Weekly Regulatory Update  ·  W28-2026

Tax & Regulatory
Digest

04 July 2026 to 10 July 2026 · W28
GST · Direct Tax · MCA · RBI/FEMA · ICAI
Dear Reader,
0
GST
7
Direct Tax
1
MCA
0
RBI / FEMA
0
ICAI
8
Actions
GST

Goods & Services Tax - A Quiet Window: No New Notification, Circular or Advisory

No new CBIC notification, circular or instruction, and no GSTN portal advisory, was issued in the 4 to 10 July 2026 window, and no GST Council meeting was held. (Verified via the CBIC Tax Information Portal and the GSTN "News & Updates" feed - the latest Central Tax notification remains 02/2026-CT of 7 May 2026, the latest CGST circular is 255/01/2026-GST of 25 June 2026, and the most recent GSTN advisory is dated 2 July 2026, both covered in earlier issues.) The imminent 31 July 2026 GST deadlines - the GSTAT s.112 appeal window and the FY 2025-26 AATO amendment - continue to run; see Action Items.

Direct Tax

Income Tax - AEOI Foreign-Account Data to Flow into the Form 168 AIS; Form 26AS & 168 Both Live on the Portal; ITR-5 / 7 Utilities Released

New Law
AEOI foreign-account information to be uploaded into the Form 168 AIS - CBDT Order dated 8 July 2026 (F.No. 225/73/2025-ITA-II). Under s.239 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 read with Rule 245(2) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026, the CBDT authorised the Director General of Income-tax (Systems), Delhi to upload information received under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework - pursuant to an agreement referred to in s.159 of the Act (DTAA / TIEA / CRS multilateral agreement) - into the Annual Information Statement in Form No. 168, within 90 days from the end of the month in which it is received. Form 168 is the new AIS under the 2025 Act (successor to Form 26AS). Foreign financial-account data (AEOI / CRS) will now surface in taxpayers' AIS - residents with foreign assets or income should reconcile it against their return and Schedule FA, as mismatches carry income-tax and Black Money Act exposure. This is the backdrop to the concurrent CBDT push on Schedule FA compliance. Source
New Law
Income-tax exemption to the NCCL Core Settlement Guarantee Fund - Notification Nos. 78/2026 & 79/2026 (7 July 2026). The CBDT notified the Core Settlement Guarantee Fund (PAN AAAJN1263G) set up by National Commodity Clearing Limited (NCCL), a SEBI-recognised clearing corporation, for exemption of its specified income under s.10(23EE) of the 1961 Act. The exemption is retrospective, covering AYs 2019-20 to 2026-27, and is conditional on the Fund filing its return under s.139(4C) and NCCL remaining a SEBI-recognised clearing corporation. Entity-specific; no general applicability. Source
New Law
Section 11 / Schedule VII exemption for the Telangana State Pollution Control Board - Notification No. 77/2026 (6 July 2026). The CBDT notified the Telangana State Pollution Control Board for exemption of its specified income under Schedule VII [Table Sl. No. 42] read with s.11 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the new-Act equivalent of the old s.10(46)), effective from Tax Year 2026-27, subject to it continuing to be a Board constituted under the Water Act 1974 and the Air Act 1981. A routine statutory-body exemption of limited general impact. Source
New Law
Research approval for the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru - Notification No. 76/2026 (6 July 2026). The CBDT approved IIHS, Bengaluru (PAN AACC10088F) as a "University, college or other institution" for research in Social Science or Statistical Research under s.45(4)(b) r/w s.45(3)(a)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and Rules 32 & 34 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 (the new-Act successor to the old s.35(1)(iii) route). The approval applies for Tax Years 2026-27 to 2030-31. Relevant only to IIHS and parties claiming under its notified approval. Source
Portal
e-Filing portal now displays both Form 26AS (1961 Act) and Form 168 (2025 Act). The Income-tax e-Filing portal now offers two views - "View Form 26AS, Income Tax Act 1961" and "View Form 168, Income Tax Act 2025". Form 26AS applies to FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), governed by the 1961 Act; Form 168 (the new AIS) applies from Tax Year 2026-27, i.e. income and transactions from 1 April 2026. For the current AY 2026-27 filings use Form 26AS; select Form 168 only for TY 2026-27 onward. Brief clients and staff on which statement applies to which period to avoid tax-credit reconciliation errors. Source
Portal
ITR-5 and ITR-7 Excel offline utilities released for AY 2026-27. The Income-tax e-Filing portal released the ITR-5 Excel utility (firms, LLPs, AOPs, BOIs) on 6 July 2026 and the ITR-7 Excel utility (trusts, political parties and institutions) for AY 2026-27, announced on 10 July 2026. With ITR-1/2/3/4 already live, firm/LLP and trust/institution returns can now be prepared and filed on the offline utility; the ITR-6 (company) utility is still awaited. Verify exempt-income, Schedule-FA and audit-linkage schedules before filing. Source
Portal
TRACES: use relevant-tax-year challans only in TDS statements. A TRACES (CPC-TDS) "Important Note for Deductors" advises deductors to use challans of the relevant tax year only when reporting transactions in TDS statements. Cross-utilisation of challans between FY 2025-26 (and earlier) and Tax Year 2026-27 - and vice versa - may lead to delays in processing of such statements. When filing Q1 (Apr-Jun) TY 2026-27 TDS/TCS statements, map each deduction to a challan of the correct tax year, or processing (and deductees' TDS credit) may be held up. Source
MCA

