Cash receipt restrictions require non-cash payment methods and impose equal-amount penalties, possibly deterring voluntary disclosure.
Sections 269SS, 269ST and 269T mandate non-cash modes for acceptance, receipt and repayment of specified sums (including advances relating to immovable property) and permit limited exemptions; section 271D imposes a penalty equal to the amount accepted in contravention of section 269SS. The article argues that the strict penalty and mode restrictions may discourage truthful disclosure and unintentionally sustain black-money circulation, suggesting legislative modification to incentivise disclosure while enabling the tax administration to trace and tax counterparties. (AI Summary)

Supply between distinct persons may render head office employee services taxable to branches, prompting GST Council clarification.
The article analyses an appellate ruling treating head office employee services to registered branches as a supply between distinct persons, arguing that employment contracts identify the employee as the supplier and that such employment services are substantively excluded from GST. It further contends that cross charging common head office costs cannot substitute for ISD registration where statutory conditions for input tax credit allocation are unmet, and urges policymaker clarification. (AI Summary)

GST implementation challenges prompt procedural simplification and potential threshold increase ahead of elections.
GST implementation faces technical and procedural failures that have produced deadline extensions, divergent State advance rulings, e-way bill litigation and taxpayer compliance burdens. Recommended operational reforms include a single unified return, consolidation of Advance Ruling authorities, rationalisation of rate slabs, and raising the registration threshold to relieve small taxpayers. Political pressures may prompt near-term taxpayer friendly measures with structural fixes to follow; successful implementation will require transparent policymaking and an administrative shift toward facilitation alongside enforcement. (AI Summary)

Restriction on cash receipts: penalty waived only when demonstrable good and sufficient reasons justify the breach.
Restriction on cash receipts prohibits receiving large cash amounts except by specified banking instruments; a penalty equal to the receipt amount applies for contravention unless the person proves good and sufficient reasons. Judicial principles treating recorded transactions, known identity of parties, absence of malafide intent, and bona fide belief as reasonable cause inform what may qualify as sufficient reasons. Because the statute does not define those reasons, administrative discretion, compliance burdens, and business disruption follow, prompting calls for guidance and temporary relaxation. (AI Summary)

GST return reconciliation: ensure outward supplies and eligible input tax credit are accurately reported, reconciled and paid timely.
Ensure comprehensive GST compliance through systematic GST return reconciliation and disciplined reporting of outward supplies and tax liabilities, aligning GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B with books, verifying HSN and rates, reconciling IGST on imports with ICEGATE, generating e-way bills where applicable, and maintaining proper transport documents. (AI Summary)

Minimum Alternate Tax should be discontinued due to constitutional concerns and changed economic and tax-policy conditions.
Section 115JB (Minimum Alternate Tax) should be discontinued because treating book profits or capital receipts as taxable income exceeds constitutional taxing power, creates presumptions against taxpayers, and operates without uniform accounting standards; additionally, policy changes-tax on distributed dividends, lower depreciation rates, removal of incentives, reduced exemptions, and low dividend distribution by most companies-erode the original justification for MAT and warrant its repeal. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit for motor vehicles should be allowed when used in furtherance of business and for taxable supplies.
The core contention is that input tax credit should be allowed for motor vehicles used in furtherance of business and in making taxable supplies because cars operate as semi durable capital goods consumed in producing taxable supplies; denial lacks intelligible differentiation given similar treatment of other capital goods and routine credit for dealer purchases, while counterarguments emphasize abuse risk, alternative relief via depreciation, and the difficulty of allocating credits in professional services. (AI Summary)

External commercial borrowing rules clarified: eligibility, permitted lenders, maturity, end uses, security, and reporting obligations apply.
The regulations set a framework for cross border borrowing and lending with a general prohibition subject to Reserve Bank permission, distinguish borrowing and lending in foreign exchange and in Indian rupees, and prescribe detailed rules for External Commercial Borrowings including eligible borrowers and lenders, currencies and instruments, minimum maturities, permitted spreads, permitted end uses, security and guarantee conditions, reporting and loan registration procedures, hedging requirements, per entity limits and automatic versus approval routes. (AI Summary)

Cash transaction limits: persistent cash loans without reasonable cause result in confirmed penalties and fact-specific review.
Persistent acceptance and repayment of loans in cash beyond statutory limits, unsupported by any business exigency or reasonable cause and often unrecorded in books, justified imposition of penalties; the High Court affirmed that deliberate non compliance cannot excuse penalty except in exceptional cases, and that penalty determinations are fact specific so co ordinate bench precedents do not bind when facts differ. (AI Summary)

GST rate changes and procedural reliefs adjusted; returns, ITC and refund processes clarified to ease compliance burdens.
The Council recommended operative changes to GST rates and exemptions for specified goods and services, procedural reliefs including extensions for filing annual and other returns, waiver of late fees for specified past periods, introduction of a revised monthly return system, and clarifications on classification and scope (including treatment of EPC contracts for renewable energy, RCM adjustments, ITC time-limits, and refund procedures). It also proposed governance measures to study revenue trends and referred specific tax policy issues to committees. (AI Summary)

