The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has clarified that startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and compliant with required declarations will not face scrutiny under Section 68 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for foreign investments. Investments in such entities are exempt from tax-related questioning under this provision, which deals with unexplained credits, the Board said.

"Recognised startups that fulfil the conditions laid down in Notification No. G.S.R. 127(E) of DPIIT dated February 19, 2019, and file declaration in Form-2, are eligible for various tax exemptions and deductions under the Income-tax Act, 1961. Investments made in such companies are eligible for benefits and are not subject to scrutiny," CBDT said on X in response to tax lawyer Ajay Rotti’s post on X.

If you own a society flat that is scheduled to undergo redevelopment by the builder or developer and get an offer to exchange the older one with a new accommodation, you won’t have to pay any income tax on it.

In a recent judgement, the Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) ruled that such an exchange cannot be taxed under Section 56 of the Income Tax Act. Section 56 of the Income Tax Act deals with income under the head of “income from other sources.”

The bench members B R Baskaran (accountant member) and Sandeep Gosain (judicial member) of the Mumbai ITAT said that giving up rights in the old flat to get a new one is not considered taxable income, as it doesn’t count as receiving a property for less than its value.

A Parliamentary panel examining the Income Tax Bill, 2025, has invited suggestions from experts, industry bodies, and stakeholders as part of its review of the draft legislation aimed at simplifying India’s income tax laws.

The Select Committee of the Lok Sabha, chaired by senior BJP leader Baijayant Panda, is currently holding consultations on the Bill. The Lok Sabha Secretariat has requested interested parties to submit their views in both English and Hindi to the Director (CF&S CITB), Room No 133A, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi-110001.

The panel has already engaged with leading industry associations and tax experts, including the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), EY, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Four new members have been appointed to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) by the Union government. An official order issued on Thursday said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the names of four 1989 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers of the Income Tax cadre-- Pankaj Kumar Mishra, Sanjay Bahadur, L Rajasekhar Reddy and G Aparna Rao.

Mishra, a former director of FIU has been working as Member (Finance) in the Atomic Energy Commission while Bahadur as principal director general (training) of the I-T department in Delhi.

Reddy is working as principal chief commissioner (TDS) at Chennai and Rao as principal chief commissioner at Bengaluru.

The Income Tax Department has continuously been expanding the scope of monitoring tax evasion. Tax officials have scaled up the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics to enhance tax compliance and detect discrepancies in financial behaviour.

Now if you invest a large amount, buy property, or spend more than you spend on credit card, all these transactions are being monitored by the tax department, say tax experts.

Banks, mutual fund companies, registrars and other financial institutions give the ‘Statement of Financial Transaction (SFT)’ report to the department every year, which contains information about your high value transactions, according to CA (Dr.) Suresh Surana. Now this data is being combined with Income Tax Return (ITR), TDS, GST, and foreign transactions — and this is how it is being decided whether there is any irregularity in your income and expenses, Surana adds.

In a significant judgment aimed at checking black money and tax evasion, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked that the lower courts to notify the income tax department if any suit claims to have made a cash transaction of Rs 2 lakh and above. This is to intimate the tax authorities to verify the transactions and check violation of Section 269 ST of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

A Bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan said that whenever, a sum of Rs 2 lakh and above is claimed to be paid by cash towards consideration for conveyance of any immovable property in a document presented for registration, the sub-registrar shall inform the income tax authority, who shall follow the due process in law before taking any action.

Under Section 269ST of the Income Tax Act, it is prohibited for any person to receive an amount of Rs 2 lakh or more in cash, from a person in a day, either for a single transaction or for multiple transactions related to one event or occasion.

The Income Tax Department has sent emails to taxpayers informing them that since their income tax return (ITR) has been pending for assessment/ re-assessment, their tax refund amount will be withheld till the time the tax officer makes a detailed analysis of it. The said email also mentions that Section 245 (2) will be the charging section for such an action. In simple words, Section 245 gives the income tax department power to adjust your present year’s tax refund with any year’s tax demand amount. There is no limitation period for Section 245 cases.

