Securities lending fees are taxable under GST; lender liable initially, then borrower liable under reverse charge from October 2019.
Lending of securities does not amount to disposal of securities and thus is not a transaction in securities; however, the lending fee charged by the lender is consideration for a taxable service and taxable under GST. Intermediary services facilitating lending are also taxable. Classification and rate are specified; from 01.07.2017 to 30.09.2019 GST was payable by the lender under forward charge (IGST), while from 01.10.2019 GST is payable by the borrower under reverse charge (IGST).

Place of supply: software and design services using sample hardware treated at recipient's location when testing is ancillary.
Where testing of software/design on prototype hardware supplied by the recipient is ancillary to a composite supply of chip design/software development, the activity is an ancillary part of a single supply and the place of supply is the location of the service recipient under the IGST place-of-supply rule. The rule concerning goods made physically available by the recipient does not separately determine place of supply for such ancillary testing; the contractual facts must be examined without artificially separating the composite supply.

Place of supply: composite software/design services with ancillary hardware testing are located at the service recipient's location.
Where software or integrated circuit design services include testing on prototype hardware provided by the recipient and that testing is ancillary to the principal software/design development, the entire engagement is a composite supply and the place of supply is the location of the service recipient under the IGST framework; separate place-of-supply rules for performance-based supplies do not apply to the ancillary testing component.

GST exemption for DG Shipping approved maritime training courses applies where courses form part of a recognised qualification, subject to notification conditions.
GST exemption for services by educational institutions applies to maritime training institutes and courses approved by the Director General of Shipping when the courses form part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by law. Approval and designation powers under the Merchant Shipping Act and the associated STCW rules establish that DG Shipping approved institutes and courses qualify as education recognised for GST exemption, subject to the conditions set out in the relevant Central tax notification entry for educational institutions.

GST exemption for DG Shipping approved maritime courses affirmed, subject to the notification's specified conditions under GST law.
Maritime Training Institutes and courses approved by the Directorate General of Shipping under the Merchant Shipping Act and related STCW Rules meet the GST definition of an educational institution, and services they provide are exempt from GST provided they satisfy the conditions specified in the applicable GST notification entry for educational services.

GST on donor recognition: no tax where name displays are mere acknowledgements without commercial promotion or quid pro quo.
Where donations to charitable organisations are acknowledged by placing donor name plates solely as expressions of gratitude and public recognition, without promoting the donor's business or any quid pro quo obligation by the recipient, such placements do not constitute a supply for consideration and are not liable to GST; the non-levy applies where the recipient is charitable, the payment is a genuine donation, and the purpose is philanthropic without advertising intent.

GST on donor name display: gratuitous acknowledgements that do not amount to advertising are not taxable supplies.
Where a charitable institution receives a donation or gift and acknowledges the donor by displaying the donor's name on its premises solely as an expression of gratitude without promoting the donor's business, there is no supply for consideration because no quid pro quo exists; GST is not leviable when the recipient is a charitable organisation, the payment is a genuine donation, and the purpose is philanthropic and not advertising.

GST on airport levies: airlines may collect PSF/UDF as pure agents while airport operators remain liable to pay GST.
PSF and UDF charged by airport operators are consideration for services to passengers and are taxable under GST; airlines that collect these charges act as agents and, if they satisfy Rule 33's pure agent conditions, must separately indicate the actual PSF/UDF and GST in invoices and exclude those amounts from their taxable value. Airlines may not claim ITC on GST paid on PSF/UDF. Airport operators remain liable to pay GST on PSF and UDF collected, and collection charges paid to airlines are taxable as consideration for airline services.

Pure agent treatment: airlines may exclude airport levies from supply value if conditions met, airport liable for GST.
PSF and UDF charged by airport operators are consideration for services to passengers and are taxable under GST; airport operators are liable to pay GST on these levies even when collected through airlines. Airlines may exclude such amounts from their supply value if they qualify as a pure agent under Rule 33 by separately indicating the charges and GST in invoices, but airlines cannot take ITC on GST payable on PSF/UDF. Collection charges paid to airlines are taxable to airlines and ITC is available to airport operators; passengers may claim ITC on the basis of the pure agent invoice.

Service classification for oil and gas activities clarified: exploration consulting under technical services, extraction support under extraction heading.
Clarification allocates technical, professional and consulting exploration services to heading 9983 as governed by explanatory notes to codes 998341 and 998343, while support and operational services for oil and gas extraction remain under heading 9986 governed by codes 998621 and 998622; activities excluded from those entries must be classified in their respective headings and taxed accordingly.

Service classification for oil and gas: technical consulting belongs to professional services, operational tasks to support services.
Technical and consulting activities-geological and geophysical advice, feasibility and evaluation studies and intellectual information products-fall under the professional, technical and business services heading; operational and on-site activities-derrick erection, well casing, cementing, pumping, plugging, abandoning wells, test drilling for extraction, overburden removal and mine preparation-fall under support services to oil and gas extraction or other mining heading. The scope of the relevant entries is governed by the Scheme of Classification of Services' explanatory notes, and services outside those entries must be classified in their respective headings and taxed accordingly.

