Supply definition broadened to treat clubs and members as separate persons, making club-member services taxable retrospectively.
The amendment expands the definition of supply to include activities or transactions between a person (other than an individual) and its members or constituents for consideration and deems the person and its members to be separate persons, expressly overriding other laws and precedents; Paragraph 7 of Schedule II is omitted. These changes, made retrospective to July 1, 2017, bring supplies by clubs and associations to members within the GST ambit and negate the mutuality principle that previously excluded such transactions from tax. (AI Summary)

Unlisted equity shares reporting should be required only when holdings affect taxable income or loss.
Reporting of unlisted equity shares should be required only where holdings affect taxable income or loss; current rules force reporting of any holding at any time during the previous year, with mandatory fields (company details, PAN, opening/closing balances, acquisition and sale particulars) that are often unavailable for long held, delisted, suspended or struck off companies, creating validation failures and unnecessary compliance burden. (AI Summary)

Scrutiny under Section 61 requires precise GSTR 9/9C reconciliation, correct ITC reporting and supporting explanations to avoid demands.
Scrutiny under Section 61 subjects GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C to verification and potential auto-generated demands; taxpayers must reconcile return figures to source returns and documents, report only financial year figures per Instruction 2A, ensure Table 8D (8A-8B-8C) aligns with GSTR 2A and GSTR 3B, pay admitted taxes reflected in Table 15G, and attach explanations and reconciliations in GSTR 9C for disputed or timing differences to avoid automatic demands. (AI Summary)

Captive consumer exemption from additional surcharge affirmed; distribution licensees directed to refund and adjust past collections
Captive consumers who generate electricity for their own use have a statutory right of open access and do not require State Commission permission; therefore the additional surcharge under section 42(4), levied when permission is granted to consumers sourcing supply outside the area distribution licensee, is not applicable to captive users. The decision requires distribution licensees to refund surcharge amounts collected from captive consumers, with refunds permitted to be adjusted against future wheeling charge bills. (AI Summary)

Provisional attachment of property expanded to cover assessment, inspection and recovery proceedings, enabling Commissioner to attach assets to protect revenue.
Provisional attachment has been broadened so that after initiation of proceedings relating to assessment, inspection/search/seizure, or demands and recovery, the Commissioner may provisionally attach any property, including bank accounts, of the taxable person or persons who retain benefits of or instigate the offence, and such attachment remains effective until one year from the date of the attachment order. (AI Summary)

Aadhaar authentication mandatory for GST refunds, revocation filings and export IGST refund claims, requiring authorised signatory verification.
Aadhaar authentication under Rule 10B is mandatory for filing applications for revocation of cancellation (FORM GST REG 21), refund applications (FORM RFD 01), and refund of integrated tax on exported goods; authentication must be of an authorised signatory appropriate to the taxpayer's legal form. If the relevant person lacks an Aadhaar number, an Aadhaar Enrolment ID slip plus a specified identity document may be furnished and full authentication must occur within thirty days of Aadhaar allotment. Amendments to Rules 10B, 23(1), 89(1) and 96(1)(c) implement this requirement, and refund bank accounts must be in the registered person's name linked to their PAN. (AI Summary)

GST on restaurant services through e-commerce now makes operators directly liable to pay tax and prohibits use of input tax credit.
E-commerce operators are made liable to pay GST on restaurant services supplied through their platforms; they must pay this tax in cash without using input tax credit, will not collect tax at source for these services, and need not take a separate registration if already registered. Suppliers must include such supplies in aggregate turnover, and these supplies are not to be recorded as inward supplies or reverse-charge liabilities for the operator. Operators will issue invoices for restaurant services and report them in returns as outward taxable supplies. (AI Summary)

Adjudicating Authority power to determine professional fees preserved; registered valuer's claim to be decided as CIRP cost.
Adjudicating Authority has jurisdiction to determine amounts payable to professionals engaged in a CIRP because regulatory definitions treat professional remuneration as part of insolvency resolution process cost. Even where CIRP admission is later set aside or remitted, the Adjudicating Authority may quantify and decide claims of a registered valuer incurred while discharging functions in the CIRP; the existence of a disciplinary grievance mechanism against insolvency professionals does not oust that jurisdiction. The case was remitted for fresh determination of the valuer's claim. (AI Summary)

Form GSTR-3B classification as not a return affirmed; earlier rectification comments regarded as obiter in recent rulings.
Form GSTR-3B is not a return under Section 39 of the CGST Act, with the Supreme Court distinguishing that finding from prior Bharti Airtel observations which concerned disallowance of unilateral rectification of electronically filed GSTR-3B returns; those prior observations addressed rectification mechanics and were not a constitutional challenge to the amendment to Rule 61(5), and are therefore characterised as obiter in assessing the legal status of GSTR-3B. (AI Summary)

GST procedural updates expand anti profiteering tenure and amend demand/intimation procedures, altering compliance and portal functionalities for taxpayers.
Administrative and enforcement changes under GST include extension of the National Anti profiteering Authority's tenure to five years and amendments to Form GST DRC 03 broadening grounds for notices and intimations (including scrutiny, intimation via FORM GST DRC 01A and specific mismatch categories) and adjusting response timelines. Concurrent portal and GSTN enhancements add registration and suspension features, extend EVC to companies, modify refund undertakings to allow ledger re credits, enable appeals for interest on delayed refunds, and improve rectification and instalment payment workflows, thereby affecting taxpayer compliance and remedial options. (AI Summary)

