Input Tax Credit option: a dealer's election for refund cannot be converted into carry forward by the revenue.
Where a dealer elects between refund or carrying forward transitional Input Tax Credit, the choice is the dealer's and cannot be compelled to be switched by the revenue; a processed refund application evidenced by a provisional refund order in FORM P confirms the dealer's election and precludes requiring carry forward of the ITC. (AI Summary)

Classification of expenditure: Interior renovations in rented premises treated as revenue where no permanent asset or right arises.
Expenditure is capital if it creates an enduring asset or right; it is revenue if it is integral to carrying on business without creating a fixed asset. Interior works in rented premises (painting, plaster of Paris, labour) do not produce a permanent asset or right and thus constitute revenue expenditure. Even where lease duration is long and benefits endure, the advantage is to business operation rather than a capital transaction. GST treatment and input tax credit/refund considerations may be governed by GST principles and administrative practice. (AI Summary)

Natural justice breach: cancellation of tax registration requires stated reasons and opportunity to be heard.
A show cause notice proposing cancellation of a GST registration that omits reasons for alleging wrongful availment or utilization of input tax credit breaches the principles of natural justice. Administrative cancellation based on grounds not communicated in the notice, without a reasonable opportunity to be heard and without a reasoned speaking order, fails procedural fairness; authorities must state specific grounds, afford hearing, and record reasons addressing the merits before affecting registration. (AI Summary)

Telegraph infrastructure notice requirement: prior portal notice and licensee coordination required before excavation, with liability for damage.
The Rules require prior notice via a common portal before digging or excavation likely to affect telegraph infrastructure; notice must include identity, contact, timing, location and description. The licensee must promptly provide details of any infrastructure on or along the property and offer precautionary measures, which the excavator must follow. If the licensee fails to respond in the prescribed time, the excavator may proceed. Liability for damage attaches to persons who cause harm, with damage charges based on restoration expenses. (AI Summary)

Ex parte assessment: Supreme Court found omissions not malicious and expunged adverse departmental remarks and orders.
The Supreme Court held that omissions in service and lack of an alternate registered address at the time of assessment could not be treated as deliberate or malicious; it expunged the High Court's adverse remarks and set aside directions for costs and departmental action, allowing the appeal while recognizing the High Court's findings on defective service and the need to reprocess the registration change and refund adjusted amounts. (AI Summary)

Affiliation services as supply of service taxable under GST, not covered by exemption for admission or examination services.
Affiliation provided by a university to constituent colleges for enabling those colleges to conduct courses is characterized as a Supply of Service and attracts GST; affiliation or accreditation services that authorize institutions to provide courses do not fall within the exemption for services relating to admission or conduct of entrance examinations under the Services Exemption Notification. (AI Summary)

Input Tax Credit on bus rental permitted where CGST Act eligibility and apportionment conditions are satisfied
A bus operator leasing buses from a provider who charges GST at the higher rate may avail input tax credit on the rent bills, but entitlement is governed by the ITC provisions of the CGST Act and subject to conditions such as possession and reporting of tax invoices, receipt of services, absence of statutory blocking or apportionment restrictions, and compliance with payment and return filing requirements; the services rate notification does not independently confer ITC rights. (AI Summary)

Online locker agreement: enable digital execution and stamp duty payment to avoid unnecessary branch visits and customer burden.
Banks must implement Board approved policies under the RBI's revised safe deposit locker instructions effective January 1, 2022, and ensure agreement execution and documentation consistent with KYC and standard terms. The article objects to branches requiring customers to procure stamp paper in the bank's name, explains customers should provide stamp papers in their own name or the bank should procure any stamp paper in the bank's name, and advocates online agreement execution, online stamp duty payment, and use of authorised representatives to avoid unnecessary branch visits. (AI Summary)

Customs broker liability reversed where no evidence linked broker to undervaluation causing confiscation.
The Tribunal held that Section 114 penalises persons whose acts or omissions render goods liable to confiscation, but the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations impose compliance duties without prescribing confiscation or penalty consequences; because there was no material showing the broker fixed or declared the export value or abetted undervaluation, penalty under Section 114 could not be sustained and the broker's appeal was allowed. (AI Summary)

Involuntary tax deposits during searches lack statutory acknowledgement and must be treated as coerced, subject to return.
Payments made during ongoing searches without issuance of the required notice and acknowledgement in Form GST DRC-04 are involuntary and do not constitute voluntary self-assessment under Sections 73(5) or 74(5) of the CGST Act; such payments, accepted in breach of Rule 142(1A) and Rule 142(2) of the CGST Rules, should be returned with applicable interest. (AI Summary)

