Financial assistance processing under Seva Bhoj Yojna: trade notice directs adherence to CBIC guidelines and public dissemination.
Guidance directs processing of applications for central financial assistance under the Seva Bhoj Yojna in accordance with the CBIC circular, requiring verification of eligibility, adherence to submission formats and supporting documentation, and internal processing controls; the trade notice also mandates dissemination of the circular's contents to trade associations and the public.

Extension of time for FORM GST TRAN-1 filing granted to registrants affected by portal technical difficulties.
The Commissioner, under rule 117(1A) and section 168, extends the period for submitting the declaration in FORM GST TRAN-1 until 31st March, 2019 for registered persons who could not file by the due date because of technical difficulties on the common portal, limited to cases recommended by the Council and superseding Order No. 4/2018 GST.

Regional Advisory Committee meeting scheduled; notice to convene quarterly consultation and attendance requested by zonal chief.
Notice convening the Regional Advisory Committee meeting for the fourth quarter of F.Y. 2018-19: the zonal Principal Chief Commissioner has fixed the meeting date, time and venue and requests attendance by the Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of CGST divisions, noting that the meeting date and agenda points were previously communicated by email.

Transition of eligible duties: service tax credit remains eligible for transition under the amended statutory provision.
The amendment to section 140(1) clarifies that CENVAT credit of service tax under the prior law qualifies as transitional credit because "eligible duties" must be read harmoniously with the explanations to section 140, and the terms "duties" and "taxes" are interchangeable in the statute; "eligible duties" encompasses the categories listed in Explanation 1 and "eligible duties and taxes" in Explanation 2, but does not import the stock-or-transit conditions of those Explanations. Transition of cesses is excluded under Explanation 3.

GST Council raises composition limits, sets new registration options, creates service composition scheme and forms GoMs for real estate and lottery.
The Council ratified Central notifications issued after 22 December 2018, approved notifying most GST Amendment Acts from 1 February 2019 (with specified provisions deferred), and endorsed MSME-related measures: raising goods composition turnover to Rs.1.5 crore, quarterly payment with annual return for composition taxpayers, allowing States to choose Rs.20 lakh or Rs.40 lakh registration thresholds for goods suppliers with safeguards, and a residual service composition scheme at 6% for turnover up to Rs.50 lakh; additional GoMs and officer committees were constituted and IT/administrative measures approved.

GST migration window re-opening requires taxpayers to complete migration steps and coordinate with nodal officers by prescribed deadlines.
Re-opening of the GST migration window provides a procedural timeline: taxpayers must submit specified details to the jurisdictional nodal officer; jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioners will verify and forward submissions to the zonal nodal officer; zonal nodal officers will transmit details to GSTN; and taxpayers must take required actions after receiving communications from GSTN. Trade associations are requested to circulate the notice to members to ensure completion of migration formalities within the extended timeframe.

Transition of CENVAT credit: service-tax credit remains eligible for carryforward under amended section 140(1).
Section 140(1) of the CGST Act, as amended, continues to allow transition of CENVAT credit of service tax paid under section 66B of the Finance Act, 1994; "eligible duties" is intended to include the duties listed in Explanation 1 (sl. (i)-(vii)) and "eligible duties and taxes" in Explanation 2 (sl. (i)-(viii)), without importing the stock-in-hand or in-transit conditions into section 140(1). Clauses linking Explanations 1 and 2 to section 140(1) will not be notified, and cesses remain non-transitionable under Explanation 3.

GST on BF/BC services: banks bear tax liability on customer service charges and rural-branch exemptions depend on branch classification.
The banking company is the service provider in the BF/BC model and is liable to pay GST on the entire service charge or fee charged to customers, irrespective of collection via BF/BC, because transactions must be reflected in the bank's books and the bank remains responsible for BF/BC acts. The rural-branch exemption for BF/BC services applies only where the services fall within the financial services classification and relate to accounts of branches classified as rural under the bank's regulatory classification.

Exemption for educational institution food services: institutional supplies to students exempt; contracted supplies subject to prescribed GST rate.
Supply of food and beverages by an educational institution itself to its students, faculty and staff is exempt from GST under the exemption notification for educational institutions; however, similar supplies provided to those beneficiaries by a third party under contract with the institution are taxable under the rate notification. The rate and exemption entries are to be read together so that a supply specifically covered by the exemption is not chargeable to GST despite a prescribed rate entry.

Classification of printing of pictures as photographic processing clarifies a higher GST rate applies versus printing services.
The service of printing of pictures is classified under Photographic and videographic processing services, which expressly includes colour printing of images from film or digital media and related tasks, and is excluded from the category of printing and reproduction services of recorded media. This classification determines the applicable GST rate under the annexed scheme and incorrect classification under printing and reproduction may result in short payment of GST.

Tax immunity for international financial institutions: services by such institutions are exempt from GST, affiliates not covered.
Services supplied by international financial institutions are exempt from GST under statutory tax immunity and immunity from tax collection obligations; this immunity precludes domestic tax provisions inconsistent with the Acts. The exemption applies only to services provided directly by the institutions and does not extend to entities appointed by or acting on their behalf.

GST exemption for educational programmes clarified: long duration IIM degree/diploma courses exempt while short executive courses remain taxable.
IIMs attained educational institution status from 31 January 2018, so services to students in long duration programmes (one year or more) conferring legally recognised degrees or diplomas are exempt from GST; short duration executive programmes awarding only participation certificates are not exempt and attract standard GST. For 1 July 2017-30 January 2018 only three specified long programmes were exempt; for 31 January-31 December 2018 both the general and specific exemptions co existed, allowing choice of the more beneficial exemption. The clarification also applies to corresponding IGST, UTGST and SGST notifications.