Extension of corporate insolvency timelines: statutory cap retained while COVID measures allow lockdown days exclusion.
The Code fixes a primary CIRP completion period of 180 days from commencement, with a single possible judicial extension not exceeding 90 days; any extension or Committee of Creditors' resolution is to be processed by the resolution professional. An outer limit of 330 days from the insolvency commencement date applies, inclusive of extensions and time in legal proceedings. Emergency measures and Regulation 40C permit exclusion of lockdown periods from CIRP timelines, and Adjudicating Authorities may exclude other justified periods or grant extensions where circumstances warrant. (AI Summary)

Dishonour of cheque: deemed service, nonmaterial alteration, and failure to rebut presumption sustain liability under negotiable instruments law.
High Court held that a demand notice delivered to the drawer's residential address and received by a family member constitutes deemed service; a minor overwriting in the cheque year is not a material alteration where the bank did not refuse payment; presentation of a post-dated cheque within the statutory period defeats a time-bar defence; non-compliance with Section 269SS of the Income Tax Act does not render a loan unenforceable; and the drawer failed to rebut the statutory presumption under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. (AI Summary)

Provisional release security: tribunal allowed a reduced bank guarantee where differential duty had been deposited, retaining some security.
Provisional release of confiscated goods requires provision of security even where the differential duty has been deposited; facts of each case must be considered, and some security is necessary to cover potential fines or recovery if the goods are provisionally released before adjudication, permitting adjustment of bank guarantee quantum. (AI Summary)

No GST on employer's collection of employees' canteen shares when remitted without supplying a service, but taxable for contractual workers.
Employer collections of employees' canteen shares remitted to a canteen service provider without profit do not amount to a taxable supply and attract no GST; collections from contractual workers are taxable as those workers fall outside the employer-employee relationship. Input tax credit is available for GST paid on canteen services provided to employees where the employer is legally obliged to provide the facility, but not for services to contractual workers where no such obligation or employment relationship exists. (AI Summary)

GST buoyancy drives revenue outlook as stable tax collections underpin growth while inflation and external risks persist.
Economic Survey 2023-24 links a return to pre pandemic growth to stronger services, rising private consumption and elevated capital expenditure, while emphasising GST buoyancy as a major stabiliser of Centre and State revenues; it warns that global inflationary shocks, monetary tightening and widening current account deficits pose downside risks, and notes that public capital spending and nascent private investment are central to sustaining demand. (AI Summary)

Priority of secured creditors affirmed: SARFAESI Act's registration-based priority prevails over MSMED Act recovery provisions.
The MSMED Act supplies a specialised mechanism for early payment, interest on delayed payments, and adjudication via Facilitation Councils with an overriding clause for Sections 15-23, but it does not create an express statutory priority over secured creditors. The SARFAESI Act contains a distinct enforcement code for security interests and, by Section 26E, an express registration-based priority for secured creditors. There is no repugnancy between the schemes; the SARFAESI Act's priority governs where a registered security interest exists, while MSMED remedies subsist as ordinary creditor claims. (AI Summary)

Project Implementing Agency tax invoice requirement: agencies must invoice departments on contract value despite no value addition.
Project Implementing Agencies acting for State departments must issue tax invoices to those departments on the contract value determined by the department. The Authority found two separate supplies exist: contractor to Applicant, and Applicant to department; the Applicant is a "recipient" under Section 2(93) and, despite acting as agent and despite direct transfer of property from contractor to department, must account for the supply to the department and invoice on the contract value. The transfer-of-property mechanics do not negate this obligation under the works-contract definition. (AI Summary)

Opportunity of personal hearing required before adverse GST orders; physical notice and reasonable chance to defend must be provided.
Personal hearing is mandatory where an adverse decision is contemplated in GST determination proceedings; an ex parte demand order issued after uploading a show-cause notice without physical service and without affording the assessee a reasonable opportunity to be heard was invalidated. The authority must serve physical notices in addition to portal communication, afford the assessee an opportunity to defend the case, and recommence proceedings from the stage they were left. (AI Summary)

Service tax exemption for clinical healthcare: hospitals' revenue-sharing with consultants not taxable as business support service.
When hospital-doctor arrangements constitute a revenue sharing model with shared responsibilities, the hospital does not provide a separate taxable service to doctors; absent expressly identified infrastructure services in the agreements, the hospital's retained share cannot be treated as consideration for business support services, and clinical establishments' health-care services remain within the statutory exemption under the Mega Exemption Notification. (AI Summary)

Appeal procedure under Income Tax Act: amended appellate jurisdiction and faceless disposal reshape first-appeal process.
The Finance Bill, 2023 amends first-appeal provisions under Chapter XX to delineate jurisdiction of the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) (limited to orders from assessing officers below Joint Commissioner) and the Commissioner (Appeals) (broader list under section 246A), prescribes administrative transfer mechanisms between appellate authorities with opportunity to be heard, authorizes a Central Government-notified faceless scheme to streamline disposal, sets limitation, exclusion and condonation rules, and codifies appeal procedure, fees and the Joint Commissioner's powers to confirm, reduce, enhance or annul assessments and vary penalties subject to giving reasonable opportunity to the appellant. (AI Summary)