Global minimum tax provisions advance coordinated rules and DST removal to stabilise international tax allocation for multinationals.
Consultations under Pillar One address allocation and simplified pricing of marketing and distribution arrangements, completion of Amount B, and draft Multilateral Convention provisions seeking removal and standstill of Digital Services Taxes and similar measures. Under Pillar Two, the Inclusive Framework is issuing an implementation package for the GloBE rules to ensure multinational enterprises pay at least a minimum effective tax rate in each jurisdiction, accompanied by rolling administrative guidance and continued work on the subject-to-tax rule and related multilateral instrument. (AI Summary)

Service tax on cancelled property bookings is refundable when the booking is cancelled and consideration is returned.
Taxability requires an actual service; where a flat booking is cancelled and the advance consideration (including tax collected) is returned, the service contract is terminated, no taxable service has been performed, and the tax paid in relation to that cancelled transaction is refundable as it constitutes a deposit rather than a legitimate tax liability. (AI Summary)

Composite supply classification of railway welding with labour results in application of general construction services GST rate.
The AAR found onsite flash butt welding of railway tracks with supplied labour does not constitute a works contract (no transfer of property) nor qualify as job work (treatment is on immovable railway infrastructure). The interconnected tasks and labour are naturally bundled and therefore constitute a Composite Supply, with the principal supply being general construction services of civil engineering works, classifiable under the construction services tariff in the Services Rate Notification. (AI Summary)

Reporting of interest income now requires disclosure of any credited interest per account, expanding SFT obligations accordingly.
The Annexure A remarks have been amended to require reporting of all accounts where any interest exceeds zero in the financial year, excluding Jan Dhan accounts, thereby abolishing the prior cumulative threshold; procedural guidance on aggregation by account type, assignment for joint accounts, reporting for minors, and treatment of previously exempt interest remains applicable. (AI Summary)

Power to issue notifications shapes GST implementation, including retrospective rulemaking and parliamentary scrutiny of rules.
The Act authorises the executive to make rules and notifications to carry out GST provisions, including granting retrospective effect from the Act's commencement and prescribing penalties; the Board can make consistent regulations. Such delegated instruments must be laid before Parliament for scrutiny and possible modification. Advance rulings have clarified notification applicability-testing exemptions, refund rules for inverted credit, residential-rental exclusion, and reverse-charge scope-showing notifications are central to operationalising GST rights and obligations. (AI Summary)

Denial of natural justice in faceless tax assessments can justify direct constitutional remedy to obtain hearing rights.
Faceless assessment proceedings that close the E Portal without affording requests for adjournment or for a video conferencing hearing raise a denial of natural justice. Taxpayers should upload grievances to the Faceless Assessment Centre portal and send submissions by alternate means if the portal is inaccessible, preserve the record, and pursue the statutory appeal ordinarily; however, failure to provide the hearing envisaged by Section 144B may permit a direct constitutional challenge under Article 226 against assessments, demands and penalty actions taken after denial of opportunity to be heard. (AI Summary)

GST exemption for educational examination services denied to sub-contractors when supplied through a main contractor; strict notification reading required.
GST exemption for services relating to admission or conduct of examinations is available only where services are supplied to an Educational Institution; a sub-contractor providing pre- and post-examination services to a main contractor (who supplies to the Educational Institution) does not qualify for the exemption because the notification must be strictly read and the beneficiary condition is not met. (AI Summary)

GST on training services: non qualification coaching classified as commercial training, not eligible for educational exemption.
GST exemption under Sl. No. 66 of the Services Exemption Notification applies only if the supplier qualifies as an educational institution as defined in Para 2(clause (y)); training or coaching that neither grants a legally recognised qualification nor forms part of an approved vocational education course is classifiable as commercial training under Heading 9992 (SAC 999293) and does not meet the exemption condition, requiring GST to be charged. (AI Summary)

Margin scheme: GST payable on the margin between sale and purchase price, with specific ITC and reporting obligations.
The margin scheme requires GST to be paid on the difference between selling and purchase price, treated as nil when negative; losses cannot be set off against other margins. Eligibility requires regular dealing in used goods, no major processing, and no ITC claimed on purchased goods sold under the scheme. Purchases from registered suppliers attract tax but no ITC may be claimed if margin scheme is used. Margin-scheme supplies must not have taxable invoices issued, are reported as outward taxable supplies in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B with taxable value equal to the margin, and e-way and e-invoice rules apply as per thresholds. (AI Summary)

Refundability of compensation cess: nil-cess domestic supplies are excluded from adjusted turnover when computing cess ITC refunds.
Domestic supplies of finished goods that attract a nil rate of compensation cess are to be treated as exempt supplies under the CGST definition applied mutatis mutandis to the Cess Act, and must be excluded from the adjusted total turnover under the refund formula in the CGST Rules when computing refund of unutilized compensation cess input tax credit for zero-rated supplies. (AI Summary)