Insolvency resolution focus: Code prioritises time bound revival of corporate debtors over mere debt recovery and asset loss.
The Code establishes a single unified insolvency framework focused on time bound corporate insolvency resolution to maximise asset value, promote entrepreneurship and ease of doing business, balance stakeholder interests, and provide regulatory oversight; courts treat the Code as beneficial legislation prioritising revival of the corporate debtor over mere debt recovery and require purposive, liberal construction and adherence to prescribed timelines to prevent value erosion. (AI Summary)

IGST refund obstruction: reconcile shipping bill and GST records, amend errors, and refile refund application promptly.
The note prescribes verifying and reconciling shipping bill fields (GSTIN, shipping bill number, invoice details, HSN code, and export type) with GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, confirming IGST payment reflection and Customs EDI synchronization, updating exporter profile (IEC linkage and bank details), seeking shipping bill amendments from Customs when needed, filing or re-filing the IGST refund application, and escalating to Customs or GST helpdesks if discrepancies persist. (AI Summary)

IGST refund eligibility - ensure shipping bill and GST filings are precisely reconciled to enable refund processing.
SB0002 signals a failure to process an IGST refund due to mismatched records between Customs EDI and the GST portal. Remedy requires exact alignment of shipping bill GSTIN, export invoice number, HSN codes and IGST payment with entries in GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B, validation of an active IEC linked to the GSTIN, amendment of the shipping bill if needed, and re filing the refund application; unresolved technical or data discrepancies should be escalated to Customs or GST helpdesks or considered for an Advance Ruling. (AI Summary)

Related-party valuation rules: open market value priority, fallback methods, and invoice acceptance where full input tax credit exists.
Valuation between distinct or related persons (not through an agent) must use open market value if available; if not, value by like kind and quality, and if still not determinable apply Rule 30 (cost plus ten percent) or Rule 31 (reasonable means). A supplier may elect a 90% valuation where the recipient further supplies as such, and invoice value is accepted as open market value when the recipient can claim full input tax credit. Corporate guarantee value is the higher of one percent per annum of the guaranteed amount or actual consideration. (AI Summary)

Intention to evade tax: absence precludes imposition of statutory tax and penalty where e-way bill existed.
Tax and penalty under Section 129 cannot be invoked where there is no intent to evade tax and an e-way bill was generated before the detention order; mere initial non production of documents does not establish evasion when inspection reveals no discrepancy and the movement is a stock transfer or for installation rather than sale. (AI Summary)

IGST refund linkage errors can block export refunds; reconcile shipping bill, GSTIN, invoice and payment to enable refund.
SB0003 arises when export IGST refund processing is blocked by discrepancies between Customs shipping bill data and GST filings or by unlinked IGST payments. Corrective steps are to verify and amend shipping bill fields (GSTIN, invoice number/date, HSN, IGST amount), ensure IEC linkage, confirm IGST payment visibility on the GST portal, file an amended shipping bill if needed, and then submit an IGST refund application with required documents. Persisting linkage issues should be escalated to Customs or GST helpdesks, and recurring classification uncertainty may warrant an Advance Ruling. (AI Summary)

Electronic evidence admissibility requires statutory certification under Section 138C to validate secondary printouts, otherwise they are inadmissible.
Electronic records in customs valuation are admissible only upon strict compliance with Section 138C. Secondary electronic evidence, including printouts or extracts from removable media, requires a mandatory certificate under Section 138C(4) identifying the document, the method of production and particulars of the device; oral evidence alone cannot substitute. The statutory definition of "computer" encompasses smartphones and tablets, and both authorities and assessees must ensure timely, properly drafted certification. Common lapses-late certificates, omitted extraction methods, and missing device details-undermine admissibility and the evidentiary value of such material. (AI Summary)

Non taxability of lorry hire income: rental receipts to a goods transport agency are exempt from GST under the nil rated classification.
Income from hiring lorries to a goods transport agency is treated as a supply of service that is nil rated under the GST rate notification, and therefore rental receipts from leasing vehicles to a registered GTA are exempt from GST. The rental service is legally distinct from the GTA's transport services, ensuring the GTA alone bears tax on its transport activity while the lessor's hire charges remain outside GST. (AI Summary)

Review and revisional procedure under GST clarified for Common Adjudicating Authority orders; appeals and departmental representation specified.
A central clarification prescribes that where Orders in Original are issued by Common Adjudicating Authorities, the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Central Tax of the commissionerate where the CAA is posted shall act as the reviewing authority under the review provision and as the revisional authority under the revision provision; appeals from such CAA orders lie before the corresponding Commissioner (Appeals), the commissionerate will represent the department in appeals, and reviewing/revisional authorities may seek comments from the originating intelligence formation before deciding. (AI Summary)

Closing GST proceedings: online waiver applications permitted subject to payment, documentation, timelines and registry adjustments.
The rule establishes an online procedure for closure of proceedings under Section 128A by permitting waiver applications in FORM GST SPL-01 or SPL-02, requires tax payment to be reflected in the Electronic Liability Register (including use of FORM GST DRC-03A where applicable), mandates full payment where demands are mixed or partly for erroneous refunds, sets filing deadlines and documentary proof of appeal withdrawal, prescribes officer notice and reply forms (SPL-03 and SPL-04), and provides for approval by SPL-05, rejection by SPL-07, automatic approval on officer inaction, and lapse of waivers if required payments are not made. (AI Summary)

