NFMIMS registration: air shipments exempt and single registration may cover multiple consignments; QCO details optional.
Clarification on the NFMIMS import registration regime: air freighted consignments are excluded from NFMIMS, a single registration may cover multiple consignments during its validity, QCO information is optional and not mandatory for customs to verify, and NFMIMS applies to imports under Advance Authorization, DFIA and SEZ consignments.

Suspension of Standard Input Output Norms affects listed engineering tube SIONs; exporters may apply for Advance Authorisation under procedure.
The notice suspends the Standard Input Output Norms (SIONs) at C-594, C-791 to C-796 and C-831, covering carbon/alloy and stainless steel seamless tubes and pipes (cold- and hot-finished), with immediate effect. Exporters of these products may apply for Advance Authorisation under the Handbook of Procedures provision cited in the notice, and the amendment is made pursuant to powers under the Foreign Trade Policy.

Draft GSTR-3B placed for consultation proposes auto-population, restricted edits, amendment tables, negative-value reporting and ITC reconciliation.
The draft FORM GSTR-3B is placed for stakeholder consultation to implement GST Council recommendations and Finance Act, 2022 amendments, proposing sequential filing with FORM GSTR-1, auto-population of specified rows from FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-2B, restricted editing of auto-filled fields, separate amendment tables for outward supplies and ITC, explicit rows for negative values and ITC reversals/reclaims, and measures to support accurate IGST settlement and improved reconciliation.

Refund for inverted duty structure allowed where concessional notification lowers output tax, subject to specified exclusions.
Refund of accumulated input tax credit is admissible where accumulation arises because the rate of tax on outward supplies is less than the rate on inputs at the same point in time due to supply under a concessional notification; refunds are not admissible for nil rated or fully exempt outputs or where supplies are specifically excluded by Government notification.

Input Tax Credit for deemed exports clarified: ITC for refund not treated as Chapter V ITC, excluded from net ITC.
Refunds of tax on supplies regarded as deemed exports are enabled by making the tax available as an ITC for portal claim purposes, but that ITC is not ITC under Chapter V and therefore is not subject to Section 17 restrictions nor included in "Net ITC" for computation of unutilised ITC refunds. The proviso to clause (b) applies to the whole clause; "leasing" there means only motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft. Employee perquisites under contract are outside GST. Electronic credit ledger may pay output tax but not reverse charge tax or non-tax liabilities; cash ledger may pay tax and other liabilities.

Fraudulent Input Tax Credit: issuers face penal sanctions while recipients face demand recovery and penalty under GST law.
Issuance of tax invoices without actual supply does not amount to supply and so does not attract tax demand under assessment provisions, but the issuer is subject to penal sanctions for issuing invoices without supply. A recipient who fraudulently avails and utilises ITC without receipt of goods or services is liable for recovery of the ITC with interest and for penalty under provisions addressing fraudulent availment; duplicate penalties for the same act are precluded. If such availed ITC is passed on by issuing invoices without supply, no tax demand arises for non-existent outward supply, but penal provisions apply to those who issued invoices and utilised ITC wrongfully.

Inter State supply reporting: ensure place of supply entries in GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 for correct GST settlement.
Suppliers must report inter State supplies to unregistered persons, composition taxpayers and UIN holders place of supply wise in GSTR 3B Table 3.2 and the corresponding GSTR 1 tables; maintain correct customer state details so portal auto population aligns with invoices. Table 4(A) of GSTR 3B is auto populated from GSTR 2B; permanent reversals and ineligible ITC (e.g., under rule 42/43 and section 17(5)) must be declared in Table 4(B)(1), temporary reversals in Table 4(B)(2), and Net ITC = 4A - [4B(1)+4B(2)] which is credited to the Electronic Credit Ledger; time barred ITC should be reported in 4(D)(2).

CSR eligibility: Spending CSR funds on national flag campaign permitted when Companies (CSR Policy) Rules and circulars are complied with.
Expenditure of CSR funds on the "Har Ghar Tiranga" campaign is eligible under item (ii) of Schedule VII as promotion of education relating to culture, including mass production and supply of the National Flag and outreach activities. Companies may undertake these activities subject to fulfillment of the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014 and related Ministry circulars and clarifications.

Customs Broker Licensing requires brokers to update valid contact details to receive CBLMS login credentials.
A centralized Customs Broker Licensing and Management System (CBLMS) requires brokers to provide error free active registered email addresses and mobile numbers before login credentials can be issued. Records extracted from ICES showed invalid or inactive contact details; brokers under sub regulation 2 of Regulation 7 of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 in the Mangalore Commissionerate must submit the prescribed pro forma with updated contact and identifying details for updating in the EDI portal.

Retrospective omission of rule 95A prompts withdrawal of prior circular and rescission of its refund clarifications.
The department withdraws ab initio the earlier circular that provided interpretive guidance tied to rule 95A on refunds for taxes paid on inward supplies to retail outlets in airport departure areas for sales to outgoing international tourists; the rule has been omitted retrospectively and the Chief Commissioner has rescinded the circular under section 168.

Refund of unutilised ITC for export of electricity clarified; filing, REA-based valuation and formulaic calculation prescribed.
Prescribes procedure for refund of unutilised Input Tax Credit on export of electricity: file Form GST RFD-01 under "Any Other" with remark "Export of electricity-without payment of tax (accumulated ITC)", upload Statement 3B (invoice details, energy exported, tariff per unit), REA statement of scheduled energy (Annexure-I) and agreements showing tariff. Relevant date is last day of month as per monthly REA. Refund is calculated under Rule 89(4) by valuing exported electricity as REA scheduled energy x agreed tariff, using the lower of REA or invoice quantities, and applying the formula (zero-rated turnover x Net ITC / Adjusted Total Turnover); officer verifies exclusions and may demand debit from electronic credit ledger before issuing refund and payment orders.