In this same context, on March 11, 2025, the deputy director of Income Tax has sent many emails to taxpayers mentioning that, “Since there are pending assessment / re-assessment proceedings in your case, the refund release/withhold will be based on the response provided by Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) in accordance with the provisions of section 245(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.”

The short-term capital gains amounting to Rs 1.35 crore, arising from the redemption of mutual fund units, are not taxable in India for the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) investors under the India-Singapore tax treaty. This came as a relief for the NRI investors as the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) eased out the rule.

The case involved A Shah, a Singapore tax resident, who declared capital gains of Rs 88.75 lakh from debt mutual funds and Rs 46.91 lakh from equity mutual funds for the financial year 2021–22. In her income tax return, she claimed exemption for these gains under the residual clause of Article 13 of the India-Singapore tax treaty, asserting that such gains are taxable only in her country of residence, Singapore.

The Mumbai bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on March 24, 2025 held that the allotment date and not registration date of a home determines the capital gains (long term or short term) for real estate property sale transactions. This is a very significant precedent for homeowners as usually the allotment letter is given when 10% or more payment is made and the registration of house is done when the builder gives possession of the flat. The difference in time between property allotment and registration can sometimes span over a few years if not months.

In the case being referred to here, a homeowner sold two flats in Malad, Mumbai in AY 2010-11 (FY 2009-10) for Rs 43 lakh each. The flats were alloted on October 7, 2005 (FY 2005-06) and sold in FY 2009-10 but were registered in FY 2015-16. Further, he reinvested the gains from the sale of these flats to buy another property and thereby claimed Section 54 long term capital gains (LTCG) tax exemption in his income tax return (ITR) for FY 2009-10.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has set April 30 as the end date for filing declarations under the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Scheme (DTVSV) 2024, aimed at resolving pending income-tax disputes before various appellate authorities, including the Supreme Court and high courts, as of July 22, 2024.

The second edition of DTVSV was announced in the July budget last year and was made operational from October 1.

All the declarations must be filed electronically using Form 1, available on the income tax department's e-filing portal, a CBDT notification said.

A separate form is required for each dispute, it said.

The finance ministry on Tuesday notified Form ITR-B through the gazette which needs to be filed by taxpayers who need to reveal any previously undisclosed income caught in an income tax search or requisition operation on or after September 1, 2024 through block assessment.

“Unlike the detailed disclosures necessitated in conventional ITR forms, Form ITR-B calls for limited data specifically related to the block assessment period. This ensures that taxpayers are not overburdened with compliance requirements while ensuring precision in data reporting,”said Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, M&A tax partner, Nangia Andersen LLP.

The block assessment process in income tax refers to a special procedure used by tax authorities to assess the undisclosed income of a taxpayer, typically when there is evidence of concealed or undisclosed income over a period of time.

The UK has implemented new taxation rules impacting individuals and employees who currently hold non-domicile status. Before 6 April 2025, UK residents who had their permanent home (domicile) outside the UK did not have to pay UK tax on foreign income.

From 6 April 2025, the rules for the taxation of non-UK domiciled individuals has ended. The concept of domicile as a relevant connecting factor in the UK tax system has replaced the remittance basis of taxation with a new tax regime based on ‘residence’ from 6 April 2025.

Previously, UK resident non-domiciles who haven’t become deemed-domiciled could choose to be taxed on the remittance basis.

Foreign investors who had struck deals abroad with other offshore investors to buy into Indian companies have caught the attention of the income tax (I-T) department.

More than a dozen foreign funds, companies as well partnerships, have received notices from the Indian tax office over the past fortnight for allegedly escaping tax on large transactions between 2018 and 2021.

In such deals foreign portfolio and strategic investors had either directly bought stocks in India or indirectly acquired interest in Indian companies by taking over Mauritius, Singapore and Luxembourg entities owning shares of the Indian companies.

The notices assume significance amid the high-profile court battle between Tiger Global, a foreign investor, and the revenue department.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a new directive requiring certain Permanent Account Number (PAN) holders to link their PAN with Aadhaar by December 31, 2025. This applies specifically to individuals who obtained their PAN using an Aadhaar enrolment ID rather than their actual Aadhaar number.

