External development charges paid to the Haryana Urban Development Authority before financial year 2017-18 constituted payments to a contractor for external development works under an arrangement with the State Government. Tax was therefore deductible at source under Section 194C even without a formally executed contract between the payer and the Authority. The Authority did not qualify as Government for the tax-deduction exemption, and no exemption or lower-deduction certificate applied. Non-deduction consequently rendered the payer an assessee in default, with liability under Sections 201(1) and 201(1A).

Transfer-pricing comparability must reflect prevailing market conditions and material differences affecting profitability. COVID-related conditions may make benchmarking a tested party's single-year profit level indicator against comparables' weighted average margins for multiple years inappropriate; contemporaneous single-year data should then be used. Proposed comparables require fresh evaluation where submissions and supporting material have not been properly considered. Intra-group technical, operational and consultancy services should not be assigned a nil arm's length price without properly examining agreements, invoices, email extracts and other evidence of service receipt. The transfer-pricing study should be redone after considering the taxpayer's evidence and submissions.

Failure to adjudicate a specifically raised ground challenging recharacterisation of IT and ITeS services as knowledge process outsourcing constituted a mistake apparent from the record under section 254(2) of the Income-tax Act. The earlier determination addressed comparability but omitted the distinct recharacterisation issue. Rectification was therefore available, and the Assessing Officer was directed to examine the documentary evidence and determine whether the services fall within the scope of knowledge process outsourcing.

Rectification jurisdiction permits recall of an appellate order where objections challenging revision proceedings remain unaddressed, including reliance on jurisdictional authority and a contention regarding upload of the revision notice. Recall in its entirety is warranted to ensure justice and fair play when the earlier appellate determination omits these material objections. The recall operates in favour of the assessee.

Pending revision applications require expeditious determination where prolonged inaction continues. A revision application pending since March 2016 must be decided in accordance with law within two months after production of the certified order, with the assessee afforded an opportunity of hearing. The direction concerns timely disposal of the revision proceeding and does not determine the merits of the underlying tax claim.

Technology-enabled tax administration supported commercial tax and net GST collection growth in Andhra Pradesh during August 2026 and the cumulative period through August. AI-based analytics and scrutiny, IGST reversals, UPI-based enforcement, registration verification, Aadhaar authentication, digital payment enablement, predictive analytics and data sharing strengthened compliance, scrutiny and revenue mobilisation. Petroleum VAT, professional tax, liquor VAT and IGST settlement also increased, while GST rate reductions moderated net GST performance in specified product sectors.

Section 168A of the Arunachal Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 extends the limitation period for issuing orders under section 73(9) concerning tax unpaid or short paid, or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised. Orders may be issued until 31 December 2023 for financial year 2017-18, 31 March 2024 for financial year 2018-19, and 30 June 2024 for financial year 2019-20.

Tax officers may use artificial intelligence for abstract research and drafting assistance only where no identifiable taxpayer information or case-specific facts are disclosed. Uploading or transmitting taxpayer records to unauthorised external platforms is prohibited and remains the personal responsibility of the officer, including where a subordinate acts on the officer's behalf. Quasi-judicial notices and orders must reflect the signing officer's independent application of mind, with all AI-generated legal propositions and citations verified from primary sources. Departmental data must not be integrated with external systems or processed through personal devices or accounts.

Automated issuance of Free Sale and Commerce Certificates is enabled on the DGFT portal for eligible exporter applications concerning items outside the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. The system-driven, risk-based workflow replaces routine manual verification and approval by Regional Authorities, supporting paperless processing and faster turnaround. Applications that require verification or do not meet automated processing parameters will continue to undergo manual processing. Auto-approved applications may also be flagged subsequently for Regional Authority review under the system's risk-management parameters.

Special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess on petroleum-product exports are revised with effect from 1 September 2026. The export duty on diesel is increased, the levy on aviation turbine fuel is marginally reduced, and a duty is imposed on petrol exports. Existing duty rates for petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption remain unchanged. The windfall-tax framework seeks to support domestic fuel availability and deter exporters from benefiting from domestic and international price differences.

