A Delhi High Court division bench quashed the proceedings against Prannoy and Radhika Roy on Monday, nearly a decade after the income-tax department served reassessment notices to the founders of NDTV.

The bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Vinod Kumar also asked the I-T department to pay Rs 1 lakh each to the Roys.

“Notices issued to the petitioners and any consequent order or proceedings thereto are quashed,” the bench said in the order, as reported by legal news websites.

After securing a favourable judgment in the Tiger Global capital gains tax case, the tax department has said that not all tax disputes should be characterised as overreach or “tax terrorism”. Pending tax demands or withheld refunds in such cases should not automatically be viewed as arbitrary or coercive, officials said.

Sources in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said many disputes arise from genuine differences in interpretation, particularly in evolving areas of tax law. “Final certainty emerges only when the highest court settles the issue. Until then, both the taxpayer and the tax administration are bound by due process,” a senior CBDT official said.

According to officials, the department will now revive assessment proceedings for the assessment year 2019–20 in the Tiger Global matter. “The assessing officer will proceed to complete the assessments in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling. The refund claim of around Rs 967.52 crore, which was withheld under Section 241A, will now be addressed as part of the assessment and consequential demand proceedings,” the sources said.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that private equity firm Tiger Global is required to pay capital gains tax in India for its 2018 stake sale in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart to American retailer Walmart, setting aside an August, 2024 Delhi High Court verdict to the contrary.

While holding that the transfer of the unlisted equity shares by the PE firm occurred under an impermissible arrangement that lacked real commercial substance, the apex court held that benefit under Article 13(4) of the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) would not be available to the firm and its subsidiaries involved in the transaction.

On December 1, 2025, the Madras High Court upheld ITAT Chennai's order, stating that a taxpayer can claim deduction under Section 80-IB without needing to own the land for this tax benefit. The Madras High Court held that ownership of land is not a mandatory condition for claiming deduction under Section 80-IB(10) of the Income-tax Act. Thus the high court held:

A developer need not be the land owner to claim Section 80-IB(10) deduction.
What matters is who actually develops the housing project, not whose name the land stands in.

Summary of the judgement
On December 1, 2025, Smt Rajini won the case in Madras High Court. She was represented by M/s A.S.Sriraman.

The tax department has issued notices to as many as five large foreign digital companies, saying their activities in India meet the threshold of a permanent establishment (PE), sources aware of the development said.

These companies are preparing to contest the assessments, challenging them at the assessing officer level or before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP).

“Four to five large foreign digital companies have already received tax notices that their Indian operations are a permanent establishment. In some cases, assessments have already treated them as PE,” one of the sources cited above told Moneycontrol.

A permanent establishment refers to a fixed place of business through which a foreign company conducts its business in another country.

Under tax law and treaties, once a company is classified as having a permanent establishment in India, it is treated as having a taxable presence in the country. Indian tax authorities can attribute a portion of the company’s India-linked income to that establishment, deduct related expenses and tax the resulting profit.
At the core of the dispute is how broadly the concept of permanent establishment is interpreted in the digital economy.

Net direct tax collection grew 8.82 per cent to over Rs 18.38 lakh crore in the current fiscal till January 11, the Income Tax Department said on Monday.

The mop-up includes net corporate tax collection of over Rs 8.63 lakh crore and tax from non-corporates, including individuals and HUFs, of Rs 9.30 lakh crore.

Securities Transaction Tax collection stood at Rs 44,867 crore between April 1 and January 11.
Refunds dropped 17 per cent to Rs 3.12 lakh crore during the period.

Gross direct tax collection increased 4.14 per cent to about Rs 21.50 lakh crore till January 11 of this fiscal.

In the current fiscal (2025-26), the government has projected its direct tax collection at Rs 25.20 lakh crore, up 12.7 per cent year-on-year.

The government aims to collect Rs 78,000 crore from STT in FY26.

Staring assessment year 2026-27, you might feel that filing of income tax return (ITR) has become slightly easier. With the new Income-tax Act, 2025 set to come into force from April 1, 2026, the government is preparing the ground for a simpler, cleaner and more technology-driven tax compliance system.

For millions of salaried taxpayers, the shift could mean fewer disclosures, more accurate pre-filled returns, and a filing experience that increasingly resembles a “verify and submit” exercise rather than a form-filling marathon.

Tax experts say the overhaul is not just cosmetic. It goes deeper into how income data is collected, reported and validated, with the aim of reducing errors, mismatches and unnecessary scrutiny — all of which have been long-standing pain points for taxpayers.

Before moving ahead, let’s understand key features and benefits of new income tax law, kicking in from April 1.

Even after more than eight crore income tax returns (ITRs) being processed in AY 2025-26, over 50 lakh taxpayers are still waiting for their returns to be taken up — and for refunds to be released.

Data available with the Income-tax Department shows that as of January 11, around 8.8 crore ITRs have been filed for AY 2025–26. Of these, 8.68 crore returns have already been verified, and 8.15 crore returns have been processed. This leaves nearly 53 lakh returns still pending for processing, many of which are linked to refund claims.

