Transfer of land development rights as a supply of service may trigger GST liabilities on owners and subsequent transactions.
Treatment of land development rights under GST is disputed: one view treats their transfer as a supply of service (licence to occupy) creating GST liability on the land owner and subsequent tax events on construction and resale; the alternative view treats the arrangement as outside GST as an eventual transfer of land under Schedule III, noting historical non-taxation and raising valuation and consideration allocation issues if treated as a service. (AI Summary)

Recordkeeping obligations clarify place-specific and electronic maintenance, and empower commissioner to require or permit additional records.
Registered taxpayers must keep and maintain accounts and other records, with records for each specified place of business retained at that place. Electronic maintenance is permitted but not mandatory; electronic records must follow prescribed safeguards including backup, preservability, authenticated production, and disclosure of files and passwords. The Commissioner may notify classes of taxpayers to maintain additional accounts or documents and may, for reasons recorded in writing, permit classes to maintain records in an alternative prescribed manner when standard compliance is impracticable. (AI Summary)

GST audit procedures require statutory, departmental and special audits with prescribed notices, reports and potential tax proceedings.
The CGST Act defines Audit as examination of records to verify turnover, taxes, refunds and input tax credit. Annual accounts audit by a Chartered Accountant or Cost Accountant is mandated under section 35(5) with filing on Form GSTR-9C. Departmental audits under section 65 require notice on Form GST ADT-01, completion within prescribed timelines and communication of findings on Form GST ADT-02, potentially leading to proceedings under sections 73 or 74. Special audits under section 66 may be ordered with Commissioner's approval, require a nominated auditor's report within a set period, and are funded by the Commissioner. (AI Summary)

GST liability on resale of developer transferred flats: landowners must register and pay tax, claimable credits may apply.
Where a builder transfers under construction flats to a land owner under a joint development agreement, a subsequent sale by the land owner is an independent taxable supply; the land owner must register for GST and pay tax on his sale, although he may claim input tax credit on developer invoices. The provision treats construction for sale as supply irrespective of whether the transferor is the original service provider, subject to the exception where full consideration is received only after completion or first occupation. (AI Summary)

Return simplification: propose a combined, simplified GST return with GSTIN level matching to reduce compliance burden.
Proposes a structured long term design for GST returns emphasising a single, simplified filing process and alignment of payment and return frequency. Recommends operational fixes for GSTR 3B (single screen UI, "Sign and Submit", net liability preview, negative value entry, revision facility, differential due dates, and taxpayer choice in ledger cross utilisation) and redesigns for GSTR 1/GSTR 2 (comprehensive offline tool, GSTIN level matching, removal of non value data, consolidation of tables, combined/quarterly returns with reconciliation, relaxed HSN and invoice level requirements, and improved import data integration). (AI Summary)

Place of supply: renting immovable property in India can attract IGST and require registration or designated payer.
Where renting of immovable property is involved, the place of supply is the location of the property; thus, even when both supplier and recipient are located outside India, a transaction concerning immovable property situated in India can be treated as taxable. This may be achieved by construing the supply as an import of service or by applying Section 13 liberally, invoking Section 7(4) or the residual clause in Section 7(5)(c), and by requiring registration or designation of a person in India to discharge IGST liability, notwithstanding administrative and legal tensions that arise. (AI Summary)

Provisional assessment: allows provisional tax payment with bond and security, followed by final assessment and interest adjustments.
Multiple assessment routes in GST include self assessment by registered persons and provisional assessment where a taxpayer unable to determine value may seek provisional tax determination on execution of a bond and security; a provisional order is issued and a final order follows within prescribed periods with interest on any taxable difference or on refunds. Scrutiny empowers officers to examine returns and take action on unsatisfactory responses, while non-filer and unregistered person assessments permit best-judgement orders subject to withdrawal on subsequent compliance and interest or fees. Summary assessment enables expedited action in revenue-critical cases. (AI Summary)

GST return deadlines: summary of required filings, timelines and procedural windows for regular, composition and transitional compliance.
Sets out the GST compliance calendar: GSTR-3B as the summary return for all regular and casual taxpayers; GSTR-1 as the detailed outward-supplies return with different timelines depending on aggregate turnover; and other statutory forms (TRAN-1, GSTR-4, ITC-01, ITC-03, ITC-04, CMP-01 to CMP-04) governing transitional credit claims, composition scheme migration and intimation, credit reversals, job-worker consignments, and composition withdrawal, each with specified filing windows and procedural timing requirements. (AI Summary)

Time of supply: GST arises on transfer of development rights; valuation of flats uses open market value or like for like pricing.
The note explains that, in JDAs, GST time of supply is typically triggered on transfer of development rights because consideration is received in kind, and valuation under Section 15 and Rules 27-35 requires treating flats allotted to land owners at their open market value or, if unavailable, the monetary equivalent or value of like flats sold contemporaneously, with sectoral FAQs indicating taxability when conveyance or similar instruments transfer possession or rights. (AI Summary)

Delay and laches: unexplained late writs risk dismissal; equitable relief may limit penalties and interest.
Delay and laches bar belated writ petitions where petitioners fail to explain non-pursuit of available statutory remedies; passive reliance on outcomes in other cases constitutes acquiescence and may disqualify similarly situated persons from extension of relief. Courts will scrutinise non-challenge of administrative orders and interim payments made under coercion, and may exercise equitable discretion to mitigate penal consequences when a tax is found not payable in law. (AI Summary)

