Cancellation of GST registration: procedural safeguards require hearing, suspension rules, and restrictions on input tax credit to prevent abuse
Section 29 authorises cancellation or suspension of GST registration for discontinuance, change in business constitution, loss of liability, or fraud, with the requirement that the proper officer afford an opportunity of being heard. Case law stresses that cancellation for non filing or non payment permits revival on compliance with filing, payment of tax, interest, and penalties, subject to restriction and departmental scrutiny of Input Tax Credit, and that procedural defects (ex parte service, non speaking orders) invalidate cancellation. (AI Summary)

E-invoicing requirement mandates standardized B2B invoice reporting to an IRP, integrating GST returns and e-way bill systems.
E-invoicing mandates electronic reporting of specified B2B invoices to an Invoice Registration Portal to obtain an Invoice Reference Number and QR code; invoices must conform to the prescribed schema and be uploaded (Form GST INV-01), after which the IRP transmits data to GST and e-way bill systems enabling auto-population of GSTR-1/GSTR-2A. Cancellation of IRNs is time-bound and amendments are made via GST returns, while specified exemptions apply. (AI Summary)

Faceless tax administration: CBDT notified automated faceless schemes, e assessment, Aadhaar fee changes and new ITR forms.
Central notifications implement an integrated faceless tax administration framework: the Faceless Jurisdiction Scheme vests powers for automated allocation and faceless exercise of assessment, appeal, penalty, verification, settlement and advance ruling functions, supported by the e Assessment of income escaping assessment and Faceless Inquiry or Valuation schemes. Concurrent rule amendments impose Aadhaar intimation fees and extend pandemic era timeline relief; a notification narrows collection at source application to exclude certain visiting non residents. New substituted ITR forms (ITR 1/SAHAJ, ITR 2, ITR 3, ITR 4, ITR 5, ITR 6, ITR 7 and ITR V) are also notified effective 01.04.2022. (AI Summary)

Denied Entity List: refusal of trade licences for noncompliance with export obligations and prescribed denial grounds.
The Director-General of Foreign Trade may place entities on the Denied Entity List and refuse issuance or renewal of fiscal-benefit licences where specified denial grounds are met, including false applications, breaches of customs or foreign exchange law, failure to fulfil export obligations, non-payment of penalties, corrupt procurement, ineligibility under policy, missing documents, unauthorised signatories, or wrongful claims of export incentives. The procedure involves a demand notice, potential abeyance for a limited written period, referral for enforcement, and removal only after compliance evidenced by fulfilling demands or payment, followed by a speaking order recording reasons. (AI Summary)

TDS on virtual digital asset transfers requires payers to withhold tax, with exemptions for small or specified payers.
Amendments revise withholding on immovable property by applying tax on the higher of consideration or stamp duty value for non agricultural property subject to a threshold; clarify that landlord withholding under higher rate rules is capped by last month's rent. New Section 194R requires withholding on benefits or perquisites arising from business or profession, with payer obligations where benefits are in kind and limited exclusions for small recipients and small taxpayers; the Board may issue binding guidelines. New Section 194S requires withholding on consideration for transfer of virtual digital assets, addresses in kind settlements, defines specified person exemptions, and permits Board guidelines. (AI Summary)

Scope of appeal under Section 15Z limited to questions of law; Supreme Court defers to SAT on factual findings.
The Supreme Court under Section 15Z confines appellate review to questions of law, deferring to the SAT on factual findings and inferences. In MEGA Corporation the Court held that allegations of price manipulation, misleading advertisements, and account inflation involved factual assessments properly within the SAT's domain and did not raise maintainable questions of law. Claims that denial of cross examination breached natural justice were treated as academic where the record showed reasonable opportunity and no legal error in procedure. (AI Summary)

Double interest collection under GST: simultaneous interest from supplier and receiver may unjustly enrich revenue and require adjustment.
The substituted section 41 requires reversal of availed input tax credit with applicable interest when a supplier fails to pay tax, permitting re-availment once the supplier pays; section 50(3) ties receiver interest liability to utilisation of that credit while section 50(1) obliges the supplier to pay interest for delayed tax. These rules can result in both supplier and receiver paying compensatory interest on the same tax amount, raising concerns of unjust enrichment and potential need for adjustment or refund of overlapping interest collections. (AI Summary)

GST amendments revise registration, composition eligibility and rates, and clarify e invoicing threshold correction for building materials
The Finance Act, 2022 and notifications revise GST treatment for specified bricks, blocks and roofing tiles: they amend CGST/IGST/UTGST provisions, exempt certain supplies from registration, disqualify manufacturers of those goods from the composition scheme, transfer the tariff items to a higher central tax rate schedule, and grant a conditional intrastate central tax exemption subject to input tax credit non claim or reversal under section 17(2) and applicable rules; e invoicing threshold referenced in the article is corrected as a typographical error. (AI Summary)

Penalty framework for non fraudulent GST shortpayment: notice, interest, and conditions for waiver of penalty upon timely payment.
Determination under Section 73 covers tax not paid, short paid, erroneously refunded, or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised for reasons other than fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts. The proper officer must serve a show cause notice requiring payment of tax, interest under section 50 and applicable penalty, with the notice issued at least three months prior to the three year limitation for issuance of the adjudication order. Voluntary pre notice payment of tax and interest, or payment within thirty days of a show cause notice, limits or eliminates penalty as prescribed, and follow on statements on identical grounds are deemed notices. (AI Summary)

