Input-tax credit eligibility tightened for mismatches between returns; additional credit allowed only subject to supplier payment and proof.
Clarifies treatment of ITC differences between GSTR-3B and GSTR-2A for April 1, 2019-December 31, 2021: earlier circular's guidelines apply for April 1-October 8, 2019; for subsequent subperiods additional ITC for invoices not reported by suppliers is allowed only within the specific facilitative ceilings under rule 36 and subject to the supplier-payment condition and other eligibility criteria; cumulative adjustment provisions for specified months must be observed; from January 1, 2022 ITC is allowable only as communicated in Form GSTR-2B; instructions apply to ongoing proceedings only.

Interest on wrongly availed IGST credit arises when total ITC across tax heads falls below that wrongly availed amount.
For interest under rule 88B and section 50(3), the relevant measure is the total input-tax credit balance across IGST, CGST and SGST in the electronic credit ledger; interest is triggered only if that combined balance falls below the wrongly availed IGST credit, and the extent of interest equals the extent to which the combined balance is short. Compensation cess credit is excluded from this calculation as it cannot be used for CGST, SGST or IGST liabilities or reversals.

RFQ platform participation requirement increases FPI secondary corporate bond trades via quotes, enhancing liquidity and disclosure.
FPIs must execute a minimum proportion of their total secondary market corporate bond trades by value through stock exchanges' RFQ platform by placing or seeking quotes, measured quarterly, to enhance RFQ liquidity and disclosure; the requirement is effective from October 01, 2023 and issued under SEBI's statutory powers and relevant FPI regulations.

Reverse Charge Mechanism: directors' personal services to their company excluded; cinema food treated as restaurant service when independent.
Services supplied by a director to the company in a private or personal capacity, such as renting immovable property, are not taxable under the Reverse Charge Mechanism; only services supplied by a person in his capacity as director attract RCM. Supply of food or beverages in a cinema hall is taxable as restaurant service when supplied as part of, or independently of, a service; if ticket and food are bundled as a composite supply, the principal exhibition service's rate applies to the entire bundle.

GST classification changes on specified goods adjust applicable rates and regularise past-period treatment without refunds.
Clarifies revised GST classification and concessional rates for specified goods with effect from 27 July 2023 where applicable, confirms that uncooked extruded snack pellets attract the lower rate while ready to eat extruded snacks retain the higher rate, reduces the rate on fish soluble paste, reclassifies imitation zari thread or yarn to the concessional rate, regularises past periods on an "as is" basis for multiple items including desiccated coconut and biomass briquettes, confirms raw cotton supplied by agriculturists to cooperatives is taxable under the reverse charge mechanism, and states no refunds will be granted where higher GST was already paid.

Reverse Charge on director services limited to duties performed in director capacity; personal rentals not covered.
Services by a director are taxable under RCM only when supplied in the capacity of director; services supplied by the director in a private or personal capacity, such as renting immovable property to the company, are not taxable under RCM. Supply of food or beverages in cinema premises is taxable as restaurant service when supplied by way of or as part of a service and independent of the exhibition service; bundled supplies of ticket plus food that form a composite supply will attract GST at the rate applicable to the principal supply, the exhibition service.

GST rate revisions: reduced rates and retrospective regularisation for specified goods, with no refunds where higher tax was paid.
Supply of uncooked/unfried extruded snack pellets (CTH 1905), fish soluble paste (CTH 2309), imitation zari thread (heading 5605) and goods under HSN 9021 are reclassified or re-rated to attract 5% GST from the notified effective date; ready-to-eat extruded snacks retain 18%. Supply of raw cotton by agriculturists to cooperatives is taxable at 5% on reverse charge. Desiccated coconut, biomass briquettes and areca leaf plates/cups are regularised for specified past periods. All listed past-period issues are regularised on an "as is" basis and no refunds will be granted where higher GST was paid.

Taxability of services between distinct persons clarified: ISD optional; invoice value deemed open market value when recipient has ITC.
The circular clarifies that where a Head Office procures input services from a third party but those services are attributable to Branch Offices, the HO may either distribute the attributable input tax credit through the Input Service Distributor mechanism (subject to mandatory ISD registration) or issue tax invoices to BOs; ISD use is not mandatory. It further provides that where a recipient BO is eligible for full input tax credit, the invoice value declared by the HO is deemed to be the open market value of internally generated services, irrespective of inclusion of particular cost components, while salary costs need not be mandatorily included in value where full ITC is not available.

E-invoicing obligations apply to supplies made to government entities registered for TDS, requiring issuance of e-invoices.
Suppliers whose turnover exceeds the e-invoicing threshold must issue e-invoices for supplies to Government Departments, agencies, local authorities, and PSUs that are registered solely for tax deduction purposes; such entities are treated as registered persons and therefore fall within the scope of the e-invoicing obligation under the relevant rule. The Commissioner directed uniform implementation, publicity via trade notices, and reporting of any implementation difficulties.

