Tax exemption for welfare board: specified cess and interest incomes exempt subject to non commercial, unchanged activity and filing conditions.
Central Government notifies that the Chandigarh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board's specified income - proceeds of the cess under the Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act and interest income from investment - is exempt under clause (46) of section 10 of the Income tax Act for financial years 2015-16 to 2019-20, subject to conditions that the board not engage in commercial activity, that activities and the nature of specified income remain unchanged during the year, and that the board files its return of income as required.

Withdrawal of Section 35AC approval removes tax-exempt consideration for specified trust projects and certificates cease to be taken into account.
The Central Government withdraws approval under Section 35AC for Navjeevan Charitable Trust and the specified projects Shree Navjeevan, A Caring Hand, and Sankalap, rescinding the earlier notifications for those projects following the National Committee's recommendation after an Income-tax Department enquiry. Certificates furnished under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 35AC for these projects shall not be taken into consideration while computing income-tax.

Reckoning of holding period clarified: immovable property counts from acquisition if deed registered; otherwise from scheme start.
The amendment prescribes that for a capital asset declared under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, an immovable property's holding period shall be reckoned from the acquisition date if evidenced by a deed registered with a State Government authority; in other cases the holding period shall be reckoned from the commencement of the scheme. The rules are titled Income-tax (34th Amendment) Rules, 2016 and take effect from the scheme commencement date.

Securitisation trust reporting: mandatory electronic filing and investor statements ensure head-wise disclosure and accountant verification.
Rule 12CC requires securitisation trusts to file a statement of income distributed to the tax commissioner and to investors by specified dates. Filings to the tax office must be made electronically in Form 64E, verified by an accountant and submitted under digital signature; investors must receive Form 64F verified by the distributor. The forms require trust identification, registration and audited accounts, a head-wise income breakdown, investor-wise allocation of distributed or deemed credited amounts, and attachments of registration certificates and audited financials. The Systems office will prescribe filing procedures and security policies.

Fund manager connected person status clarified; fixed-charge remuneration excluded from fund profits if conditions and writing are satisfied.
The amendment clarifies that a fund manager is not a connected person of the fund merely for undertaking fund management activity, and that remuneration which is a fixed charge and not dependent on the fund's income from the manager's activity will be excluded from profits under clause (d) of sub-section (4) of section 9A where clause (m) of sub-section (3) conditions are satisfied and the fixed charge was agreed in writing at the commencement of the activity.

Prescribed authority under section 143(2) clarified: authorised income-tax officers of minimum rank may issue scrutiny notices.
Prescribes the prescribed authority for issuance of scrutiny notices as an income-tax authority not below the rank of Income-tax Officer who has been authorised by the Central Board to act for purposes of subsection (2) of section 143, and provides that this rule takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Cash deposit reporting tightened; banks and post offices must report specified short term high-value cash deposits with a filing deadline.
The amendment revises rule 114B to treat cash deposits into banks and Post Office accounts exceeding fifty thousand rupees in a day or aggregating over two lakh fifty thousand rupees during 09 November 2016 to 30 December 2016 as reportable, and inserts in rule 114E a reporting obligation for deposits in that period aggregating to twelve lakh fifty thousand rupees or more in current accounts or two lakh fifty thousand rupees or more in other accounts, to be reported by banks, qualifying co-operative banks and the Post Master General by 31 January 2017.

Depreciation restriction: domestic companies opting for concessional tax regime face capped allowance on certain asset blocks under new rules.
The amendment restricts depreciation allowance for domestic companies opting for the concessional corporate tax regime by capping the allowance in respect of any block of assets to a fixed capped percentage of the written down value of that block, and substitutes specified higher figures in the Rules' Appendix with the capped figure effective from the stated implementation date.

Tax treaty amendment expands information exchange and adds cross-border tax collection assistance between contracting states.
The Central Government directed that the Protocol amending the India-Japan tax Convention be given effect in India as of the Protocol's entry into force. The Protocol replaces Article 11(3)-(4) to limit source state taxation of interest to specified cases involving governments, central banks or wholly government owned financial institutions and clarified eligible institutions lists; it replaces Article 26 to broaden exchange of foreseeably relevant tax information subject to confidentiality and exceptions; and it adds Article 26A establishing mutual assistance in collection of defined revenue claims, including conservancy and collection measures under domestic law, with enumerated limitations.

Specified income exemption: Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission's notified income exempt subject to specified non-commercial conditions.
Notification designates Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission's exempt specified income as: government grants; licence fee from electricity licensees; application processing fees; and interest on grants and fees. The exemption is conditional: the Commission shall not engage in commercial activity; activities and the nature of the specified income must remain unchanged across the financial years; and the Commission must file returns as required under the relevant income-tax filing provision. The notification applies for financial years 2016-17 to 2020-21.

