Time-limit for appeals to ITAT changed to a two-month period measured from month-end after electronic communication of orders.
The proposal adds penalty orders on undisclosed income arising from search assessments to the list of orders appealable to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, correcting an omission; and it changes limitation computation so appeals may be filed within two months from the end of the month in which the order is communicated to the assessee or to the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner to accommodate electronic faceless appeal communications.

Charitable trust regime consolidation: transition to unified registration framework with phased sunsetting and protected investment modes retained.
The proposal phases out the approval route under sub clauses (iv), (v), (vi) and (via) of clause (23C) of section 10 by preventing consideration of applications filed on or after 1 October 2024, while allowing pending applications and existing approvals to continue under the first regime; approved entities may later apply for registration under the sections 11-13 framework, with amendments preserving certain eligible investment modes and enabling the transition.

Condonation of delay in registration applications allows authorities to treat late charitable registration filings as timely if reasonable cause exists.
The amendment authorises the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner to condone delay in filing registration applications by trusts and institutions and to treat such applications as filed within time if satisfied there is a reasonable cause for the delay. This power is intended to avert tax liability on accreted income or permanent exit from the exemption regime and takes effect from 1 October 2024.

Section 80G approval timelines rationalised to prevent unintended loss of charitable approval and streamline application processing.
Amendments rationalise filing timelines and the processing procedure for funds and institutions seeking approval under section 80G, addressing cases where entities cannot meet existing deadlines and preventing unintended permanent loss of approval; the change preserves donor deduction eligibility and takes effect from the commencement date specified in the Bill.

Registration timelines for charitable trusts moved to a six-month processing period measured from quarter-end for applications.
Applications by trusts, funds, or institutions seeking registration under section 12AB or approval under section 80G must be processed by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner within six months from the end of the quarter in which the application is received; this quarter-end computation applies to initial and further or final registration/approval applications and replaces the prior month-end calculation.

Merger of trusts may trigger tax on accreted income; proposed conditions aim to exempt qualifying mergers and clarify compliance.
Proposal: mergers of approved or registered charitable trusts and institutions may attract the tax on accreted income; a new statutory provision will prescribe conditions under which such mergers will not attract the accreted-income regime, specifying qualifying non-attraction safeguards for mergers between entities across the two approval/registration regimes. The amendments are to apply prospectively from the notified commencement date of the finance measures.

Registration option for charitable trusts expanded to allow claiming exemption under additional specified section 10 clauses.
The amendment adds additional section 10 clause references to sub-section (7) of section 11 so that registration under section 12AB becomes inoperative when an entity is approved under those additional clause types; trusts and institutions retain a one-time option to apply to make their section 12AB registration operative, permitting an election between the registration regime and specified section 10 exemption regimes.

Capital gains reform: simplified holding periods, unified long-term rate, higher short-term levy, and removal of indexation.
The Bill simplifies capital gains taxation by creating two holding periods-shorter for listed securities and longer for other assets-raising the specific short-term rate for securities subject to securities transaction tax while unifying long-term gains under a single lower rate with an increased exemption for specified securities; it removes indexation for long-term gains on property, gold and unlisted assets, brings unlisted debentures and bonds to tax at applicable rates, and aligns non-resident and withholding provisions to the new rates, effective from the operative date in the Bill.

Specified Mutual Fund definition revised: funds must invest over sixty five percent in debt/money market, effective April 2026.
The amendment redefines Specified Mutual Fund under section 50AA to mean (a) a mutual fund investing more than sixty five percent of its proceeds in debt and money market instruments, or (b) a fund investing sixty five percent or more of its proceeds in units of such a fund. The change clarifies treatment of ETFs, gold funds and Fund of Funds previously affected by the thirty five percent equity threshold and is proposed to be effective from 1 April 2026 for AY 2026 27 onwards.

TDS rate rationalisation reduces multiple withholding rates to simplified lower bands, retaining specific exceptions for certain payments.
Rationalisation of TDS rates streamlines withholding provisions by lowering multiple prior rates for specified non-salary payments, proposing omission of the provision on mutual fund unit repurchases, and preserving existing withholding regimes for salaries, virtual digital assets, lotteries, immovable property transfers, non-resident payments and contractor payments; implementation is phased on different effective dates to promote administrative simplification and improved taxpayer compliance without changing substantive chargeability.

