GST adjudication: successor officers cannot reopen hearings reserved by transferred adjudicators; rehearings based solely on transfer are legally unsustainable.
Once final arguments and hearings are concluded and the matter is reserved, a successor officer may not direct a fresh personal hearing merely because the original adjudicator has been transferred; transfer is an administrative event and does not justify reopening completed quasi judicial proceedings, except where the hearing was not concluded or where a demonstrable procedural defect exists. (AI Summary)

MOOWR units: IDS GST refunds apply only to input goods ITC; Rule 89(5) formula and 90% provisional relief available.
Refunds under Section 54(3)(ii) read with Rule 89(5) are limited to ITC on input goods where GST on inputs exceeds GST on outputs; the Rule 89(5) formula caps refunds by reference to turnover of inverted-rated supplies, adjusted total turnover and net ITC (goods only), less tax payable. Filing requires RFD-01/RFD-01A, reconciled returns, Statement 1A and prescribed attachments, with a two-year limitation and provisional 90% relief subject to verification. (AI Summary)

Central and State GST proceedings require factual overlap assessment; challenge via statutory appeal, not writ petition.
Determination of whether Central GST proceedings and State GST proceedings concern the same subject matter requires detailed factual examination and is not a pure question of law; such factual adjudication should be addressed through the statutory appeal mechanism rather than by writ petition, with appellate authorities applying coordination and cross empowerment principles to avoid duplicate or parallel proceedings. (AI Summary)

Customs notifications: enforceability requires official publication, not mere issuance, to preserve taxpayer certainty and predictability.
The article explains that although the 2016 amendment to Section 25(4) deems a notification's date of issuance to be its enforcement date, courts have consistently held that a notification cannot impose obligations before it is published and accessible in the Official Gazette or its official electronic equivalent; publication, not mere issuance, is the operative trigger for enforceability to preserve taxpayer certainty and notice. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax: section 16(2)(c) read down to deny input tax credit only in non bona fide or fraudulent transactions.
The High Court held that the denial provision in Section 16(2)(c) should be read down so that input tax credit may be denied only where a transaction is not bona fide or is collusive/fraudulent; Parliament failed to distinguish bona fide purchasers, and purchasers cannot be required to ensure suppliers deposit collected tax. (AI Summary)

National Security Cess registration requires factory-wise applications, while cancellation preserves prior cess liabilities and permits timely revocation.
Taxable persons controlling machines or processes in factories for manufacture or production of specified goods must obtain separate factory-wise registration through the prescribed portal process. A temporary certificate permits cess payment pending scrutiny. Registration is subject to examination, hearing for defects, and deemed approval if no decision is made within seven working days. Registration may be cancelled for changed business circumstances, loss of liability, specified contraventions, sustained return default, or fraudulent registration, without affecting prior cess liabilities. Cancellation may be revoked on timely application where sufficient grounds exist. (AI Summary)

Bona fide purchaser entitled to input tax credit despite supplier's failure to deposit tax, absent collusion or fraud.
The purchaser who has paid GST to its supplier cannot be denied Input Tax Credit where the supplier failed to deposit tax, absent collusion or fraud; the statutory condition must be read down to exclude bona fide transactions, and the department's remedy lies against the defaulting supplier or under provisions directed at fraudulent transactions. (AI Summary)

GST changes: tobacco rates revised, compensation cess set to nil, and staggered appeal filing revoked under GST procedure.
The government amended GST rate schedules to reclassify and increase rates for specified tobacco products and pan masala and omitted a 14% schedule, effective 01.02.2026; reduced the Compensation Cess rate to nil for listed goods from the same date; and reintroduced a capacity-based excise duty regime for certain chewing tobacco products, with rules for capacity determination and duty collection effective 01.02.2026. GSTAT revoked staggered-appeal filing and allocated benches to members, while GSTN issued validation rules and FAQs for Electronic Credit Reversal and RCM Liability/ITC statements restricting negative balances and tying reclaimed ITC and RCM claims to ledger and GSTR-3B entries. (AI Summary)

One Time Settlement schemes require prescribed upfront payments; failure to tender them renders applications ineligible for processing.
An OTS application is procedurally incomplete and ineligible for processing where the applicant fails to pay the scheme-prescribed up-front amount (5% for ordinary defaulters; 15% for wilful defaulters); compliance with express scheme terms is a prerequisite for consideration, and absent such compliance the bank may proceed with enforcement while remaining able to consider fresh, out-of-scheme proposals. (AI Summary)

SVB clearance is conditional; report material related party changes to customs to avoid reopened investigations and penalties.
SVB clearance is conditional on unchanged facts; material changes-such as modified related party agreements, new related sellers, revised royalties or post import price adjustments-must be proactively reported. The jurisdictional officer will assess disclosures, may call for Annexure A/B, and decide whether a fresh arm's length valuation investigation is warranted. Voluntary disclosure signals cooperative intent, while non disclosure risks extended limitation periods, penalties, and enhanced enforcement. (AI Summary)

