Adjudication beyond pecuniary jurisdiction is void ab initio; reviewing merged orders lacks legal basis under service tax law
An adjudication rendered without the prescribed pecuniary jurisdiction is void ab initio; where a subordinate order has merged into an appellate order, it no longer subsists for review under the doctrine of merger, and attempts to review or impose penalties based on the non existent subordinate order are not legally sustainable. (AI Summary)

Compensation cess on aerated drinks applies to retail supply but not when served as part of a restaurant service.
Compensation Cess imposed by the Compensation to States Act and its rate Notification applies to the supply of goods such as aerated waters and lemonade when sold as goods (for example at retail outlets), but does not apply when identical beverages are served by restaurants, eateries or clubs as part of a service; those supplies are instead subject to GST treatment applicable to supply of food and drinks in restaurants/outdoor catering/clubs determined by service conditions. (AI Summary)

Form GSTR-3B summary return required for July-August 2017; reconcile with GSTR-1/2/3 and adjust ITC shortfalls.
FORM GSTR-3B is a temporary summary return permitted under rule 61(5) permitting condensed filing for July and August 2017 while GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 must still be filed; GSTR-1 will auto-generate GSTR-2 and GSTR-3, which will be reconciled with GSTR-3B and any tax shortfall or excess adjusted without penalty for the initial months where date relaxations apply. (AI Summary)

GST impact on consumers: alleged merchant price inflation and billing noncompliance prompting calls for regulatory enforcement.
Implementation of GST prompted restaurants and retailers to substantially raise listed prices while only later showing tax components, alongside frequent nonissuance of bills. The author contends these practices represent merchant profiteering and potential tax compliance failures that transfer costs to consumers, and calls for regulatory enforcement to address pricing abuses and billing noncompliance. (AI Summary)

Bond requirements for duty-free imports by EOUs under GST need immediate clarity to ensure operational continuity.
The article requests urgent clarification on bond-based duty relief for 100% EOUs under GST. It asks whether existing B-17 running bonds may be used temporarily for duty-free BCD imports, whether Customs' Continuity Bond format must be modified, whether bonds should be running or one-time and port-specific, and whether security or surety (and what BG percentage) is required. It further asks whether acceptance and execution of such bonds shifts to Central GST Commissionerates and whether procurement certificates remain necessary. On exports, it questions whether EOUs may export through merchant exporters without duty, which duty components apply, and how merchant exporters obtain refunds for non-IGST components. (AI Summary)

Cenvat credit entitlement limited by specified duties, time limits, utilization restrictions, reversal and refund mechanisms.
The CENVAT Credit Rules, 2017 permit manufacturers to claim credit of specified excise and related duties on inputs (excluding high speed diesel and motor spirit) received in the factory or from job workers, subject to conditions: time limits for claiming credit, 180 day return rules for job worked inputs (with specified exceptions), utilization restrictions linking particular credits to corresponding duties, documentary and record keeping requirements for invoices and dealer records, and prescribed reversal, storage and refund mechanisms including a formulaic export refund and exclusions where other drawback or rebate is claimed. (AI Summary)

GST treatment of healthcare goods and services shapes exemption scope and input tax credit consequences for suppliers.
GST distinguishes exempt health care services from taxable medical goods: services by clinical establishments and authorised practitioners are exempt, while medicines, implants and aids are treated as taxable goods under different tariff classifications. This produces a divergence in tax incidence for patients and suppliers, and raises policy issues about the treatment of essential medical devices, the effect on non-profit suppliers, and the interaction between exemption scope and availability of input tax credit for manufacturers and traders. (AI Summary)

Concessional import procedure requires notification, continuity bond and records; noncompliance triggers duty recovery and bond invocation.
The rules set a procedural regime for claiming customs duty exemptions tied to use of imported inputs: intent must be notified to the jurisdictional officer with manufacturer and goods details; estimated import particulars and port(s) must be furnished; a continuity bond undertaking payment of any differential duty plus interest is required; imported goods must be recorded and reported in quarterly returns; re-export or clearance of unutilized/defective goods within six months is permitted with permission and payment of differential duty; failure to comply enables bond invocation and recovery of duty with interest. (AI Summary)

Scope of supply under GST clarifies inclusive taxable transactions, schedules defining taxable, non taxable and classificatory rules.
Section 7 defines the scope of supply under GST expansively: supply includes various forms of transfer for consideration, importation of services for consideration, specified transactions without consideration in Schedule I, and items classified under Schedule II; Schedule III lists activities that are neither goods nor services. The provision addresses valuation, non monetary consideration, third party payment, advances and deposits, treatment of subsidies, and requires supply to be in the course or furtherance of business. The article highlights Schedule I taxable inter company and principal agent transactions and questions exclusion of sale of building from Schedule III. (AI Summary)

GST exclusion for alcoholic beverages increases input-tax burden and complicates tax treatment of bundled sales.
Alcoholic beverages for human consumption are excluded from GST while remaining subject to State excise duties and VAT; inputs and many services used in production and distribution attract GST, causing increased input costs, denial of input tax credit, and cascading tax effects. Bundled supplies that combine alcoholic and GSTable goods or services create valuation and tax-allocation issues, necessitating contractual and invoicing adjustments to manage incidence and compliance. (AI Summary)

