Transaction suspicion cannot rest solely on retrospective GST registration cancellation; material must show invalid registration at transaction time.
A transaction cannot be treated as suspect solely because the counterparty's GST registration was cancelled retrospectively; retrospective cancellation does not prove absence of valid registration on the transaction date. Material must establish invalid registration at the relevant time, and evidence like bank payment challans can support genuineness. Administrative orders must be speaking and authorities must afford personal hearing and fresh consideration rather than rely only on retrospective cancellation. (AI Summary)

Interest on delayed refunds: statutory period runs from receipt of application, deficiencies cannot extend it.
A refund sanctioning authority cannot extend the statutory limitation for paying interest on delayed refunds by treating claim deficiencies as restarting the three month period; the statutory period runs from receipt of the refund application and administrative post submission queries do not, in themselves, suspend or reset that timeline, so orders rejecting interest claims on that basis are unlawful. (AI Summary)

Withdrawal of appeal may require appellate approval after acknowledgment; refiling allowed within statutory time limits.
Rule 109C permits withdrawal of appeals before the first appellate authority by filing the prescribed withdrawal form; withdrawals made prior to final acknowledgment take effect without appellate approval, while withdrawals after final acknowledgment require the appellate authority's approval to be decided within seven days. Any fresh appeal following withdrawal must be filed within the statutory time limits. (AI Summary)

GST rate changes: exemptions, reclassifications and reverse-charge adjustments altering tax treatment of supplies and services.
Amendments effective 1 January 2023 clarify that renting a residential dwelling to a registered proprietor is exempt where the proprietor rents in personal capacity for his own residence on his own account; they reclassify and exempt husk of pulses and related concentrates, reduce the rate on ethyl alcohol supplied for blending with motor spirit including to refineries, add Mentha arvensis to supplies attractable to reverse charge from unregistered suppliers, reclassify carbonated fruit beverages and pencil sharpeners into higher rate categories, and align toll annuity access with existing toll exemptions. (AI Summary)

Chewing tobacco classification: Raula Gundi treated as chewing tobacco, attracting GST at highest rate and compensation cess.
The authority determined that Raula Gundi is a manufactured chewable product whose predominant ingredient is tobacco (about fifty percent) and therefore is classifiable as chewing tobacco. As such it falls within the tariff description for other manufactured tobacco and is subject to the goods rate notification applicable to chewing tobacco and to the compensation cess schedule for chewing tobacco without lime tube, applying the relevant GST and compensation cess consequences set out in those notifications. (AI Summary)

GST registration cancellation: directions from head office without reasons cannot justify suspension or cancellation under law
Cancellation or suspension of GST registration cannot rest solely on undisclosed head office directions or on a show cause notice that fails to specify particulars of alleged fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression; such steps entail serious consequences and require reasoned, particularised allegations and genuine application of mind rather than mechanical action. (AI Summary)

Submission of certified copy clarified: portal upload or self-certified copy determines acknowledgement and filing date.
Amendment to Rule 108(3) provides that if the decision or speaking order is uploaded on the common portal, a final acknowledgement in FORM GST APL-02 will be issued and the provisional acknowledgement date is the date of filing; if not uploaded, the appellant must submit a self-certified copy within seven days of online filing, and late submission makes the submission date the date of filing. The term "certified order" is clarified to permit self-certified copies, and supporting documents may be uploaded with summary orders. (AI Summary)

FSSAI licensing categorises food businesses by scale and operation, defining registration versus licence obligations for compliance.
FSSAI licensing categorises food businesses by scale and operation and distinguishes Registration from licence regimes. Basic registration covers the smallest enterprises; state licences apply to mid sized businesses with specified hotel, meat, poultry and processing capacities; central licences cover large, multi branch, import export or export oriented operators, large hotels, central government caterers and higher meat, poultry and processing capacities. (AI Summary)

GSTR-2A entries can trigger income tax demands due to inter-department data sharing and auto-populated mismatches.
Entries appearing in GSTR-2A but absent from a taxpayer's purchase records can prompt allegations of suppression of turnover and lead to income tax scrutiny via inter-departmental data sharing. Auto-populated GSTR-2A data and mismatches with GSTR-3B may generate parallel GST and income tax demands. Professional certificates or denials that do not dispute the factual presence of transactions in GSTR-2A are unlikely to avert income tax action, and uncrystallised GST demands may nevertheless precipitate income tax proceedings. (AI Summary)

Reimbursement of GST burden: contractors with pre-GST contracts may claim additional tax from contracting authority.
The court recognised that where a government procurement policy provides for reimbursement of additional GST liability on contracts awarded before GST commencement, contractors may submit a fresh, evidence-backed claim of the additional tax incurred; the contracting authority must scrutinise the claim and decide within the prescribed short timeframe. (AI Summary)

