Advance ruling mechanism provides pre transactional tax certainty and access controls for cross border and GAAR related issues.
Clause 380 defines advance ruling across five categories: rulings for non resident applicants; rulings on transactions between residents and non residents; rulings for specified resident applicants; rulings on computation of total income pending before tax authorities or the Appellate Tribunal; and rulings on whether proposed arrangements are impermissible avoidance arrangements; it links applications to the Bill's procedural section and replaces the Authority with a Board for Advance Rulings, while preserving notification based resident eligibility.

Dispute Resolution Committee provides an opt-in ADR path reducing penalties and granting prosecution immunity for minor tax disputes.
Clause 379 creates an opt in Dispute Resolution Committee to resolve minor tax disputes by allowing modification of assessment variations, reduction or waiver of penalties, and grant of immunity from prosecution, with Assessing Officers required to implement DRC directions within a prescribed short timeframe; eligibility is confined by a monetary ceiling on variations, exclusions for search/survey or international information cases, and an income threshold as reported in returns, while procedural details and disqualifications are to be prescribed in subordinate rules.

Set-off of tax refunds: authority to adjust refunds against outstanding dues with written intimation and time limited withholding.
Clause 438 authorises specified tax officers to set off any refund due against sums remaining payable by the taxpayer, subject to mandatory written intimation. If assessment or reassessment proceedings are pending, the Assessing Officer may withhold the refund for a limited, time bound period, but only after recording reasons in writing and obtaining prior approval from the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner. The clause streamlines language from Section 245, narrows discretionary grounds for withholding by focusing on pendency of proceedings, and retains procedural safeguards without specifying priority among kinds of dues.

Interest on tax refunds: prescribed entitlement and computation rules ensure compensation for delayed refunds and administrative resolution.
Clause 437 provides a statutory entitlement to interest on delayed tax refunds, specifying commencement dates for interest based on refund source (advance tax, TCS, tax treated as paid, self-assessment, rectification or excess payment), a materiality threshold exempting trivial refunds, extension of entitlement to deductors, exclusion of periods of delay attributable to the taxpayer or deductor, additional interest for appellate or revision order-related refunds, adjustment and recovery mechanisms for varied refund amounts, and administrative resolution of disputes on excluded periods by a senior tax authority.

Finality of assessments: refund claims limited to refunds for wrongly paid or excess tax, not re litigation of settled assessments.
Clause 436 prevents an assessee, in refund claims, from questioning or seeking review of any assessment or matter that has become final and conclusive; relief in such claims is limited to refund of tax wrongly paid or paid in excess and the provision must be read with appeal, rectification and revision mechanisms to avoid undermining corrective powers elsewhere in the statute.

Automatic refunds on appellate or statutory orders require proactive AO disbursement, subject to reassessment and annulment limits.
Automatic refunds are mandated when appellate or other statutory orders reduce or annul tax liability, requiring the Assessing Officer to refund excess amounts without a claim, except where the Act provides otherwise. Refunds become due only after a fresh assessment when an order directs reassessment, and where an assessment is annulled the refund is limited to the excess tax paid over tax chargeable on the returned total income. The provision preserves AO obligations, exceptions for set off or stay, and separates principal refund rules from interest entitlement.

TDS refund mechanism for deductors clarifies eligibility, prescribed application procedure, and time bound AO orders.
Clause 434 creates a statutory TDS refund mechanism allowing a deductor who, under a written agreement, bore withholding tax and later claims no deduction was legally required to apply for refund in the prescribed form; the Assessing Officer must inquire as necessary, provide the applicant an opportunity to be heard, and pass a written order allowing or rejecting the claim within the specified time frame.

Return-based refund claims must be made through the income tax return, tying refund limitation to return filing timelines.
Clause 433 requires that every refund claim be made by furnishing the return of income under section 263, making return filing the exclusive procedural vehicle for refund claims and implicitly tying limitation to the return filing timelines without providing express condonation or separate application mechanisms.

Refund entitlement: clubbed-income payee and authorised representatives may claim tax refunds when taxpayer cannot act.
The clause entitles the person in whose total income clubbed income is included to claim the refund attributable to that income, and authorises a legal representative, trustee, guardian or receiver to claim or receive refunds on behalf of a taxpayer who cannot do so because of death, incapacity, insolvency, liquidation or similar cause; procedural formalities and limitation issues are left to subordinate rules and practice.

Tax refund entitlement preserved: statutory right maintained under new bill with procedural verification by Assessing Officer.
Clause 431 preserves a statutory right to a refund where a person satisfies the Assessing Officer that tax paid, paid on or treated as paid on their behalf for a tax year exceeds the amount properly chargeable; it covers direct payments and deemed payments (TDS/TCS, advance tax), places an initial procedural burden on the taxpayer, and mirrors Section 237 of the 1961 Act except for the shift from assessment year to tax year, with attendant implications for temporal reference, procedural integration, and ancillary issues such as interest, set offs and standards of verification.

