Taxability of guarantees: personal guarantees may have zero taxable value; corporate guarantees are valued under related-party rules.
Personal guarantees by directors for company borrowings constitute a supply of service between related persons and are valued at open market value; where regulatory mandates bar any consideration the open market value may be zero and taxable value nil, except where remuneration is in fact paid. Corporate guarantees by related companies or by a holding company for a subsidiary are treated as supplies between related persons and must be valued under the amended related-party valuation provision, which applies regardless of input tax credit availability; that amended provision does not apply to personal guarantees.

Composition fee for value-add shortfall reduced, lowering penalty obligation for exporters under authorisation when value addition is below minimum.
Amendment revises Para 4.49(b) of the Handbook of Procedures, 2023: where the Export Obligation is fulfilled in quantity but Value Addition falls below the minimum prescribed, the Authorisation holder must deposit a reduced composition amount calculated as a percentage of the FOB value shortfall, payable in Indian Rupees online via the DGFT website; the change lowers the composition fee to streamline compliance.

IEPF filings transition relief: additional filing fees and specified e verifications waived, with one time relaxation for rule seven compliance.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has waived additional filing fees for specified IEPF e forms (IEPF 1, IEPF 1A, IEPF 2, IEPF 4) and for e verification of claims in e form IEPF 5 during the MCA21 V2 to V3 transition, and granted a one time relaxation for e verification under the third proviso to sub rule (3) of rule 7 of the IEPFA Rules to enable stakeholders to regularise filings without the additional fee.

Fraud Risk Management in banks: mandatory EWS, red flagging, natural justice procedures, and RBI/CFR reporting timelines.
These Directions require banks to adopt a Board approved Fraud Risk Management Policy, establish EWS and Red Flagging frameworks integrated with core systems and analytics, investigate red flagged accounts via internal or external audit, adhere to principles of natural justice (SCN, 21 days, reasoned order), report red flagged accounts meeting CRILC threshold to RBI within seven days and all frauds to RBI via FMRs within 14 days, use the Central Fraud Registry for risk management, complete classification within 180 days, and ensure staff accountability and prescribed reporting to LEAs and other authorities.

GST classification clarifications confirm applicable rates on specified goods and regularise past-period issues subject to conditions.
Clarification under section 168(1) classifies dual-energy solar cookers under heading 8516 and confirms the applicable rate; treats all sprinklers, including fire water sprinklers, as falling within the sprinkler entry and applicable rate with past-period regularisation; amends the tariff entry to explicitly include parts of poultry-keeping machinery with the applicable rate and past-period regularisation; narrows the scope of "pre-packaged and labelled" to exclude agricultural farm produce in packages over twenty-five kilogram or litre so such supply will not attract the specified levy, with past-period regularisation; and regularises past supplies of pulses and cereals made to or by government-engaged agencies under approved programmes subject to a Deputy Secretary certificate and reversal or disallowance of input tax credit.

GST exemption scope clarified for railways, SPVs, RERA, digital payment incentives, reinsurance and certain accommodation services.
GST applicability clarified across several service categories: Ministry of Railways supplies to the public and inter division supplies are exempted with past liabilities regularised; SPV supplies permitting use of SPV infrastructure and reciprocal maintenance services are exempted with past period regularisation; statutory collections by RERA are covered by the governmental authority exemption; incentive shares under the RuPay/UPI scheme distributed as decided by NPCI are treated as subsidy and not taxable; reinsurance (including retrocession) of specified exempt and government funded schemes is regularised for past periods; specified accommodation services meeting value and duration criteria are exempted with retrospective regularisation.

Continuous supply of spectrum usage attracts reverse-charge GST when upfront payment or each deferred instalment becomes due or is paid.
Spectrum allocation involving an instalment option is a continuous supply of services, with GST payable by the telecom operator under reverse charge. The Frequency Assignment Letter is a bid-acceptance and allocation instrument, not an invoice-equivalent document for applying the sixty-day reverse-charge rule. GST on upfront payment is payable when payment is made or becomes due, whichever is earlier; for deferred payments, GST is payable when each instalment is due or paid, whichever is earlier. This treatment also applies to similar government allocations of natural-resource usage rights.

Continuous supply of services under hybrid annuity road contracts determines tax timing and includes interest in taxable value.
Hybrid Annuity Model road construction and operation-and-maintenance obligations constitute a single continuous supply of services and cannot be split merely because payments are staggered. If an invoice is issued by the contractual specified date or event-completion date, tax liability arises on the earlier of invoice issuance or payment receipt. If not, liability arises on the earlier of the contractual payment due date, treated as the service-provision date, or payment receipt. Interest included in annuity or instalment payments is includible in taxable value.

Custodial services to foreign portfolio investors follow the default place-of-supply rule, not deposit account holder treatment.
Place of supply for custodial services supplied by banks or financial institutions to Foreign Portfolio Investors is determined under the default rule in section 13(2) of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Such services are not supplied to an account holder for section 13(8)(a), which concerns holders of interest-bearing deposit accounts. Custodial functions, including safekeeping securities, maintaining securities accounts and records, collecting benefits, and communicating issuer actions, are distinct from ordinary banking services to deposit account holders. The recipient's location applies where ascertainable; otherwise, the supplier's location applies.

Input tax credit on optical fiber network ducts and manholes remains available as plant and machinery for telecommunication services.
Input tax credit on ducts and manholes forming part of an optical fiber cable network used to provide telecommunication services is not restricted under the blocked-credit provisions concerning works contract services or construction of immovable property. These components are integral to transmitting telecommunication signals and fall within plant and machinery because they are used for making outward supplies. They are not excluded as land, buildings, civil structures, telecommunication towers or pipelines laid outside factory premises.

