RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GOODS AND SERVICES TAX

There is nothing much happening on the regulatory or on economic front as of now as political parties and top leaders in the Government are busy with elections in few states. Globally, the situation continues to be fragile in the backdrop of US - Israel- Iran war and ceasefire ups and downs.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has now enhanced India's growth forecast for FY 2022 to 6.5% from 6.4% in January, 2026. This is mainly due to robust performance in 2025 and reduction in US tariff from 50% to 10%.

There is a rising voice for holding GST Council meeting. The industries are also seeking refunds on account of inverted duty structure in case of input services which is presently not allowed. This adds to the cost. Presently refunds are allowed only on inputs and GST paid on input services add to cost of goods produced. Such costs include legal costs, logistic costs, consultancy costs etc. Those companies where services component is significant seem to be at the losing end leading to be not so competitive. With West Asia crises still going on and there being no reprieve in sight, it is imperative to convene GST council meeting soon so as to provide much needed relief measure in certain sectors of import and export, besides sector specific rate rationalization.

During March, 2026, E-way bills generation was recorded at all time high of 14.06 crore. The earlier high was 13.84 crore in December, 2025. This may have a positive bearing on upsurge in GST collection for April, 2026.

GSTN portal has allowed re-computation of interest in Form GSTR-3B after glitch in auto calculation besides introduction of IMS offline tool on GST portal.

Few more GSTAT benches have notified the commencement of functioning of GSTAT benches in states /UTs such as Delhi NCR, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Jharkhand and so on.

Recently, DGGI, Ghaziabad has nabbed mastermind of Rs. 4,600 GST evasion in online gaming case. Also, DGGI, Ahmedabad has arrested king pin in biggest GST refund fraud of Rs. 1825 crore from IGI, Airport.

March, 2026 3B date extended

• CBIC has issued a Notification extending due date of filing Form GSTR-3B for March, 2026.
• The due date for filing GSTR-3B for March 2026 has been extended by one day to 21st April, 2026.
• The Notification is effective from 20th April, 2026.

(Source: Notification No. 01/2026-Central Tax dated 21.04.2026)

GSTAT, Rajkot State Bench

• GSTAT, State Bench, Rajkot has started functioning at following address:

'201-208, TOWER-A, RK ICONIC, 150 FEET RING ROAD,NEAR SHEETAL PARK, PUNEET NAGAR, RAJKOT (GUJARAT), PIN-360006'

• The appellants/respondents can e-file appeal/application on the portal aggrieved by or in connection with (i) Order-in-Appeal (OIA) issued by the First Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the Act and (ii) Order issued by the Revisional Authority under Section 108 of CGST Act, 2017.
• The Toll-free No. of the GSTAT e-filing portal is 1800-103-4782 and in case any difficulty/ problem arises while filing appeals/applications, the appellant/applicant may raise a ticket Incident Report Form by accessing web address i.e. https://efiling.gstat.gov.in/reportissue.drt.

(Source: Public Notice No. 01/2026 dated 18.03.2026

issued by Assistant Registrar, GSTAT State Bench, Rajkot)

GSTAT, Ranchi Bench

• GSTAT Ranchi Bench has commenced functioning w.e.f. 23.04.2026.
• GSTAT, Ranchi Bench is presently functioning from the following temporary address:

'Block 18 NGHC, Khelgaon Housing Society, Ranchi Jharkhand 834012'.

• Appellants may file appeals/applications electronically against orders, including Orders-in-Appeal issued by the First Appellate Authority, through the official portal:

https://efiling.gstat.gov.in/mainPage.drt.

• For the convenience of users, a dedicated Toll-Free Helpline (1800 103-4782) has been established to assist in matters related to e-filing. In case of any technical difficulty or issue while filing appeals/applications, users may also submit an Incident Report Form through the portal at: https://efiling.gstat.gov.in/reportissue.drt
• Stakeholders have been advised to regularly visit the GSTAT portal for updates, notifications, and procedural guidelines related to filing and adjudication.

(Source: Public Notice No. 01/2025-26 dated 30.03.2026

issued by Deputy Registrar GSTAT, Ranchi Bench)

GSTAT, Delhi State Bench

• Delhi Sate Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has commenced its operations from the following temporary address:

'3rd & 4th Floor, Samrat Hotel, Plot No. 50B, Kautilya Marg, Chankayapuri, New Delhi - 110021'

• Delhi State Bench shall exercise jurisdiction over the all districts in the Union territory of NCT, New Delhi as notified by the Department of Revenue vide notification no S.O. 5063(E) dated 26.11.2024.
• The Bench shall hear appeals filed under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the concerned State Goods and Services Tax Act, as applicable, arising from the above-mentioned jurisdiction.
• The procedural framework for the institution of appeals is governed by Chapter III of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 2025.
• The official e-filing Advisory, the Procedure Rules, and Presidential Orders have been duty published and remain accessible on the GSTAT Portal (https://efiling.gstat.gov.in) within the designated 'Notice' section.

(Source: Public Notice No. 01/2026 dated 02.04.2026

issued by Joint Registrar, Delhi State Bench of GSTAT)

GSTAT, Hyderabad State Bench

• Hyderabad Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has formally commenced its operations.
• The temporary office address of the Hyderabad Bench, GSTAT, is at:

'3rd Floor, GST Bhavan, LB Stadium Road, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad, Telangana -500004'

• The Hyderabad Bench shall exercise jurisdiction over the Telangana State as notified by the Department of Revenue vide notification no S.O. 5063(E) dated 26.11.2024. and shall hear appeals filed under the provisions of the CGST Act, 2017, the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, as applicable, arising from the above-mentioned jurisdictions.
• As per Rule 24 of GSTAT Procedure Rules, if a party fails to rectify the defects raised in the defect notice, within 7 days, the same shall be placed before the Registrar, who, on sufficient cause, may allow such reasonable time to the party, in any case not exceeding 30 days.
• For removal of defects in appeals filed including court fee issue, the Registrar Court will be convened from the forthcoming week onwards, commencing from 20.04.2026 at 11:30 AM.

