Joint Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) and Additional Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) are placed under the control of the Principal Chief Commissioners of Income-tax or Chief Commissioners of Income-tax within whose jurisdiction they perform their functions. This substitutes the existing clause governing their subordination under the 1988 notification and takes effect from 30 September 2026, the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Minimum Import Price condition of USD 111 per kg on the CIF value of ATS-8 imports under specified Chapter 29 ITC (HS) codes is extended until 30 November 2026. All other terms and conditions imposed under the earlier MIP measure continue unchanged, so imports of the specified chemical remain subject to the existing minimum-price requirement through that date.

Eligibility and validity timelines under Component II of the Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) intervention are extended until 31 March 2027 for shipments intended for delivery or transshipment. The extension applies under the Export Promotion Mission and is intended to improve utilisation, facilitate trade resilience, support Indian exporters, and mitigate logistics challenges linked to the continuing West Asia Crisis. All other provisions governing the RELIEF intervention remain unchanged.

Approval under section 45(4)(b) authorises the Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur, to conduct scientific research as a university, college or other institution for the specified income-tax purposes. The approval applies for tax years 2026-27 to 2030-31, conditional on continuing SIRO approval in each relevant tax year, compliance with prescribed conditions, annual submission of Form 15 by 31 May following the tax year in which donations are received, and issuance of Form 16 donation certificates to donors.

Scientific-research approval is granted to Bhartiya Sanskriti Darshan Trust under the university, college or other institution category for the statutory donation-related provisions. Its continued applicability requires uninterrupted Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation approval for each effective tax year, compliance with prescribed conditions, annual filing of Form No. 15 by 31 May following the tax year in which donations are received, and issuance of Form No. 16 donation certificates to donors. The approval applies for tax years 2026-2027 through 2030-2031.

Voluntary Health Services, Chennai is approved as an "other institution" for scientific research under the Income-tax Act, 2025, enabling the specified tax treatment for donations. The approval applies for tax years 2026-2027 through 2030-2031, subject to continued Scientific and Industrial Research Organization approval for each relevant year. The institution must comply with prescribed rules, submit an annual donation statement in Form No. 15 by the required deadline, and issue donors Form No. 16 certificates stating the donation amount.

Master Circular consolidates the regulatory framework for debenture trustees and rescinds the earlier master circular while preserving prior actions, rights, liabilities, penalties, proceedings and pending applications. It requires portal-based registration requests and prior approval for change in control, and regulates business transfers, surrender, regulatory communications, and non-regulated activities through ring-fenced separate business units. Trustees must independently conduct security due diligence, issue prescribed certificates, validate charge creation and registration, and continuously monitor security cover, covenants, payments, ratings and defaults through the depository-hosted Security and Covenant Monitoring System. Issuers.....

The standard operating procedure for moving domestic or customs-cleared cargo with EXIM cargo between port terminals and hinterland ICDs/CFSs now extends to Gateway Distriparks Limited. Its operations require separate identification and stacking of domestic and EXIM cargo, pre-advice and train/container details, verification of container and seal particulars, and immediate reporting of discrepancies. Suspected tampering bars further processing without the proper officer's permission and may require full examination. Reworking or repacking requires permission; at least 50% of outbound cargo must be EXIM cargo. Weekly reconciliation, random Customs checks, an indemnity bond and custodian compliance responsibility apply. Violations may trigger action under applicable customs law. The amendment takes immediate effect.

Outstanding receivables from an overseas associated enterprise require arm's-length interest benchmarking by reference to the enterprise's residence and the currency of the receivable; LIBOR plus 200 basis points is preferred over Indian lending or deposit rates. Remittances substantiated by board and remittance records as investments should not be recharacterised as loans for imputed-interest adjustments. Interest on delayed service-tax payment is compensatory rather than penal and is deductible. Where no return was filed and the notice period remained open on the search date, the assessment is pending and abated, permitting additions without incriminating material.

Unsecured loan credits are not treated as unexplained cash credits where loan confirmations, lender PAN and tax-return records, audited financial statements, ledger accounts and bank statements establish the lender's identity, financial capacity and the genuineness of payments. Funds sourced from fixed-deposit maturity proceeds supported the lender's capacity, resulting in deletion of the loan addition. Sales commission expenditure requires confirmation from recipients and evidence of services rendered. In the absence of such substantiation, the commission disallowance remains, while the taxable computation excludes the unsecured-loan addition.

