New Delhi: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Trade (FICCI) has set out its key expectations from the Union Funds 2026-27, calling for quicker tax appeals, easier TDS guidelines, readability for cross-border provide chains and focused customs facilitation to chop delays and disputes.

 

FICCI requires quick steps to cut back a big backlog of appeals earlier than the Commissioners of Earnings Tax (Appeals), saying pending instances and blocked refunds pressure taxpayers and the system in keeping with a press launch.

 

It recommends filling vacancies, setting differentiated, time-bound targets for small and sophisticated instances, enabling digital hearings on a hard and fast schedule, and granting stays on restoration if an attraction crosses two years with out taxpayer fault. It additionally urges higher coordination between faceless models and jurisdictional officers on remand reviews, and proposes sharing draft orders with appellants to right factual errors early.

 

On money circulate strain throughout disputes, FICCI has requested that the present expectation of a 20 per cent deposit for a keep be rationalised. It proposes real-time integration of keep orders with the Central Processing Centre (CPC) to cease computerized refund changes towards stayed calls for and suggests permitting financial institution ensures or indemnities as alternate safety, with safeguards and monitoring.

 

To decrease compliance burden, FICCI proposed an easier TDS framework: slab-based TDS for salaries, most marginal charge for lotteries and on-line video games, and solely two normal charges for different funds. It suggests exempting B2B funds already reported beneath GST from TDS, eradicating low-yield TDS/TCS on buy or sale of products, and publishing a detrimental listing overlaying gadgets corresponding to funds to senior residents, exempt incomes, banks and registered GST entities.

 

For manufacturing provide chains, FICCI requests express assurance that storing parts or deploying free-of-cost tools in India for just-in-time manufacturing by contract producers doesn’t create a “enterprise connection” for non-residents beneath the Earnings-tax Acts of 1961 and 2025. It says this readability would assist expertise deployment and competitiveness whereas limiting unintended tax publicity and litigation.

 

FICCI additionally searched for restoration within the new Earnings-tax Act, the sooner definition of “Related Enterprise” to keep away from widening switch pricing protection to commercially unrelated events, which may set off contemporary disputes for lenders, contract producers, and model house owners.

 

On capital distribution, the chamber has really helpful aligning taxation of buybacks with capital discount a minimum of the place buybacks use share premium or contemporary concern proceeds, noting that treating the total consideration as a dividend can tax capital moderately than earnings. It has additionally requested for readability on interplay with anti-abuse provisions and treaty remedy to forestall inconsistent discipline practices.

 

For customs, FICCI has urged extra benches of the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings past New Delhi and Mumbai to serve the south and east, and a mechanism to increase rulings when information and regulation stay unchanged. It has really helpful permitting newly integrated corporations in teams already accredited beneath the Authorised Financial Operator programme, domestically or overseas, to use for AEO standing, and to proceed Tier-II standing post-merger by easy intimation. It has additional referred to as for a single, real-time nationwide database of commerce notices to make sure uniform practices throughout ports.

 

FICCI said that these measures would ease working capital stress, scale back litigation, and enhance investor predictability as the federal government prepares the 2026-27 Funds.