GST rate rationalisation announced, reducing highest slab and introducing simplified returns and composition schemes for select sectors.
Announcements include GST rate rationalisation transferring numerous consumer items to lower slabs while limiting items at or above the intermediate rate; the Council also proposed a centralized Advance Ruling authority with binding decisions for conflicting views, piloted refund and return systems, deadline extensions and fee waivers, input tax credit allowance for prior fiscal invoices up to the cutoff, and development of composition schemes for small service providers and real estate, with MSME threshold review deferred to the next meeting. (AI Summary)

Empanelment of Advocates sets eligibility, selection and fee structure for Board representation and counsel engagement.
The Guidelines establish two panels of advocates-senior and junior-with minimum years of practice and specified disqualifications; selection is by an Empanelment Committee assessing experience, specialization in insolvency, conduct and integrity, and may involve Bar verifications. Engagements include use of government law officers when necessary. Terms set fee categories, outstation allowances and procedural obligations; empanelled advocates undergo six monthly performance review and face suspension or removal for misconduct, conflicts of interest, non compliance or misappropriation. Termination requires notice and return of case records, with post-termination remedies preserved. (AI Summary)

Taxability of ancillary supplies: inpatient medicines and food as composite healthcare supplies treated as exempt, outpatient pharmacy sales taxable.
Medicines, consumables, implants and dietary food supplied to in-patients as part of supervised diagnosis or treatment are integral to the treatment and constitute a composite supply whose essential character is health care services and are exempt; by contrast, pharmacy sales to out-patients are treated as separate taxable supplies unless the bundle with consultation is naturally bundled with healthcare as its dominant element. (AI Summary)

TDS on property transfer threshold applies per transferee; no deduction where each purchaser's share falls below the statutory threshold.
The obligation to deduct tax at source on transfer of immovable property is determined with reference to each transferee as a separate income-tax person; if the consideration attributable to each transferee does not exceed the statutory threshold, no deduction is required for each transferee's individual share, irrespective of the aggregate consideration paid by all purchasers. (AI Summary)

Delegation of powers for company conversion may conflict with mandatory Tribunal approval, raising legal uncertainty about validity.
A government notification delegates to Regional Directors powers to approve conversions from public to private companies to advance ease of doing business, but a statutory proviso conditions any such conversion on approval of the Tribunal, raising a legal tension about whether administrative delegation can displace the Tribunal approval requirement or whether further legislative or procedural steps are necessary. (AI Summary)

GST compliance alerts: data mismatches and input tax credit anomalies can trigger administrative scrutiny and enquiries.
Triggers for GST enquiries include substantial carry forward or lapsed input tax credit claims, incorrect transitional credit entries, major changes in discount or accounting policies, sudden supplier changes or business closures, extensive related party transfers and potential fictitious billing. Authorities use data analytics and electronic records-reconciliation of audited financial statements with GST returns, detection of mismatches across returns, linkage of invoices with e way bills, and auditor discrepancies-to identify irregularities and prompt further scrutiny, with anti profiteering non compliance and adverse compliance ratings as additional triggers. (AI Summary)

Country-by-country reporting requires international groups to file per-country financial and constituent details within prescribed procedures.
Mandatory country-by-country reporting requires the parent entity or designated alternate reporting entity of an international group to furnish an annual report to the Director General (Risk Assessment) in Form No. 3CEAD presenting per-country aggregates of revenue, pre-tax profit or loss, tax paid and accrued, stated capital, accumulated earnings, employee numbers and tangible assets, plus constituent-entity details and business activities; filing rules, designation procedures, notice and document production powers, exemption by consolidated revenue threshold, foreign currency conversion method and electronic filing responsibilities are prescribed. (AI Summary)

GST relief measures propose rate rationalisation and procedural simplifications to ease compliance for small taxpayers.
Proposals urge GST Council to reduce and rationalise rates, clarify taxability of widely consumed items, improve GSTN functioning, simplify export and refund procedures, and remove fees for advance rulings. For small taxpayers and MSMEs the recommendations include easier registration and surrender, fewer returns, cash or quarterly tax payments, suspension of TDS/TCS and RCM withholding, expansion of the composition scheme, increase of the aggregate turnover threshold, higher GST audit threshold, exemption from duplicate audits, consolidated repetitive billing, no GST on advances or inter company transfers, broader input tax credit, reduced interest, penalty immunity for procedural lapses, simpler e way bill scope, and incentives for compliant MSMEs. (AI Summary)

Composite supply treated as works contract, attracting service-rate GST on turnkey solar plant contracts under GST.
AAAR decisions characterised contracts for setting up and operating solar photovoltaic plants as works contracts and, where applicable, as composite supplies combining goods and services. Because Schedule II treats works contracts as supply of services, these contractual arrangements are to be taxed under the service-rate provisions of the IGST/CGST/SGST framework. Questions on concessional rates for standalone parts and entitlement of sub-contractors were left open due to absence of supporting documents. (AI Summary)

Non passing of input tax credit found profiteering under GST, triggering refund and administrative penalty proceedings.
The supplier imported goods after GST subsumed erstwhile countervailing duties into IGST and was eligible for ITC on IGST, yet maintained the pre GST base price (which included CVD) and charged IGST on that unchanged base; DGAP found the taxable value should have been reduced to reflect the non payment of CVD and availability of ITC, resulting in a quantifiable failure to pass on the benefit to the buyer. (AI Summary)