Aadhaar intimation fee imposed for belated compliance, payable on late intimation through subordinate legislation.
Clause 430 of the Income Tax Bill, 2025 prescribes an administrative fee for failure to intimate Aadhaar by the prescribed date: the fee is payable at the time of belated intimation, is to be set by subordinate rules subject to a statutory ceiling, and operates without prejudice to other consequences under the Act. The provision delegates essential operational elements-prescribed date, fee quantum, and collection mechanism-to rule-making while retaining a maximum cap and signalling continuity with the existing compliance approach.

Fee for delay in furnishing statements requires payment before submission and is capped at the amount concerned.
Clause 429 imposes an administrative fee for failure to deliver or furnish prescribed statements or certificates by scientific research and charitable institutions, accruing daily and capped at the amount in respect of which the failure occurred; payment of the fee is required before the delayed document or certificate may be filed, and the levy operates without prejudice to other consequences under the Act.

Late filing fee for income tax returns: income linked penalties retained, alongside other liabilities and administrative discretion.
Clause 428 imposes a fee where a person required to furnish a return under Section 263 fails to file within the prescribed time, with an income linked structure: a higher fee for those above a specified income threshold and a capped lower fee otherwise; the clause operates without prejudice to interest, penalties, or prosecution and retains administrative discretion through "not exceeding" wording for the lower slab.

Fee for default in furnishing TDS/TCS statements requires pre payment before filing and is capped by tax liability.
Clause 427 imposes a statutory fee for default in furnishing TDS/TCS statements as triggered by section 393(3)(b), prescribing a fixed per day charge for each day of delay, capped at the amount of tax deductible or collectible, and requiring payment of the fee before delivery of the delayed statement; the provision operates without prejudice to other consequences under the Act and mirrors the substantive structure of Section 234E while omitting explicit commencement and detailed procedural rules.

Interest on excess refunds: Bill imposes interest from refund grant to regular assessment, with reduction if appellate orders confirm refund.
Clause 426 charges simple interest on refunds granted under section 270(1) that exceed amounts determined on regular assessment, with interest computed from the date of grant to the date of regular assessment. Assessments under section 279 are deemed "regular assessment" for this purpose. Interest is reduced where appellate or revisionary orders ultimately validate the refund in whole or part. The clause mirrors Section 234D's core mechanics but changes cross-references and lacks an explicit retrospective application, raising transitional and interpretational concerns.

Interest for deferment of advance tax simplified to lump-sum rates, changing computation and compliance implications.
Clause 425 prescribes lump-sum interest rates on shortfalls in advance tax instalments tied to specified due dates and percentage targets, retains partial compliance safe-harbours and exemptions for certain unpredictable income categories provided tax is paid by the final instalment, and defines the tax base for interest by allowing deductions for TDS/TCS and specified tax credits; it shifts from monthly computation to a simplified tabled regime while leaving interpretive gaps around new cross-references and treatment of early rectification of shortfalls.

Interest on advance tax: default triggers automatic monthly interest until assessment or regular assessment is completed.
Clause 424 establishes interest for failure to pay advance tax or where advance payments are below the prescribed benchmark, charging monthly interest from the first April following the tax year until determination of total income or completion of regular assessment. Interest is computed on net assessed tax after reductions for TDS/TCS, foreign tax reliefs and specified credits. The clause clarifies interpretative points about regular assessments, excludes certain additional income-tax from the assessed base, allows reduction of interest upon pre-assessment payment, and prescribes additional interest on increments arising from reassessment.

Interest on late tax returns: monthly interest applied under new provision with clarified computation and adjustment mechanism.
A formulaic charging provision imposes simple monthly interest on tax due where returns are filed late or not filed, with a matrix of scenarios specifying for each the starting date, ending date and tax base for interest computation. The clause mandates adjustment of interest following appellate or revisional orders to reflect the final tax, permits reduction by previously paid interest and credits, excludes certain additional taxes from the tax base, and deems specified first time assessments as regular assessments for interest purposes.

Government's right to recover tax arrears preserved, allowing concurrent statutory and civil recovery remedies.
Clause 421 preserves the Government's right to recover tax arrears by methods beyond the statutory recovery modes, expressly allowing reliance on any other law for recovery and the institution of civil suits; it authorises assessing officers or the Government to pursue such alternative or concurrent remedies notwithstanding that recovery under the tax statute is being undertaken.

Delegated legislative power to frame broad tax schemes may permit statutory modification, raising oversight and legal certainty concerns.
Clause 532 grants the Central Government a broad power to frame schemes for any purpose under the Income Tax Act by notification, aiming to eliminate taxpayer interface where technologically feasible and to optimise resources; it permits notifications to disapply or modify statutory provisions to implement schemes, validates amendment of existing schemes under the 1961 Act, and requires notifications to be laid before Parliament, raising questions about the scope of delegated legislation and safeguards for legal certainty and taxpayer rights.