Road and Infrastructure Cess on petrol and diesel cleared for export is amended by substituting the entry against serial number 2 in the relevant rate table with Rs. 1 per litre. The revised cess rate takes effect from 1 September 2026, the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

The effective rate of Special Additional Excise Duty on Aviation Turbine Fuel cleared for export is amended to Rs. 19 per litre by substituting the entry against serial number 1 in Notification No. 08/2026-Central Excise. The revised rate takes effect from 1 September 2026, the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

The central excise rate entry at serial number 1, column (4), under Notification No. 06/2026-Central Excise is substituted with "Rs. 1.5 per litre". The amendment changes that table entry and takes effect on 1 September 2026, the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Tariff values for specified imported edible oils, brass scrap, gold, silver and areca nuts are substituted for customs valuation from 1 September 2026. Values per metric tonne are fixed for crude palm oil at US$1,214, RBD palm oil at US$1,227, other palm oil at US$1,221, crude palmolein at US$1,235, RBD palmolein at US$1,238, other palmolein at US$1,237, crude soybean oil at US$1,262, and brass scrap at US$8,162. Gold remains valued at US$1,468 per 10 grams, silver at US$2,267 per kilogram, and areca nuts at US$11,574 per metric tonne.

Taxpayer confidentiality bars officers and staff from transmitting identifiable taxpayer information or departmental data to public or commercial AI tools, third-party online platforms, external systems, browser extensions or personal accounts unless expressly authorised in writing. Permitted AI use is limited to generic, wholly hypothetical legal or procedural research and drafting support, with independent verification against primary sources. Officers remain personally responsible for disclosures made by themselves or persons acting under their control; breaches may lead to disciplinary action, criminal liability, data-protection consequences and challenges to affected proceedings. Notices and quasi-judicial orders must reflect the signing officer's independent assessment of facts and law, not unverified or mechanically adopted AI-generated content.

Customs-controlled movement of domestic/customs-cleared and EXIM containers between port terminals and designated ICDs/CFSs is extended to Container Rail Road Services Pvt. Ltd. (DP World Group), alongside CONCOR. The operator must segregate and account for domestic and EXIM cargo, give advance container details, verify container numbers and seals, maintain weekly reconciliation, and ensure at least 50% of outbound cargo is EXIM cargo. Seal or container discrepancies and suspected tampering require immediate reporting; cargo cannot be processed or released without the proper officer's permission and may undergo 100% examination. Reworking, repacking, or restuffing requires permission. Customs may conduct random checks, while custodians and CCSPs remain accountable, supported by an indemnity bond; misuse attracts action under applicable customs laws.

The Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026 remains available until 15 September 2026, extending the previous deadline of 31 August 2026. The extension gives companies additional time to complete pending statutory filings under the Scheme. All other terms and conditions of CCFS-2026 remain unchanged.

Article 13 of the India-UK Tax Treaty taxes fees for technical services only where technical or consultancy services satisfy the treaty conditions, including making available technical knowledge, experience, skill, know-how or processes, or developing and transferring a technical plan or design. Recurring group management support for business and commercial functions does not meet that standard where it neither constitutes qualifying technical or consultancy services nor enables the Indian recipient to independently apply technical knowledge or skill without further recourse to the provider. The consideration is therefore not taxable in India as fees for technical services under Article 13.

Section 68 additions for share application money are unsustainable when reliable financial, banking and tax records satisfactorily establish investors' identity, the source of their investments and transaction genuineness. A group investor's share capital, declared profits and tax settlement supported the explained source of its investment, requiring deletion of the related addition. Cross-confirmations, tax returns, computations and bank statements from individual investors established identity and genuineness, so the related addition was also deleted. Family relationships and acceptance of investment by another family member further supported the explanation.

Maintainability of appeal arising from void assessment - Invalid reference to special audit - Assessment barred by limitation - Maintainability of the Revenue's appeal against relief granted from an assessment order previously held void as barred by limitation owing to an invalid reference to special audit - HELD THAT: - The Tribunal's earlier order in the assessee's appeal [2021 (11) TMI 219 - ITAT CHANDIGARH] had held that the reference for special audit was invalid and that the... ... ...