Corporate Affairs - CCFS-2026 Compliance Amnesty Extended to 31 August 2026

Deadline
Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026 (CCFS-2026) extended to 31 August 2026 - MCA General Circular No. 03/2026 (8 July 2026). MCA extended the operative window of CCFS-2026 - the one-time compliance-facilitation / amnesty scheme for regularising overdue ROC filings, originally introduced by General Circular No. 01/2026 (24 Feb 2026) with a window of 15 April to 15 July 2026 - from 15 July to 31 August 2026. The scheme's terms continue: overdue forms (AOC-4, MGT-7 / 7A, ADT-1, FC-3, FC-4 and the like) may be filed at 10% of the normal additional fees with immunity from prosecution for the defaults covered, along with the associated concessions for dormant-status (MSC-1) and strike-off (STK-2) applications. Clients who could not complete pending filings before the earlier 15 July cut-off now have until 31 August 2026 - run a portfolio-wide ROC-pendency scan and clear all backlogs before the extended window closes, as full penalty and officer-disqualification exposure resumes thereafter. Source
RBI / FEMA

RBI / FEMA - A Quiet Window: No New A.P. (DIR) Circular or FEMA Amendment

No new A.P. (DIR Series) circular, FEMA amendment notification or Master Direction change with a client / forex angle was issued in the 4 to 10 July 2026 window. (The latest A.P. (DIR Series) circulars - Nos. 16, 17 and 18 of 23-24 June 2026 - were covered earlier; the only RBI notification in this window, on the UNSC 1267 / UAPA sanctions list, is an AML measure for Regulated Entities with no CA / FEMA-practice angle.) On the audit side, the SEBI circulars issued this window (mutual-fund intraday borrowing, IPF / depositories, unpaid client securities) are pure capital-markets items and carry no LODR audit-committee, SQM or auditor-practice implication.

ICAI

ICAI - A Quiet Window: No New Final Publication or Compliance Change

No final Technical Guide, Guidance Note, Standard, Code of Ethics revision, or UDIN / Peer-Review compliance change was issued in the 4 to 10 July 2026 window. (Verified across the five ICAI committee publication pages, the Announcements feed, the UDIN and Peer Review Board portals, and the Ethical Standards Board.) Worth watching: ICAI issued an Exposure Draft of the Guidance Note on Tax Audit under section 44AB, AY 2026-27 on 9 July 2026 - a draft, not a final publication, but a likely near-term development for the tax-audit season once finalised.

