Going concern transfers under GST clarify non taxable treatment and define RP registration, ITC and return obligations during insolvency.
Transfers qualifying as a going concern are not treated as taxable supplies under GST where transfer of business continuity, assets, liabilities and operations is demonstrated. Insolvency Professionals' services and other professionals engaged during CIRP are taxable under GST, and the RP must comply with GST obligations during CIRP. CBIC notification and circular treat the IRP/RP as a distinct person for registration, allow new registrations, permit ITC on invoices bearing the erstwhile GSTIN for supplies between appointment and registration, and confirm that pre CIRP dues constitute operational debt under IBC. (AI Summary)

Supplier disclosure requirement limits ITC where invoices are not uploaded; obtain supplier declarations or CA certification to support claims.
The article provides practical guidance for claiming input tax credit when supplier invoices are missing from a buyer's auto populated returns, explaining that rule 36(4) conditions credit on supplier disclosure in GSTR 1 and that circular guidance limits its retrospective application. It recommends obtaining supplier declarations or CA certifications of tax payment, treating supplier GSTR 1 disclosure (even if late or corrected) as compliance, and adopting contractual and vendor management measures to mitigate mismatches between GSTR 1, GSTR 2A/2B and buyers' GSTR 3B claims. (AI Summary)

Verification of identity and compliance mandates Aadhaar and PAN validation for importers and exporters, enabling suspension of benefits on non-compliance.
The Regulations operationalise verification under section 99B by requiring newly engaging importers, exporters and customs brokers to submit prescribed incorporation, tax and financial documents and to undergo Aadhaar authentication and PAN verification on the Common Portal, permitting specified alternative identity documents where Aadhaar authentication cannot be completed, and providing for physical verification, automated capture of outcomes, time-bound reporting, suspension and restoration or denial of specified import/export benefits, hearing rights and appeal, and penalties for non-compliance. (AI Summary)

Amalgamation and acquisition distinctions determine regulatory treatment and structural consequences in corporate restructuring.
The document explains that amalgamation denotes legal transfer of assets and liabilities and membership rights to a transferee, while an acquisition involves one entity gaining control with the acquired company sometimes remaining separate. Domestic M&A are governed by company law and takeovers by securities regulation; cross-border deals trigger international tax considerations. M&A can occur de jure by consolidation or de facto by share-control acquisition, and include merger types such as horizontal, vertical, conglomerate, congeneric and reverse mergers, each with distinct structural and regulatory implications. (AI Summary)

Immunity from penalty requires an assessment demand and payment; without payable tax and interest, penalty should not be imposed.
The note contends that the statutory immunity mechanism requires a demand for tax and interest in the assessment order and payment within the specified period; where an assessment results in no tax or interest payable, the assessee cannot satisfy the payment condition and thus cannot seek immunity, and accordingly the levy of penalty under section 270A should be conditioned on the existence of such a payable demand so that the integrated penalty immunity scheme functions coherently. (AI Summary)

Goodwill classification as depreciable asset affected by amendment excluding goodwill from depreciation, altering tax treatment.
The Supreme Court treated goodwill as an intangible business or commercial right eligible for depreciation when acquired (for example on amalgamation), and tribunals have required factual verification of such claims rather than automatic disallowance. Administrative objections have included non revision of returns and assertions that goodwill is a mere accounting balancing figure. Subsequent finance legislation prospectively excludes goodwill from the class of intangible assets eligible for depreciation, changing the tax treatment going forward. (AI Summary)

FCRA registration criteria require demonstrable past spending and governance safeguards, determining eligibility to receive foreign contributions.
Associations defined as organizations with an office in India must meet specified existence and expenditure thresholds to obtain registration; unregistered persons require prior permission for specific donor, amount and purpose. Applications and renewals are submitted online with prescribed forms, Darpan ID, certified incorporation documents, three years of audited accounts, affidavits, and fees. Registered entities must use a designated FCRA Account, maintain separate records for foreign contributions for six years, notify changes within fifteen days, renew before expiry, and file electronic annual returns or NIL returns. (AI Summary)

Mandatory e-invoicing extended and QR code penalty waivers extended, tightening GST invoice compliance and reporting.
Operational compliance changes tighten invoice reporting: mandatory e-invoicing thresholds and revised HSN/SAC obligations for taxpayers above turnover thresholds, with an extended waiver of monetary penalty for non-compliance with the Dynamic QR Code requirement on B2C invoices. Guidance under the QRMP scheme addresses filing and deletion or submission of IFF records prior to quarterly GSTR-1 filing. Administrative measures include an online recovery module for legacy arrears under section 142(8) and continued deferral of GST details in the tax audit report. (AI Summary)

Jurisdictional thresholds for consumer complaints determine national adjudication, procedures, remedies and enforcement consequences.
The National Commission adjudicates high-value consumer complaints and appeals, conducts sittings and may establish regional benches, and is composed of a President and members. Complaints must be filed in prescribed form with supporting documents and fee, normally within two years, and admissibility is decided within twenty-one days or deemed admitted. The Commission may refer disputes to mediation, direct testing of goods via sealed samples sent to recognized laboratories with timelines for reports, decide on affidavit and documentary evidence, and aims for expedited disposal with limited adjournments. It has civil-court powers, can order remedies including repair, replacement, refund, compensation (including punitive damages), corrective advertising, collective relief measures, and enforces orders as civil decrees with penal sanctions for noncompliance and rights of appeal. (AI Summary)

Advance ruling application requirements: noncompliance with prescribed form and fee heads results in non admission; cure and refile.
An applicant for an Advance Ruling must file FORM GST ARA 01 on the common portal and pay the prescribed fees under the correct central and corresponding state heads; failure to use the prescribed form or to pay the correct fees has led authorities to treat such applications as not admitted and reject them at the threshold, leaving applicants to either seek writ relief or cure defects and refile. (AI Summary)

