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.

Condonation of delay for deduction claims where statutory audit delays caused late filing, subject to verification and hearing.
The Board delegates to Chief Commissioners/Directors General authority to admit and decide applications for condonation of delay in filing returns claiming deduction for cooperative societies where delay resulted from circumstances beyond the assessee's control, including delays in obtaining statutory audits under State law; decision-makers must verify documentary evidence of audit delay vis-a -vis the return due date, check for signs of tax avoidance or evasion requiring further action, and afford the applicant an opportunity to be heard, preferably disposing applications within a three-month target.

Scrutiny of returns: portal based discrepancy notices, taxpayer reply mechanism and prescribed timelines for assessment action.
The circular prescribes a structured online procedure for scrutiny of returns via the GST BO Portal: Head Office issues risk based lists while proper officers may take suo motu cases; officers must issue Form GST ASMT 10 specifying parameter wise discrepancies, consider payments made via Form DRC 03, receive replies in Form GST ASMT 11, and conclude by Form GST ASMT 12 if satisfied, or initiate determination proceedings, audit or investigation otherwise. Time bound timelines, reporting on MIS and oversight by zonal commissioners are mandated, and an indicative list of selection parameters is provided.

Input-tax credit allocation: HO may use ISD registration or invoicing to enable BOs to claim ITC, subject to valuation rules.
For services between distinct persons, HO may either distribute ITC through the ISD mechanism (requiring ISD registration) or issue tax invoices under section 31 so BOs can avail ITC; ISD distribution is allowed only if services are attributable to or actually provided to BOs. Invoice value for internally generated supplies is governed by rule 28 read with section 15(4): if the recipient BO is eligible for full ITC, the invoice value is deemed open market value irrespective of included cost components, and HO need not include employee salary costs in taxable value where recipient is not eligible for full ITC.

E-invoicing applicability: suppliers must issue e-invoices for supplies to government entities registered solely for TDS deduction.
E-invoicing is required for supplies by registered persons whose turnover exceeds the prescribed threshold when supplies are made to Government Departments, establishments, agencies, local authorities, or PSUs that are registered solely for deduction of tax at source; such entities are treated as registered persons under GST law and transactions with them fall within the e-invoicing regime, and implementation issues should be reported to the Department.

Refund of accumulated input-tax credit now rests on GSTR-2B reflection, affecting eligibility for GST credit refunds.
Refund of accumulated input-tax credit under section 54(3) is restricted, from January 1, 2022, to credit reflected in Form GSTR-2B for the relevant or any prior tax period on which credit is available; prior circulars limiting refunds to GSTR-1/GSTR-2A are modified. The Form RFD-01 undertaking is retained but revised to reference only clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 16, with references to section 42 and GSTR-2/GSTR-3 removed. Adjusted total turnover must include exports as determined by the Explanation in sub-rule (4) of rule 89. Exporters who paid IGST under rule 96A may claim refund of the tax (not interest) once export/payment occurs, filing under "Any Other" if portal options are unavailable.

Taxability of shareholding: holding shares in a subsidiary is not a supply under GST without a section 7 supply.
The Circular explains that securities, including shares, are neither goods nor services under GST definitions and that mere purchase, sale or holding of shares does not constitute a supply; therefore holding shares of a subsidiary by a parent company, by itself, cannot be treated as a supply of services and is not taxable under GST unless there is an actual supply as defined in law.

Warranty replacement GST treatment: no GST or input tax credit reversal when replacements/repairs are free under original warranty.
Where the original supply's value includes warranty, replacements or repairs provided during warranty without separate consideration attract no additional GST and the manufacturer need not reverse input tax credit; if additional consideration is charged, GST applies on that additional consideration.

TCS collection responsibility falls on the ECO releasing payment; if supplier is also an ECO, buyer side ECO collects.
Where multiple e commerce operators are involved and the supplier side ECO is not the supplier, the supplier side ECO who finally releases payment to the supplier must collect TCS and perform related compliances; if the supplier itself is an ECO, the buyer side ECO must collect TCS when making payment to that supplier.