Faceless Penalty Scheme centralization streamlines penalty proposals, reviews and issuance via National Faceless Penalty Centre.
Amendments centralize the faceless penalty process under a National Faceless Penalty Centre: the penalty unit must prepare a penalty imposition proposal or written reasons for non-imposition, which the National Faceless Penalty Centre may direct to be enacted, dropped, or assigned to a penalty review unit via automated allocation. The review unit may concur or propose modifications and forward a report; the originating penalty unit then accepts or rejects modifications with reasons and either issues the penalty order or drops proceedings, serving communications through the National Faceless Penalty Centre.

Faceless penalty procedure centralises decision-making, redefines penalty units and mandates digital authentication and video hearings.
The Scheme centralises faceless penalty functions by redefining penalty unit and penalty review unit as Assessing Officers designated by the Board, removes references to regional centres, and prescribes a procedural flow whereby the penalty unit proposes imposition or non-imposition, the National Faceless Penalty Centre may direct imposition, dropping, or assignment to a penalty review unit, the review unit prepares a report and the originating penalty unit issues the final order or intimation; electronic authentication and exclusive video hearings through the National Faceless Penalty Centre are mandated.

PAN and Aadhaar quoting requirement: authentication mandated for cash transactions and current account openings to ensure compliance.
The rules require pre-transaction notice in certain cases and identify specific transactions-cash deposits, cash withdrawals, and opening of current or cash credit accounts with banks or Post Office-that trigger compulsory quoting and authentication of PAN or Aadhaar. Banks, cooperative banks and the Post Master General must ensure the quoted identifier is authenticated; demographic or biometric details must be submitted to the Income-tax systems authority which will prescribe formats and procedures for authentication.

Authorization of Director of Income Tax narrows designated officers by removing the Commissioner of Income tax (Exemption) Bengaluru.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes amends Notification No. 30 of 2021 by removing the words Commissioner of Income tax (Exemption), Bengaluru from the opening paragraph, thereby altering the list of officers authorized under specified provisions of the Income tax Rules, 1962; the principal notification remains published in the Gazette and otherwise unamended.

Enhanced disclosure requirements mandate detailed beneficial owner, research asset and donor information in income tax registration forms.
Amendment revises Forms 3CF, 10A, 10AB, 10BD and 10BE to require detailed beneficial owner information for non individual applicants, expanded disclosure of research assets and intellectual property, insertion of total assets and liabilities fields, standardised donor identification and donation certificates, and specified documentary attachments including formation instruments, registration evidence, audited accounts or NIL declarations, prior registration or rejection orders, and Foreign Contribution registration where applicable.

Minimum investment thresholds for tax exemption clarified; formulas and mandatory electronic reporting introduced for qualifying investments.
Rule 2DCA prescribes arithmetic formulas and defined aggregation conventions to compute minimum investment percentages and exempt income under clause (23FE) of section 10, using aggregated eligible investments/lendings across specified financial years; defines "eligible investment" and related terms; provides transitional and deeming provisions for initial investment years and for the 2024-25 reference year; allocates methods to attribute AIF income to specified persons; and mandates electronic filing and verification of Form No. 10BBD by AIFs, domestic companies and NBFCs, with system standards to be specified by tax systems authorities.

Advance ruling applications now require digital signature or registered-email submission with prescribed signer authorities.
The amendment to rule 44E removes the "in quadruplicate" filing requirement and mandates that applications for advance rulings, their verifications, annexures and accompanying documents be digitally signed where digital signature filing is required, or communicated via the applicant's registered e-mail otherwise. It prescribes who may sign or verify for individuals, HUFs, companies, firms, associations and other persons, and permits authorised signatories with an attached power of attorney. Forms 34C-34EA are substituted to standardize application contents, annexures and verification procedures.

Updated return procedure under section 139(8A): ITR-U enables filing and verification to revise income within prescribed period.
The amendment inserts Rule 12AC establishing the ITR-U as the mechanism for eligible taxpayers to furnish an updated return under section 139(8A), prescribing eligibility conditions, reasons for updating, filing modes (digital signature or electronic verification code), required form fields and computations for additional income, and vesting the Principal Director General/Director General of Income tax (Systems) with responsibility for procedures, formats, security, archival and retrieval standards for electronic submission and verification.

Tax exemption for specified income: Tamilnadu Construction Workers Welfare Board exempted for contributions, fees and interest subject to conditions.
Notification under section 10(46) exempts specified receipts of the Tamilnadu Construction Workers Welfare Board - contributions to a workers' welfare Fund, fee collections, and interest on those amounts - subject to conditions that the Board shall not undertake commercial activity, that activities and the nature of specified income remain unchanged across financial years, and that the Board files income tax returns in accordance with the applicable return filing provision. The notification is given deemed retrospective application for a defined multi year period and includes a certification that no person is adversely affected by retrospective effect.

