both for the specified period and for other periods. It also allows an appellant to intimate to the appellate authority or tribunal that they do not wish to pursue the appeal for the specified period, prompting the authority to decide the remaining period and treating the intimation as a partial withdrawal for the purposes of the statutory appeal framework.

Prohibition on import or transit of goods from Pakistan establishes an immediate ban subject to prior government approval.
Para 2.20A of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 imposes an immediate prohibition on direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan, regardless of prior importability, on grounds of national security and public policy, and provides that any exception requires prior approval of the Government of India; the provision is inserted into the FTP with immediate effect until further orders.

Appeal to Appellate Tribunal: new electronic filing, acknowledgements, fee structure and withdrawal procedure clarified.
Amendments prescribe electronic filing in specified forms for appeals and applications to the Appellate Tribunal with immediate provisional acknowledgement and a final acknowledgement bearing an appeal number required to treat an appeal as filed; manual filing is allowed only by Registrar order. Fees for filing or restoration are scaled with a specified minimum and maximum and appeals not involving demand attract a fixed fee; rectification applications under Section 112(10) are fee free. Withdrawal prior to issuance of an order under Section 113(1) is permitted by prescribed form and, if final acknowledgement issued, is subject to Tribunal approval within fifteen days. Additional evidence at appeal is permitted only in limited circumstances, requires written reasons for admission, and affords the adjudicating authority opportunity to examine, cross examine or rebut.

De-notification of SEZ land returns specified parcels to the state for public purpose, reducing the SEZ area accordingly.
Central Government de-notifies 13.297 hectares from the Sholinganallur Special Economic Zone, reducing the notified SEZ area to 139.300 hectares, under its powers under the Special Economic Zones Act and SEZ Rules, following State Government approval and the Development Commissioner's recommendation because the land is required back for a public purpose.

Special Economic Zone expansion: additional land notified, increasing SEZ total area under SEZ Act authority.
The Central Government, under the second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and rule 8 of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006, notifies inclusion of an additional area of 88.02 hectares into the Jamnagar Multi-Product SEZ proposed by M/s. Reliance Industries Limited, specifying survey numbers and parcel areas across named villages and thereby making the total SEZ area 1377.4622 hectares.

De-notification of SEZ land reduces designated SEZ area after statutory procedure and state approval for public reversion.
De-notification of 529.4586 hectares from the multi product Special Economic Zone at specified villages in Taluk Vagra, District Bharuch reduces the designated SEZ area to 1152.9445 hectares. The Central Government, invoking its statutory notification power and applicable SEZ rules, approved the proposal made by M/s. Dahej SEZ Limited after State Government approval and recommendation by the Development Commissioner; the de notified land is required back to the State for public purposes and specific survey numbers and parcel areas are listed.

ITR 5 for AY 2025-26 revised: expanded disclosures, audit and financial schedules, foreign asset and virtual asset reporting.
Notification substitutes Form ITR-5 by the Income tax (Fourteenth Amendment) Rules, 2025 effective 1 April 2025, prescribing a revised ITR 5 for AY 2025-26 that centralises extensive identification, filing status, tax regime options, audited accounts and full financial statements, presumptive taxation schedules, detailed capital gains and virtual asset reporting, foreign asset disclosure, GST turnover, tax payment and TDS/TCS schedules, and mechanisms for tax computation including AMT and DTAA relief; taxpayers within ITR 5 scope must furnish the expanded disclosures and applicable schedules.

Refund scope narrowed where notices span mixed periods; appeals may be partly withdrawn under amended provision to clarify authority powers.
Amendments to rule 164 clarify that no refund is available for tax, interest and penalty already discharged in full prior to the amendment when a notice includes demands partly for the transitional period and partly for other periods; and permit an applicant to intimate a partial withdrawal of appeal for the transitional period, enabling the appellate authority to decide on the remaining period and deeming the appeal withdrawn to that extent for withdrawal-consequence purposes.

