Tax rate structure and withholding: optional new regimes affect salary TDS, advance tax and surcharge treatment.
Part III of the First Schedule prescribes slab-based TDS rates on salaries, advance tax computation rules and surcharge bands with marginal relief for individuals, HUFs, co-operative societies, firms, local authorities and companies; it retains distinct corporate rates tied to turnover, applies a health and education cess, and creates elective alternate tax regimes including optional taxation under section 115BAC for individuals/HUFs and section 115BAD for resident co-operative societies, which affect rate computation and surcharge treatment.

Tax Deduction at Source: rates remain as prior year; new sections added and section 194 rate amended.
Tax deduction at source rates for non-salary incomes in FY 2020-21 remain as specified in the prior year schedule; section-specific deduction provisions persist. New sections 194K and 194O specify rates within those sections, and the rate under section 194 is revised to a rate stated in the Bill. Surcharge provisions apply to non-resident recipients by category and income bands, and Health and Education Cess continues to apply on income tax including surcharge.

Surcharge tiers on income-tax established by taxpayer class and income bands; marginal relief and health and education cess apply.
The Bill prescribes tax rates for assessment year 2020-21 and establishes a multi-tier surcharge regime differentiated by taxpayer class and income bands, with specific caps on surcharge for income taxed under certain provisions. Marginal relief is provided to temper surcharge effects at thresholds. A Health and Education Cess is levied at a fixed rate on income tax inclusive of surcharge, with no marginal relief available for the cess.

Judicial custody applied where investigative agency failed to demonstrate necessity for police or CBI custodial interrogation.
The magistrate refused the investigating agency's request for custodial interrogation, finding insufficient grounds for police/CBI custody and remanding the accused to judicial custody pending further production. The accused and co accused presented conflicting accounts-one alleging he had been investigating a larger fraud and that superiors failed to act-while defence counsel warned of administrative consequences arising from custody. The magistrate applied the requirement that custodial remand be justified by demonstrable investigative necessity rather than allegation alone.

Reopening of assessment: Section 148 notices held in abeyance pending Supreme Court decision on Section 80P deduction entitlement.
Reopening of assessment under Section 147 and notices under Section 148 to cooperative societies were stayed and kept in abeyance pending disposal of Special Leave Petitions concerning entitlement to deduction under Section 80P(2)(a)(i) read with Section 80P(4). The High Court ordered that if the Supreme Court allows the SLPs the notices will revive and reassessment may proceed, and if the Supreme Court rules for the assessees the impugned notices will be set aside.

Pre-deposit requirement can be satisfied before the appeal is first taken up for consideration, permitting admission if paid.
The pre-deposit obligation is an independent mandatory condition distinct from the limitation period for filing or condoning delay; it need not be discharged at filing but can be satisfied up to the moment the appellate authority first takes the appeal up for consideration for condonation or admission. If proof of payment of the specified tax dues is not produced by that first consideration, the appellate authority must reject the appeal as institutionally defective and has no power to extend time to deposit.

Substance over form requires assessing officers to inquire beyond certified statutory forms before reopening assessments.
Non-disclosure must be sufficiently material to show that, but for it, income would have escaped assessment; Assessing Officers must not rely mechanically on CA-certified statutory forms and must make independent enquiries, applying the substance over form principle when determining commencement of commercial production or eligibility for tax concessions.

Search and seizure authorization: proper officer's reason to believe permits prohibition orders and provisional release via clause six.
Section 67 empowers an authorised proper officer, not below Joint Commissioner, to search and seize goods or documents when he has reason to believe they are secreted; if seizure is impracticable, a prohibition on dealing with goods may be issued under Rule 139(4). "Secreted" includes items not kept in their normal place or likely to be kept out of the way, and the officer must have a reasoned belief before exercising search powers. Procedural accuracy in authorisation and forms is required, and clause (6) permits provisional release on bond, security or payment.

Zero-rated supplies entitlement: IGST refund cannot be denied solely because exporter claimed higher drawback; statutory rules prevail.
The statutory refund regime treats the shipping bill as a deemed application for IGST refund on exports and allows withholding of refund only in the specific, enumerated circumstances provided by the rules. Administrative circulars cannot override the statute; availing a higher duty drawback or technical limitations in departmental systems do not, without falling within the prescribed withholding contingencies, defeat an exporter's entitlement to IGST refund for zero-rated supplies.

Input Tax Credit time limit: GSTR 3B is a temporary stopgap and does not fix the statutory monthly return deadline.
The Court held that GSTR 3B was implemented as a temporary stopgap and was not intended to replace the statutory monthly return; an administrative press release treating GSTR 3B filing as the outer date to avail Input Tax Credit conflicted with the statutory time limit provision and the rules prescribing the monthly return form and manner.