S. Triyambaka Patro, CA
YouWe Quest LLP
Technical Reference
I.
GST
Goods & Services Tax
A Period Context - No New Notification, Circular or Advisory ▾
No new GST action in the window: No CBIC notification, circular or instruction, and no GSTN portal advisory, was issued between 4 and 10 July 2026, and no GST Council meeting was held. Verified via the CBIC Tax Information Portal and the GSTN "News & Updates" feed.
Ceiling: The most recent central items remain Notification 02/2026-Central Tax (7 May 2026) and Circular 255/01/2026-GST (25 June 2026); the latest GSTN advisory is dated 2 July 2026 (Ship-to / e-Way Bill FAQs) - all covered in earlier issues.
Carry-forward: Two 31 July 2026 GST deadlines continue to run - the GSTAT s.112 appeal window (orders communicated before 1 May 2026) and the FY 2025-26 AATO amendment window. See Action Items.
II.
Direct Tax
Direct Tax
A AEOI Foreign-Account Data into the Form 168 AIS - CBDT Order (8 July 2026) ▾
Reference: CBDT Order F.No. 225/73/2025-ITA-II dated 8 July 2026, under s.239 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 read with Rule 245(2) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 (placed on incometaxindia.gov.in per the order's distribution list).
What it does: Authorises the Director General of Income-tax (Systems), Delhi to upload information received under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework - pursuant to an agreement referred to in s.159 of the Act (DTAA / TIEA / CRS multilateral competent-authority agreement) - into the Annual Information Statement in Form No. 168, within 90 days from the end of the month in which the information is received. The DGIT(Systems) is also to specify the procedures, formats and standards for the upload.
Context: Form 168 is the new Annual Information Statement under the Income-tax Act, 2025 (the successor to Form 26AS). This order operationalises the flow of foreign financial-account information (AEOI / CRS) into a taxpayer's AIS.
Practice action: Residents holding foreign assets or earning foreign income should expect AEOI-sourced entries in their Form 168 AIS and must reconcile them against their return and Schedule FA. Un-reconciled foreign data carries income-tax and Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, 2015 exposure - hence the concurrent CBDT emphasis on Schedule FA.
B Form 26AS (1961 Act) and Form 168 (2025 Act) - Both Now on the e-Filing Portal ▾
Reference: Income-tax e-Filing portal update - the "e-File > Income Tax Returns" menu now shows both "View Form 26AS, Income Tax Act 1961" and "View Form 168, Income Tax Act 2025".
Which applies: Form 26AS is the tax-credit statement under the 1961 Act and remains relevant for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) filings. Form 168 is the AIS under the 2025 Act and applies from Tax Year 2026-27 (income / transactions from 1 April 2026).
Practice note: For the current AY 2026-27 return cycle, use Form 26AS for tax-credit verification; use Form 168 only for TY 2026-27 onward. Selecting the wrong statement for the period risks credit-mismatch and reconciliation errors - brief the filing team accordingly.
C TRACES - Use Relevant-Tax-Year Challans Only in TDS Statements ▾
Reference: TRACES (CPC-TDS) "Important Note for Deductors" - portal advisory, in-window July 2026.
What it says: Deductors are advised to use challans of the relevant tax year only when reporting transactions in TDS statements. Cross-utilisation of challans between FY 2025-26 (and earlier) and Tax Year 2026-27 - and vice versa - may lead to delays in processing of such statements. This follows the 1961-to-2025 Act transition, under which the reporting unit moved from "financial year" to "tax year".
Practice action: When filing Q1 (Apr-Jun) TY 2026-27 TDS/TCS statements (due 31 July), tag each deduction to a challan of the correct tax year. Do not set off FY 2025-26 challans against TY 2026-27 deductions - the statement may be held in processing, delaying deductees' TDS credit.
D e-Filing Portal - ITR-5 and ITR-7 Excel Utilities Released for AY 2026-27 ▾
Reference: Income-tax e-Filing portal utility releases - ITR-5 Excel offline utility on 6 July 2026 and ITR-7 Excel offline utility (announced 10 July 2026) for AY 2026-27.
What is live: ITR-5 covers firms, LLPs, AOPs and BOIs; ITR-7 covers trusts, political parties and institutions filing under the charitable / institutional return provisions. With ITR-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 already released, only the ITR-6 (company) utility now remains awaited.
Practice note: Firm / LLP (ITR-5) and trust / institution (ITR-7) returns for AY 2026-27 can now be prepared on the offline utility. Update to the latest utility build and verify the exempt-income, Schedule-FA and audit-report linkage schedules before filing. Watch for the ITR-6 release for company clients.
E Notifications 78 & 79/2026 - s.10(23EE) Exemption, NCCL Core Settlement Guarantee Fund ▾
Reference: Notification No. 78/2026 (S.O. 3683(E)) and Notification No. 79/2026 (S.O. 3684(E)), both dated 7 July 2026 (F.No. 197/39/2018-ITA-I), under s.10(23EE) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
What they do: Notify the Core Settlement Guarantee Fund (PAN AAAJN1263G) set up by National Commodity Clearing Limited (NCCL), a recognised clearing corporation, for exemption of its specified income (contributions, penalties and investment income of the Fund) under s.10(23EE). The exemption is retrospective, covering AYs 2019-20 to 2026-27.