Lease of vacant land for port construction is taxable only from the amendment; refundable interest-free deposits aren't automatically rent.
Leasing or licensing vacant land for construction of port or marine-related infrastructure is use in the course or furtherance of business and thus a taxable supply; under service tax law that activity became taxable only from the date of the relevant legislative amendment, and not for prior periods. Refundable interest-free deposits require factual analysis because their refundability means they do not automatically constitute rent or taxable consideration for renting immovable property. (AI Summary)

GST refund delays due to late deficiency memos can entitle taxpayers to statutory interest on delayed refunds.
Delay in issuing deficiency memos beyond the 15 day period under Rule 90(2) prejudices taxpayers and triggers entitlement to statutory interest under Section 56; adjudication under Section 54(7) runs from the date the application is complete, and the revenue must permit cure of deficiencies, fix a hearing and decide refunds promptly, with interest payable for the period of departmental delay. (AI Summary)

FCRA registration cannot be rejected without natural justice; compounding a technical breach should not cause permanent disqualification.
Registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act cannot be rejected without observing natural justice; vague or newly raised allegations (such as an unnotified transfer) invalidate a rejection. Where an admitted contravention has been lawfully compounded and is technical with no wider implications, the compounding may not be used as a permanent disqualification for registration. A registered charitable trust should not be summarily recharacterised as religious without clear reason. The matter was remitted for fresh, specific notice and reconsideration. (AI Summary)

Importing capital goods: choose MOOWR to defer anti dumping duty instead of EPCG to preserve working capital.
EPCG requires payment of Anti Dumping Duty at import, generating immediate cash outflow, whereas MOOWR allows import into a bonded warehouse with deferment of duties including ADD until domestic clearance; if goods manufactured using the imported capital goods are exported, the deferred duties under MOOWR do not become payable, offering a significant working capital advantage for export oriented manufacturers and warranting re evaluation of EPCG as a default option where ADD applies. (AI Summary)

GST adjudication requires proven jurisdiction, demonstrable transfer of title and evidence before arrest or coercive action under CGST.
Adjudication under GST must begin only after jurisdiction, tangible material, and independent application of mind are satisfied; demands must rest on evidential proof of a verifiable taxable event-including demonstrable transfer of title and logistical evidence of supply-and not on paper formalities. Arrest and other coercive measures under the CGST framework require recorded reasons, concrete evidence, and harmonisation with adjudication outcomes; proceeding on suspicion or borrowed conclusions undermines due process and constitutional safeguards. (AI Summary)

Tobacco and pan masala tax changes: GST at 40% on RSP, higher excise on tobacco, and new HSNS cess for pan masala.
Effective 1 February 2026, tobacco is taxed as GST + Central Excise Duty + NCCD and pan masala as GST + HSNS Cess; GST taxes these goods at 40% on RSP with Rule 31D for computation and compensation cess abolished. Central Excise moves certain pouch-packed tobaccos to machine-capacity based duty with engineer certification, jurisdictional verification, advance monthly payment, monthly returns, CCTV and abatement limited to 15-day continuous non-operation. HSNS Cess applies to pan masala packed in pouches, tins or containers, is computed per factory on machine-rated speed and pouch weight, requires registration, declarations, advance payment, returns, records, and prescribes notice, interest and penalties. (AI Summary)

GST consolidated SCNs permitted for multi year fraudulent ITC schemes; service to portal registered email is valid.
The Supreme Court upheld that emails sent to the e mail address registered on the GST portal satisfy statutory service requirements where the address is recorded as the assessee's contact, finding no breach of natural justice. It further held that consolidated show cause notices covering multiple financial years are legally permissible in cases of fraudulent input tax credit claims to detect and address patterns of fraud, distinguishing prior income tax precedents and relying on CGST provisions that accommodate multi period treatment when fraud spans years. (AI Summary)

Goods and Services Tax: Section 74 requires evidence of fraud to invoke punitive proceedings; multi year consolidated notices are impermissible.
Section 74 can be invoked only where investigation produces material evidence of fraud, wilful misstatement, or suppression to evade tax and such evidence must be included in the show cause notice; mere non payment of GST is insufficient. There is no provision for a single show cause notice or order covering multiple financial years (except the July 2017-March 2018 transitional period); consolidated notices have been quashed by high courts. Where fraud is not established, Section 75(2) mandates that the proper officer redetermine tax under Section 73 rather than appellate substitution. (AI Summary)

GST audit and SCN issuance: premature SCN issuance violates natural justice; audit commencement tied to document availability.
Premature issuance of a Show Cause Notice before expiry of the reply period granted by a pre SCN violates natural justice by denying a meaningful opportunity to be heard and vitiates the proceeding; audit commencement under Section 65 is the later of the date records are made available or the actual institution of audit, fixing the three month audit timeline and the thirty day communication period, subject to a Commissioner recorded extension, and time while writs are pending is excluded for limitation. (AI Summary)

Minimum export price controls exports of essential commodities to stabilise domestic supply and domestic prices and deter cheap exports.
Minimum export price regimes set a government floor price for specified commodities and require exporters to declare FOB values at or above that floor; customs verify declarations and may bar shipments priced below the notified minimum. Notifications are temporary and reviewed based on domestic prices, production and stocks, international prices, inflation and seasonal demand. The measure targets essential agricultural goods to prioritise local supply, stabilise domestic prices and support food security while imposing compliance and competitiveness costs. (AI Summary)