Notification of specified countries under Section 47 Explanation clarifies which jurisdictions apply to disposal-related tax provisions.
Notification under the Explanation to clauses (viiac) and (viiad) of Section 47 of the Income-tax Act designates the enumerated countries and specified territories listed in the Table for the purposes of those clauses. The instrument makes the listed jurisdictions applicable for the statutory disposal-related provisions and declares the notification effective from its publication in the Official Gazette.

Corrigendum to notification: correction of Hindi monetary expression alters stated amount in tax notification text.
Corrigendum corrects a numerical expression in the Hindi text of Notification No. 37/2022 by substituting the previously published larger Hindi monetary phrase with the smaller, intended Hindi phrase to align the Hindi wording with the intended amount in the notification.

Designation of Special Courts under income tax and black money statutes assigns territorial jurisdiction for specified areas.
The Central Government, in consultation with the High Court's Chief Justice, designates eight specified Magistrate and Chief Judicial Magistrate courts in Madhya Pradesh as Special Courts to exercise jurisdiction over offences under the Income-tax Act and the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, assigning each court defined groups of districts to establish territorial jurisdiction for investigation and trial.

Designation of Special Courts for tax and black money matters enables specified local courts to try offences under relevant statutes.
Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, designates specified Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and Chief Judicial Magistrate courts as Special Court for the purpose of trying offences under the Income-tax Act and the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, with a table mapping thirteen courts to their territorial jurisdictions in Andhra Pradesh.

Investment eligibility expanded: authorised payment system operators may invest in ONDC instruments to enable interoperable digital commerce.
The rules add clause (vb) to rule 17C permitting investment by a person authorised under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act in the equity share capital, bonds or debentures of Open Network for Digital Commerce Ltd to participate in network-based open protocol models enabling digital commerce and interoperable digital payments in India.

Special Courts designation under the Black Money and Income-tax framework allocates defined trial jurisdictions in Tamil Nadu.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Income-tax Act and the Black Money Act, designates specified courts in Tamil Nadu as Special Courts for purposes of the Black Money Act; two courts are appointed with defined territorial jurisdictions, with district name substitutions noted and the designation made in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madras.

Special Court designation expands jurisdiction for prosecution under income tax and black money laws within the specified territory.
The Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Patna, designates the Special Court of Economic Offences at Patna as the Special Court for the purposes of the Income-tax Act and the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act within its territorial jurisdiction, by official notification issued through the Ministry of Finance, Central Board of Direct Taxes.

Special Court designation under section 280A centralizes trial jurisdiction for tax and undisclosed foreign income offences in a single forum.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Income-tax Act and the Black Money Act and after consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, designates a sitting Magistrate Court as the Special Court to exercise jurisdiction over offences under those statutes for the specified territorial unit, thereby concentrating trial jurisdiction for the enumerated tax and undisclosed foreign income offences in a single forum.

Designation of Special Courts under Black Money Act assigns jurisdiction across specified districts for enforcement.
The Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, designates two magistrate-level courts as Special Courts for purposes of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, and assigns specified districts to each court to define territorial jurisdiction for enforcement of the Act.

Filing obligation thresholds expanded to include business turnover, professional receipts, tax deducted/collected and bank deposits, with senior resident relief.
Rule 12AB prescribes conditions for furnishing return of income by persons described in clause (b) of sub section (1) of section 139, listing four alternative triggers: business sales/turnover/gross receipts, professional gross receipts, aggregate tax deducted at source plus tax collected at source, and aggregate deposits in one or more savings bank accounts during the previous year; it also provides a higher threshold for the tax deduction/collection criterion for resident individuals aged sixty years or more. The Rules are titled Income tax (Ninth Amendment) Rules, 2022 and commence on publication in the Official Gazette.

Tax exemption for notified SEZ Authority: specified non commercial incomes exempt subject to non commercial and filing conditions.
Notification under clause (46) of section 10 notifies SEEPZ Special Economic Zone Authority (PAN AAALS4995G) as an Authority for exemption of specified incomes: lease rentals/service charges from SEZ units; gate pass fees, fines, penalties and miscellaneous receipts; and interest on bank deposits and investments. The exemption is conditional on the Authority not engaging in commercial activity, maintaining unchanged activities and income character across financial years, and filing income returns per clause (g) of sub section (4C) of section 139. The notification is deemed effective for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 and applicable for 2022-2023 to 2024-2025.