Relief from interest and penalty: block-period undisclosed income in search assessments taxed without additional interest or penalty.
Clause 297 exempts assessees from interest and penalty for undisclosed income assessed or reassessed for the block period in search and seizure proceedings, limiting relief to block-period income and applying to both initial block assessments and reassessments while leaving regular assessments and other penalties unaffected.

Time limitation for block assessments ensures fixed completion period with specified exclusions and reference extensions.
Clause 296 mandates that block assessment orders be completed within twelve months from the end of the month in which the last search or requisition authorisation was executed, extends that period by twelve months where a statutory reference is made, excludes up to 180 days for transfer of seized material to the jurisdictional Assessing Officer, provides a minimum residual period of sixty days after exclusions, and suspends the limitation clock for a specified list of circumstances such as court stays, international information exchange (capped), audits and valuation references, and advance ruling proceedings.

Assessment of third-party undisclosed income enables transfer of seized material to jurisdictional AO for special assessment procedure.
Clause 295 mandates that where an AO is satisfied undisclosed income discovered in a search pertains to a person other than the one searched, all seized assets, documents and information must be handed over to the AO having jurisdiction over that third person, who will assess the third party under the Bill's special assessment procedure, with the relevant chapter's provisions applying mutatis mutandis, and explicitly includes virtual digital assets and electronic records within scope.

Block assessment procedure tightens timelines and mandates electronic filing, broadening assessment to total income including undisclosed income
The clause establishes a restructured block assessment procedure triggered by search or requisition, requiring the Assessing Officer to issue a notice for a return in a prescribed form and manner with mandatory electronic filing for specified categories. Returns must be filed within a capped period, revised returns are barred, and furnished returns carry deeming consequences; prior supervisory approval is required before issuing the notice. The AO must determine tax on the basis of the block period, applying renumbered computation, penalty and procedural provisions "so far as may be," and may verify tax credits claimed against assessed undisclosed income.

Block period income computation clarifies aggregation, exclusions and evidentiary basis for assessing undisclosed income in search cases.
Clause 293 prescribes a structured, evidence based aggregation of block period income, listing components such as voluntary disclosures, income previously assessed, income declared in response to notices, income determined from books and documents, and any additional undisclosed income identified by the Assessing Officer on available evidence. It excludes international and specified domestic transactions from block assessment, applies special rules for firms, disallows set off of prior losses and unabsorbed depreciation against undisclosed income, and permits carry forward of such losses for subsequent years.

Search assessment regime establishes exclusive procedure for block-period income, abatement and revival rules, and separate regular-income treatment.
Clause 292 creates an exclusive special procedure for block-period assessments triggered by search or requisition, mandating automatic abatement of all pending assessments and related references or orders for relevant tax years, requiring completion of earlier search assessments before subsequent ones (with minimum extensions where needed), prescribing separate treatment of regular income for the year of the last search, providing revival of abated proceedings if the special assessment is annulled, and standardising taxation of block-period income by cross-reference to the Bill's charging provision.

Block period definition modernisation clarifies timeframe and triggers for assessing undisclosed income in search and requisition cases.
Clause 301 provides an interpretative framework for special search assessments by defining the block period as a multi year look back plus the portion of the year of search or requisition, modernising terminology to "tax year", clarifying that the conclusion of search (as per the last panchnama) determines execution irrespective of seizure, defining requisitioned and seized items, and expressly including virtual digital assets and incorrect claims of deductions within the definition of undisclosed income.

Identical question of law deferral: appeals stayed pending final decision in lead cases, subject to collegium and taxpayer acceptance.
Clause 376 provides for deferral of revenue appeals where an identical question of law is pending before a High Court or the Supreme Court. A collegium of senior Commissioners may direct non-filing of appeals where the precedent case favours the assessee; the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner must instruct the Assessing Officer to file a prescribed-form application within set timelines. Deferral requires the assessee's acceptance of identity; absent such acceptance ordinary appellate procedures apply. If the final decision in the lead case is adverse to the revenue, appeals may be filed within specified periods.

Avoidance of repetitive appeals: a declaration procedure lets an assessee defer identical legal issues pending higher court decisions.
Clause 375 permits an assessee to file a prescribed declaration to defer litigation where an identical question of law is pending in another case before a higher forum; the authority must verify the claim with a report from the Assessing Officer and an opportunity to be heard, and may admit or reject the claim by reasoned written order which is final. If admitted, the case may be disposed of without awaiting the other case's decision, the assessee is barred from raising the issue in further appeals for that case, and the final decision in the other case must be applied, with amendment of earlier orders if necessary.

Power to frame schemes enables broad faceless, technology driven tax administration with authority to modify statutory application.
Clause 532 grants the Central Government power to notify schemes for any purposes of the Income Tax Act to enhance efficiency, transparency and accountability by eliminating taxpayer interface where technologically feasible and optimising resource use; it further authorises notifications to modify application of Act provisions for scheme implementation, allows amendment of existing schemes under the prior law, and requires that such notifications be laid before Parliament.