What is PAN and Aadhaar?
PANis a 10-digit alphanumeric ID issued by the Income Tax Department, essential for tax filing, financial transactions, and investments.

Aadhaaris a 12-digit identity number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), used widely as proof of identity and residence.

Chartered accountants have approached the tax appellate authority on behalf of their clients after the Income Tax Department sent notices to people — mostly with total incomes below Rs 7 lakh — who revised their tax returns in January 2025 to claim rebate under Section 87A.

“We have observed a growing concern among taxpayers regarding the Income Tax Department's issuance of demand notices, particularly to individuals with total incomes below Rs 7 lakh who revised their ITRs in January 2025 to claim the Section 87A rebate,” said Amit Bansal, partner, Singhania & Co. (a law firm).

“Despite the Bombay High Court's directive allowing a revision window, the tax department has continued to deny the rebate on short-term capital gains (STCG) taxed at special rates, leading to unnecessary demand notices,” he said.

The new financial year has begun, and with it, the tax filing season has also arrived. Now, taxpayers can file their Income Tax Return (ITR) for Assessment Year 2025-26 (FY 2024-25), like every year, this time also, this process is available in both online and offline modes.

What has changed in the ITR-2 filing process?
The Income Tax Department has launched a new Excel-based utility version of ITR-2 to make filing easier. This form is designed for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) who do not have any business or professional income.

The new update was released on March 25, 2025, and under this, the option of filing a revised return under section 139 (8A) has been given.

This week, FM Nirmala Sitharaman defended the provisions of the new income tax bill, which allows an authorised officer to “break open the lock of any door, box, locker, safe, almirah, or other receptacle for exercising the powers conferred by clause (i), to enter and search any building, place, etc., where the keys thereof or the access to such building, place, etc., is not available; or gain access by overriding the access code to any said computer system or virtual digital space, where the access code thereof is not available.”

Clause 247 of the Income Tax Bill, which will be effective starting April 1, 2026, allows authorised officers to do so only if they have information and reason to believe that the individual in concern owns undisclosed income, property, or documents that they would willfully not reveal in a bid to evade income tax.

Defending the need to include digital spaces and virtual realms under the ambit of search and seizure for income tax purposes, Sitharaman highlighted that such provisions are not new and currently exist under Section 132 of the I-T Act, 1961.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes entered into 174 advance pricing agreements with Indian taxpayers in FY25. The number sets a new record for the agency and includes unilateral APAs, bilateral APAs and multilateral APAs. This also takes the total number of APAs signed since the inception of the program to 815.

According to details shared by the CBDT spokesperson, this year also marks the highest number of APAs signed in a single financial year since the launch of the programme. 65 of the agreements signed in FY25 were BAPAs — the highest number of BAPAs finalized in any year so far. The BAPAs were signed as a consequence of entering into Mutual Agreements with India’s treaty partners namely Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the US.

The CBDT had also set a record in FY24 as it recorded 125 APAs with Indian taxpayers.

The Income Tax Return (ITR) filing season is here! From April 1, 2025, tax returns can be filed for the assessment year 2025-26 (financial year 2024-25). Like previous years, taxpayers will have both options – online and offline – to file their income tax returns.

New Excel-based utility for ITR-2 – What is special?
The Income Tax Department has recently released an upgraded version of the Excel-based utility for filing ITR-2. It is specially designed for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) who do not earn income from business or profession.

This new utility (version 1.11) was launched on 25 March 2025. It provides the facility to file revised returns under Section 139(8A), allowing taxpayers to rectify their returns if required.

April 1, 2025, marks the beginning of the new fiscal year. With the start of the new financial year, many new income tax laws come into effect. It is important to keep a note of these new income tax laws. This is because the new income tax laws impact how tax is deducted from various sources of income, such as salary, interest income, etc. Further, how much tax you will pay for incomes earned during FY 2025-26.
Here are the eleven income tax laws that become effective today.
1. New income tax slabs under new tax regime
The new tax regime will have new income tax slabs. The highest tax rate of 30% will apply to income above Rs 24 lakh.