Eligible project designation extended for social welfare scheme by Shanti Samaj Sevi Samiti, preserving the approved project cost.
The Central Government, acting under the powers conferred by the Income-tax Act, notifies the scheme "To provide health and employment opportunities" run by Shanti Samaj Sevi Samiti as an eligible project or scheme for a further three-year period beginning with the financial year 2015-16, on the recommendation of the National Committee and without change to the approved project cost of Rs. 71.40 lakh.

Section 35AC eligible project extension: SOS Children's Village Chennai allowed further three-year continuation and amended project cost.
The Central Government notifies the SOS Children's Village Tambaram East project as eligible under section 35AC for three years from financial year 2015-16 to 2017-18, following the National Committee's recommendation, and amends the maximum allowable project cost in the original notification by substituting Rs.175.00 lakh with Rs.225.00 lakh.

Electronic Verification Code ensures identity verification for e filed income tax returns via multiple authenticated generation modes.
Procedural standards require the Electronic Verification Code (EVC) to verify identity for electronically filed income tax returns. The Principal DGIT (Systems) prescribes generation, storage and validation procedures; the EVC is PAN unique, time limited, stored against the PAN, usable once per return, and will be generated via authorized modes such as net banking redirection, Aadhaar OTP, ATM generation, delivery to registered contact points, and pre validated bank or Demat details.

Extension of ITR-V submission deadline enables electronically filed returns to be validated until 31st October or 120 days from upload.
ITR-V submission time for electronically filed returns is extended under the Centralized Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011: ITR-Vs may be submitted up to 31 October 2015 or within 120 days from the date of uploading of the electronic return data, whichever is later; taxpayers may verify and download ITR-Vs from the e-filing website and must send physical ITR-Vs by post to the designated CPC postal address.

Tax-free bond issuance: authorised entities may issue secured non-convertible bonds subject to eligibility, tenure, PAN and interest ceiling rules.
Authorisation permits specified entities to issue tax-free, secured, redeemable, non-convertible bonds in FY2015-16 subject to conditions: eligible investor classes, mandatory PAN for subscribers, tenures of ten, fifteen or twenty years, ceiling coupon rates linked to a FIMMDA reference G sec yield with rating- and investor-segment specific spreads, capped issue expenses, public issue and private placement procedural rules including book-building and allotment at best price, requirement to submit a repayment financing plan to the Ministry of Finance, competitive selection of merchant bankers, registration of holdings for tax benefit, and compliance with Companies Act and SEBI debt regulations.

Fair market value rules for undisclosed foreign assets set valuation, conversion, declaration and appeal procedures under the Act.
Rules prescribe valuation methods and procedures under the Black Money Act, specifying that fair market value for categories of foreign assets (bullion, jewellery, artistic works, quoted and unquoted shares, immovable property, bank accounts, partnership interests and other assets) will be the higher of cost of acquisition or open-market price, subject to adjustments for transfers before valuation date and offsets where consideration is reinvested; set currency conversion rules using Reserve Bank reference rates or specified central bank rates; and establish forms, fees and conditions for declaration, notice of demand, appeals and recovery, with detailed annexures for disclosures.

Declaration deadline for undisclosed foreign assets established; subsequent mandatory tax and penalty payment deadline specified under the Act.
Appointment of statutory deadlines under the Black Money Act prescribes a final date by which a person may declare an undisclosed asset located outside India and a subsequent final date by which the declarant must pay the tax and penalty due in respect of that declared undisclosed foreign asset.

Commencement date change for black money law advances operation of declaration and tax chargeability provisions.
The Order substitutes the Act's stated commencement date with an earlier date by amending the commencement clause, clarifying that the declaration mechanism for undisclosed foreign assets, the valuation date for declared assets, and the chargeability rules operate from that substituted commencement date to remove interpretive difficulty about the meaning of 'date of commencement of the Act'.

Agricultural extension project notification permits tax deduction under section 35CCC, subject to strict compliance and conditions.
The notification approves the Avanti Aqua Culture Training and Development Centre as a section 35CCC agricultural extension project, making wholly and exclusively attributable expenditures on farmer training, education and guidance (excluding land or building costs and reimbursed amounts) eligible for deduction. The approved entity must maintain separate books, obtain an auditor's report on genuineness and compliance, file audited accounts and a Ministry of Agriculture certificate with returns, and observe prohibitions on charging beneficiaries, creating permanent infrastructure or branding the project. Specific conditions apply to foreign training and approval may be withdrawn for noncompliance.

Deduction under section 35CCC: approval of an agricultural extension project with strict audit, reporting and non reimbursement conditions.
Notification approves M/s Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited's agricultural extension project as eligible for deduction under section 35CCC, authorising deduction for project expenses (excluding cost of land or building) incurred wholly and exclusively for the project, provided such expenses are not reimbursed or claimed elsewhere. The entity must maintain separate audited books for the project, furnish audited accounts, project notes and a Ministry of Agriculture certificate with the return, share beneficiary and soil health data, prohibit charging beneficiaries, limit training to product neutral content, and is subject to withdrawal of approval for cessation, lack of genuineness or non compliance.

