Withholding tax refund procedure now allows the payer to seek refund from the Assessing Officer, with appellate review.
A new provision allows a person who deducted and bore tax under an agreement, where no deduction was required, to apply to the Assessing Officer for refund; the Assessing Officer may examine the underlying agreement, and the applicant may appeal the Assessing Officer's order to the Commissioner (Appeals). The previous route under section 248 will not apply for payments on or after the appointed date, effecting a procedural shift to assessment stage review.

Exemption withdrawal for foreign technical-assistance remuneration; such income will be taxable from the assessment year beginning April next year.
The article sets out the phase-out of exemptions under clauses (8), (8A), (8B) and (9) of section 10 for remuneration, fees and related foreign-source income connected to cooperative or agency technical assistance programmes, describing existing eligibility rules (foreign citizenship/non-ordinary residency, nonresident status, prescribed-authority approvals) and explaining the policy rationale of tax simplification and protecting India's treaty taxing rights; the clauses are proposed to be inapplicable to income for the previous year relevant to the assessment year beginning on or after 1 April 2023.

Concessional tax on foreign dividends removed, aligning tax treatment of foreign and domestic corporate dividends going forward.
Withdrawal of the concessional regime under Section 115BBD ends the special tax rate for dividends received by an Indian company from a specified foreign company, aligning their treatment with domestic dividends by making Section 115BBD inapplicable for assessment years beginning on or after the first day of April, 2023 so that such dividends are taxed in the shareholder's hands at applicable rates plus surcharge and cess.

Taxation of virtual digital assets: new flat tax and mandatory withholding reshape transfers and gifting rules.
A dedicated tax regime segregates income from transfer of virtual digital assets under section 115BBH, taxing such income at a dedicated rate without deductions except cost of acquisition and disallowing set-off or carry forward of related losses. Section 194S mandates tax deduction at source on payments for transfer to residents with rules for in-kind consideration, specified person exemptions, treatment of suspense accounts as payee credits, and Board-issued guidelines; the definition of virtual digital asset (including NFTs) and gift taxation are adjusted with notification powers for the Central Government.

Bonus and dividend stripping rules extended to securities and pooled investment units, widening anti avoidance coverage.
Section 94's anti avoidance provisions will be amended to apply sub section (8) on bonus stripping to securities and to expand dividend stripping rules to units of pooled investment vehicles by revising the Explanation to redefine "unit" to include business trust units such as InvITs, REITs and AIFs, thereby closing existing scope gaps and applying the provisions from the specified assessment year forward.

Expanded reporting obligations now require producers and specified activity persons to report aggregate payments to tax authorities.
Section 285B is expanded to require producers of cinematograph films and persons engaged in specified activities to furnish Form 52A statements reporting particulars of aggregate payments above the prescribed threshold made to or due from each person engaged, with timing governed by the end of the financial year or completion of the work.

TDS on business perquisites: providers must deduct tax at source before delivering benefits or perquisites.
A new section 194R mandates that the person responsible for providing any benefit or perquisite arising from business or profession to a resident must deduct tax at source on the value or aggregate value of such benefit or perquisite before providing it; where benefits are wholly in kind or partly in cash with insufficient cash to meet the deduction, tax must be ensured paid before release. Exemptions apply below a specified annual value threshold and for individuals or HUFs below specified turnover limits in the preceding year, with a stated effective date.

TDS on immovable property: deduction based on higher of consideration or stamp duty value, with threshold exemption.
The amendment requires TDS on transfer of immovable property to be deducted on the higher of the consideration payable or the stamp duty value of the property, ensuring consistency with valuation rules for income and capital gains; if both values are below the prescribed monetary threshold, no TDS is required, and "stamp duty value" carries the meaning assigned in the Act's Explanation.

Specified person rule shortened to increase TDS/TCS coverage and prompt taxpayers to furnish returns under revised criteria.
Amendments reduce the non-filing window for the specified person from two years to one year for higher TDS/TCS applicability, substitute 'furnishing' for 'filing' to reflect electronic returns, correct deductor/collectee terminology, exclude specified withholding provisions and certain simplified individual/HUF regimes from section 206AB, and amend cross-references in section 194-IB; effective from April 1, 2022.

Change in shareholding rule: majority voting power retention after strategic disinvestment preserves carry forward of losses, subject to condition.
Amendment creates a conditional exemption from the change in shareholding bar on carry forward and set off of losses for an erstwhile public sector company where the ultimate holding company, immediately after strategic disinvestment, continues to hold, directly or through subsidiaries, an aggregate majority of the voting power; failure to maintain that majority in a subsequent year triggers application of the change in shareholding rule for that and later years.