So why is the process taking longer this year?
Key reason: Heightened scrutiny and risk-based checks

According to tax expert CA Dr Suresh Surana, the primary reason for the slowdown is tighter scrutiny by the tax department, especially in cases involving refunds.

In the redevelopment of housing projects, homeowners hand over their rights to the builder, who then redevelops the project to add more units, space or both in the building. Homeowners can receive either cash compensation or extra carpet area in their current homes or both, based on their agreement with the builder.

However, in order to save on long term capital gains tax (LTCG) arising from this type of redevelopment projects, homeowners can take advantage of the Section 54 of the Income Tax Provisions.

Recently Mr. Muni from Bandra, Mumbai did exactly that and even won his case in ITAT Mumbai (ITA No. 2879/Mum/2025). Mr. Muni surrendered the old premises and, in exchange, received newly constructed flats along with some cash for hardship and cost adjustments. Plus, he paid separately to the developer for an additional 205 sq. ft. of space. He claimed a tax exemption under the Section 54 for the capital gains from the redevelopment, including the extra area he bought.

Less than 15 per cent of complaints against the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) were resolved during the first 8 days of January, data from CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System) show. Although the exact nature of the complaints is not known, it is widely believed that most of the complaints are related to refunds, as social media is flooded with grievances about delays in getting Income Tax refunds despite filing the returns on time.

Meanwhile, data from CBDT revealed that refund outgo in 4 out of 7 sets of data released during the current fiscal so far, has recorded de-growth. This could also be reflected in social media posts. One user wrote: “Income tax refund pending for almost 7 months.” Another said: “It’s January 7th 2026 and I’m yet to receive my income tax refund filed in July 2025.” Complaint from another user says: “It is almost 7 Months, Still Not Processed. I have written off my refund & forgot about it.” The list is endless.

India is set to roll out a new Income Tax law from April 1, 2026. Called the Income Tax Act, 2025, the new law will replace the existing Income Tax Act of 1961, which has governed taxation in the country for over six decades.

Taxpayers are being advised to understand the changes early to avoid confusion once the law comes into force.

WHY A NEW INCOME TAX LAW?
Over the years, the existing tax law has become lengthy and complex due to repeated amendments, explanations and exceptions. The new Act seeks to clean this up by rewriting the law in simpler language and updating procedures to match modern financial practices.

Even after the December 31 deadline for filing belated income tax returns, a large number of taxpayers are still waiting for their returns to be processed, and many are anxiously tracking their refunds.

As per data available on the Income Tax Department website, around 8.80 crore income tax returns (ITRs) have been filed so far for Assessment Year (AY) 2025–26. Of these, nearly 8.66 crore returns have been verified, and about 8.02 crore returns have already been processed. That leaves roughly 63 lakh taxpayers whose returns are still under processing — and for many of them, refunds are yet to be issued.

So why are so many returns still pending, and should taxpayers be worried? Tax experts say the delays are largely intentional and compliance-driven, not a sign of system failure.

The Section 87A tax rebate has sparked quite a debate, especially among those with long term capital gains (LTCG) from equity or debt mutual funds. The Budget 2025 clearly stated that the Section 87A tax rebate is off the table for LTCG on equity mutual funds, but it didn’t apply this in retrospective cases. So, it’s now up to the courts and tribunals to decide.

The explanatory memorandum to Budget 2025 said: "The provisions of sub-section (1A) of section 115BAC are subject to the other provisions of Chapter XII i.e. determination of tax in certain special cases. Hence, proviso to section 87A clearly provides that tax on incomes chargeable at special rates (for e.g.: capital gains u/s 111A, 112 etc.) as specified under various provisions of Chapter XII, are not included while determining the rebate of income-tax under the first proviso to section 87A."

This case mentioned in this article involves the denial of the Section 87A tax rebate on LTCG from debt mutual funds from debt mutual funds and how a taxpayer won the case. In this particular case (no. ITA No.887/CHANDI/2025), the ITAT Chandigarh ruled on December 10, 2025 that the Section 87A tax rebate claim on LTCG from debt mutual funds was valid.

U.S. multinational corporations will be exempted from paying more corporate taxes overseas in a deal finalized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The OECD announced Monday that nearly 150 countries have agreed on the plan, initially crafted in 2021, to stop large global companies from shifting profits to low-tax countries, no matter where they operate in the world.

The amended version excludes large U.S.-based multinational corporations from the 15% global minimum tax after negotiations between President Donald Trump's administration and other members of the Group of Seven wealthy nations.

Income tax demands from very old years, such as 2005 to 2011, have suddenly started appearing on the income tax portal, according to a report by ‘The Economic Times’. This is a complete shock for many taxpayers, as many of them had neither received any notice nor were aware of the assessment orders at the time.

According to the ET report, in many of these cases, the interest amount has exceeded the principal tax amount, significantly increasing the taxpayers’ problems.