Conditions: The exemption is available only so long as the Fund files its return of income under s.139(4C) and NCCL continues to be recognised as a clearing corporation by SEBI.
Practice note: Entity-specific and retrospective - relevant only to NCCL, its Core Settlement Guarantee Fund and their tax positions for the covered years. No general applicability.
F Notification 77/2026 - Telangana State Pollution Control Board (s.11 / Schedule VII, Act 2025) ▾
Reference: Notification No. 77/2026 (S.O. 3655(E); F.No. 300195/39/2025-ITA-I) dated 6 July 2026, under Schedule VII [Table Sl. No. 42] r/w s.11 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 - the new-Act equivalent of the old s.10(46).
What it does: Notifies the Telangana State Pollution Control Board for exemption of its specified income, effective from Tax Year 2026-27, subject to the condition that it continues to be a Board constituted under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Practice note: A standard statutory-body exemption - relevant only to the notified Board.
G Notification 76/2026 - Research Approval for IIHS, Bengaluru (s.45, Act 2025) ▾
Reference: Notification No. 76/2026 (S.O. 3654(E); F.No. 203/46/2025/ITA-II) dated 6 July 2026, under s.45(4)(b) r/w s.45(3)(a)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and Rules 32 & 34 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
What it does: Approves the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru (PAN AACC10088F) as a "University, college or other institution" for research in Social Science or Statistical Research - the new-Act successor to the old s.35(1)(iii) approval route - for Tax Years 2026-27 to 2030-31, subject to prescribed conditions.
Practice note: Institution-specific approval enabling the eligible-research deduction route for payers / donors to IIHS under the new Act. Confirm the conditions and quantum against the notification before advising a claim.
III.
MCA
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
A CCFS-2026 Compliance Amnesty Extended to 31 August 2026 (General Circular 03/2026) ▾
Reference: MCA General Circular No. 03/2026 dated 8 July 2026 - "Extension of the Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026 (CCFS-2026) up to 31st August 2026" (confirmed on the official MCA "What's New" feed). The scheme was originally introduced by General Circular No. 01/2026 dated 24 February 2026 with an operative window of 15 April to 15 July 2026.
What it does: Extends the CCFS-2026 filing window from 15 July 2026 to 31 August 2026. CCFS-2026 is a one-time compliance-facilitation / amnesty scheme allowing companies and LLPs to regularise overdue ROC filings on concessional terms.
Scheme terms (unchanged): Overdue forms - AOC-4, MGT-7 / 7A, ADT-1, FC-3, FC-4 and the like - may be filed at 10% of the normal additional fees with immunity from prosecution for the covered defaults, together with the associated concessions for dormant-status (MSC-1) and strike-off (STK-2) applications.
Practice action: Clients who could not complete pending statutory filings before the earlier 15 July cut-off now have until 31 August 2026. Run a portfolio-wide ROC-pendency scan and clear all backlogs (particularly private companies with multi-year unfiled annual returns) before the extended window closes - full additional fees, penalties and officer-disqualification exposure resume thereafter. (MCA per-item circular PDFs have no stable shareable URL on V3; retrieve GC 03/2026 from the MCA "What's New" / Circulars listing.)
IV.
RBI / FEMA
RBI & FEMA
A Period Context - No New A.P. (DIR) Circular, FEMA Amendment or Audit-Angle SEBI Item ▾
RBI / FEMA: No A.P. (DIR Series) circular, FEMA amendment notification or client-facing Master Direction change was issued between 4 and 10 July 2026. The latest A.P. (DIR Series) circulars - Nos. 16, 17 & 18 of 23-24 June 2026 - were covered earlier. The single RBI notification in this window (Id 13554, 9 July, on the UNSC 1267 / UAPA sanctions list) is an AML measure for Regulated Entities with no CA / FEMA-practice angle.
SEBI (audit angle): The SEBI circulars issued in / near this window - mutual-fund intraday borrowing (10 July), utilisation of IPF / depositories income (7 July) and handling of unpaid client securities (3 July) - are pure capital-markets items and carry no LODR audit-committee, ESOP / ESPP disclosure, SQM or auditor / secretarial-audit implication. Excluded per scope.
Note: This section tracks FEMA / forex items relevant to NRI and cross-border client work, plus SEBI items with a direct audit-practice angle. Neither surfaced this window.
V.
ICAI
ICAI
A Period Context - No New Final Publication or Compliance Change; 44AB Exposure Draft to Watch ▾
No new final ICAI item in the window: No final Technical Guide, Guidance Note, Standard, Code of Ethics revision, or UDIN / Peer-Review compliance change was issued between 4 and 10 July 2026. Verified across the five committee publication pages, the Announcements feed, the UDIN and Peer Review Board portals, and the Ethical Standards Board.
Watch item (exposure draft, not final): ICAI issued an Exposure Draft of the Guidance Note on Tax Audit under section 44AB, AY 2026-27 on 9 July 2026. As an exposure draft it is excluded from this update, but a final 44AB Guidance Note is a likely near-term development for the tax-audit season once comments are considered.
Note: ICAI entries are limited to final publications and mandatory compliance changes; exposure drafts, consultations and CPE announcements are excluded by design.
Action Items