Re-credit in electronic credit ledger: proper officer can re-credit equivalent amounts after deposit of erroneous refunds.
Prescribes a mechanism for administrative re-credit to the electronic credit ledger where taxpayers deposit erroneous refunds. Taxpayers must pay the erroneous refund plus applicable interest and penalty via Form GST DRC-03, state the reason for payment, and submit a written request using the prescribed annexure. Upon verification that full amounts were paid by debit to the electronic cash ledger, the proper officer shall issue an order in Form GST PMT-03A to re-credit an equivalent amount to the electronic credit ledger, preferably within 30 days from receipt of the request or payment.

CLIA diagnostic kit equivalence: ECLIA deemed technologically comparable, enabling similar customs classification for imports.
The Ministry explains that CLIA denotes chemiluminescence-based immunoassays using various label systems, including redox-mediated light emission, and that ECLIA uses an electrochemical redox reaction to generate chemiluminescence. Both techniques rely on antigen-antibody binding, detect chemiluminescent signals for diagnostic analytes, and have the same applications. Consequently, ECLIA is functionally comparable to CLIA, and field formations should treat this technical equivalence when assessing imported diagnostic kits.

Refund entitlement guidance withdrawn after repeal of airport retail refund provision; circular applied mutatis mutandis.
The CBIC has withdrawn Circular No. 106/25/2019-GST ab-initio because Rule 95A, which provided for refunds of taxes on inward supplies by airport departure-area retail outlets to outgoing international tourists, was omitted retrospectively; Maharashtra directs that the CBIC withdrawal be applied mutatis mutandis under the state GST law, and requests trade notices and reporting of implementation difficulties.

Refund of unutilised ITC on export of electricity requires REA-backed scheduled energy, export agreement tariff, and prescribed refund filings.
Applicants seeking refund of unutilised Input Tax Credit on export of electricity must file electronically under the "Any Other" category, upload Statement 3B and REA monthly Statement of Scheduled Energy, provide export agreements showing tariff per unit, and furnish calculation as Statement 3A. The relevant date for limitation is the last date of the month in which export appears in the REA. Turnover for export is the REA scheduled energy multiplied by contracted tariff, using the lower quantity if invoice and REA differ; Adjusted Total Turnover excludes domestic electricity supplies.

Re-credit in electronic credit ledger: procedure established for FORM GST PMT-03A after deposit via FORM GST DRC-03, enabling officer action.
Where a registered person deposits an erroneous refund along with applicable interest and penalty through FORM GST DRC-03 by debit from the electronic cash ledger, the proper officer shall re credit an amount equivalent to the erroneous refund to the electronic credit ledger by order in FORM GST PMT-03A after being satisfied of receipt, following the Annexure A request procedure until portal automation is available.

Refund under inverted duty structure allowed when concessional notification causes lower output tax rate, subject to exclusions and conditions.
Refund of accumulated input tax credit is available where accumulation arises because the rate of tax on outward supplies is lower than the rate on inputs at the same time due to supply of goods under a government concessional notification; refunds are not available for nil rated or fully exempt outputs and for supplies specifically excluded by government notification, and remain subject to other statutory and procedural conditions for inverted duty refunds.

Input tax credit clarification: ITC for deemed exports and exclusions, plus electronic ledger use for tax payments.
Tax paid on supplies treated as deemed exports is refundable; the interim allowance enabling recipients to avail ITC on such tax for portal refunds is not ITC under Chapter V and therefore not subject to ITC reversal or included in Net ITC for refund computations. The proviso expanding availability of credit for employer provided goods or services applies to the whole exclusion clause for employee supplies, while "leasing" exclusion is confined to motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft. Electronic credit ledger balances may be used only for output tax (excluding reverse charge tax) and not for interest or penalties; electronic cash ledger may meet tax, interest, penalty or other GST liabilities.

Inter State supply reporting: Mandate to report place of supply details and segregate ITC reversals in returns.
Registered persons must report inter-State supplies to unregistered persons, composition taxpayers and UIN holders place-of-supply-wise in Table 3.2 of FORM GSTR-3B and the matching tables in FORM GSTR-1; portal auto-populates Table 3.2 from GSTR-1 but suppliers must ensure correct customer state data. Table 4(A) of GSTR-3B is auto-populated from GSTR-2B; permanent reversals and ineligible ITC must be reported in Table 4(B)(1), temporary/reclaimable reversals in Table 4(B)(2), and Net ITC credited equals 4(A) minus the sum of 4(B)(1) and 4(B)(2).

Fraudulent input tax credit: recipients who avail and use ITC on fake invoices face demand, interest and statutory penalties.
The circular clarifies that issuance of tax invoices without actual supply does not amount to supply and ordinarily does not attract tax demand under the demand provisions, but issuers are punishable for issuing invoices without supply. Recipients who fraudulently avail and utilize ITC on such invoices are liable to demand, recovery with interest, and penal action under the fraud provision; if penalised under that fraud provision, no duplicate penalty for the same act may be imposed elsewhere. Where fraudulent ITC is passed on by issuing further invoices without supply, no tax demand arises for outward transactions, but the intermediary is liable to penal action for both issuing invoices without supply and improper availment/utilisation of ITC.