Pre-operative expenditure deduction: nexus to the new business permits set-off against other income subject to factual remand.
The tribunal observed that the assessing officer and first appellate authority failed to examine the nexus between the expenditures and the new business or decide whether the company had set up and was ready to commence business; it remitted the matter to the assessing officer to determine, on the evidence, whether interval-period expenditures were incurred in connection with the new business and, if so, to treat those expenditures as allowable revenue deductions to be set off against other income. (AI Summary)

Rectification of mistakes: expanded deemed mistake rules allow tax authorities to amend assessments after specified events.
Section 154 authorises income tax authorities to rectify "mistakes apparent from the record" by amending orders and intimations, with procedural safeguards where liability is increased; time limits apply. Section 155 lists specific subsequent events that are to be treated as such mistakes, setting distinct limitation periods measured from those events and enabling AOs to recompute income or amend assessments accordingly. The Finance Act amendment expanding treatment of surcharge and cess disallowance is noted as an instance permitting recomputation without reopening assessment. (AI Summary)

Reconciliation of outward supplies triggers portal intimation requiring payment or explanation with interest within seven days.
Amendments clarify Electronic Cash Ledger updates where bank debits occur without Challan Identification Number communication, permitting use of RBI e-Scrolls when details match portal challans, and require Form GST PMT-07 representation to banks. A new Rule 88C mandates portal intimation via Form GST DRC-01B when tax reported in outward-supply filings exceeds GSTR-3B by Council-prescribed thresholds, obliging the registered person to pay the differential with interest through Form GST DRC-03 or explain the variance within seven days, failing which recovery procedures apply. (AI Summary)

Natural justice breach: lack of hearing where portal access was unavailable led to remand for fresh opportunity to be heard.
The court found that uploading notices on the common portal is a valid mode of service under the CGST Act but, where GST registration was cancelled and the petitioner could not access the portal, absence of a personal opportunity to reply violated principles of natural justice; the order confirming excess Input Tax Credit was set aside and remitted for fresh consideration after affording an opportunity to be heard, the impugned order to operate as a show cause communication and the petitioner directed to file a reply within a prescribed short period. (AI Summary)

Ex parte orders violating natural justice require reconsideration and fresh adjudication on merits after adequate hearing.
The assessing officer's orders were ex parte and breached the principle of natural justice for failing to give adequate time and opportunity to the taxpayer. Consequently, the orders were set aside and the matter remitted for fresh adjudication: the assessing authority is required to provide proper notice, allow the taxpayer to be heard, and decide the assessment on merits. (AI Summary)

GSTR-2A vs GSTR-3B mismatch relief enables certification-based reconciliation to resolve ITC disputes under the circular.
CBIC Circular 183/15/2022-GST provides a procedural dispensation for resolving GSTR-2A vs GSTR-3B mismatches by categorising cases into admitted-and-paid, ongoing assessments/audits/enforcements, and appeals. It lists typical mismatch causes and exclusions, and sets a four-step mechanism: confirm ITC eligibility, require supplier certification (with CA/CMA certificate and UDIN where per-supplier annual mismatch exceeds a threshold), accept supplier certificate for smaller mismatches, and notify ranges when supplier GSTIN is incorrect to verify non-availment of ITC. (AI Summary)

Classification of consultant versus workman depends on documentary proof of engagement and not mere absence of attendance records.
The High Court found the petitioner produced documentary evidence indicating a consultancy relationship, including records of consultation fee payments acknowledged by the respondent, and held the respondent failed to establish prima facie that he was appointed as a workman; the High Court set aside the Labour Court's award and rejected adverse inference drawn from non-production of attendance and payment registers. (AI Summary)

Delay condonation: one-day delay in filing appeal condoned and appeal remanded for merits consideration promptly.
The High Court held that rejecting an appeal solely for a one-day delay is hyper-technical and that the authority vested to condone delay must be exercised; the one-day delay was condoned because loss of GST registration would affect the assessee's right to livelihood, the impugned order was set aside, and the appeal was remitted to be decided on its merits. (AI Summary)

HSN classification in tenders must be clarified to protect level playing field and permit mandamus where public duty exists.
Apex Court held that courts may issue a Writ of Mandamus to enforce a public duty to ensure clarity on HSN classification and GST treatment in tenders to preserve a level playing field. Bidders bear responsibility for quoting correct HSN and GST rates, but tender terms permitting deduction under the Reverse Charge Mechanism allow authorities to deduct and remit actual tax where bidders under-quote. To protect tax compliance, contract award documents should be forwarded to the jurisdictional tax officer. The appeal was allowed. (AI Summary)

Assessable value exclusion for separately invoiced transport charges affirmed; transport not added when sale is at factory gate.
Rule 5 of the Valuation Rules read with Section 4 fixes the place of removal at the manufacturer's premises; therefore, when goods are sold at the factory gate and the seller transports them using its own vehicles, separately invoiced transportation charges are not includible in the assessable value of excisable goods, and administrative circulars cannot displace the statutory valuation framework. (AI Summary)