Authentication by digital signature determines when the appeal period starts; unsigned GST orders lack legal effect.
An administrative order lacking the issuing officer's digital signature has no legal effect; consequently, the period to file an appeal begins only from the date the order is authenticated by the issuing authority, and an order dismissed as time-barred on the basis of an unsigned order may be quashed with directions to restore and decide the appeal on merits. (AI Summary)

Input Tax Credit denial: ITC unavailable when works contract services received for common benefit by membership organisations.
A co-operative housing society that limits its activities to bye law functions and collects common maintenance charges cannot claim Input Tax Credit on GST paid to a contractor for repairs, renovation and rehabilitation because it is not a provider of works contract services; the works contract received is for the common benefit of members and ITC is barred where such services are not used as input services for further works contract supplies. (AI Summary)

Rectification of GST returns allowed after statutory deadline; recipient permitted to claim ITC where business-to-business was misclassified.
Allowing post-deadline rectification of GST returns to enable claim of Input Tax Credit where invoices were misclassified as B2C instead of B2B; set aside departmental rejection and directed acceptance of corrected Form GSTR-1 with manual receipt and portal upload facilitation by respondents within a short period. (AI Summary)

Joint Commissioner (Appeals) introduction reshapes appellate jurisdiction and transfer mechanisms, raising procedural and drafting concerns.
The Finance Bill 2023 introduces a new authority in the rank of Joint Commissioner (Appeals) as a first appellate forum for specified orders by authorities below Joint Commissioner, alongside consequential substitutions across multiple sections to align functions and powers with Commissioner (Appeals). The Board may transfer pending appeals between Commissioner (Appeals) and Joint Commissioner (Appeals), the Central Government may notify a scheme to streamline disposal and reduce interface, and provisions preserve rehearing on transfer and analogous appellate powers for the Joint Commissioner. The author critiques the drafting complexity and proposes appointing additional Commissioners (Appeals) and using administrative policy to allocate small matters to junior officers. (AI Summary)

Composition levy expansion and ITC recovery changes reshape supplier eligibility and recipient repayment obligations under GST.
Proposed amendments broaden composition levy eligibility to include suppliers of goods via e commerce platforms, require recipients who fail to pay invoice value within the prescribed period to repay ITC availed with interest while permitting ITC once payment to the supplier is made, expand exempt supply valuation to include pre clearance transfers of warehoused goods, disallow ITC for goods or services used for CSR, set uniform maximum belated filing windows for several returns, include provisionally accepted ITC in provisional refunds, prescribe interest computation for delayed refunds, and introduce targeted penalties and decriminalisation measures. (AI Summary)

Ascertainment of default through Information Utility: make IU records conclusive and limit other evidence in CIRP admissions.
Proposed amendments would make Information Utility records the primary, and in limited cases conclusive, proof of occurrence of default for admitting CIRP applications; require operational creditors and corporate applicants to file financial information with IUs; mandate that corporate debtors be given a chance to authenticate or refute IU-submitted data with non-response treated as authentication; restrict Adjudicating Authority inquiry to IU records (except for genuine reasons) and narrow its role to satisfaction of default and procedural completeness for mandatory admission. (AI Summary)

Authentication of orders: appeal limitation runs from the date the issuing officer signs the order, not from unsigned issuance.
Rule 26 requires orders and notices under the CGST Rules to be issued electronically with a digital signature or other notified verification; an order lacking the prescribed authentication is ineffective in law for purposes of commencing the limitation period, and the time to file an appeal under Section 107(1) therefore begins from the date the issuing officer places the required signature or verification on the order. (AI Summary)

Blocked input tax credit on solar panels: ITC ineligible where panels supply exempt electrical energy and are plant and machinery.
ITC on goods and services used for installation of solar power panels is ineligible because the panels are treated as plant and machinery and the electrical energy they supply is an exempt good; accordingly, credit on capital goods used exclusively for exempt supplies must be restricted or reversed under the apportionment and capital goods reversal provisions, and reimbursements collected from tenants require assessment under the pure agent and valuation rules. (AI Summary)

Tax regime choice: comparative tax burden under old and proposed new regimes for salaried persons with deductions considered.
Illustrative comparisons compute total tax for salaried persons under the old and proposed new tax regimes across salary levels, assuming in the old regime a Rs.150,000 Chapter VIA deduction plus Rs.50,000 standard deduction and in the new regime only a Rs.50,000 standard deduction. Two worked examples for a Rs.1,200,000 salary-(1) claiming HRA, standard deduction and Chapter VIA deductions, and (2) claiming only HRA and standard deduction-show the differing taxable incomes and tax amounts under each regime, demonstrating that relative tax burden depends on the deductions and exemptions claimed. (AI Summary)

Customs duty rationalization reshapes BCD, AIDC and SWS incidence across sectors and clarifies procedural rules.
Customs duty structure is being rationalised with adjusted Basic Customs Duty, AIDC and SWS rates across multiple sectors; targeted increases and reductions are announced, exemptions and SWS reliefs are modified or rescinded, and many exemption notifications are extended pending review. Legislative amendments clarify exemption validity exceptions, prescribe a nine month disposal period for Settlement Commission applications, and amend countervailing, anti dumping and appeal provisions (retrospectively validated). The Customs Tariff schedules are revised and central excise changes include CNG/biogas excise relief and revised cigarette cesses. (AI Summary)