Advance tax liability: sanction date of amalgamation determines instalment obligations; pre sanction entity remains liable for current income.
The note explains that advance tax is payable on a company's current income under Sections 207-211 and that statutory instalment dates govern liability; where an amalgamation scheme has retrospective effect but is formally sanctioned later, instalments falling in the interregnum are treated as payable by the pre sanction company because advance tax depends on current income and on the instalment calendar. (AI Summary)

Product classification of lithium ion batteries confirms concessional IGST rate for batteries used in manufacture under the IGST rate notification.
The Tribunal held that lithium ion batteries specifically designed for and used in mobile phone manufacture satisfy the dual conditions of Entry 203 of the IGST Rate Notification and therefore attract the concessional IGST rate specified therein; it rejected the Department's attempt to import Customs Tariff classification rules and chapter notes into the IGST Notification and emphasized a literal, end use based application of the taxing entry. (AI Summary)

Presumption of liability under GST Section 79 requires service on the alleged debtor so they can rebut the claim.
Notices under Section 79(1)(c) must be served on the person alleged to hold or owe money for a defaulter and must permit that person to rebut the presumption of liability; service directly on a third party bank without prior notice to the alleged debtor fails the procedural preconditions and is defective, though authorities may issue a fresh notice to the correct address and allow the opportunity to rebut. (AI Summary)

Commercial wisdom of creditors limits judicial scrutiny to statutory compliance of approved resolution plans under insolvency law.
Approval of a resolution plan rests on the Committee of Creditors' commercial wisdom; once the Committee approves a plan the Adjudicating Authority's review is limited to whether the plan, as approved, satisfies statutory compliance requirements such as payment of insolvency costs, minimum treatment of operational and dissenting financial creditors relative to liquidation priority, conformity with law, and any regulator-prescribed conditions, and it cannot re-evaluate the Committee's commercial assessment of feasibility or viability. (AI Summary)

Negative ECL balance blocking impermissible under administrative rule, requiring authorities to use other statutory recovery remedies.
The Delhi High Court's conclusion that a negative balance in the Electronic Credit Ledger cannot be blocked under Rule 86A was left undisturbed on special leave; negative ECL entries should not be immobilised by administrative blocking, and authorities must resort to other statutory recovery remedies in accordance with law. (AI Summary)

Dual GST model reshapes fiscal sovereignty, prompting calls for binding dispute resolution and a permanent compensation mechanism.
The article argues the constitutional enactment of a dual GST created co-sovereignty by allocating simultaneous taxing powers to Union and States, producing institutional friction as the GST Council operates recommendatorily yet functions quasi-legislatively; the author stresses the need for binding dispute-resolution mechanisms, a permanent compensation/adjustment formula to restore fiscal trust, and reforms including an independent Secretariat and a centralized GST Tribunal to address horizontal imbalances and conflicting administrative action. (AI Summary)

Service of Notice: portal-only GST service may be inadequate; authorities must pursue alternative modes to ensure actual notice.
Uploading show cause notices and reminders on the GST portal is a valid mode of service under Section 169, but may be insufficient where the taxpayer remains unresponsive; the assessing officer must take additional steps, including statutorily recognised methods such as RPAD, to ensure actual knowledge before proceeding, and failure to do so impairs procedural fairness and the object of adjudication. (AI Summary)

Rate rationalization: simplify GST slabs and address compensation cess withdrawal while improving input tax credit and refunds.
GST after eight years combines a unified tax base, digital compliance and revenue gains with persistent operational and structural gaps: Input tax credit distortions, complex refund procedures, absence of functional appellate tribunals, parallel jurisdictional issues, frequent technical advisories, and multiple tax slabs. Reform emphasis is on rate rationalization, reassessing the compensation cess and state compensation mechanisms, expanding the tax net, strengthening anti-evasion measures, and improving administrative coordination, refund processing, ITC mechanics and adjudication to stabilize the regime. (AI Summary)

Invocation of Section 74 requires allegation of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression; absence renders the notice invalid.
An issuing authority may invoke Section 74 only where the show cause notice expressly alleges fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of material facts. A subsequent penal notice issued by the same officer after prior adjudication under the general liability provision is jurisdictionally impermissible if those specific allegations are absent; any further proceedings must meet the statutory preconditions and follow prescribed procedure. (AI Summary)

Destination-based taxation: opaque IGST settlement reduces consumption-state revenues and prompts calls for transparency and enhanced audit rights.
Kerala receives disproportionately low apportioned IGST despite being a consumption-heavy state because implementation failures in the GST system-delayed and opaque central reconciliation, supplier misreporting of buyer details, lack of recipient-side validation for B2C and non-filer institutions, and limited state audit powers-prevent the proper attribution of IGST to the destination state, causing fiscal leakage and undermining the destination-based taxation principle. (AI Summary)