MSE Facilitation jurisdiction: registration timing and territorial presence determine Council competence over payment disputes.
Section 15 mandates timely payment and accelerated interest for delay; Section 18 enables reference to the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council for conciliation and arbitration, subject to territorial limits. The council's jurisdiction requires the supplier to be located within its territorial area and hinges on the supplier's registration under the Act at the time disputes arise; if a party is outside India or registration post-dates the contract, the Act's dispute-resolution regime will not necessarily apply. (AI Summary)

Electronic Cash Ledger requirement enforces portal deposits and automated debit procedures for customs payments and refunds.
The Regulations implement Section 51A by requiring maintenance of an electronic cash ledger on the customs portal, defining its form and fields, authorised deposit modes and challan procedures, unique identifiers for credits/debits, auto debit for payment challans where consent and sufficient balance exist, and refund mechanics via Form ECL 5 with temporary blocking of applied amounts and bank credit to the registered account. Banks must generate Challan Identification Numbers and persons must report ledger discrepancies on the portal. (AI Summary)

Officer accountability: require precise, reasoned GST notices to prevent arbitrary cancellations and administrative harassment.
GST officers issue vague show-cause notices and cancellation orders without identifying statutory provisions or specific transactions, impose short response timelines and coercive personal appearances, and issue orders that do not analyze or rebut assessees' replies. This absence of reasoned decision-making and supervisory accountability enables oral threats, extortion risks, blocked credits, and repetitive arbitrary enforcement, while courts may restore registration but officers rarely face disciplinary consequences. (AI Summary)

Reconciliation of financial data should precede scrutiny or reassessment to prevent unnecessary taxpayer harassment.
Tax authorities relying on third party datasets should seek reconciliations of discrepant figures-arising from differences in composition, timing, valuation or reporting conventions-by requesting focused documentary explanations from taxpayers; only if reconciliation is unsatisfactory should limited scrutiny or reassessment procedures be considered. (AI Summary)

Transferee liability under Provident Fund law requires resolution applicants to discharge outstanding employee provident fund dues despite plan allocations.
A transferee liability under Section 17B of the Provident Fund Act makes a resolution applicant jointly and severally liable for employer PF contributions due up to transfer; the NCLAT held this statutory obligation must be satisfied even if an approved resolution plan allocates lesser amounts, directed the successful resolution applicant to pay the shortfall, and modified the resolution plan accordingly. (AI Summary)

Input Tax Credit reconciliation: match ITC with returns and reverse ineligible credits with interest to maintain GST compliance.
Reconcile Input Tax Credit recorded in books with amounts reported in GSTR 3B and auto populated in GSTR 2A/2B, follow up with suppliers for missing reporting, identify and reverse ineligible ITC including credits relating to payments not made within the statutory time threshold and purchases from composition suppliers, reverse such credits with interest and re avail once properly paid; ensure parallel reconciliation of outward supplies, taxes paid, e invoices, e way bills and ledger balances to support year end GST disclosures and filings. (AI Summary)

Resolution plan binding under insolvency law prevents tax and regulatory proceedings during the moratorium period.
An Adjudicating Authority's approval of a resolution plan under section 31 renders the plan binding on the corporate debtor and stakeholders, including Central Government tax departments; the moratorium under section 14 bars institution or continuation of suits or proceedings against the corporate debtor during the CIRP, preventing tax or regulatory authorities from challenging the approved resolution plan, and appeals filed during moratorium may be dismissed with liberty to refile after moratorium or by authorized representatives with prior permission. (AI Summary)

Blocking of electronic credit ledger lacks statutory authority; recorded reasons and prompt remedial hearing required, provisional ITC allowed.
Blocking of an Electronic Credit Ledger under Rule 86A must be predicated on recorded reasons to believe and followed by a post-decisional remedial hearing, preferably within two weeks; absent a notified statutory provision imposing recipient liability for supplier default, blocking a recipient's credit ledger for the supplier's non-payment lacks present statutory authority, and recipients may provisionally claim input tax credit on the basis of legitimate invoices pending system-based matching and statutory enactment. (AI Summary)

Proper officer designation under GST determines who issues and adjudicates show cause notices and allocates jurisdictional authority.
Recovery of unpaid GST requires issuance and adjudication of show cause notices and orders by the designated proper officer. The proper officer is the Commissioner or a central tax officer assigned by the Commissioner; the Board has delegated issuance and adjudication functions with monetary jurisdictional limits to officers of various ranks. Audit and intelligence officers may issue show cause notices but such notices are generally adjudicated by the competent executive commissionerate where the noticee is registered; cross-commissionerate and multi-notice cases are allocated to specified adjudicating officers or may be referred for appointment of a common adjudicating authority. (AI Summary)

GST registration for liquidator: registration should be facilitated and proper officer may register despite delayed application.
When an insolvency professional becomes IRP/RP or liquidator, they are treated as a distinct person and must obtain fresh GST registration where the corporate debtor's assets are to be sold on a stand alone basis. A notification prescribes time limits for such registration but the proper officer has discretion to register applicants despite delay and may impose penalties under GST provisions. Minor procedural defects or delayed application should not ipso facto bar registration if the liquidator furnishes appointment proof and necessary particulars. (AI Summary)

Anti-money laundering obligations require rigorous KYC, risk-based controls and mandatory suspicious transaction reporting by regulated entities.
Regulated entities must implement anti-money laundering measures under the PMLA and RBI Master Directions, including Customer Acceptance and Identification Policies, Customer Due Diligence with risk-based customer categorisation and periodic KYC updation, enhanced procedures for PEPs and specified simplified norms, mandatory reporting of Cash and Suspicious Transaction Reports to the Financial Intelligence Unit, retention of transaction records, documented ML/TF risk assessments, Board approved Risk Based Approach controls, recognition of V CIP for identification, and prescribed penalties for non-compliance. (AI Summary)