One-time option to pay tax: deadline extended; submit Form-Annexure-IV to jurisdictional tax office for compliance.
Extension of the one-time option to pay tax for construction of apartments in ongoing projects: the due date for submission of Option Form (Annexure IV) is extended to the 20th May 2019 under Notification No. 10/2019 STR. Promoters must submit Form Annexure IV to the concerned Jurisdictional Joint Commissioner of State Tax by the extended due date; stakeholders should report implementation difficulties to the Commissioner of State Tax.

TRQ import deadline extended for feed grade maize, allowing STEs additional time to apply for duty preferenced quota for poultry use.
The notice corrects the referenced financial year and extends the filing deadline for Special Trading Entities to submit applications under the Tariff Rate Quota for feed grade maize intended exclusively for poultry firms on an actual user basis, permitting additional time to apply for concessional customs treatment under the TRQ scheme, issued with Competent Authority approval.

Portal migration mandates use of the new cbic-gst portal for central excise e filings and grants extended filing deadlines.
Migration to the consolidated portal requires users to move from ACES to www.cbic-gst.gov.in; ACES will be disabled during transition, existing users must log in with current credentials under "Tax Payer Log in," new users must register online to obtain an ARN and divisional approval for issuance of registration and temporary password, and e filing deadlines for prescribed monthly returns and ER I/ER 2 particulars due in April have been extended while electronic payment procedures are revised on the new portal.

GST rate choice in real estate: landowner and developer must adopt the same option; ITC rules and valuation clarified.
The FAQs explain that in area sharing arrangements both landowner promoter and developer promoter must adopt the same GST option; apartments provided in exchange for development rights or FSI are taxable and valued by reference to prices charged to independent buyers nearest the transfer date; promoters opting for concessional low rate schemes without ITC must pay that tax in cash and cannot use ITC against it; ITC charged by a developer to a landowner on construction is available where tax was paid at rates permitting ITC; the 80% procurement-from-registered-persons threshold excludes salaries and land purchases but includes exempt inward supplies for valuation.

General Anti-Avoidance Rule reporting and GST audit disclosures deferred administratively, with those Form 3CD clauses held in abeyance.
Reporting obligations in Form No. 3CD for clause 30C (GAAR disclosures) and clause 44 (GST disclosures) are administratively deferred; the tax authority has ordered that reporting under those clauses shall be kept in abeyance until 31st March, 2020, while other audit reporting requirements continue to apply.

MEIS claim procedure amended: bank letter or exporter declaration and payment proof now required where e BRC is absent or via vostro.
Applications for MEIS rewards must be filed online with digital signature in ANF 3A and linked to shipping bills and e BRCs. If an e BRC is in INR and payment was effected under the Vostro mechanism, a bank letter confirming receipt via Vostro must be submitted. If e BRCs could not be generated for shipments to OFAC jurisdictions, the exporter must submit a declaration plus self attested proof of payment. Regional Authorities will process such applications after hard copy submission of the required documents.

Discontinuation of physical RCMC submission - DGFT will verify validity from its database; exporters must ensure EPCs upload RCMCs.
The requirement to submit a physical Registration cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) with DGFT applications for incentives under the Foreign Trade Policy is discontinued; DGFT will verify RCMC validity from its central database and exporters must ensure their valid RCMCs are uploaded and kept current by their respective Export Promotion Councils.

Forgery alert: forged office order cancelling export policy for beach sand minerals declared invalid; original notification remains operative.
A circulated Office Order purporting to cancel Notification No. 26/2015-2020 for the export policy of Beach Sand Minerals is a forged document and was not issued by the relevant trade authority; the original Notification No. 26/2015-2020 dated 21.08.2018 remains unchanged and in force, and trade stakeholders are advised to rely only on official communications.

Fee waiver for ADT 1 filings allows refiling auditor appointment form without fee until the stated deadline.
Companies that filed ADT 1 as an attachment to GNL 2 during the specified period may file e form ADT 1 for auditor appointments covering the stated tenure without payment of additional fee; this is a one time concession and, after the concession period, fees and additional fees will apply under the Companies (Registration of Office and Fees) Rules, 2014.

One-time tax option for promoters to elect construction tax rates; failure will be deemed acceptance of reduced rates.
Promoters must submit Annexure-IV to Rate Notification No. 03/2019 to their jurisdictional officer to exercise a one-time, irrevocable option to pay state tax on construction of apartments at the rates specified for item (ie) or item (if) against serial number 3; the Form must identify the project and declaration, interim invoices must conform to the eventual option, and failure to submit will result in the promoter being deemed to have elected the reduced rates for RREP and REP.