Penalty for concealment or furnishing inaccurate particulars where returned income is accepted without addition HELD THAT: - Where the returns filed in the reassessment proceedings were accepted without any modification or addition, the statutory conditions for penalty for concealment or furnishing inaccurate particulars were not attracted. The Revenue's reliance on a decision concerning disclosure without a reasonable explanation was inapposite to the accepted returned income in the pres... ... ...

Disallowance for payments to resident payees under section 40(a)(ia) - Double disallowance of employee's Labour Welfare Fund contribution Disallowance for payments to resident payees under section 40(a)(ia) - HELD THAT: - As the Revenue did not dispute that the impugned disallowance concerning resident payees was required to be computed at 30%, the Tribunal accepted the assessee's contention. [Paras 3] The Assessing Officer was directed to recompute the disallowance at 30%, in acco... ... ...

Deduction u/s 80P for interest on statutory deposits - Net taxation of excess-deposit interest assessed as income from other sources Interest on statutorily mandated deposits - Deduction u/s 80P(2)(a)(i) - Eligibility for deduction u/s 80P(2)(a)(i) in respect of interest on deposits required to be maintained under the statutory regime governing co-operative societies in Karnataka - HELD THAT: - Deposits required to be maintained and invested under the statutory regime were not voluntary inves... ... ...

Registration of charitable trust under section 12AB - Scope of inquiry at registration stage Rejection of registration under section 12AB of an already registered charitable trust on matters concerning its receipts, surplus, transactions and expenditure - HELD THAT: - The genuineness of the trust's charitable activities had already been examined when registration under section 12AA was granted. The matters relied upon for rejecting the subsequent registration application were matters for ... ... ...

Outstanding trade receivables as international transaction - Benchmarking of notional interest on delayed associated-enterprise receivables Outstanding trade receivables as international transaction - Treatment of delayed trade receivables from associated enterprises as a separate international transaction - HELD THAT: - The Explanation to section 92B expressly brings deferred payment, receivables and other debt arising in the course of business within the scope of an international transactio... ... ...

Validity of assessment as lacked jurisdiction - no notice under Section 143(2) issued - return was filed following a notice under Section 148(1) HELD THAT:- The matter was adjourned to enable the Department to obtain clarity regarding the relevant statutory provisos to sub-section (2) of Section 143 as well as proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 148 of the Act of 1961.... ... ...

Limitation for reassessment notices under TOLA - Time-barred reassessment notices for Assessment Year 2015-2016 HELD THAT: - It was accepted that notices relating to Assessment Year 2015-2016 issued on or after 1.4.2021 could not be completed within the period prescribed under TOLA. Since every step in the reassessment exercise was taken after that cut-off date, the proceedings were barred by limitation. [Paras 5] The reassessment notices and the consequential order were quashed as time-ba... ... ...

One section which has so far been often wrongly invoked is none other than section 74. It is a simple task for the tax official to wrongly invoke this section and the tax officer is just not bothered as to whether this order stands strong at next levels or set aside or even quashed. He is happy for the time being on quantum of huge demand including equal penalty. The beauty of the issue is that only during August 2026 the Supreme Court has held in two orders that 74 has to be in line with CBIC g... ... ...

Under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, once the application filed for the initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process by a financial creditor or operational creditor or corporate applicant itself, the Adjudicating Authority, after deciding the application is complete in all aspect, will admit the application. The CIRP will commence from the date of admission of the application. The Adjudicating Authority appoints an Interim Resolution Professional to call for claim... ... ...

The Hon'ble Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) in the case of Tvl. Enfive Systems Private Limited Versus Commissioner Of Commercial Taxes, Chennai and State Tax Officer Dindigul - 2025 (12) TMI 1912 - MADRAS HIGH COURT held that while uploading notices on GST portal constitutes sufficient service. However, where no response received despite repeated reminders, the Officer must apply mind and explore other modes under Section 169(1) preferably RPAD for effective service failing which ex parte asse... ... ...