Personal information exemption limits disclosure of private parties' tax-related data under RTI despite public interest claims.
Material supplied to the tax department about a private person's status, tax returns or declared sources of income is characteristically personal and falls within the class of information that a public authority need not disclose where disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy or harm a third party's competitive position, and the public interest override applies only where public interest outweighs the protected interest. (AI Summary)

Zero-rated supplies: SEZ relief limited to authorised operations; duty-paid export refunds restricted to notified cases, refunds linked to foreign remittance
The 2021 Budget amendments refine zero-rated supply rules by restricting SEZ zero-rating to supplies for authorised operations, allowing input tax credit for zero-rated supplies even if exempt (subject to CGST Act limits), permitting refund of unutilised ITC under bond/LUT with repayment and interest if export proceeds are not realised within FEMA timelines, and empowering the Government to notify classes of persons or goods/services that may export on payment of IGST and claim refunds. (AI Summary)

Interim Board for Settlement assumes functions of Settlement Commission for pending applications, altering procedures and timelines.
The Finance Bill amendments establish an Interim Board for Settlement to assume the Settlement Commission's powers for pending applications, validate certain pending applications, prohibit new applications, and provide transitional rules for allotment, transfer and withdrawal of pending applications. The Interim Board exercises procedural and substantive powers-including provisional attachment, inspection, and grant of immunity-with modified references and adjusted limitation periods; the Central Government may notify schemes and disapply provisions to facilitate efficient processing, and evidence produced before the Commission is generally protected from use in other proceedings. (AI Summary)

Employee contribution deduction: clarify crediting versus payment and avoid drafting that creates unintended retrospective effect.
The proposed Explanation declares that section 43B "shall not apply and shall be deemed never to have been applied" for determining the "due date" under clause (va) of section 36(1). The author contends this phrasing risks retrospective nullification of 43B from the inception of the relevant provisions, creating inconsistency with the explanatory note's stated prospective effect and recommends redrafting to preserve the distinction between book crediting (recognition of liability) and actual payment and to avoid unintended retrospective effect and litigation. (AI Summary)

Profiteering in supply: failure to pass on GST rate reduction requires price reduction and deposit of recovered excess with interest.
The authority found that the supplier, upon a statutory GST rate reduction, increased base prices so the tax-rate benefit was not passed to recipients, contravening Section 171 of the CGST Act; profiteering was calculated by comparing pre- and post-rate-change invoice base prices and included GST on inflated bases, and the supplier was directed to reduce prices and deposit the profiteered amount with interest into consumer welfare funds where recipients were not identifiable. (AI Summary)

Employee contribution deductibility challenged by proposed 'deemed never applied' clause, raising prospective application and constitutional concerns.
The proposed Explanation would exclude employee-derived sums for welfare funds from the deduction-timing rule by stating the rule "shall not apply and shall be deemed never to have been applied," creating retroactive ambiguity; the author urges deletion of that phrase, prospective application from the next accounting year, and clarification that employee contributions paid before return due dates remain deductible under the proviso, while noting definitional uncertainty whether payroll deductions are "sums received from employees" and warning of litigation and constitutional challenge. (AI Summary)

Composite supply classification: printing services predominate, goods ancillary when base material has no secondary use.
Where a printer supplies both printing service and base material that has no independent secondary use and the client retains exclusive usage-rights in the printed content, the printing activity is the predominant element of a composite supply and the base material is ancillary; guidance in Circular No. 11/11/2017-GST distinguishes items with no secondary use from those with secondary use for classification. (AI Summary)

Clubbing of entities to assess GST penal thresholds may permit aggregation of linked registrations to trigger arrest provisions.
Whether alleged tax evasion across multiple registrations operated by a common controller can be aggregated to trigger arrest provisions under the CGST Act; the High Court relied on material showing common control and a pattern of creating fictitious entities to treat multiple registrations as a unified fraudulent scheme for assessing the statutory threshold for penal prosecution, raising interpretive questions about the definition of person and the absence of an express legislative mechanism to club alleged violations across distinct legal entities. (AI Summary)

TDS on purchases introduced, obligating large buyers to deduct tax on high value goods transactions, with non filer penal rates.
The Finance Bill, 2021 adds sectoral and procedural amendments to TDS/TCS: dividend withholding exemptions extend to certain business trusts and notified persons; infrastructure debt funds are treated like infrastructure capital funds for interest withholding; Section 194P lets specified senior citizens have their specified bank compute and deduct tax on total income and exempts them from filing returns under the cited provision; Section 194Q imposes buyer side TDS on large buyers for high value goods purchases and deems suspense account credits as seller credit; Sections 206AB and 206CCA impose higher TDS/TCS on specified non filers, excluding nonresidents without permanent establishment. (AI Summary)

Mandatory cash contribution for ITC use limits ITC utilisation and raises cash liability, compliance and working capital pressure for taxpayers.
A new rule mandates a cash contribution when discharging output tax, capping electronic credit so ITC cannot fully discharge output liability for months where taxable supplies exceed the threshold, subject to narrowly drawn exemptions (income tax payments, prior refunds, cumulative cash discharge, exempted entities) and authority verification. Concurrent amendments limit provisional ITC claims for invoices not furnished by suppliers by reducing the permissible proportion and linking access to supplier filing of outward supply returns or invoice furnishing. (AI Summary)