Related-party loan processing remains outside GST when consideration is only interest or discount, while separate fees are taxable.
GST exemption applies to loans, credit or advances where consideration is solely interest or discount, other than interest in credit card services. No separate processing, facilitation or administration service is deemed in loans between an overseas affiliate and its Indian affiliate, or between related persons, merely because no fee other than interest or discount is charged; open market value cannot be used to levy GST on such deemed service. Processing, administrative, service or loan-granting fees charged in addition to interest or discount are taxable consideration for loan-related services.

Motor repair ITC allows insurers credit for reimbursed approved repair costs when invoices are issued in their name.
ITC is available to motor insurers for repair services settled through reimbursement where the garage invoice is issued in the insurer's name. The insurer is the recipient to the extent of its approved repair liability, notwithstanding that the insured initially pays the garage. Where repair charges exceed the approved claim cost, credit is limited to the amount reimbursed by the insurer; separate invoicing permits credit on the invoice issued to the insurer. No ITC is available if the repair invoice is not in the insurer's name.

Extended warranty taxation treats separately supplied or post-sale coverage as services, while warranty stock replenishment remains non-taxable.
Warranty replacement treatment applies to replacement of entire goods as well as parts. Where a distributor replaces goods or parts from its own stock on behalf of a manufacturer and receives replenishment without separate consideration, no GST is payable on replenishment and the manufacturer need not reverse input tax credit. Extended warranty supplied by a person different from the goods supplier is a separate supply of services. Extended warranty supplied after the original sale is also a distinct taxable supply of services.

Motor-vehicle salvage ownership determines whether insurers incur GST liability when damaged vehicle wreckage is subsequently sold.
GST treatment of motor-vehicle salvage depends on contractual ownership after claim settlement. Where the insurer deducts agreed salvage value from a total-loss claim, salvage remains with the insured; the deduction is a contractual deductible, not consideration for a supply by the insurer, and no GST liability arises for the insurer. Where the insurer settles the claim for the full declared vehicle value without a salvage deduction, salvage becomes the insurer's property. The insurer must discharge outward GST on its subsequent sale or supply of that salvage.

Input tax credit reversal is not required where life insurance premium is excluded from taxable value under prescribed valuation rules.
Input tax credit reversal is not required for the portion of premium excluded from taxable value under rule 32(4) of the Gujarat GST Rules for taxable life insurance policies. Premium allocated towards investment or savings is excluded under the prescribed valuation mechanism, but this exclusion does not make that amount an exempt or non-taxable supply. Since life insurance service remains taxable and is neither nil-rated nor wholly exempt, the input tax credit restrictions applicable to exempt supplies do not apply to the excluded premium portion.

ESOP reimbursement taxability excludes cost-to-cost share recoveries, but additional facilitation charges attract GST under reverse charge.
GST does not apply where an overseas holding company directly issues ESOPs, ESPPs or RSUs to employees of its domestic subsidiary and the subsidiary reimburses only the cost of the securities on a cost-to-cost basis. Securities are neither goods nor services, and employee compensation under an employment arrangement is outside supply. However, any additional fee, markup, commission or similar recovery above the securities cost is consideration for facilitating or arranging the transaction. GST applies to that additional amount under reverse charge as an import of services by the domestic subsidiary.

Post-supply discount compliance requires evidence of recipient input tax credit reversal before tax credit note discounts reduce taxable value.
Post-supply discounts granted through tax credit notes may be excluded from taxable value only when the recipient reverses input tax credit attributable to the discount, in addition to the requirements of a pre-supply agreement and invoice linkage. Pending portal-based verification, suppliers may obtain a CA/CMA certificate, or a recipient undertaking or certificate where the aggregate tax involved is within the prescribed threshold. These records must identify relevant credit notes, invoices, and reversal details, and are admissible evidence in scrutiny, audit, investigation, and other proceedings, including for prior periods.

Reverse-charge self-invoicing determines the input tax credit limitation year for supplies received from unregistered persons.
For reverse-charge supplies received from unregistered persons, the relevant financial year for the input tax credit limitation period is the year in which the registered recipient issues the required self-invoice, not the year of receipt of supply. The recipient must issue the invoice and pay reverse-charge tax in cash. Credit is available on the prescribed tax-paying document, subject to tax payment and applicable input tax credit conditions and restrictions. Delayed self-invoicing and tax payment require payment of interest, and delayed issuance may attract penal action.

Related-party imported services: full input tax credit permits self-invoiced or nil declared value to be treated as open market value.
Imported services received by an Indian registered person from a related foreign person are subject to reverse charge, with self-invoicing by the Indian recipient. Where the recipient is eligible for full input tax credit, the value declared in the self-invoice is deemed to be the open market value for supplies between related persons. If no invoice is issued for a service received from the foreign affiliate, its value may be regarded as nil and treated as the open market value, subject to full input tax credit eligibility.

Place of supply for unregistered recipients follows the invoiced delivery address when billing and delivery addresses differ.
Place of supply for goods supplied to an unregistered person is the recipient's address recorded on the invoice, or the supplier's location where no recipient address is recorded. Recording the recipient's State name is deemed to be recording an address. Where billing and delivery addresses differ, including e-commerce supplies, the delivery address recorded on the invoice determines the place of supply. The supplier may record the delivery address as the recipient's address for this purpose.