Composition taxable person labelling requirement: failure to display prescribed wording on bills and signboards may invite enforcement action.
Composition taxable persons must print "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON, NOT ELIGIBLE TO COLLECT TAX ON SUPPLIES" in bold capital letters on every bill of supply and display "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON" in bold capital letters on a notice or signboard at their principal and additional places of business; failure to comply may prompt the proper officer to initiate action under GST law and attract penalty, fine or prosecution.

Post-sales discounts under GST: conditional incentives treated as payment for dealer services, unconditional discounts adjust supply value.
Post-sales discounts are governed by the valuation provisions and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply only if granted without further obligation by the dealer and the conditions for adjustment are met. If the discount requires the dealer to undertake promotional activities, it is consideration for a separate supply of services by the dealer, on which the dealer must charge GST and the supplier can claim input tax credit. Payments by a supplier to enable a dealer to offer reduced customer prices form part of the dealer's value of supply. Where a supplier issues financial/commercial credit notes because exclusion is not permitted, the supplier cannot reduce original tax liability; the dealer need not reverse ITC provided the dealer pays the reduced value after adjusting credit notes and the original tax charged.

Refund application processing when portal mapping is incorrect: process with receiving tax authority and request portal mapping correction.
Where a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A has been electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority other than the taxpayer's administrative assignee and portal reassignment is unavailable, the tax authority that received the application may process the refund claim without delay. After processing, that authority should notify the common portal of the incorrect administrative mapping and request an update so subsequent applications route to the correct jurisdictional tax authority.

Place of supply rules: ancillary port cargo handling services determined by contract; temporary imports for processing follow export-location rule.
Services connected to cargo handling at ports are ancillary and their place of supply is determined under Section 12(2) or Section 13(2) of the IGST Act according to contractual terms, not under the immovable property rule in Section 12(3). Services on goods temporarily imported for processing and exported without being put to use, such as cutting and polishing of unpolished diamonds, are subject to the temporary-import exception and their place of supply is determined under Section 13(2) of the IGST Act.

GST on penal interest: seller charged penal interest is includible in supply value, lender interest may be exempt.
Additional or penal interest on delayed EMI payments is taxable when charged by the seller because it must be included in the value of the supply of goods; penal interest charged by a separate lender on a loan qualifies as exempt interest under the exemption for extending loans or advances, provided it meets the statutory definition of "interest". Penal interest meeting that definition is not a separate taxable service under the provision covering tolerance or abstention, while service fees or other non interest charges by a financier are taxable.

Composition taxable person labelling requirement: mandatory invoice and signboard declarations, non-compliance may attract GST enforcement.
Composition taxable persons must print "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON, NOT ELIGIBLE TO COLLECT TAX ON SUPPLIES" on every bill of supply and display "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON" in bold capital letters on prominent notices or signboards at the principal and all additional places of business, under Rule 5 governing the composition levy. Non-compliance may result in action under GST law, including penalty, fine or prosecution, and departmental officers and trade associations are directed to circulate this advisory to relevant taxpayers and staff.

Annual return filing compliance seminar postponed; fresh date to be notified and associations asked to inform members.
Seminar concerning annual return filing compliance under GST for 2017-18 has been postponed; a fresh date will be intimated in due course. Trade, commerce and industry associations are requested to bring the postponement to the notice of their members.

GST Council approves committee referrals, extended filing deadlines, and a voluntary B2B e invoicing pilot from January 2020.
The GST Council recorded the CAG's proposals on audit format and digital audit and referred data sharing and access matters to the Law Committee; approved deemed ratification of Central notifications (12 March-11 June 2019); authorised a set of proposed CGST/IGST amendments (including Aadhaar linkage for registrations, administrative extension powers, ledger transfers, CAAAR creation and prospective interest change), subject to legal vetting; approved a pilot for voluntary B2B e invoicing from January 2020; extended filing deadlines to 31 August 2019; deferred Rule 138E e way bill blocking to 21 August 2019; extended NAA tenure by two years and approved NAA SOPs; referred lottery rate questions and place of supply concerns to the Attorney General; and tasked Fitment and Officers' Committees with sectoral issues.

Composition taxable person status must be displayed and bills must state inability to collect tax, non-compliance invites enforcement.
Composition taxable persons must print "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON, NOT ELIGIBLE TO COLLECT TAX ON SUPPLIES" on every bill of supply and display "COMPOSITION TAXABLE PERSON" in bold on prominent notices or signboards at principal and additional places of business; failure to comply may invite enforcement action and penalties under the GST law.

ACES GST integration enables migrated Central Excise and Service Tax taxpayers to access the integrated portal and complete login and registration procedures.
The notice implements ACES GST integration on https://cbic-gst.gov.in and prescribes that existing Central Excise and Service Tax taxpayers log in via the "ACES (CE&ST)" link using legacy ACES credentials, change their password on first access, and thereafter use their user id and new password to perform e filing and other transactions. New applicants must register using PAN and contact details, complete OTP verification to obtain a Temporary Reference Number (TRN), file the appropriate form (including Al Form or Non Assessee Form), receive an ARN on submission, and await officer approval and issuance of a Registration Certificate before accessing full portal functions.

