Product classification of foam cup pads as plastic articles, not textile accessories, leading to plastic-article tariff treatment.
The Authority found foam cup pads made of polyurethane foam are not classifiable under textile headings or as nylon insulating liners; polyurethane meets the tariff note definition of "plastics" and, in absence of a specific textile or nylon insulating entry, the pads are classifiable as other articles of plastics under the plastics chapter and allocated to the relevant HSN entry for other plastic articles. (AI Summary)

Input Tax Credit denial affirmed where supplier failed to remit tax, requiring all ITC eligibility conditions to be met.
Denial of Input Tax Credit arises where the supplier collects GST but fails to remit it to the Government; ITC availability requires concurrent satisfaction of tax invoice, receipt of goods or services, and payment of the tax charged to the Government. Documentary proof of payment to the supplier does not substitute for supplier's deposit of tax. If tax is later recovered from the supplier, the purchaser can seek refund, but immediate ITC cannot be sustained when supplier has not deposited the tax. (AI Summary)

GST compliance measures: new biometric Aadhaar registration, ITC reversal reporting rules, and filing deadline extensions affect taxpayers.
CBIC extended filing deadlines for specified GST returns in Manipur. GSTN issued advisories introducing pilot biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for registration applications with ARN generation only after biometric completion, and guidance on reporting ITC Reversal opening balance including eligibility, reporting and amendment cut-offs, limited amendment attempts, finalisation and transmission to jurisdictional officers. A consumer-facing "Mera Bill Mera Adhikaar" mobile app and portal were launched to incentivise invoice reporting, alongside published monthly GST collection figures indicating year-on-year growth and state-level variations. (AI Summary)

Cancellation of GST registration invalid where cancellation order lacks specified reasons, requiring fresh consideration and opportunity to respond.
A GST cancellation order based on an auto-generated Show Cause Notice that fails to state the factual and legal grounds for cancellation is unsustainable. The authority cannot rely solely on a registrant's alleged non-response or non-attendance without specifying the alleged statutory violations or demonstrating that a hearing notice was served. The cancellation was set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration, directing the registrant to file documents and the authority to issue a reasoned notice and afford an opportunity to be heard. (AI Summary)

Deposit of disputed GST demand before pursuing writ remedy; deposit triggers stay on the remaining demand.
When the Appellate Tribunal under GST is not constituted and a taxpayer seeks writ relief after an appeal was not admitted, the court directed the petitioner to deposit the entire disputed tax demand within fifteen days as a precondition for pursuing the writ; subject to such deposit, the remaining demand was ordered to be stayed and the matter was listed with a related petition. (AI Summary)

Change of registered office requires board and shareholder approvals, Regional Director and ROC filings and public notice.
A Change of Registered Office follows different statutory tracks depending on whether the move is inter-state, intra-city, between ROCs in the same state, or within the same ROC. Inter-state transfers require board and shareholder approvals, public advertisement, creditor and regulator notice, an application to the Regional Director with supporting documents, and subsequent filing of the Regional Director's confirmation and prescribed forms with the Registrar of Companies. Intra-city changes require a board resolution, submission of Form INC-22 with proof of premises entitlement and utility bills, and notification to affected stakeholders where applicable. (AI Summary)

Reassessment under sections 147/148 permitted where completed assessments lack incriminating material, subject to Section 148A procedure.
Where a search yields no incriminating material for assessment years that were completed or unabated, the Revenue lacks jurisdiction under Section 153A/153C to reopen those years but may initiate reassessment under Sections 147/148 subject to fulfillment of statutory conditions and procedural requirements including Section 148A; for pending/abated years revival under Section 153A(2) read with Section 153(8) applies and Assessing Officers must act to revive and complete such proceedings within prescribed timelines. (AI Summary)

Merchant banker registration and compliance obligations protect investor interests through infrastructure, fitness and disclosure requirements.
SEBI's Merchant Bankers Regulations classify merchant bankers, require corporate registration subject to infrastructure, personnel, professional qualifications, fitness and a prescribed net worth, and empower the Board to grant, refuse, suspend or condition registration. Registered merchant bankers must limit activities to the securities market, maintain specified books and records and due-diligence documentation, submit financial information as required, appoint a compliance officer, follow a Code of Conduct, disclose responsibilities and changes to the Board, and comply with underwriting, lead-manager and conflict-of-interest rules while being subject to inspection, dispute-resolution and enforcement measures. (AI Summary)

Provisional attachment power under GST vests with the Commissioner, not subordinate officers, invalidating lower-rank freezes.
Authority to provisionally attach property, including bank accounts, under Section 83 of the CGST Act vests exclusively with the Commissioner and is contingent on the Commissioner personally being satisfied that attachment is necessary to protect Government revenue; officers below Commissioner lack power to issue attachment orders. A Superintendent's directive freezing debits was invalid to the extent it effected an attachment, reflecting that Section 83's conditions and jurisdictional limits must be strictly observed. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit on foundations and structural support of plant and machinery permitted when used for taxable outward supplies.
ITC is available for GST paid on inward supplies used to construct foundations or structural supports of plant and machinery when those assets are used to make outward taxable supplies; the definition of plant and machinery expressly includes such foundation and structural support, and entitlement is subject to the eligibility and accounting conditions laid down in the GST law. (AI Summary)