TDS on insurance commission reduced for non-corporate payees, affecting deduction at credit or payment from the effective date.
The Finance Bill amends withholding tax treatment for remuneration or reward for soliciting or procuring insurance business by reducing the TDS rate applicable to resident non-corporate payees; payers must continue to deduct tax at source when such income is credited or paid under existing triggering rules and modes, with the reduced rate taking effect from the prescribed effective date stated in the amendment.

TDS on life insurance payouts reduced by amendment, lowering withholding obligation on qualifying policy payments for residents.
Section 194DA requires persons paying sums under life insurance policies to deduct tax at source on the income component of such payments, excluding amounts exempt under clause (10D) of section 10. The Finance (No.2) Bill, 2024 proposes a reduction in the withholding rate under Section 194DA, with the amendment to take effect from the first day of October under Clause 54, thereby lowering the deductor's TDS obligation on qualifying life insurance payouts to residents.

TDS on lottery commissions reduced under section 194G, easing withholding obligations for payers from October onward.
Payers of commission, remuneration or prizes on sale or distribution of lottery tickets must deduct tax at source at the statutory withholding rate at the time of credit or payment, whichever is earlier. The Finance Bill amendment (Clause 56) lowers that withholding rate, with the reduction effective from the commencement date specified in the Bill.

TDS on commission and brokerage reduced, altering withholding obligations and the timing of deduction for non individual payors.
Section 194H imposes TDS on persons other than individuals and HUFs for commission or brokerage (excluding insurance commission), requiring deduction at the time of credit or payment. The Finance Bill proposes a reduction in the TDS rate under section 194H, with the amendment to take effect from the stated commencement date, thereby modifying deductor withholding obligations for subsequent payments.

TDS on rent reduced for individuals and HUFs, lowering withholding obligations for specified high-value rent payments.
Section 194-IB presently obliges individuals and Hindu undivided families (except those excluded by the second proviso to section 194-I) paying rent above the monthly threshold to deduct tax at source; the Finance Bill amends the provision to reduce the TDS rate from five percent to two percent, with the amendment operative from 1 October 2024.

TDS on payments for work, commission and professional fees reduced to a lower withholding rate, effective from October.
Section 194M requires individuals and Hindu undivided families (except those already required to deduct under related contractor, commission or professional service provisions) to deduct tax at the earlier of credit or payment on sums for carrying out work (including supply of labour), commission or brokerage (excluding insurance commission), and fees for professional services. The Finance Bill proposes to reduce the prescribed withholding rate under Section 194M, with the amendment effective from 1 October 2024 as Clause 60.

TDS on e-commerce transactions reduced to align with offline parity under the Finance Bill amendment.
Section 194-O obliges an e-commerce operator to deduct tax at source on the gross amount of sales or services when that amount is credited to an e-commerce participant's account or paid, whichever is earlier. The Finance Bill proposes reducing the operator's TDS rate to achieve parity with lower rates applicable to comparable offline provisions, with an effective date specified in the Bill.

TDS on mutual fund unit repurchase proposed to be omitted under section 194F, simplifying taxation of capital gains.
Proposal deletes section 194F, removing the TDS obligation on payments for repurchase of units by mutual funds and UTI as part of capital gains tax rationalisation; the amendment takes effect from the first day of October under the Finance (No.2) Bill, 2024 (Clause 55).

Tax credit for collected or deducted tax: salaried employees may use such credits to reduce salary TDS, easing compliance.
Amendment modifies the rule for computing tax to be deducted from salary so that any tax deducted or collected under the statutory collection-at-source and related withholding regimes is taken into account when determining salary tax deduction, thereby reducing cash-flow impacts on employees and the need to claim refunds; effective from 1 October 2024.

Interest on TCS increased to align with TDS parity, raising monthly simple interest for late remittance to government account.
The Bill amends section 206C(7) to increase the simple interest rate for failure to remit tax collected at source from one percent to one and one-half percent per month or part thereof, calculated from the date of collection until actual payment to the Government; the amendment is prospective and effective from 1 April 2025.