Benami property prohibition: valuation, attachment, custody and disposal procedures with prescribed registers and appeal requirements.
The rules implement provisions on valuation, information transmission, provisional attachment and custody, confiscation procedures, administration and disposal of benami property, and appeals. Unquoted equity shares' fair market value is determined by the higher of cost, a discounted cash flow valuation by a merchant banker/accountant, or a specified formula. Income-tax authorities must transmit statements electronically to the Initiating Officer; the Initiating Officer effects provisional attachment per Income-tax Second Schedule. Authorised Officers and the Administrator must follow prescribed notice, custody, deposit, register-keeping and disposal procedures. Appeals require a prescribed form, fee and grounds, with provision for delayed filing.

Commencement of Benami Transaction Amendment: the Act's provisions come into force, fixing the operative date and enabling enforcement.
The Central Government, under the power conferred by sub section (2) of section 1 of the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, has notified that the provisions of the Amendment Act shall come into force with effect from 1 November 2016, thereby fixing the operative date for implementation and enforcement of the amended statutory regime governing benami transactions.

Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions: PMLA Adjudicating Authority and Appellate Tribunal to discharge Act functions.
With effect from 1 November 2016, the Central Government directed that the Adjudicating Authority appointed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act shall discharge the functions of the Adjudicating Authority under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, and that the Appellate Tribunal referenced in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act shall discharge the functions of the Appellate Tribunal under the Benami Act, until authorities are appointed and the Appellate Tribunal is established under the Benami Act.

Prohibition of benami property transactions: Income-tax officers designated to perform authority roles across specified territories.
The Central Government designates specified Income-tax officers to exercise the functions and powers of the Authority under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, assigning them the roles of Approving Authority, Initiating Officer and Administrator for the territorial areas listed in the schedule, by mapping officer ranks and headquarters to specific jurisdictions.

Selection Committee appointments set panel-based selection, open advertisement for vice-chair and medical fitness requirement for retirees.
The amendment establishes a Selection Committee comprising a Supreme Court nominee as Chairman and Secretaries of Finance (Revenue), Law (Legal Affairs) and Personnel; any three members including the Chairman form a quorum. The Committee must recommend a panel of three names and submit recommendations within one hundred and twenty days. Chairman vacancies are referred to the Committee; Vice Chairman vacancies are to be advertised publicly with applications forwarded through Registrars of High Courts. Appointment of retired persons requires medical fitness certification by a Central Government Medical Board.

Fair market value valuation rules establish prescribed asset and liability methods to compute accreted income on cessation.
The draft rule prescribes that aggregate fair market value equals the FMV of all balance-sheet assets on the specified date reduced by tax paid (net of refunds) and non-asset items; asset-specific valuation methods are set out: quoted securities by average market price, unquoted equity by a specified book-value based formula adjusted by paid-up capital, non-equity securities by market valuation report, immovable property by the higher of registered valuer's open-market value or stamp duty value, business undertakings at net assets, and other assets by registered valuer report; total liabilities are book values excluding corpus, reserves, contingent liabilities and specified provisions.

Double taxation avoidance: India-Korea treaty allocates taxing rights and sets mechanisms for relief and information exchange.
The Agreement is a bilateral tax treaty applying to residents of India and Korea and to taxes on income imposed by those States, defining residence, permanent establishment and related terms. It allocates taxing rights by income category (immovable property, business profits attributable to a permanent establishment, shipping and air transport, dividends, interest, royalties, capital gains, personal services), prescribes withholding limits and beneficial ownership and permanent establishment exceptions, sets elimination of double taxation via deduction or credit, and provides mutual agreement, information exchange, assistance in collection and limitation of benefits rules.

Tax exemption under section 35AC extended to specified charitable projects for 2016-17, with CSR funds excluded.
The notification extends approval for specified charitable projects recommended by the National Committee, preserving exemption under Section 35AC for the listed institutions through the financial year 2016-17, with certain projects granted enhanced sanctioned costs or amended scope/title where recommended. The extension applies subject to the previously approved cost limits except where increased by the Committee, allows corpus fund adjustments within approved costs, and expressly excludes funds received under Schedule VII of the Companies Act and Companies (CSR) Rules from the Section 35AC exemption.

Section 35AC deduction approvals for specified charitable projects; CSR funds excluded from the exemption.
Notification designates specified institutions and approves their listed projects or schemes as eligible for deduction under Section 35AC, recording for each the estimated project cost and the maximum amount allowable as deduction for the stated financial year; it also provides that the Section 35AC exemption does not apply to funds received under Schedule VII of the Companies Act or the Companies (CSR) Rules, 2014.

Specification of authorised officer under the Income-tax Act designates a central vigilance official for tax enforcement responsibilities.
The Central Government specifies the Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Kerala as an authorised officer for the purposes of the cited clause of the Income-tax Act, formally designating that office-holder to perform the statutory functions envisaged by the provision and to carry out enforcement and vigilance-related obligations under the tax statute.