Accounts and records in GST require detailed maintenance and preservation to support taxpayer self-assessment and input tax credit verification.
Registered persons must keep and maintain, at their principal place of business, true and correct accounts of production, inward and outward supplies, stock, input tax credit availed and output tax payable and paid, together with prescribed particulars. Rule 56 requires retention of import/export records and documents for reverse charge supplies, including invoices, delivery challans, credit/debit notes, vouchers and e-way bills. Records must not be erased or overwritten; corrections are to be attested and electronic edits logged. (AI Summary)

TDS under GST: retrospective application raises legal doubts and risks inconsistent enforcement across jurisdictions.
The article argues that while the government can appoint different commencement dates for statutory provisions, it lacks clear power to make substantive GST provisions retrospectively applicable; many state notifications nevertheless adopt retrospective effective dates for TDS, producing legal uncertainty and compliance burdens absent explicit legislative authority and synchronised commencement. (AI Summary)

GST registration and classification: courts allow rectification, recognise inter-state supply, and protect transitional credits.
Courts have required correction of taxpayer registrations migrated into the GST regime when administrative or migration errors produced incorrect entity classification and have directed issuance or amendment of GST credentials. Judicial rulings treated transfers from out-of-state warehouses to in-state delivery hubs as inter-state supplies where registry details showed out-of-state origin. Courts recognised transitional entitlements by permitting credit for pre-GST levies upon proof and allowing retention of certain state-level scheme benefits pending repeal or final disposal. Administrative extensions for composition scheme applications were accepted to operate retrospectively to the GST commencement date. (AI Summary)

Natural justice breach: adjudicatory orders require meaningful hearings and consideration of evidence or face judicial re examination and costs.
Adjudicating authorities must observe natural justice by providing reasonable, effective opportunity to be heard and by considering evidence before raising demands or ordering confiscation; fixing successive hearing dates without meaningful notice or passing ex parte orders without verifying defence is a breach that warrants judicial scrutiny, fresh adjudication after a fair hearing, and may attract personal costs against authorities who misuse adjudicatory power. (AI Summary)

GST on construction services covers the owner's share of flats given in lieu of development rights, attracting tax liability.
Where a developer obtains development rights from a landowner and transfers a portion of constructed units to that landowner, the transfer is consideration in kind for construction services and the developer is liable to pay GST on the landowner's share of flats as well as on the developer's portion; valuation, point of taxation, revenue sharing arrangements, and security deposit treatment are distinct issues for further consideration. (AI Summary)

GST registration threshold and return compliance revised, with mandatory monthly provisional returns and updated filing schedules.
Notified GST changes reframe registration and filing obligations: inter state taxable services are excluded from the basic threshold exemption through all India turnover computation. Return filing is tiered-monthly provisional GSTR 3B for all taxpayers and GSTR 1 on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on turnover-with GSTR 2/3 filing deferred pending committee review. Transitional due date extensions, temporary waivers and per day late fees are specified; late fees previously paid will be refunded to the e cash ledger. Composition eligibility limits are increased and specified exempt services are excluded from aggregate turnover; advances for goods suppliers are exempted in prescribed cases. Export refund procedures and duty credit script rates are also adjusted. (AI Summary)

Company authority to file criminal complaints: corporate complaints valid only when filed through an authorised natural representative.
A company may institute criminal complaints only through a natural person authorised to represent it; such authority can derive from board resolutions, articles, express delegation, power of attorney, or implied ratification. Courts evaluate the sufficiency of authorization and may permit continuation by substituted representatives if initial valid authorization led to cognizance. Power of attorney holders can depose if the instrument and their knowledge support it, but general powers cannot be redelegated without explicit permission. (AI Summary)

GST refund procedures: Manual filing and processing required for zero-rated and accumulated ITC claims until portal functionality is restored.
GST refund claims must be processed manually while the refund module is unavailable. IGST refunds on export of goods are deemed applied via the shipping bill once export manifest/report and a valid GSTR-3/GSTR-3B are filed; Customs' system normally credits the tax, but withholding or sanction orders in PART-B of FORM GST RFD-07 or RFD-06 are to be handled manually. Refunds based on accumulated ITC and other categories require FORM GST RFD-01A, adherence to Rule 89 evidentiary and debit procedures, and manual submission of ARN/application or the printed FORM GST RFD-01A with supporting documents as applicable. (AI Summary)

Tax Collection at Source in GST: e commerce operators must collect and remit TCS and provide reconciliation details to suppliers.
E commerce operators must collect and remit TCS on a specified percentage of the net value of taxable supplies made through their platforms where they collect consideration; collected amounts are deemed tax paid on behalf of suppliers and credited to suppliers' electronic cash ledgers. The operator must file monthly statements with supply and collection details, provide those details electronically to suppliers for reconciliation, deposit collections within prescribed timelines, and rectify statement errors within the statutory correction period. Returns are matched with suppliers' filings and discrepancies may result in addition to suppliers' output tax liability. (AI Summary)

GST return deadlines relaxed with extended filing schedules and initial late-fee waivers; tax on advances exempted for most suppliers.
Procedural relaxations under GST effective mid-November 2017 extended and staggered GSTR-1 filing by turnover class, deferred notification of due dates for GSTR-2 and GSTR-3, set transitional timelines for GSTR-4, GSTR-6 and GSTR-3B, prescribed dates for GST Tran-1 filings, exempted tax on advances for registered persons except composition dealers, and waived or credited late fees for specified early months with a reduced daily late fee thereafter. (AI Summary)