Exemption for COVID-19 medical and death payments: employer payments fully exempt; third-party payments exempt subject to cap and time limit.
Amendments exclude COVID 19 related medical and death payments from taxable income: employer payments for an employee's or family member's COVID 19 medical treatment will not be treated as a perquisite; gratuitous receipts for COVID 19 medical expenditure received from any person, and ex gratia or other payments to family members on death from the deceased's employer (without limit) or from others up to a capped aggregate within a prescribed period, will not be income, subject to conditions and the statutory definition of family. These changes are retrospective to 1 April 2020.

Disability deduction extended to allow lifetime annuity or lump-sum payments when subscriber reaches senior age and payments cease.
Amendment permits deduction under Section 80DD where annuity or lump-sum payments are made to a disabled dependant during the lifetime of the subscriber provided the subscriber has attained senior age and payments or deposits have been discontinued; amounts so received by the dependant before death are not to be treated as the assessee's income under the prior deeming provision.

NPS deduction limit for state government contributions increased, providing retrospective tax relief to state government employees.
Amendment increases the statutory deduction under section 80CCD for State Government employer contributions to National Pension System accounts to align with the higher employer contribution threshold, effective retrospectively from April 1, 2020, and applicable to the relevant assessment year onward to prevent additional tax liability on contributions exceeding the prior lower limit.

IFSC tax exemptions expanded to cover offshore derivatives, ship lease income and portfolio income managed via IFSC accounts.
Amendments broaden tax exemptions and deductions for IFSC operations: extend section 10(4E) to non resident income from transfers of offshore derivatives with Offshore Banking Units; expand section 10(4F) to exempt royalty or interest on ship leases paid by qualifying IFSC units and define "ship"; insert section 10(4G) to exempt non resident income from portfolios managed by portfolio managers in IFSC Offshore Banking Unit accounts where income accrues outside India; include regulated Alternative Investment Funds in the section 56 specified funds explanation; and allow section 80LA deductions for transfers of ships leased by IFSC units, subject to commencement conditions.

Alternate Minimum Tax parity: co operative societies' AMT rate aligned with companies, lowering their AMT burden from the prior higher rate.
The Finance Bill proposes amending section 115JC(4) to reduce the alternate minimum tax rate applicable to co operative societies to the company rate and consequentially amending the definition of alternate minimum tax in clause (b) of section 115JF, effective from 1st April, 2023 for the assessment year 2023 24 onwards.

Startup tax exemption: incorporation deadline extended to cover delayed incorporations, expanding eligibility for upcoming assessment years.
Amendment extends the incorporation cutoff for claiming the full-profit deduction by eligible startups to accommodate COVID-related delays, while retaining existing qualifying conditions such as the turnover ceiling and requirement of certification from the Inter-Ministerial Board of Certification; the change takes effect from the commencement of the next fiscal period and applies to the specified assessment year and subsequent years.

Concessional tax under section 115BAB extended to give new manufacturers extra time to commence production due to pandemic delays.
Section 115BAB permits new domestic manufacturing companies to opt for a concessional tax rate if they forgo specified incentives and meet conditions, including commencement of manufacturing by a statutory cut-off. The proposal amends section 115BAB to extend the deadline for commencement of manufacturing or production by one year to relieve companies delayed by the COVID 19 pandemic; the amendment takes effect from 1 April 2022 and applies to the assessment year 2022-23 and subsequent years.

Interest on TDS/TCS defaults to be payable as per Assessing Officer's order, clarifying computation and payment obligation.
The measure amends the TDS and TCS interest provisions to provide that where the Assessing Officer makes an order for a default under the relevant sections, the interest shall be paid by the person in accordance with the order made by the Assessing Officer, clarifying computation and payment obligation for continuing defaults.

Actual payment requirement: conversion of interest into debentures or deferred instruments will not qualify as payment under section 43B.
The proposed amendment clarifies that conversion of interest payable to specified financial institutions, NBFCs, scheduled banks or co-operative banks into debentures or any other instrument deferring payment shall not be deemed to have been actually paid for purposes of claiming a deduction under Section 43B, thereby excluding constructive discharge by conversion from qualifying as payment.

Disallowance under section 14A clarified: provisions apply even when exempt income has not accrued, barring related deductions.
Clarification that disallowance under section 14A applies even where exempt income has not accrued, arisen or been received in the relevant previous year if expenditure was incurred in relation to such exempt income; insertion of an Explanation and a non obstante clause to ensure no deduction is allowed in relation to exempt income. Proposed amendment to section 37(1) adds an Explanation that expenditure which is an offence or prohibited by law includes offences under foreign law, benefits whose acceptance breaches governing rules of the recipient, and payments to compound offences.