LLP compliance: conversion, naming and ROC filing obligations clarified; Form 8 filing relief extended for late submissions.
Conversion into an LLP requires compliance with the LLP Act and specific ROC filings: partnership conversions via Form 17 with Form 2, company conversions (private/unlisted) via Form 18 with Form 2; LLP names must end with Limited Liability Partnership or LLP; charge filings are voluntary via Appendix to e Form 8; LLPs maintain a uniform financial year ending 31 March and must file Form 11, Form 8 and DIR 3 KYC as recurring statutory obligations; HUFs cannot be partners or designated partners; governance is by the LLP Act and Rules. (AI Summary)

Discharge certificate issuance under SVLDR Scheme required where payment extinguishes legacy tax liabilities, enabling formal closure.
Where an assessee has paid under the SVLDR Scheme and no tax dues remain, the court addressed the Revenue Department's duty to formally record settlement by issuing the Discharge Certificate in FORM SVLDRS-4; the Revenue's affidavit confirmed extinguishment of disputed liabilities and the certificate was to be issued manually or electronically within a specified timeframe. (AI Summary)

e-Settlement Scheme enables electronic, confidential proceedings and videoconferencing for pending income-tax settlement applications before an interim board.
The notification establishes the e-Settlement Scheme, 2021 allowing an interim board to decide specified pending income-tax settlement applications transferred to it; such applications deemed valid will be treated as pending and not withdrawable. Proceedings are to be conducted exclusively by electronic communication, not open to the public, with attendance limited to applicants, authorised representatives, and relevant officers unless permitted otherwise. The Board will provide videoconferencing facilities, pleadings may be in Hindi or English, and the interim board may publish orders or redacted rulings at its discretion. (AI Summary)

IEPFA claim settlement simplification: procedural requirements relaxed to expedite refunds to shareholders and company transmission procedures flexibilised.
The MCA issued the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Second Amendment Rules, 2021, to simplify and accelerate refunds of unclaimed shares, dividends and other amounts under the Companies Act, 2013. Key claimant reliefs include waiver of Advance Receipt, replacement of notarisation with self attestation, eased affidavits and surety requirements, and relaxation of Succession Certificate/Probate/Will requirements up to a monetary threshold for physical and demat shares. Companies gain eased documentation for Unclaimed Suspense Accounts, flexibility to accept transmission documents per internal procedures, and an advertisement waiver for lost share certificates up to a threshold. (AI Summary)

Prosecution for tax offences: statutory provisions impose imprisonment and fines for willful evasion, false statements, and defaults.
The Income tax Act provides criminal sanctions-imprisonment and fines-for a spectrum of offences: breaches of search and restraint orders, refusal to permit inspection of electronic or other records, fraudulent removal or concealment of property to frustrate recovery, failures by liquidators or receivers to notify or preserve assets, willful attempts to evade tax (including false entries, falsification, abetment and non filing or non production of returns and accounts), and defaults in tax collection and payment by withholding agents. Companies, responsible officers and the karta of an HUF can be held liable; limited immunity is available in connection with settlement applications. (AI Summary)

Production-linked incentive scheme for pharmaceuticals boosts domestic manufacturing and supports high-value drug production and global competitiveness.
A Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme creates a six-year incentive framework to boost domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing by rewarding incremental sales across three product categories-complex biopharmaceuticals and specialized formulations; active pharmaceutical ingredients and key starting materials (excluding those covered under an existing API scheme); and other therapeutic and diagnostic products not manufactured domestically-while grouping approved applicants, including MSMEs, under ministerially approved cohorts and implementing digital project management and a monitoring framework. (AI Summary)

MSME incentives expand credit, subsidies and procurement preferences to support technology adoption and liquidity relief.
The Ministry announced a package of MSME support measures including a tech upgradation capital subsidy for procurement of plant and machinery, subordinate debt, expanded collateral free loans and an equity infusion fund, along with procurement preferences, a champions portal, and faster clearance of government and PSU dues. (AI Summary)

Input Tax Credit availability limited to plant and machinery foundations; general works contract civil construction remains non-creditable.
ITC on works contract supplies is disallowed for construction of immovable property and other civil structures, but is permitted to the extent the supply pertains to erection of plant and machinery. Machine foundations, as part of plant and machinery fixed to earth by foundation or structural support, qualify for credit; buildings, other civil structures, and external pipelines do not. Where contractors supply both goods and services for construction, only the portion attributable to eligible plant and machinery foundation is creditable. (AI Summary)

Scrutiny of returns can trigger explanations, corrective filing, audits or determination proceedings when discrepancies remain unresolved.
Section 61 empowers the proper officer to scrutinize a registered person's GST return and related particulars to verify correctness, notify discrepancies and seek explanations within a prescribed period; if explanations are unacceptable or corrective measures are not taken, the officer may initiate audits, special audits, inspections or determine tax dues. Rule 99 sets the procedural framework and prescribes forms for notice, response and intimation when explanations are satisfactory. (AI Summary)

Supply of meeting contributions: member dues for meetings and admin expenses treated as taxable supply under GST.
Contributions recovered from club members for weekly meeting and petty administrative expenses amount to a supply under Section 7(1)(aa) of the CGST Act where the club and its members are distinct persons, and such activities fall within the scope of business under Section 2(17). The AAR, Maharashtra so held in IN RE: M/S. ROTARY CLUB OF MUMBAI ELEGANT, while noting that the Finance Act, 2021 amendment is retrospective but not yet notified and that tribunals have issued divergent rulings on taxability. (AI Summary)