Reverse charge mechanism shifts tax liability to recipient for specified supplies and unregistered procurements, requiring recipient to pay and account.
Reverse charge under GST makes the recipient liable to pay CGST/SGST or IGST for specified notified supplies and for taxable procurements from unregistered suppliers exceeding the statutory per-day threshold; the recipient must account for tax in returns, cannot discharge RCM liabilities under the composition scheme, and must follow prescribed time-of-supply rules with fallback to book entries, while notified categories of goods and services and practical compliance issues (territorial registration, reimbursements, invoicing and input credit conditions) define operational scope. (AI Summary)

Transition of long term contracts under GST: supplies after the appointed day attract GST, earlier supplies remain under prior law.
Supplies under long term contracts are taxed by reference to the appointed day: supplies made before the appointed day are subject to pre GST law, while supplies made on or after the appointed day are taxable under GST (CGST/SGST or IGST). Progressive supply rules exempt supplies where consideration was received and tax paid under the earlier law before the appointed day. Transitional provisions in sections 139-142 govern migration, transitional input tax credit, job work and miscellaneous matters, and time/place of supply will follow GST rules. (AI Summary)

Amendment of non existent notification creates confusion over customs exemptions for passenger import of gold and silver.
An amendment provision in a customs notification attempted to modify Notification No. 172/1994, but that notification had already been superseded and its successor rescinded; the operative exemptions for passenger import of gold and silver are instead contained in the consolidated Mega Exemption Notification, creating an inconsistency that warrants a corrigendum or clarification to avoid compliance confusion. (AI Summary)

Advocate eligibility to tribunal membership: GST law excludes practicing advocates, prompting calls for amendment or challenge
The CGST Act's recruitment provision omits the long-standing route by which advocates with ten years' practice qualify as judicial members of appellate tribunals under earlier CESTAT rules, restricting tribunal membership to former judges, certain Indian Legal Service officers, and specified technical officials; this exclusion narrows recruitment pathways, creates a disparity with other judicial-appointment qualifications, and prompts calls for legislative amendment or judicial challenge to restore advocates' direct eligibility. (AI Summary)

Limitation and service of order: absence of service makes appeal filed after certified copy timely and admissible.
When no copy of the order was served on the assessee and the assessee applied for and obtained a certified copy before filing the appeal, the appeal filed after receipt of that certified copy is treated as filed within time and any application for condonation of delay is redundant if non-service is uncontroverted. (AI Summary)

Employer gifts exemption: gifts up to specified annual limit to employees are exempt from GST; excess gifts may be taxable.
Gifts and certain employer-provided benefits to employees are outside GST where they satisfy prescribed conditions: employer gifts up to a specified annual threshold per employee are exempt; gifts above that threshold made without consideration and in the course or furtherance of business are taxable. Free club, health centre membership and free housing within cost-to-company arrangements are not subject to GST. A gift for tax purposes is voluntary, without consideration and occasional. The threshold applies per employee and includes festival gifts; the exemption relates to gifts from employers, and questions remain on concessional services provided by employers. (AI Summary)

Enclosed withering troughs cut energy use 30-60% and should qualify for higher depreciation as energy-saving machinery.
Enclosed withering troughs are closed, flameless heat-treatment chambers that conserve heat and enable forward-only fan operation, achieving roughly 30-60% reductions in fuel and power consumption, reducing emissions and contamination, and improving wither uniformity and hygiene. Given their functional equivalence to flameless furnaces or fluidized bed heat-treatment furnaces, they fall within the illustrative category of energy-saving plant qualifying for accelerated depreciation; a purposive approach should allow higher depreciation for such equipment. (AI Summary)

Government services exemption under GST with specified exclusions and value based limits for supply categories.
Exemption from GST applies to a range of services provided by government entities, subject to conditions and express exclusions. Excluded categories include specified Department of Posts services, services related to aircraft or vessels within airport precincts, transport of goods or passengers, services to business entities above a prescribed turnover threshold, and inter governmental supplies. The exemption contains value based limits for occasional and continuous supplies and addresses special categories such as assignment of natural resource usage rights, pre cutoff telecom spectrum use, registration and certification services, deputation/overtime for cargo inspections, renting of immovable property, and government funded training. (AI Summary)

Zero-rating exclusion of EOUs increases working capital needs as GST on inputs must be paid upfront delaying refunds.
Exclusion of Export Oriented Units from zero-rating forces EOUs to pay GST on inputs upfront while refunds under the CGST procedure are delayed by required filings and credit ledger processes, creating a working-capital and interest burden; parity with SEZ zero-rating or relief via rebate/drawback is proposed to prevent upfront taxation on inputs and ease cash-flow pressures. (AI Summary)

Transition credit for pre GST taxes: GST applies only to the post appointed day balance where VAT/service tax was leviable.
Section 142(11) prevents GST on portions of supplies already leviable under prior regimes: VAT for goods and service tax for services; where both VAT and service tax were paid pre appointed day, GST applies post appointed day but the taxpayer may claim input credit of those pre GST taxes for supplies made after the appointed day, subject to prescribed calculation and filing in Form GST TRAN 1 and applicable rules. Time of supply (sale/invoice for goods; invoice/completion/payment for services) determines whether the earlier levy covers the supply, and advances taxed pre appointed day reduce GST liability to the extent already leviable. (AI Summary)