Input tax credit availability tied to GSTR-2B for refund claims, impacting refund admissibility and procedures.
Refund of accumulated ITC under Section 54(3) is restricted to ITC reflected in FORM GSTR-2B for the relevant tax period or any prior tax period where the credit is available, applicable to refund claims from January 2022 onward. FORM RFD-01 undertaking is amended to remove references to the omitted Section 42 and deleted GSTR-2/GSTR-3, while applicants must still undertake repayment with interest if clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 16 is not complied with. Refunds of integrated tax paid under Rule 96A are admissible upon subsequent export or receipt, but interest paid is not refundable.

Taxability of holding shares: mere holding of subsidiary equity is not a taxable supply absent a supply under law
Holding shares in a subsidiary by a parent company is neither goods nor services and, absent an actual supply as defined in section 7 of the UPGST Act, cannot be treated as a taxable supply under GST; a SAC entry for holding companies is not determinative of taxability.

Warranty replacement GST treatment: no GST where no consideration; additional charges attract GST and normal ITC rules.
Where replacement parts or repair services are provided during a warranty period without separate consideration, their cost is treated as included in the value of the original supply and no further GST is chargeable; if additional consideration is charged, GST is payable on that additional supply. Input tax credit need not be reversed by the manufacturer for warranty replacements provided without consideration. Distributor arrangements vary: taxable invoiced supplies to manufacturers allow ITC, manufacturer-provided parts to distributors without charge attract no GST or ITC reversal, and distributor-provided repair services invoiced to the manufacturer are taxable with ITC availability for the manufacturer. Extended warranty sold at original supply is a composite supply; sold later is a separate taxable contract.

TCS collection responsibility allocated to supplier-side platform remitting payment; if supplier is also a platform, buyer-side platform collects.
Where multiple e commerce operators participate in one supply, the supplier side ECO who ultimately releases payment to the supplier must collect TCS, remit it to the Government, and fulfil other compliances under section 52 if that ECO is not the supplier. If the supplier itself is an ECO, the buyer side ECO that collects payment and makes the remittance is required to collect TCS and comply with section 52.

Input tax credit mismatch: guidance limits allowable excess ITC to specified caps and ties eligibility to supplier reporting.
Clarification explains that transitional rule-based caps permitted registered persons to claim ITC in GSTR-3B in excess of GSTR-2A only up to specified limits during successive sub-periods, subject to the substantive condition that tax on the supply was paid by the supplier; verification and documentation requirements from the earlier circular apply, amounts beyond the applicable cap are inadmissible, cumulative adjustments for certain grouped months must be made as directed, and from the later amendment ITC is allowable only as communicated in FORM GSTR-2B.

Interest on wrongly availed IGST credit depends on the total electronic ITC balance, not IGST head alone.
For calculating interest in cases of wrongly availed IGST credit, the total input tax credit available in the electronic credit ledger across IGST, CGST and SGST heads taken together must be considered. No interest arises if, from wrongful availment until reversal, that combined balance never falls below the wrongly availed amount; interest applies to the extent the combined balance falls short. Compensation cess credit is excluded from the combined balance and cannot be used to offset IGST, CGST or SGST liabilities.

Authorization of Booking Post Offices enables electronic filing of Postal Bill of Export and acceptance of international consignments.
The Department of Posts has authorised specified Booking Post Offices with Dak Ghar Niryat Kendra (DNK) facility for electronic filing of the Postal Bill of Export (e PBE) and acceptance of international mail articles; each Booking Post Office is mapped to a corresponding Foreign Post Office or air/sea gateway to enable export transmission and customs processing under the Postal Export (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2022.

Online dispute resolution requirement: market participants must enrol on the ODR Portal and follow amended procedural rules.
All Market Participants must enrol on the ODR Portal within prescribed timelines, with enrolment and electronic execution of terms with MIIs and ODR Institutions deemed complete at the end of those timelines; investors must first pursue redress with the Market Participant and through SCORES before initiating ODR, and disputes pending before courts, tribunals, arbitral processes, consumer forums, non-arbitrable matters or those affected by insolvency proceedings are excluded.

Commodity derivatives master circular consolidates SEBI rules on trading, products, risk management, disclosures and tech resilience.
SEBI's Master Circular consolidates and updates the regulatory framework for the commodity derivatives segment, rescinding specified prior circulars while preserving prior actions and pending applications, and mandates compliance by recognized stock exchanges and clearing corporations. It prescribes operational norms (trading hours, transaction charges, UCC/PAN, disclosures), product governance (eligibility, PAC oversight, contract approval), risk management (DPL, position limits, margining, SGF, stress testing, cross margin) and participant, technology and cyber resilience standards, including an SOP and tiered financial disincentive for technical glitches and disaster recovery failures.

Validity period for overseas investment approvals shortened to four months, requiring quicker utilisation or reallocation of unutilised limits.
Prior approvals for overseas investments granted to Alternative Investment Funds and Venture Capital Funds must be utilised within four months of grant; unutilised limits may be reallocated to other applicants, and the reduced timeframe applies prospectively to approvals issued after the circular.

Confiscation of seized gold: owner given fifteen days to produce proof or customs will proceed with disposal.
Two gold bars and two gold chains (total weight 361.4 gms) were seized for alleged smuggling; an order directed absolute confiscation of the items and imposed a penalty, the departmental revision upholding that order, and the customs office now notifies the owner to produce legitimate proof or justification within fifteen days or the goods will be disposed under departmental procedure.