Commencement of GST amendment rules: State appoints effective dates for specified provisions under Chhattisgarh GST.
The State Government, under section 164 of the Chhattisgarh GST Act and the Chhattisgarh GST (Amendment) Rules, 2024, appoints commencement dates: Rules 2, 24, 27 and 32 are deemed to have come into force on 11 February 2025; Rules 8, 37 and clause (ii) of rule 38 are deemed to have come into force on 1 April 2025, linking these appointments to the earlier amendment notification published in the Gazette.

Cooling-off period for director appointments limits immediate cross-appointments across exchanges and depositories with Board approval.
Requires prior Board approval and introduction of a cooling-off period for cross-appointments of non-independent directors and public interest directors between recognized stock exchanges, recognized clearing corporations and depositories; permits a further three-year appointment for public interest directors only after such cooling-off period and with Board approval, with the cooling-off obligation limited to appointments to competing exchanges or clearing corporations and an explanation treating a clearing corporation subsidiary and its stock exchange as a single entity for this purpose.

Director appointment restrictions: cooling-off periods required before non-independent or public interest directors join another depository or exchange.
Amendment to regulation 25 mandates that non-independent directors and public interest directors may be appointed to another depository, recognized stock exchange, or recognized clearing corporation only with the Board's prior approval and after a cooling-off period as specified by the appointing depository's governing board; the cooling-off requirement for public interest directors applies only when appointment is to a competing depository.

ITR 3 form for AY 2025-26 updated-new disclosure and reporting requirements for business and HUF taxpayers.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has notified the Income tax (Thirteenth Amendment) Rules, 2025, substituting a revised FORM ITR-3 in Appendix II, effective 1 April 2025. The revised ITR 3 sets out expanded personal, filing status and audit disclosures; comprehensive business balance sheet, P&L, depreciation and presumptive income schedules; detailed capital gains, Virtual Digital Asset and pass through income reporting; foreign assets and DTAA relief schedules; GST and ESOP deferred tax entries; and integrated tax computation, AMT, TDS/TCS and refund bank details for AY 2025-26.

Tariff value fixation updated for specified edible oils, metals and areca nut, setting new customs valuation effective May.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, under sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, substitutes TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 in the principal non-tariff notification to fix expressed tariff values in US dollars for specified imported goods - including edible oils, brass scrap, areca nut, and specified forms of gold and silver - and provides scope and limited explanations for certain entries. The notification is effective from 1st May, 2025.

Tariff classification update: Customs revises rice tariff subheadings and exemption entries, effective from 1 May 2025.
Amends specified customs exemption notifications to substitute, insert and reclassify tariff subheadings and exemption entries for parboiled rice, GI recognised rice, other parboiled rice and semi milled or wholly milled rice, and updates a 2024 notification's table entry to reference the revised subheadings, effective from 1 May 2025, thereby aligning exemption entries with changes in the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act.

Export duty on rice imposed through amendments to Customs Tariff Second Schedule, narrowing tariff classifications and effective immediately.
The Central Government amends the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act to create and substitute tariff entries distinguishing parboiled rice GI recognised, other parboiled rice, other rice GI recognised, and semi milled or wholly milled rice, prescribing a uniform export duty rate for those listed categories; certain tariff code entries are substituted to reflect reclassification. The amendment takes effect from 1 May, 2025 under the Government's statutory authority to levy export duty.

Rescission of customs notification restores import duty exemption following tariff rationalization, effective from May with savings for prior acts.
The Central Government rescinds Notification No. 04/2025 Customs (dated 1 February 2025) on the basis that the Basic Customs Duty tariff has been rationalized, giving effect to the rescission prospectively from 1 May 2025 while preserving consequences of actions done or omitted before rescission; the exercise is taken under powers conferred by the Customs Act in furtherance of public interest.

Customs tariff amendments update exemption schedules to align with Finance Act changes, replacing tariff codes and inserting entries.
Amendments directed to multiple customs exemption notifications to align tariff classification entries with changes effected by the Finance Act, 2025, achieved by substituting specified tariff headings and sub-headings and inserting new serial entries in the Tables of the cited principal notifications, thereby modifying the scope of goods eligible for exemption under those schedules.