(Source: Notification No. F.No. GSTAT/HYD/2026/2/NOTIFICATIONS dated 17.04.2026 issued by Joint Registrar, Hyderabad Bench)

Constitution of Working Groups for Organizational Restructuring in CBIC

• It has been decided to constitute three Working Groups namely (i) GST Working Group (ii) Customs Working Group (iii) Working Group on Future-Ready CBIC.
• The Working Groups may co-opt any officer/expert, as deemed necessary, and may call for relevant data or inputs from field formations, Directorates, and other stakeholders. Chairman of the Groups may decide the mode and timing of meetings internally.
• The Working Groups shall submit their reports within 60 days from the date of issuance of the Order.

(Source: Office Memorandum dated 13.04.2026

issued Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, New Delhi)

Advisory on Interest in GSTR-3B

• As a facilitation measure for taxpayers and assisting the taxpayers in doing a correct self-assessment, GST Portal auto-calculates interest on delayed filing of GSTR-3B based on the tax liability discharged and tax liability breakup provided in 'Tax Liability Breakup, As Applicable' table.

• This system computed interest is auto-populated and collected in the Table-5.1 of the subsequent period GSTR-3B. The facility is similar to the collection of late fees for GSTR-3B, which is also calculated after filing of GSTR-3B and collected in subsequent GSTR-3B period.

• The detailed breakup of interest computation can be verified from the System Generated GSTR 3B PDF, which can be accessed through the following navigation path:

Login Return Dashboard Select Return Period GSTR 3B Prepare Online System Generated GSTR 3B PDF.

• Due to some technical glitch for few taxpayers interest for Feb-2026 period appearing in Table 5.1 of March-2026 period may have been calculated incorrectly without providing benefit of the minimum cash balance available in the Electronic Cash Ledger as per the proviso to Rule 88B(1) of the CGST Rules, 2017. In case any taxpayer observes any discrepancy in the system calculated interest, an option to recompute interest is available on GST Portal.

The taxpayer may click on the 'RE-COMPUTE INTEREST' button provided under Table 5.1 of GSTR 3B. Upon clicking this option, the system recalculates the interest based on the latest and updated parameters available in the system and the revised interest amount will then be reflected in the updated system generated GSTR 3B PDF.

• Taxpayers are advised to refer to the updated GSTR-3B system generated PDF for the revised interest values and accordingly, update the interest figures in Table 5.1 by manually editing the already auto populated values in Table 5.1. The revised interest will also be visible on hover of respective field in Table 5.1 of GSTR 3B. Kindly note that the manually edited interest value shall not be less than the recomputed interest appearing in system generated GSTR 3B pdf.

(Source: GSTN Advisory dated 16.04.2026)

Introduction of IMS Offline Tool on GST Portal

• The Invoice Management System (IMS) was introduced on the GST portal from the October 2024 tax period enabling the taxpayers to take actions on invoices uploaded by their suppliers through GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, or IFF, including accepting, rejecting, or keeping such records pending in the system.
• To continuously enhance the taxpayer convenience and facilitate ease of compliance, an IMS Offline Tool has now been introduced in the GST system. The said offline tool is based on MS excel making it easy to use by the taxpayers and it enables them to undertake actions on both individual as well as bulk invoices in an efficient manner.

Steps to use the IMS offline tool:

a) Download the Tool:

• Visit GST Portal: www.gst.gov.in
• Navigate to Downloads -> Offline Tools -> IMS Offline Tool to download the tool.
• The tool will be downloaded as a zip file. Extract the zip file, enable the macros through the file properties and open the Excel utility.

b) Download IMS Data from Portal:

• To download data from GST Portal, navigate to Services -> Returns -> Invoice Management System (IMS) Dashboard -> Offline
• Click on Download Json. Save the Json file on your system.

Import downloaded Json File and Validate Sheet:

• Click on Open Downloaded IMS Json File in Home sheet.
• Select the downloaded file from the online portal to auto-populate invoice data.
• Perform the following actions:
  • Accept/Reject/Pending/No Action
  • Add remarks (if applicable)
• Click on Validate Sheet button.

Generate and Upload Json on GST Portal:

• Click on Generate Json File to Upload to create the Json.
• To upload the Json, login to GST Portal.
• Navigate to: Services -> Returns -> Invoice Management System (IMS) Dashboard -> Offline.
• Click on Upload Json to upload the generated file.

Important points/validations related to using offline tools:

• The IMS offline tool follows the same validations and business rules as applicable on the IMS dashboard portal, including treatment of accepted, rejected, pending, and no-action records.
• If no changes are made on the records after importing the JSON file into the offline tool, the generated JSON file will be empty.
• The tool provides filter options to filter the invoices based on relevant parameters. Filters are cleared while performing the 'Validate Sheet' action.
• Click on `Validate Sheet` button, to validate data in each worksheet in offline tool, after all the actions required are taken in the sheet.
• In case of validation failure of details on uploading JSON file, an error file will be generated with status as `Processed with Error`. This file can be downloaded, open in offline tool, take relevant actions to remove the highlighted errors and can be uploaded by creating a JSON file again.
• Upon uploading this JSON file, these records will get incrementally added to the records uploaded earlier. If there are pre-existing records on the Portal, against same GSTIN, those details will get replaced/updated.

(Source: GSTN Advisory dated 21.04.2026)