Mandatory import declaration qualifiers receive deferred implementation, allowing additional compliance time before the revised effective date.
Mandatory additional qualifiers for specified import declarations are deferred until 1 October 2023. These qualifiers remain additional to existing importer declarations and apply in the prescribed manner for the relevant product chapters. The deferment follows requests for additional compliance time, and implementation difficulties may be reported to the Customs Commissioner.

Export quota allocation for broken rice: deadline for government-requested humanitarian exports extended under amended trade notice.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade partially amends earlier Trade Notices to extend the last date for submission of application for obtaining licence for export of broken rice to Senegal, Gambia and Indonesia up to 11th August, 2023, referencing a judicial order and directing Regional Authorities, Customs Commissionerates and trade members to process applications under the revised timeline and existing licensing procedures.

Allocation of broken rice export quota on humanitarian grounds via pro rata online allocation and compliance requirements.
Export of broken rice is permitted only by Government permission for specified countries and will be allocated online by DGFT using minimum shipment thresholds and an initial pro rata allocation based on each exporter's three year average exports to the requesting country (or the quantity applied for, whichever is less), with reallocation of unutilized quantities on a pro rata basis. Applicants must file online within the prescribed window with required export data; authorisations are time limited and require submission of a landing certificate. Misdeclaration or failure to export the allocated quota may lead to blacklisting and enforcement under applicable foreign trade laws.

Export quota allocation for humanitarian wheat exports to Bhutan via pro rata historical exports, with authorisation and penalties.
Allocation of export quota for Wheat, Wheat Flour (Atta) and Maida/Semolina to Bhutan is authorised on humanitarian grounds and will be allotted online by a pro rata mechanism based on each exporter's three year average exports to Bhutan, subject to a minimum threshold and the lesser of historical average or applied quantity; unutilised quantities will be reallocated pro rata, authorisations are valid until 31 March 2024, applicants must submit past export data and successful exporters must furnish a landing certificate within ninety days, with mis declaration or failure to export causing two year blacklisting and enforcement action.

Customs sealing of suspicious containers after scanning to prevent pilferage, with seal replacement and recordkeeping requirements.
Containers marked as suspicious after scanning must be sealed with a Customs seal before leaving the scanning point to prevent pilferage or replacement of goods. Standard containers are to receive a customs bottle seal, while ISO tanks are to be sealed with strip seals or punch seals. If no space is available because all points are already sealed, one private or commercial seal may be cut and replaced after informing the concerned parties. The scanning officer must note the time and seal number on the EIR copy, and the CFS must maintain daily entry records.

AD Code Registration requirements standardized: limited documentary set accepted and same-day processing timelines enforced for exports.
Field formations shall accept only two digitally uploaded documents on e-Sanchit for AD Code and bank account registration: (a) a Bank Authorization Letter specifying exporter name and address, IEC number, PAN linked to the IEC, bank account number and holder, confirmation that the PAN linked to the account matches the PAN linked to the IEC, bank AD Code/IFSC, and branch contact details including official e mail; and (b) a cancelled cheque or latest bank statement endorsed by the bank; IFSC accounts will be validated by PFMS before disbursal.

Inter-state service taxation between distinct persons: choice of invoice or ISD determines input tax credit distribution and valuation.
Where a head office procures common input services from a third party attributable to both head and branch offices, the head office may either distribute ITC via the ISD mechanism (subject to mandatory ISD registration and attribution to the recipient) or issue tax invoices to branch offices so they may claim ITC. For internally generated services, if the recipient is eligible for full ITC the invoice value declared by the supplier is deemed to be the open market value regardless of whether specific cost components like employee salary are included; omission of salary cost is not fatal, and where full ITC exists a nil invoice may be deemed open market value. If full ITC is not available to the recipient, inclusion of HO employee salary cost in taxable value is not mandatory.

E-invoicing requirement applies to supplies to government entities registered for tax deduction when supplier exceeds threshold.
Government entities required to deduct tax at source and registered solely for that purpose are treated as registered persons; suppliers whose turnover exceeds the prescribed e-invoicing threshold must issue e-invoices for supplies to such government entities under the RGST Rules.

Refund of accumulated input tax credit now limited to ITC reflected in GSTR-2B, altering refund claim basis.
Refund of accumulated input tax credit is restricted to ITC reflected in the applicant's Form GSTR-2B for the relevant or prior tax periods; this replaces reliance on Form GSTR-2A and applies to refund claims for periods governed by the amended availment rules. The Form RFD-01 undertaking is revised to remove references to provisionally accepted ITC and deleted procedural forms, retaining an undertaking to repay refunded amounts with interest if clause (c) of sub section (2) of section 16 is subsequently found unmet. Export value for adjusted total turnover must follow the inserted Explanation. Exporters who paid IGST under compliance provisions may claim refund of unutilized ITC and IGST paid, but not interest.

Taxability of holding company shares: holding shares in a subsidiary is not a GST supply absent an actual supply.
Securities, including shares, are neither goods nor services under the RGST Act; mere holding, purchase or sale of shares by a holding company in its subsidiary does not constitute a supply. SAC classification (e.g., services by holding companies) does not alone create a taxable service; a taxable service requires an actual supply as defined in the RGST Act, and therefore holding shares per se cannot be taxed under GST.