Why are old tax demands surfacing on the portal?
The report suggests that the Income Tax Department is in the process of digitizing and integrating old and scattered records into a digital system. During this exercise, assessment orders from many years ago and the associated tax demands are now being uploaded to the income tax portal. The problem is that taxpayers who never received the order – or whose order was sent to the wrong address – are now seeing the outstanding amount directly and are expected to pay.

A Mumbai-based woman who is a tax resident of Singapore, sold some of her debt and equity mutual fund investments in India and claimed tax exemption on capital gains under Article 13 of the India-Singapore Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). However, the tax department rejected her claim.

Thus she challenged the denial before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) which also ruled against her. The taxpayer then approached the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Mumbai, arguing that in a comparable case under the India- UAE (United Arab Emirates) DTAA, ITAT Cochin had granted capital gains relief to an Indian resident of UAE and the same priciple should also apply to her case.
Accepting her argument, ITAT Mumbai examined the India-Singapore DTAA in detail and ruled in her favour, granting the capital gains exemption. The taxpayer was represented before ITAT Mumbai by Dr. K Shivaram and Mr. - Rahul Hakani.

On December 16, 2025, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Mumbai granted relief to Mr. Naik from Bhandup, regarding an income addition made by the tax department under Section 56(2)(vii)(b) The tax dept had added its 18.95 lakh to his income due to significant difference between the agreement value and stamp duty value of the property purchased by Naik.

To summarise the case, the Income Tax Department received specific information from their risk management system that Mr. Naik had purchased a property in Bhandup for Rs 81.8 lakh but no income tax return (ITR) was filed by him. Subsequently, Mr Naik was sent a tax notice under Section 148 on March 13, 2023, under the new regime of reassessment introduced by Finance Art, 2021

When the tax department asked him to explain about the details of this property purchase. Mr. Naik provided a copy of the purchase agreement and bank statement. From the documents he submitted, the income tax officer noted that the agreement value of the property is Rs 62,88,500 while the stamp duty value is recorded at Rs 81,80,500. Therefore, the difference of Rs 18,95,000 was proposed to be added under Section 56(2)(x) * 1 through a draft order under Section 144C(1).

Over the past few days, thousands of taxpayers across India have received an unexpected message from the Income Tax Department. The SMS or email said their refund claim had been “identified under the risk management process” and that processing had been put on hold.

For many salaried taxpayers who were expecting routine refunds, the message was unsettling. It did not say what was wrong. It did not say what action was mandatory. And it did not say how long the refund might remain stuck. In the absence of clarity, confusion quickly spread.

Screenshots of the message began circulating on social media and taxpayer forums.

People asked whether this meant scrutiny, penalties, or a formal notice. For a tax system that has spent years trying to project simplicity and trust, the reaction revealed a deeper unease.

As 2025 draws to a close, most income taxpayers are likely to have bittersweet memories of the year. It started with a bang as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hiked the rebate limit under section 87A from Rs.7 lakh to Rs.12 lakh, basic exemption limit from Rs.3 lakh to Rs.4 lakh and rejigged tax slabs under the new tax regime. With these changes, the new regime will be beneficial for most taxpayers across income levels. Those with higher deductions, for instance, taxpayers with incomes of over Rs.24 lakh and total annual deductions of over Rs.8 lakh (this breakeven threshold will be lower for lower income groups) stand to save more under the old regime. The relevant sections include Section 10(13A) for house rent allowance, Section 80C for tax-saving deductions, Section 80D for health insurance premiums, and Section 24(b) for home loan interest, among others. Cut to the end of the year, however, and the cheer has lost its spark to an extent. This is thanks to the flurry of emails that the income tax department sent to taxpayers, flagging discrepancies' in their 1-T returns for the assessment year 2025-26. Here's what shaped your income tax landscape in 2025:

Budget 2025 bonanza
The Union Budget 2025 hiked the income tax rebate and the basic exemption limits under the new tax regime. Tax slabs were liberalised under the new tax regime. Salaried employees with incomes of up to Rs.12.75 lakh have to pay no tax, after factoring in the standard deduction of Rs.75,000. "This has increased their disposable income. Secondly, higher thresholds for tax deducted at source (TDS) have eased compliance; most notably, TDS on rent now applies only if the monthly rent exceeds Rs.50,000," says Sumeet Hemkar, Partner, Deloitte India. Moreover, the budget also effected rationalisation of Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on goods and foreign remittances under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS).

The Income Tax Department has launched a new feature that allows taxpayers to file rectification applications for specific income tax orders directly online with relevant authority. This change eliminates the previous lengthy process where taxpayer had to manually submit rectification requests or route them through the Assessing Officer (AO).

The Income Tax Department said: "Applications for rectification against TP/DRP/Revision Orders can now be filed directly before the Respective Authority through the e-filing portal under the Services Tab-> Rectification->Request to AO seeking rectification."
What does this mean?
Chartered Accountant (Dr.) Suresh Surana explains that this update in the e-filing income tax return (ITR) portal means that taxpayers can now electronically file rectification applications directly with the appropriate tax authority through the income-tax e-filing portal. This is a shift from the old offline or manual methods, especially in cases where there is a clear mistake in certain assessment-related orders.