Forward-looking deadlines and action items arising from, or live during, the 4 to 10 July 2026 window (W28). Includes recurring statutory deadlines falling this month.

Due Date Domain Action Required
15 JulDirect TaxTCS return (Form 27EQ / new-Act equivalent) for Q1 of Tax Year 2026-27 (Apr-Jun 2026) due.
31 JulDirect TaxTDS returns for Q1 of Tax Year 2026-27 (new-Act Forms 138 / 140 / 144, formerly 24Q / 26Q / 27Q) due; and ITR for non-audit taxpayers (AY 2026-27) due, subject to any CBDT extension. File only after Form 16 / AIS / 26AS are reconciled, and tag each deduction to a challan of the correct tax year (no FY 2025-26 / TY 2026-27 cross-utilisation, per the TRACES advisory).
31 JulGSTFile pending GST Appellate Tribunal appeals (s.112 CGST) for orders communicated before 1 May 2026 - deadline extended to 31 July 2026 (20% pre-deposit required).
31 JulGSTAATO amendment window for FY 2025-26 closes - verify / correct each client's system-computed Aggregate Annual Turnover on the GST portal.
31 JulMCAFile Form DPT-3 (Return of Deposits, position as on 31 Mar 2026) to avail the additional-fee relaxation under MCA General Circular No. 02/2026. Do not defer to the last day given recent V3 instability.
31 AugMCACCFS-2026 filing window extended (was 15 July): regularise overdue ROC forms (AOC-4, MGT-7 / 7A, ADT-1, FC-3, FC-4) at 10% additional fees with prosecution immunity before 31 August 2026 (General Circular 03/2026). Run a portfolio-wide pendency scan now.
OngoingDirect TaxAY 2026-27 filing: ITR-5 (firms / LLPs) and ITR-7 (trusts / institutions) Excel utilities are now live - begin preparing returns; the ITR-6 (company) utility is still awaited. For tax-credit checks use Form 26AS (1961 Act) for AY 2026-27, not Form 168 (2025 Act, TY 2026-27 onward).
OngoingDirect TaxForeign-asset clients: AEOI-sourced foreign financial data now flows into the Form 168 AIS (CBDT Order, 8 Jul 2026). Reconcile foreign income / assets and Schedule FA disclosures against the AIS to avoid mismatch, income-tax and Black Money Act exposure.
S. Triyambaka Patro, CA
YouWe Quest LLP
Compiled 10 July 2026 · W28-2026 covering 04 July - 10 July 2026. For informational purposes only - does not constitute legal or tax advice.