Input tax credit on warranty replacements clarified: no GST or ITC reversal where no separate consideration is charged.
Replacement parts and repair services supplied during a warranty period without separate consideration are included in the value of the original taxable supply, so no additional GST is chargeable and the manufacturer need not reverse ITC; if additional consideration is charged, GST applies. Distributors providing warranty services without charging customers do not incur GST on that activity, but GST and ITC consequences follow where distributors invoice manufacturers or where credit notes and ITC reversals are involved. Extended warranty sold with the original supply is part of the composite supply; sold later it is a separate taxable supply.

TCS collection by the ECO that disburses payment clarified; responsibility follows the operator who finally pays the supplier.
Where multiple e commerce operators participate in a supply, the ECO that finally releases payment to the supplier after deducting its fees is responsible for TCS collection and related compliances; if the supplier is itself an ECO and receives payment from the buyer side ECO, the buyer side ECO must collect TCS and perform the compliance obligations.

Input Tax Credit reconciliation restricts ITC where supplier reporting is absent and governs treatment in pending proceedings.
Clarification governs reconciliation where ITC availed in Form GSTR-3B exceeds Form GSTR-2A for 1 April 2019-31 December 2021, affirming that rule-based additional credit was permissible only subject to the statutory payment condition for ITC and within specified rule limits for successive subperiods; it applies earlier guidance for pre-rule months, illustrates allowed and disallowed excesses where limits are breached, notes cumulative adjustment provisos for specified months, and states that from 1 January 2022 ITC is admissible only if reported by suppliers and communicated in Form GSTR-2B.

Wrong availment of IGST credit: interest applies only when combined ITC falls below the wrongly availed amount.
Interest on wrongly availed IGST credit is determined by the aggregate input-tax credit balance in the electronic credit ledger across IGST, CGST and SGST; no interest is chargeable if that combined balance never falls below the wrongly availed amount during the period between availment and reversal. Compensation cess credit is excluded from this aggregate and cannot be used to offset interest exposure or reversals.

Corporate debt backstop fund requires mutual fund debt schemes and AMCs to contribute and enables purchases during market dislocation.
Creation of CDMDF as a close-ended backstop facility to purchase listed investment-grade corporate debt (including money market instruments) with residual maturity up to five years from specified debt-oriented mutual fund schemes during SEBI-declared market dislocation. Specified schemes must invest a fixed fraction of their AUM in CDMDF units with incremental top-ups as AUM grows; AMCs make a one-time contribution tied to their schemes' AUM. Sellers receive predominantly cash and a portion in units that bear first-loss risk. Contributions are locked-in, access is proportional to holdings, and CDMDF investments are excluded from certain risk and maturity calculations.

Corporate Debt Market Development Fund to buy investment-grade corporate debt as a backstop to support market liquidity during stress.
The circular creates the Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF) as an AIF backstop facility to purchase investment-grade corporate debt during market stress, subject to the GSCD. CDMDF must hold specified low-risk instruments in normal times, follow a fair-pricing valuation framework for purchases, observe a defined fee schedule, publish NAVs by prescribed times, and implement operational arrangements for RFQ trading and settlement. A three-tier loss-waterfall allocates initial losses to A3 units, then A1/A2, with residual protection via Government Guarantee; A1/A2 NAVs are protected at opening NAV during dislocation and A3 bears excess losses until parity is restored.

Legal Entity Identifier requirement for non individual FPIs now mandatory; accounts blocked for purchase privileges on non compliance.
Mandates submission and maintenance of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for all non individual FPIs as a condition for registration, renewal and purchase activity. Depositories must modify the Common Application Form and DDPs will collect LEI details; new registrations require LEI receipt. Existing FPIs must provide LEIs within 180 days or face account blocking for purchases. FPIs must keep LEIs active; expired or lapsed LEIs will result in blocking until renewal.

Recomputation of income for sugar co operatives enables allowance of sugarcane purchase deductions when prices match government fixed rates.
Recomputation permits a co-operative society in sugar manufacture to apply for recomputation where deductions for sugarcane purchase were disallowed for years on or before 1 April 2014; the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer shall allow the deduction to the extent the expenditure was incurred at prices equal to or less than government-fixed or government-approved prices, apply rectification provisions analogous to the rectification procedure, and issue an order within six months of the month in which the application is received, with recomputations permissible only until 31 March 2027.

Standing arrangements requirement: trustees must confirm arrangements in half yearly reports for special purpose audits and legal advice, effective immediately.
Trustees must maintain standing arrangements with independent firms for special purpose audits and legal advice, and must confirm continuous compliance with this requirement in the Half Yearly Trustee Reports, which are amended to include a specific entry for this confirmation and an additional item for other trustee matters; the requirement is effective immediately.

Treaty Qualified Retirement Fund classification clarified for CRS reporting, distinguishing FATCA and non US reportable account treatment.
Clarification explains that a Treaty Qualified Retirement Fund, while non-reporting under FATCA, is not non-reporting under the CRS and therefore must not be treated as non-reporting for non U.S. reportable accounts; a non-public fund of the armed forces is an active non-financial entity under the CRS and not a financial institution for non U.S. reportable accounts; and gratuity funds may be passive NFEs or reporting financial institutions depending on management, with certain accounts qualifying as excluded accounts if they meet retirement or conditional withdrawal conditions and monetary limits.