Annual return filing under GST: reminder of deadline and a seminar to explain compliance procedures and resolve queries.
Annual return filing under Form GSTR-9 is the compliance obligation highlighted, with an imminent filing deadline and an organised seminar to explain procedural steps and clarify queries. Central Tax and Central Excise officers, with NACIN Cochin, will provide guidance on proper completion of the annual return; Trade, Commerce and Industry organisations are requested to inform their members for necessary action.

Change of address for CGST and Central Excise divisions: services to operate from new LIC Building premises.
Relocation of the offices of the Assistant Commissioner for CGST & Central Excise Divisions A and B to new premises at LIC Building, Sub City Centre, Udaipur, with Division A at Block 4 A, 4th Floor and Division B at Block 4 B, 4th Floor; trade and industry associations and all concerned are requested to inform their members of the change of address and updated office locations.

Power to arrest under the CGST Act requires attention to Supreme Court directions in ongoing High Court challenges.
Power to arrest under Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017 was the subject of divergent views among High Courts, prompting the Supreme Court to indicate that the legal position required clarification. Field formations were directed to bring these Supreme Court directions to the notice of the High Court in all matters where the validity or application of Section 69 is challenged.

GST arrest caveat filing directed for Supreme Court cases challenging arrest powers in fake invoice fraud matters.
Immediate filing of caveat(s) in the Hon'ble Supreme Court is directed in GST arrest cases where High Courts have not granted relief to petitioners challenging the power to arrest, especially in fake invoice and input tax credit fraud matters. The instruction refers to objections concerning arrest under section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017, notice under section 73(1), the authority of GST officers to arrest, and whether such officers are police officers, and requires prompt reporting of action taken.

Notification validity: original export notification remains in force after a forged cancellation order was exposed and disclaimed.
An alleged Office Order cancelling Notification No. 26/2015-2020 for export policy of Beach Sand Minerals is a forged document not issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade; the original notification has not been amended and remains in force.

Refund of unutilized input tax credit: Portal calculations and prescribed order of debiting electronic ledgers must be followed.
Refunds of unutilized input tax credit must be the least of three amounts: statutory maximum under rules 89(4)/89(5) on consolidated ITC, ledger balance at the end of the tax period after filing the return, and ledger balance at time of filing; the electronic credit ledger must be debited first towards Integrated Tax, then equally to Central and State/UT Tax with shortfalls met from the other head. Until portal automation is available taxpayers must manually compute and debit accordingly before ARN generation and filing FORM GST RFD-01A; illustrative allocations are provided and no adverse action will be taken for past non-conforming filings.

GST rate choice in real estate: landowner and developer must adopt the same option; ITC rules and valuation clarified.
The FAQs explain that in area sharing arrangements both landowner promoter and developer promoter must adopt the same GST option; apartments provided in exchange for development rights or FSI are taxable and valued by reference to prices charged to independent buyers nearest the transfer date; promoters opting for concessional low rate schemes without ITC must pay that tax in cash and cannot use ITC against it; ITC charged by a developer to a landowner on construction is available where tax was paid at rates permitting ITC; the 80% procurement-from-registered-persons threshold excludes salaries and land purchases but includes exempt inward supplies for valuation.

GST rate changes for real estate: promoters must choose between new no credit regime or old creditable regime, with specified compliance obligations.
Revisions to GST for real estate effective 1 April 2019 prescribe differentiated effective rates for residential construction after deduction of land, define affordable residential apartment by carpet area and price ceiling, and permit promoters of ongoing projects a one time, project wise option to remain under pre existing rates with input tax credit if exercised by the specified deadline. The FAQs set out the detailed definition of an ongoing project, procurement thresholds from registered suppliers with reverse charge for shortfalls, valuation abatement rules, timing and reverse charge obligations for TDR/FSI/long term leases, and compliance requirements including project wise accounting and invoice adjustment mechanisms; new projects commencing on or after 1 April 2019 must apply the new regime without option.

Revocation of cancellation of registration - one time application allowed, subject to furnishing outstanding returns and post revocation filings.
A Removal of Difficulty Order grants a one time opportunity to apply for revocation of cancellation of registration for affected persons, subject to furnishing all outstanding returns and payment before filing the application; additionally, returns for the period from cancellation to revocation must be filed within thirty days of the revocation order. Where cancellation is retrospective and portal filing is blocked, a proviso permits filing the revocation application provided post revocation returns for the retrospective period are furnished within thirty days.

Input tax credit prioritisation requires integrated tax credit be exhausted before using central or state credits under rule 88A.
Clarification explains that Section 49A mandates exhaustion of input tax credit attributable to integrated tax before using central or state/union territory tax credits, and that rule 88A allows integrated-tax credit to be applied towards central and state/union territory liabilities in any order or proportion provided the integrated-tax credit is completely exhausted first; taxpayers may continue to follow current common portal functionality until the portal implements the new utilisation order.