Rates for deduction of income-tax at source from salaries set and applied to advance tax and special-case assessments.
Part III of the First Schedule prescribes rates for deduction of income-tax at source from salaries and for computation of advance tax for the financial year 2019-20; those rates also apply to charging income-tax on current incomes in special assessment cases such as provisional assessment of non-resident shipping profits, assessments of persons leaving India, persons likely to transfer property to avoid tax, and short-duration bodies.

Income-tax rates and surcharge rules set slab-based taxation with a graduated surcharge and limits on surcharge impact.
Slab-based income tax rates are prescribed for individuals, HUFs, AOPs, BOIs and artificial juridical persons with separate resident senior citizen slabs; computed tax is subject to a graduated surcharge for higher incomes, accompanied by a cap mechanism preventing the total tax-plus-surcharge on an income from exceeding the tax at the relevant bracket threshold by more than the excess income above that threshold.

Tax rates for co-operative societies remain unchanged; a surcharge with a cap applies to high income societies.
Rates of income-tax for co-operative societies remain as specified in Paragraph B of Part III of the First Schedule to the Finance Bill, unchanged from the prior year. A surcharge applies to the income-tax of societies exceeding a high-income threshold, subject to a cap that prevents total tax and surcharge from exceeding the tax at the threshold by more than the excess income.

Firm tax rate unchanged; surcharge applies to high income firms with a statutory cap limiting surcharge on excess income.
Rate of tax for firms for TDS and advance tax remains unchanged from the prior year; a surcharge of twelve per cent is levied where a firm's total income exceeds one crore rupees, subject to a cap that limits the aggregate income tax and surcharge on income above the threshold to not exceed the tax on the threshold amount by more than the excess income.

Surcharge on local authority income applies above a threshold, with a statutory cap limiting aggregate tax increase.
The income-tax rate for local authorities is maintained at the prior year's level for purposes of TDS and advance tax; a statutory surcharge is levied where total income exceeds a prescribed threshold. A statutory cap limits the combined income-tax and surcharge so that the aggregate tax on income above the threshold does not exceed the income-tax payable as if income equalled the threshold by more than the excess income.

Corporate tax rate revised, varying by domestic status; surcharge and health and education cess apply.
Income tax rates for companies distinguish domestic and other companies, with domestic companies below a specified turnover threshold subject to a lower rate and others taxed at a higher rate. Surcharge is levied in graded bands for domestic and non domestic companies, with marginal relief caps limiting excess tax attributable to incomes above prescribed thresholds. Certain specified company cases attract a prescribed surcharge rate. A Health and Education Cess is levied on tax including surcharge, and marginal relief is not available in respect of that cess.

TDS on individual and HUF payments to contractors and professionals: new withholding applies above threshold; PAN may be used instead of TAN.
Section 194M imposes withholding on payments by individuals and Hindu undivided families to resident contractors and professionals where the aggregate annual payments exceed the statutory threshold; tax is to be deducted at the prescribed withholding rate and may be deposited using the payer's Permanent Account Number, relieving such payers from the requirement to obtain a Tax Deduction Account Number.

TDS on transfer of immovable property now covers ancillary charges, expanding 'consideration' to include fees incidental to sale.
The Explanation to Section 194-IA is amended to state that consideration for immovable property includes ancillary charges payable by the buyer-such as club membership, car parking, electricity and water facility fees, maintenance fees, advance fees and other similar incidental charges-thereby making these amounts part of the taxable base for TDS on transfer of immovable property other than agricultural land.

Deemed accrual of gifts: transfers by Indian residents to nonresidents treated as taxable in India under new provision.
Gifts of money or property made by a person resident in India to a person outside India, where the property is situated in India or sums are paid, are deemed to accrue or arise in India for tax purposes when made on or after 5 July 2019; existing statutory gift exemptions continue to apply and applicable DTAA provisions remain operative. The amendment takes effect from 1 April 2020 and applies to assessment year 2020-21 onward.

Mandatory return filing for high-value transactions expands to include transaction and rollover-based filing triggers.
Amendments mandate filing of income tax returns by individuals who, during the previous year, undertake specified high-value transactions-including large current account deposits, significant foreign travel expenditure, or substantial electricity consumption-or meet other prescribed conditions; and require persons claiming capital gains rollover exemptions on reinvestment in specified assets to file returns when their pre-rollover total income exceeded the basic exemption limit, even if post-claim income is below that limit.