Fund manager recognition: SEBI-approved AMCs treated as fund managers, qualifying for specified income-tax benefits under the Act.
An AMC approved under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 is to be treated as a Fund Manager for the purposes of Section 9A(4)(b) of the Income-tax Act, as SEBI has confirmed that AMCs engage in fund management of mutual funds and thereby fall within the substance of the term; the SEBI regulations have been included among the "specified regulations" by prior notification to align regulatory approval with the Act's definition.

Tax treatment of sales promotion schemes clarified: supply classification and ITC consequences for samples, offers, and discounts.
Clarification of GST treatment and ITC consequences for sales promotion schemes: free samples and gifts without consideration are not supplies unless covered by Schedule I and attract denial of ITC for related inputs unless treated as supply; buy one get one and bundled pricing are treated as aggregated supplies with taxability determined by composite/mixed supply rules; invoice and pre established volume discounts that meet statutory conditions may be excluded from value and allow supplier ITC, while secondary post supply discounts via credit notes do not qualify for exclusion unless statutory conditions are met.

Registration of contracts for peas: bill of lading date governs shipment validity and regional authorities may revalidate contracts.
Registration of contracts for peas imports permits specified minimum consignments per contract subject to registration with Regional Authorities. An RC covers any shipment whose bill of lading date is on or before the RC's expiry, with the bill of lading date treated as the shipment date for import clearance. If Customs questions RC validity, Regional Authorities may revalidate RCs without referring the case to headquarters so long as the bill of lading date predates the RC expiry.

Self-Ratification scheme for Advance Authorizations urged to increase use to reduce transaction time and costs.
Self-ratification under para 4.07A of the Foreign Trade Policy allows Authorized Economic Operators to obtain Advance Authorizations on self-declaration where SIONs are not notified, bypassing Norms Committee ratification; AEOs using duty exemption schemes are urged to use this facility and Export Promotion Councils and DGFT Regional Authorities should disseminate information to increase uptake and reduce transaction time and costs.

AI and ML reporting obligations require mutual funds to disclose AI/ML systems, uses, controls and audits to regulators quarterly.
Mutual funds offering or using AI/ML in investor facing products, trading or compliance must complete a prescribed reporting form and submit quarterly to AMFI within fifteen days of quarter end; AMFI will consolidate and forward submissions to the regulator within thirty days. The scope covers fintech and regtech initiatives and enumerated AI/ML technologies, and the form requires disclosure of system identity, uses, claimed capabilities, implementation, controls, safeguards, audit inclusion and any adverse audit comments, with confidentiality to be maintained by AMFI.

Paperless duty credit scrips: electronic issuance and ICES-only debits, but not usable at non-EDI ports.
DGFT will issue MEIS/SEIS duty credit scrips electronically for EDI ports and transmit them to Customs for visibility in ICES. Owners or authorized representatives must present scrip identifiers to the proper officer while ownership will be verified on the DGFT website. All debits for these paperless scrips will be effected only in ICES; no physical debits or TRA will be available for paperless scrips, which therefore cannot be used at non-EDI ports. Physical scrips on security paper will continue for non-EDI ports.

IGST export refunds: officer interface available for resolving invoice mismatches; RRR facility limited to earlier shipping bills.
Officer-interface relief for resolving invoice mismatches (SB 005) in respect of IGST export refunds is available only for Shipping Bills filed up to 15.11.2018, per referenced Board circulars. The facility to submit a Revised Refund Request (RRR) to claim differential IGST refund amounts is available only for Shipping Bills filed up to 30.06.2018.

Registration functions under GST assigned to specified tax officers; jurisdictional and substitution rules clarified for taxpayers, including casual and non-resident persons.
Assignment of registration functions under the Rajasthan GST Act designates Deputies/Assistant Commissioners of regular circles and State Tax Officers of independent headquarter wards to perform registration responsibilities within their territorial jurisdictions; other State Tax Officers are assigned specified registration duties. Deputies/Assistant Commissioners also handle registrations for casual and non-resident taxable persons. If the designated officer is unavailable, the Joint Commissioner (Administration) may reallocate the task, and where multiple wards exist the ward with the lowest number is assigned the registration function.

Extension of time limit for filing ER-1 and ER-2 returns granted due to system migration; filing deadline administratively extended.
Extension of time limit for filing monthly returns ER-1 and ER-2 is directed due to migration and integration of legacy data which disabled the ACES application; the e filing deadline for April 2019 returns is administratively extended from the original May date to a new date in June 2019 to allow taxpayers to file production, removal particulars and CENVAT credit information.

Management and Business Consultant Services added as authorized SEZ services, subject to consumption-based eligibility and evidentiary proof.
Inclusion of Management and Business Consultant Services as a default authorized service in Special Economic Zones is directed, limited to the value of services actually availed or consumed by the SEZ entity, with a requirement that the unit produce satisfactory evidence that the service was consumed exclusively for authorized operations; Development Commissioners and Unit Approval Committees may further expand the list to facilitate units and developers.