Deduction under section 35CCC: notified agricultural extension projects qualify for expense deduction subject to audit and compliance.
Approval under section 35CCC permits deduction for M/s Marico Limited's Safflower Agricultural Extension Project subject to conditions: separate project books audited with auditor's comments on genuineness and compliance; submission of audited accounts, project note and Ministry of Agriculture certificate to tax authorities by return due date; eligible deduction limited to non-salary and non-land/building expenses not reimbursed or charged to beneficiaries; prohibition on beneficiary charges, branding, and deriving indirect benefits; and withdrawal of approval for cessation, non-genuineness or non-compliance.

Deduction under section 35CCC enables notified agricultural extension projects to claim expenditure deduction subject to audit and compliance conditions.
Notification approves M/s DCM Shriram Consolidated Limited's agricultural extension project for sugarcane productivity and ties entitlement to a statutory deduction to the date of formal notification. Eligible deduction covers expenses (excluding land or building) incurred wholly and exclusively for the project, reduced by amounts received from beneficiaries and excluding reimbursed expenditures. Compliance requirements include separate project accounts, annual audit with auditor commentary, submission of audited statements and a project note by return due date, and certification of genuineness by the Ministry of Agriculture; approval may be withdrawn for non-genuine or non-compliant activities.

No deduction of tax on specified investment fund payments under Chapter XVII, exempting certain investment fund income from withholding.
No deduction of tax at source shall be made under Chapter XVII on payments of the nature specified in clause (23FBA) of section 10 when received by an investment fund as defined in clause (a) of Explanation 1 to section 115UB; the exemption excludes income chargeable under "Profits and gains of business or profession" and takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette.

Business relationship restrictions limit auditor commercial dealings, but exclude permitted professional services and arm's-length ordinary-course transactions.
Rule 51A defines "business relationship" as any transaction entered into for a commercial purpose, except (i) commercial transactions that are professional services permitted to be rendered by an auditor or audit firm under the Income-tax Act and the Chartered Accountants Act and related rules or regulations, and (ii) commercial transactions in the ordinary course of the company's business at arm's length, such as sale of products or services to the auditor as a customer by businesses like telecommunications, airlines, hospitals and hotels.

Income tax amendment: Rule 12 requires certain individuals/HUFs to file ITR 2A; agricultural income threshold set at Rs.5,000.
The Income tax (8th Amendment) Rules, 2015 amend Rule 12 to (i) fix an agricultural income threshold of Rs. 5,000 in the proviso clauses of sub rule (1); (ii) insert clause (ba) requiring certain individuals and HUFs whose total income excludes business/profession and capital gains to file in Form ITR 2A and verify as indicated; (iii) revise sub rule (4) to confine filing modes to those set out in column (iv) of the Table in sub rule (3), excluding paper form; and (iv) update Appendix II to add Form ITR 2A. The changes are deemed effective from 1 April 2015.

Income tax exemption for regulatory commission applies to specified fund and fee income, subject to non commercial and filing conditions.
Income tax exemption under clause (46) of section 10 is granted to the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission in respect of income from the fund maintained under its fund rules and income from fees collected under the State's fee rules, subject to a defined notification period and conditions that it shall not engage in commercial activity, that its activities and specified income remain unchanged during the period, and that it files income-tax returns as required.

Tax exemption notification for notified health society: specified government grants and related interest exempted subject to conditions.
Notification under clause (46) of section 10 designates the Punjab State AIDS Control Society as a notified body for exemption of specified income consisting of (a) grants-in-aid from the Government of India and (b) interest on those grants. The notification applies for the stated financial years and is effective only if the Society refrains from commercial activity, maintains unchanged activities and the nature of the specified income, and files returns as required by clause (g) of sub-section (4C) of section 139.

Tax exemption for royalty and technical fees: income from defence aircraft retrofitting contract excluded from taxable income.
The Central Government declares that income arising to M/s Dassault Aviation S.A. by way of royalty or fees for technical services received pursuant to General Contract No. Air HQ/96102/2/ASR-DA for retrofitting fifty-one defence aircraft shall not be included in computing the total income of the said company under the Income-tax law.

Tax deduction approvals for approved institutions and eligible projects under Section 35AC for a three year period commencing 2015 16.
Notification designates 28 institutions and approves specified eligible projects and estimated costs for tax deduction purposes under Section 35AC, fixing the maximum deductible project cost per the Table and limiting the approval to three financial years commencing 2015 16 (2015 16, 2016 17 and 2017 18).

Section 35AC project extension: notified eye care scheme extended for three additional financial years; certificate not available for lapsed year.
Notification extends the tax-exempt project "Quality Eye Care Centre with Blindness free zone in rural tribal area" executed by Ophthalmic Mission Trust for a further three years (financial years 2014-15 to 2016-17) without any change to the approved cost and corpus fund; extension follows the National Committee's recommendation, but no certificate under Section 35AC will be issued for the already lapsed financial year 2014-15.