Taxation of bitcoins: classification as investment or business governs income tax character and GST treatment on trading services.
Bitcoin taxation hinges on classification: in India bitcoins are not legal tender and are unlikely to be goods or securities for GST, so trading and intermediary activities are treated as services attracting GST (often proposed on margins). For income tax, gains may be capital gains if held as investments or business income if trading is substantial and frequent; character determines tax rates, holding period treatment, loss set off rules, and disclosure obligations in ITR 2/ITR 3. International regimes differ, with jurisdictions treating crypto as property, commodity, intangible asset, or offering holding period exemptions. (AI Summary)

Separate state registration for multiple business locations creates transitional gaps requiring clear credit transfer and operational rules.
The amendment to section 25(2) allowing separate registration for each place of business creates a transition gap: taxpayers who obtain a new place-specific registration while an existing single registration remains operative must manage closing stocks, works in progress, goods in transit and ongoing production without prescribed transitional rules. This absence leaves unresolved entitlement to input tax credit and allocation of operations between two distinct GST registrations, risking concurrent operation disputes and necessitating transitional provisions similar to those in section 18 for transfer of unutilised credit. (AI Summary)

GST amendment expands taxable supplies among related parties and tightens input tax credit with retrospective and compliance enhancements.
Budget and Finance Bill proposals focus on GST simplification and stricter compliance: a simplified return with pre fill and automated refunds; AI and data analytics for invoice and input tax credit matching; retrospective expansion of 'supply' to encompass transactions between non individuals and members; input tax credit entitlement conditional on supplier furnishing outward supply details; separation of seizure/confiscation proceedings; retrospective interest on net cash liability; expanded commissioner powers to call for information; and IGST limits on zero rating for SEZs. (AI Summary)

Concessional import duty compliance tightened with new reporting, job work controls and penalties by regulation.
The amendments insert definitions for capital goods, job work, manufacture and output service; impose information duties requiring importers to notify jurisdictional customs officers of importer/job worker details, intended processes, and to report receipt of imported goods within two days; mandate maintenance of detailed accounts and submission of a prescribed quarterly return with transactional and stock particulars; establish a job work procedure with challan control and a six month limit; authorize re export or clearance of unutilized or defective goods with duty differential and interest; allow clearance of used capital goods on depreciated value; and provide for recovery, bond invocation and a monetary penalty for contraventions. (AI Summary)

Credible evidence threshold for arrest: lack of material showing large ITC evasion led to bail with bond conditions.
The court evaluated whether there was credible material to form a reasonable belief of wrongful availing of input tax credit above the statutory threshold, finding no explanation for the department's aggregate figure and no proof that the supplier had filed returns for the period. Defects in the panchnama and lack of indicators that the accused was a fly-by-night operator undermined justification for arrest. Considering the accused's deposit and absence of immediate flight risk, the court directed release on bail subject to bond, surety, non-departure conditions and surrender of passport. (AI Summary)

QRMP scheme: quarterly GSTR-3B filing with monthly tax payment options and invoice furnishing facility.
The QRMP scheme allows eligible taxpayers (aggregate taxable turnover up to Rs. 5 crore) to file GSTR-3B quarterly while making monthly GST payments. Opt-in is available GSTIN-wise via the GST portal within a prescribed window and remains valid for subsequent quarters. Monthly payments are made by challan by the 25th of the succeeding month: in the first two months taxpayers may pay self-assessed tax or a prescribed percentage of the last quarter's net cash liability, and in the third month pay self-assessed tax or the balance. IFF enables furnishing outward supplies for the first two months between the 1st and 13th of the succeeding month. (AI Summary)

GSTR-9 annual return and GSTR-9C reconciliation obligations clarified, with thresholds and table-level optionality specified.
GSTR-9 is the annual return and GSTR-9C the reconciliation between the annual return and audited financial statements. For the financial year, existing statutory provisions remain operative until amendments are notified; administrative notifications previously adjusted filing thresholds making GSTR-9 optional for smaller taxpayers and raising the audit threshold for GSTR-9C. The article sets out a three-band applicability matrix (optional, mandatory, mandatory for increasing turnover bands) and details table-level mandatory and optional disclosures, including consolidated reporting options and specific reconciliation tables in GSTR-9C required to align turnover, taxable supplies, tax paid and ITC with audited accounts. (AI Summary)

Zero rated supplies refund: credit without tax payment allowed, with conditions and expanded enforcement powers clarified.
Amendments permit refund of unutilised input tax credit on zero rated supplies without payment of integrated tax under bond or Letter of Undertaking, subject to conditions; exporters must deposit refunds with interest if sale proceeds are not realised within the foreign exchange time limit. The definition of supply now treats transactions between a person (other than an individual) and its members as supplies between distinct persons. Input credit claims require supplier furnishing of outward supply invoice details. Provisional attachment powers and detention, release and penalty procedures have been expanded and timelines prescribed. (AI Summary)

Adjudicating Authority redesignation assigns forfeiture authority to handle benami adjudications and removes prior appointment rules.
The Finance Bill, 2021 designates an existing forfeiture authority as the Adjudicating Authority for the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act and omits sections 8-17 that previously governed composition, appointment, tenure, removal and staffing of the Adjudicating Authority. The Bill also inserts a limited extension for adjudication deadlines within a specified period and removes rulemaking entries that authorised regulations on appointment procedures and salaries of adjudicating members, thereby reallocating adjudicatory responsibility and narrowing certain rulemaking powers. (AI Summary)

Reasonable time for compliance in faceless tax proceedings must be allowed to avoid unnecessary documentary burdens.
Faceless tax proceedings must allow taxpayers reasonable time to respond and avoid requesting excessive or irrelevant documents-especially during COVID-19-by ensuring proper service, setting compliance dates that account for working days and holidays, narrowing questionnaires to genuinely disputed matters, and not requiring information already accessible to the tax authority. (AI Summary)