GST expenditure reporting under tax audit clause may cause reconciliation problems and lacks relevance to income computation, advocate omission.
Clause 44 requires a break-up of total expenditure across GST-related supplier categories, including registered, unregistered, exempt, composition and other registered entities, and covers amounts beyond P&L charges such as capitalised and amortised costs and supplies under reverse charge. This scope complicates reconciliation with GST returns and audited accounts and does not materially affect computation of taxable income under the Income-tax Act, creating risk of administrative confusion and unnecessary compliance burden; omission of the clause is therefore recommended. (AI Summary)

Agricultural produce exemption denied for port handling of imported pulses when primary market lies outside domestic territory.
Exemption for services relating to agricultural produce is confined to activities up to the domestic primary market; loading and unloading of imported yellow peas at the port are not eligible for exemption under Sl. No. 54(e) because the consignment's primary market and harvest origin were abroad and services beyond the primary market are excluded. (AI Summary)

Provisional attachment expanded: broader power to provisionally freeze bank accounts after initiation of GST enforcement proceedings.
The Finance Act, 2021 expands provisional attachment under Section 83(1) to permit provisional attachment of any property, including bank accounts, upon initiation of proceedings under Chapters XII, XIV or XV, replacing the prior narrower trigger tied to pendency of specific sections. It also adds persons covered by Section 122(1A) - beneficiaries of specified transactions - as liable to provisional attachment, thereby widening enforcement reach to third party recipients of allegedly evasive transactions. (AI Summary)

Priority of government dues overrides TDS deduction, affecting liquidator income tax filing obligations during liquidation.
The dispute concerns whether tax deduction at source on sale of a corporate debtor's assets and the Income Tax Act's filing obligations for liquidators conflict with the insolvency waterfall. IBBI liquidation regulations do not require profit and loss statements or income tax returns during liquidation. The appellate analysis resolved inconsistency by treating the insolvency priority provision as overriding the tax deduction mechanism and observed that no duty is imposed on the liquidator to file income tax returns for claiming TDS refunds. (AI Summary)

Capital treatment of ULIP receipts: surplus on maturity treated as capital gain, allowing cost and indexation.
ULIP maturity or surrender proceeds where a small portion funds life cover and the balance represents invested units should be treated as capital gains. Assessing officers must take the realised amount on maturity as sale consideration and allow deduction of the cost of the units (including indexation where applicable) when computing capital gains, rather than treating the entire receipt as ordinary income and denying invested amounts. (AI Summary)

Input Tax Credit reconciliation: choose between dynamic invoice-date records and static filing-date statements to avoid mismatched claims.
The note explains how rule 36(4) and the automated matching framework affect availment of Input Tax Credit, contrasting Form GSTR-2A (dynamic, invoice-date based) with Form GSTR-2B (static, filing-date based), and outlines practical compliance implications: GSTR-2B's filing-date cutoff can delay visibility of invoices and hinder credit claims, while GSTR-2A better reflects invoice timing but does not guarantee supplier tax payment. It recommends taxpayer-specific reconciliation strategies and warns against mechanical application of buffer percentages to GSTR-2B figures. (AI Summary)

Overcrowding standards: revise per person cubic space requirements to reduce infection risk and support work from home needs.
Overcrowding and inadequate cubic space per person in homes, offices and factories create health risks; existing overcrowding regulation uses per person cubic measurement and ceiling height rules but was designed for workplace safety rather than infection control. COVID era distancing and work from home practices necessitate upward revision of space standards, redistribution of excess institutional space, and further study to incorporate air quality and infectious disease considerations into occupational and residential space rules. (AI Summary)

E-invoice requirement now mandatory for specified turnover thresholds, with HSN reporting and GSTR-1 linkage required.
From 1 April 2021, issuance of E-Invoice is mandatory for registered persons exceeding the prescribed aggregate turnover threshold, with e-invoicing linked to Form GSTR-1 reporting. Mandatory quoting of HSN/SAC codes on invoices is required according to turnover-linked digit thresholds and must be reported in GSTR-1 Table 12; incorrect or missing HSN/SAC may attract a statutory penalty. Aggregate turnover is computed on an all India basis including taxable, exempt, export and inter State supplies, excluding GST components and reverse charge inward supplies. Timelines are prescribed for opting into the Composition Scheme, claiming refunds within the statutory period, and filing annual returns, with GSTR-9 now allowed on a self certification basis and the audited reconciliation requirement removed. (AI Summary)

HSN code compliance tightened - businesses must update invoicing amid customs tariff and GST rate notification mismatches.
From 01.04.2021 taxpayers must report HSN on invoices at increased digit precision tied to turnover, creating new compliance burdens. Because GST rate notifications frequently differ in wording and digit specificity from the Customs Tariff, taxpayers face classification uncertainty-notably where GST entries omit terms (such as "parts") present in the customs descriptions-leading to resorting to residual GST entries or conflicting import assessments. The author urges administrative alignment of GST rate schedules with Customs Tariff or temporary relaxation to allow practicable compliance and system updates. (AI Summary)

Extension of limitation protects transitional credit claims and urges reversal of retrospective restriction and SLP withdrawal.
The Supreme Court extended limitation periods during the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting claims for transitional credit under GST. The Finance Act, 2020 introduced a retrospective restriction on the time limit for claiming transitional credit; the CBIC implemented that restriction on 18.5.2020 and the Government filed a Special Leave Petition which obtained a stay against High Court rulings that had allowed a longer filing period. The author urges the CBIC to amend the retrospective implementation date and withdraw the SLP to honor the Supreme Court's directions and restore taxpayers' access to transitional credit relief. (AI Summary)