GST classification and applicable rates clarified for legumes, almond milk, sprayers, naval stores, leased imports, solar and medical parts.
Clarifies GST classification and applicable rates: dried leguminous vegetables subjected only to mild heat remain under HS 0713 with concessional or exempt treatment depending on packaging; almond milk is classifiable under tariff item 2202 99 90; mechanical sprayers of all types fall under Schedule II entry 195B with concessional rate; imported naval stores are GST exempt; imports taken on lease qualify for IGST exemption where linked to specified Schedule II services subject to bond and conditions; parts for solar water heaters (Ch.84/85/94) and parts solely for medical devices (per Chapter Note 2(b)) receive concessional classification.

Depository receipts issuance framework establishes eligibility, jurisdictional and compliance requirements for issuing and listing DRs on specified international exchanges.
The circular establishes a framework for issuance of Depository Receipts by listed Indian companies, prescribing eligibility restrictions for issuers and transferring holders, limiting issuance to dematerialized equity or debt that rank pari passu, requiring aggregate foreign holdings (including DRs) to remain within FEMA and SEBI limits while maintaining minimum public shareholding, and confining issuance and listing to notified permissible jurisdictions and specified international exchanges that meet high listing standards.

Contiguity condition compliance: Development Commissioner certification required following joint inspections confirming SEZ boundary continuity.
Compliance with the contiguity condition for Special Economic Zones must be assessed in every proposal in accordance with Rule 5 read with Rule 7 of the SEZ Rules, 2006. The Development Commissioner must certify compliance after inspections by SEZ officials supported by Revenue Department officials, and such certification is the prescribed administrative mechanism for verifying contiguity in proposal reviews.

Withdrawal of GST clarification on post sales discounts: circular revoked to address apprehensions and ensure uniform implementation.
Numerous representations raised apprehensions about a prior clarification on secondary or post-sales discounts under GST; the Chief Commissioner, invoking delegated administrative powers under the Gujarat GST framework, withdrew Circular No. 105/24/2019-GST ab initio to allay concerns and ensure uniform implementation, with the withdrawal recorded as having a deemed early-October date of issue.

Refund on account of appeal: file fresh RFD-01 without re-debiting electronic credit ledger, subject to documentation.
Where a refund previously rejected by FORM GST RFD-06 is later allowed in appeal or another forum, the claimant must file a fresh FORM GST RFD-01 under the category "Refund on account of assessment/provisional assessment/appeal/any other order" without re debiting amounts that remained debited pending appeal. The application must state order type, number, date, issuing authority and upload the appellate/other order, the original RFD-06 rejection and related documents. The proper officer will sanction the allowed refund, issue RFD-06 and RFD-05 orders, and ensure re crediting to the electronic credit ledger in accordance with established re credit guidelines.

Refund re-filing after NIL claim allowed if conditions met; file under Any Other category with supporting documents.
Re-filing a refund in FORM GST RFD-01/RFD-01A after an inadvertent NIL refund is allowed only if the applicant had filed a NIL claim for that period and category and, for specified ITC-related categories, has not filed any refund for subsequent periods under the same category. Eligible applicants must file under the "Any Other" category for the same period with all supporting documents. The proper officer will compute admissible refund, may require debit from the electronic credit ledger via FORM GST DRC-03, and will issue FORM GST RFD-06 and FORM GST RFD-05 upon receipt of debit proof.

Late cut computation for MEIS claims on reactivated shipping bills adjusted to original submission date, subject to eligibility checks.
Exporters must generate a new Ecom application for reactivated shipping bills but not submit it; instead request removal of late cut via contact@DGFT. The NIC team will edit late cut fields and convert the application to manual mode. Exporters then submit fees online and file a manual submission to the RA with the new file number and prior rejection letters. The RA will impose late cut percentages in the E com module based on each shipping bill's original first submission date and issue the scrip, excluding cases previously disallowed for mis classification or missing Declaration of Intent.

Duty drawback: foreign bank charges may be treated within allowable agency commission and need not reduce FOB if within cap.
Duty drawback may be permitted on the FOB value without deducting foreign bank charges where such charges are documented service fees by intermediary banks; these charges are to be treated within the overall agency commission limit previously accepted by the Board, and any agency commission plus foreign bank charges exceeding that overall limit must be deducted from FOB for duty drawback. Customs field formations should regularise cases on merits based on documentary evidence and address existing show cause notices accordingly.

Duty drawback on FOB value allowed despite foreign bank charges; excess combined charges must be adjusted before drawback grant.
Duty drawback may be permitted on FOB value without deducting foreign bank charges; foreign bank charges are allowed to be considered within the overall agency commission limit, but where agency commission and foreign bank charges together exceed that overall limit, the excess must be deducted from the FOB value for granting drawback. Exporters should apply to the Assistant Commissioner (Drawback) for regularization of short realization and report implementation difficulties to the office.