Intimation of loss: AO must issue written notification to enable carry forward and set-off of assessed losses.
Clause 291 requires the Assessing Officer to notify the assessee by written order of the amount of loss computed for specified loss heads where a loss is established during assessment and is eligible for carry forward and set-off under the Bill; the written notification is the formal basis for claiming loss benefits in subsequent years, while the clause omits an express timeline, remedies for non-notification, and explicit treatment of appeal or rectification.

Modification of tax demand notices: AO must revise demands to reflect insolvency orders and subsequent appellate modifications.
Clause 290 requires the Assessing Officer to serve a modified demand notice treated as a demand under the restructured Act where an earlier demand is reduced by an order under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, covering tax, interest, penalty, fine or any other sum, and mandates further revision if the insolvency order is altered on appeal.

Notice of demand: modernised formal notice and deferment for start up share compensation, aligning tax timing with liquidity events.
Notice of demand is the statutory precondition for recovery: Clause 289(1) mandates issuance in a prescribed form for any payable sum following an order; Clause 289(2) deems certain system-generated intimations equivalent to notices to streamline automated recovery; Clause 289(3) defers tax on specified securities or sweat equity for eligible start-up employees until defined liquidity or employment-trigger events, thereby aligning tax payment timing with cash realization.

Rectification of assessments: new provision expands AO authority to amend orders for subsequent events and compliance.
Clause 288 consolidates and prescribes time-bound powers for Assessing Officers to amend assessment orders when subsequent judicial, administrative or factual events render original assessments incorrect, covering partner/AOP adjustments, recomputation for carry-forward losses, capital gains recharacterisation, foreign tax credit, TDS credit timing, transfer pricing amendments and related categories, with generally four-year limitation periods and an emphasis on digital procedural integration.

Rectification of mistakes apparent from the record: updated authority scope, procedural safeguards, and prescribed timelines ensure corrective relief.
Clause 287 empowers income-tax authorities to rectify mistakes apparent from the record by amending orders and specified intimations, subject to the exclusion of matters already considered in appeal or revision. Rectification may be initiated suo motu or on application, but any amendment increasing liability requires prior notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard and must be made by written order. Reductions of liability trigger refund obligations, increases trigger prescribed demand notices, and the power is constrained by a prescribed limitation period and a statutory timeline for disposal of applications.

Time limits for tax assessments clarified: tabular framework sets fixed periods, exclusions and minimum residual time for authorities.
Reform replaces narrative limitation provisions with a tabular, scenario-based regime specifying trigger dates and fixed completion periods-generally one year for routine assessments and reassessments-with special shorter windows for modifications. The draft adds a twelve-month extension for transfer pricing references, an exhaustive list of periods to be excluded from limitation computations (stays, reopenings, treaty exchanges, GAAR references, valuation reports, advance rulings, search handovers, etc.), and safeguards ensuring minimum residual time for authorities, end-of-month extensions, and abatement/revival protections to preserve procedural continuity.

Tax rate parity: reassessment must use original-year rates, allowing dropping of proceedings if no extra liability.
Clause 285 requires tax in assessments, reassessments or recomputations for escaped income to be charged at the rates that would have applied had the income been originally assessed; allows the Assessing Officer to drop reassessment proceedings if the assessee demonstrates that inclusion of the alleged escaped income would not increase tax liability and that the original assessment was not impugned under specified appellate or revision provisions; and bars the assessee from reopening matters concluded by certain specified orders once a claim to drop proceedings is made.

Executive power to frame tax administration schemes may reshape processes while raising delegation and legal certainty concerns.
Clause 532 empowers the Central Government to notify schemes for any purpose under the Act to eliminate taxpayer-authority interface and optimize resources; it authorises modification or suspension of statutory provisions by notification to implement schemes, permits amendment of existing schemes for transitional continuity, and requires notifications be laid before Parliament, thereby enabling broad administrative reconfiguration through subordinate legislation while raising delegation, transparency, and legal certainty concerns.

Sanction authority centralization for reopening assessments shifts approval to Additional/Joint Commissioners, reducing prior higher level oversight.
Clause 284 appoints Additional Commissioners, Additional Directors, Joint Commissioners, or Joint Directors as the sole authorities to grant sanction for notices under sections 280 and 281, replacing the earlier tiered sanction regime. It removes temporal thresholds and higher level approvals formerly applied to older or complex cases, centralizes decision making, omits explanatory and delegation provisions present in the prior framework, and may therefore streamline administration while raising concerns about reduced oversight, interpretive ambiguity, and possible increased litigation.

Giving effect to appellate findings: reassessment notices may issue despite limitation, subject to safeguards preventing reopening time barred years.
Clause 283 (Income Tax Bill, 2025) and Section 150 (Income tax Act, 1961) permit issuance of assessment, reassessment or recomputation notices to give effect to a finding or direction in appellate, revisional or judicial orders, explicitly including tribunals and Approving Panel directions in the 2025 Bill. Both provisions preserve a limitation safeguard: notices cannot be issued if, when the original order (or reference to the Approving Panel) was made, the relevant year's assessment was already time barred. Notices must show a direct nexus to the operative finding or direction and remain subject to procedural requirements.