DGFT has enabled automated issuance of Free Sale and Commerce Certificates through its portal for eligible exporters of items not covered by the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. Applications satisfying prevailing framework and automated processing parameters may be issued without manual scrutiny. Applications requiring verification or not meeting those parameters may be routed for manual processing, while auto-approved applications may be flagged later for risk-based review. The mechanism seeks faster, more transparent and predictable processing while retaining necessary oversight.

Central excise exemption treatment under Notification No. 11/2026-Central Excise is amended by substituting the entry in column (4) against serial number 2 of its Table. The substituted rate is Rs. 1 per litre. The amendment takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette.

The central excise exemption table entry at serial number 1 is amended by replacing the column (4) entry with "Rs. 19 per litre". Made in the public interest under the central excise exemption-making power read with the relevant Finance Act provision, the substitution forms part of the existing exemption framework and takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette on 1 September 2026.

United Forum of Bank Unions has proposed nationwide strike action over delayed five-day banking, the performance-linked incentive framework, and unresolved pension demands. Five-day banking was agreed under the 12th Bipartite Settlement/9th Joint Note with extended Monday-to-Friday working hours, but remains pending for implementation. Unions challenge the incentive scheme for departing from a uniform, bank-performance-linked approach and for disproportionately benefiting senior officers. The dispute is under conciliation and pending before the Delhi High Court, while pension updation, a uniform dearness allowance formula, and an old pension scheme option remain unresolved.

Central excise exemption under the specified entry in the miscellaneous exemptions table is amended by substituting the duty amount in column (4) against serial number 1 with Rs. 1.5 per litre. The revised exemption condition takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette.

Indian equity markets closed marginally lower as higher crude oil prices, US-Iran tensions, and expectations of prolonged tight United States monetary policy weakened risk appetite. The phased Closing Auction Session contributed to a late recovery in the benchmark index. Rising crude prices and global bond yields triggered broad-based selling across several domestic sectors, while foreign institutional equity sales and weakness in overseas markets added to pressure despite stronger-than-expected domestic economic growth.

Statutory canteen workers engaged through a contractor fall within the Factories Act definition of "worker" for that Act's purposes, but this status alone does not create an employer-employee relationship with the establishment. Absorption or regularisation depends on the actual employment arrangement, including control over appointment, wages, statutory contributions, records and discipline. Where the contractor retains these responsibilities, workers need not be continued when contractors change, and the establishment neither reimburses wages nor exercises appointment or disciplinary powers, the contractor is not merely the establishment's agent. The workers therefore have no entitlement to absorption or regularisation as regular employees of the establishment.

Post-GST central excise duty and NCCD on tobacco products, the constitutional validity of preserving the Central Excise Act through the CGST Act saving clause, and the alleged implied repeal of the relevant Finance Act provision were governed by earlier writ and appellate decisions that had attained finality. The requested declarations on those issues were not granted. Grounds against the order in original that were not covered by the earlier decisions remained available for consideration through the statutory appellate process.

Cash deposits during the demonetisation period were satisfactorily explained where they were covered by the recorded cash balance of a consistently disclosed money-lending business. The cash book reflected sufficient opening and available cash balances, and the deposit was recorded in the books of account. These contemporaneous accounting records supported the source of the deposit, resulting in deletion of the addition.

FORM GSTR-1A is introduced as an optional, late-fee-free facility for furnishing missed current-period outward-supply details or amending details in GSTR-1 before filing the corresponding GSTR-3B. Its particulars feed into GSTR-3B and become available in the next open GSTR-2B. The amendments also recast Input Service Distributor credit allocation, permit prescribed refunds of additional integrated tax following post-export price revisions, establish a Canteen Stores Department refund process, and revise electronic appellate, e-way bill enrolment and demand-payment adjustment procedures.