Fair value determination of unquoted shares: valuation formula governs computation and bars retroactive use of amended rule.
Rule 11UA prescribes a formula to compute the fair market value of unquoted equity shares as (A+B+C+D - L) x (PV/PE), where A-D enumerate asset components (book value, jewellery/art works valuation, market value of shares/securities, stamp-duty value of immovable property), L lists excluded liabilities and tax adjustments, and PV/PE apportions the aggregate to per-share value; the substituted rule effective for assessment year 2018-19 cannot be retroactively applied to earlier years. (AI Summary)

Input Tax Credit denial when supplier fails to remit tax; recipients face eligibility limits unless supplier recovery avenues exist.
Denial of Input Tax Credit is justified where the supplier has failed to remit collected GST; ITC eligibility requires satisfying all statutory conditions together, including furnishing evidence of genuineness beyond tax invoices. While some authority and guidance direct recovery from the supplier first, courts diverge on whether recipients must ensure supplier remittance. The absence of a mechanism to verify supplier payment and the doctrine of impossibility make recipient cross checking burdensome, suggesting need for technical tracking to protect bona fide purchasers. (AI Summary)

Opportunity of personal hearing required: adjudicating authority must afford it before passing an adverse order, fresh notice directed.
Adjudicating authorities in GST proceedings must afford an opportunity of personal hearing before passing any adverse order; the petitioner need not request such hearing. The court set aside the impugned order, relied on prior decisions affirming principles of natural justice, and directed issuance of a fresh show cause notice with remand for reconsideration after providing the mandated hearing. (AI Summary)

Exclusion of school bus services from cab definition: transport of pupils to and from school not subject to service tax.
Motor vehicles rented for use by an educational body to transport pupils are excluded from the statutory meaning of cab under Section 65(20) of the Finance Act; therefore transportation of school children to and from school does not attract service tax as rent a cab, and the tribunal set aside the demand after relying on precedent exempting journeys organised for educational bodies. (AI Summary)

Corporate Identification Number ensures unique company identity and must appear on all statutory filings and ROC submissions.
Corporate Identification Number (CIN) is a 21-character alphanumeric identifier issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on incorporation to uniquely identify companies registered with the Registrar of Companies. The CIN encodes company attributes-listing status, industry classification, state of registration, year of incorporation, company category, and the ROC registration number-and must appear on all statutory documents and filings with the MCA/ROC. Companies obtain a CIN after completing incorporation requirements and verification by the MCA, using prerequisites such as a Digital Signature Certificate and a Director Identification Number. (AI Summary)

Stateless entities treated as notional jurisdictions under the global minimum tax, triggering stand-alone top-up tax calculations.
A Stateless Constituent Entity is an MNE constituent not treated as a tax resident nor recognised as producing taxable income by any jurisdiction. The GloBE Rules identify flow-through entities and certain permanent establishments that can produce stateless income. Article 5.1 treats each stateless entity as a single constituent entity in its own notional jurisdiction, requiring a stand-alone jurisdictional blending calculation and top-up tax determination; income allocated to stateless PEs under Article 3.4.3 is likewise treated as stateless income. Specific exclusions apply, including prohibition on de minimis elections and exclusion from Transitional CbCR Safe Harbour. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit conditioned on supplier remittance limits buyer entitlement, prompting enhanced due diligence and indemnities
The article analyses the legal effect of conditioning input tax credit on the supplier's payment of tax, highlighting a High Court ruling that denied ITC where the supplier failed to remit tax and treating ITC as a statutory benefit contingent on conjunctive conditions. It contrasts that ruling with other decisions protecting bona fide buyers, invokes the doctrine that law does not require the impossible, notes challenges to the supplier remittance condition, and recommends contractual and compliance measures to safeguard ITC entitlement. (AI Summary)

E-Credit Ledger validity affirmed: pre-deposit under GST may be made through electronic credit ledger per CBIC clarification.
The court held that a pre-deposit under GST can validly be made through the E-Credit Ledger, relying on the CBIC circular of July 6, 2022; it directed that an amount debited from the ECL to meet the pre-deposit be accepted by the revenue and set aside the appellate order rejecting the appeal. (AI Summary)

Classification of gaming laptops as automatic data processing machines rather than video game consoles based on free programmability and functionality.
Whether high-performance gaming laptops are to be classified as automatic data processing machines or as video game consoles turns on their technical characteristics and functionality: devices that are freely programmable and capable of general computing, internet access and user-installed programs qualify as automatic data processing machines, whereas plug-and-play devices with fixed programs intended solely for entertainment qualify as video game consoles. The gaming laptops at issue, despite gaming-focused marketing and software, retained free programmability and general-purpose computing capability and thus were classifiable as automatic data processing machines. (AI Summary)

Digitization of financial records to improve transparency and enable broader dematerialization access for shareholders.
Digitization of financial sector records is proposed to improve transparency by displaying company histories chronologically on public portals. Recommended operational reforms include permitting opening a Basic Services Demat Account with a depository different from the regular demat account and establishing mechanisms to resolve PAN and KYC mismatches. As an interim measure, SEBI-issued holding letters are proposed to represent physical-share claims pending dematerialization and to prevent freezing of holdings while enabling accurate KYC/PAN reconciliation. (AI Summary)