Condonation of delay in filing appeal - Reasonable cause - Entitlement to condonation of delay in filing the first appeal against the reassessment order in the circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, discontinuance of professional assistance, and the age and health issues of the directors - HELD THAT: - The first appellate authority failed to properly appreciate the explanation supported by affidavits that the tax matters could not be pursued diligently because the chartered accountant... ... ...

Limitation for reassessment where escaped income is below statutory threshold - Time limit for reassessment beyond three years Validity of reassessment for alleged unexplained bank deposits initiated after three years where the alleged escaped income was below the statutory threshold - HELD THAT: - Where the alleged escapement did not reach Rs. 50 lakh, the reassessment fell within the first limb of section 149 and had to be initiated within three years from the end of the relevant assessment... ... ...

Unexplained money u/s 69A - cash deposits during demonetization - Source of cash deposits - opening cash balance and prior cash withdrawals HELD THAT: - The assessee sufficiently demonstrated that the cash deposits were sourced from the opening cash in hand and cash withdrawals made before demonetization. The withdrawals exceeded the cash deposits, and the explanation was found justified having regard to the assessee's family circumstances. [Paras 5] The addition under section 69A was ... ... ...

Prior-period revenue expenditure - crystallisation on abandonment of business expansion Allowance of revenue expenditure incurred for establishing a Russian branch in earlier years and written off upon abandonment of the expansion project - HELD THAT: - The expenditure, though incurred in earlier years and not then claimed as revenue expenditure, was incurred for expansion of the existing business and was undisputedly revenue in nature. The assessee had intended to capitalise and amortise it ... ... ...

Bad debt write-off of business advances - Allowability of advances written off as bad debts where the advances were made in the ordinary course of the assessee's financing business - HELD THAT: - The assessee's object clause, prior assessment record and annual accounts established that financing, investment and trading activities formed part of its business and that loans and advances were extended in its ordinary course. There was neither any finding nor contention of a subsequent chang... ... ...

Legality and validity of the issuance of the show-cause notice and the consequential order passed - Non affording the petitioner an opportunity to file a reply to the show-cause notice issued by the concerned authority - as per respondent petitioner neither appeared for personal hearing nor filed any reply supported by document to rebut the charges levelled against them. HELD THAT:- Petitioner has succeeded in making out a prima facie case warranting interferences by this Court. The responde... ... ...

For reverse-charge supplies received from unregistered suppliers, the relevant financial year for the input tax credit time limit is the year in which the registered recipient issues the self-invoice. Credit may be availed up to the thirtieth day of November following that financial year, or until furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier. The credit is subject to payment of reverse-charge tax and fulfilment of applicable input tax credit conditions. Delayed invoice issuance requires interest on delayed tax payment and may attract penalty.

Special USD-INR foreign-exchange swap facility for FCNR(B) deposits, Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings and External Commercial Borrowings was introduced to strengthen the external sector and support foreign-exchange liquidity. FCNR(B) deposits, under which principal and interest are repayable in the same foreign currency, generated the principal share of inflows. Strong diaspora participation led to advancement of the FCNR(B) window closure. The swap facility for Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings and External Commercial Borrowings remains open until December 31, 2026.

Criminal investigation concerns alleged solicitation and acceptance of an undue advantage by CGST officials in connection with settling a GST/royalty matter involving a stone-quarrying firm. The officials allegedly arranged for a private person to collect the payment. A trap operation resulted in the private person being caught while accepting the alleged undue advantage. Searches at the accused persons' premises led to recovery of cash and jewellery, while further investigation continues.

Import of services from a foreign related person is treated as a supply even without consideration and is taxable in the hands of the Indian registered recipient under reverse charge, requiring self-invoicing. Where the Indian recipient is eligible for full input tax credit, the value declared in its invoice is deemed to be open market value. This treatment applies to related-party imports of services, and where no invoice is issued for a service received from a foreign affiliate, the value may be treated as nil and deemed to be open market value.