Risk-based scrutiny of GST returns via online ACES-GST workflow; discrepancies communicated through prescribed ASMT forms for compliance.
Implements an online, risk-based workflow on ACES-GST for scrutiny of GST returns for FY 2019-20 onwards: DGARM selects GSTINs using risk parameters and publishes GSTIN-wise risk details on the scrutiny dashboard; proper officers must scrutinize returns relying on system data, issue quantifiable discrepancy communications via prescribed ASMT forms through the portal, and take further action including determination proceedings or referral to audit/investigation as provided by the SOP.

Fake GST registrations: nationwide drive mandates data led identification, verification, suspension and blocking of fraudulent input tax credit.
A Special All India Drive (16 May-15 July 2023) directs GSTN to identify suspicious GSTINs through data analytics and share them with Central and State tax administrations; each jurisdiction must appoint a nodal officer to coordinate. Jurisdictional officers shall undertake time bound verification, suspend or cancel non existent registrations under section 29, block ITC under Rule 86A, identify recipients of fraudulent ITC and initiate demand/recovery or share details with other jurisdictions using Annexure B, and pursue recovery/attachment measures under section 83. Weekly reports (Annexure A) and GSTIN wise feedback (Annexure C) are required; a National Coordination Committee will monitor the drive.

GST classification of Rab: taxable if pre packaged and labelled, nil when not, with past-period regularization.
Supplies of Rab sold in pre-packaged and labelled form attract a 5% GST rate, while supplies in forms other than pre-packaged and labelled are subject to Nil GST; this treatment is effective from 1 March 2023 and past-period treatment is regularized on an "as is" basis.

GST Appellate Tribunal: one national tribunal with state benches, four member benches and targeted GST procedural and rate reforms.
The Council established one national GST Appellate Tribunal with a Principal Bench and State Benches each ordinarily comprising two Judicial and two Technical Members (one Centre, one State), allowed single Member adjudication for matters up to Rs. 50 lakh, approved Search cum Selection Committee compositions for State Technical Members, and authorised drafting of consequential amendments. It approved Law Committee recommendations on targeted amendments (Section 23, Section 62, Section 13(9) IGST), late fee rationalisation and conditional amnesties for specified returns, amendments to CGST Rules for Aadhaar authentication, extensions and amnesties for revocation of registration and specified assessment periods, and accepted Fitment and GoM reports with proposed compliance and track and trace measures.

GST exemption on government-supplied services extends to mess accommodation; payment incentives treated as non-taxable subsidy.
Accommodation services provided by Air Force messes and similar military or police messes to personnel or other non-business persons are exempt under Sl. No. 6 of notification No. 12/2017 when those services qualify as supplied by Central/State/UT or local authorities. Incentives paid by MeitY to acquiring banks under the RuPay/BHIM UPI promotion scheme are subsidies linked to the price of the payment service and are not consideration for services to the government; accordingly they do not form part of the taxable value and are not taxable under GST.

GST classification updates clarify rates, exemptions, HS codes, and SUV cess applicability for specified goods.
Rab is classifiable under Tariff heading 1702 and attracts GST at 18%. By-products of dal/pulse milling (chilka, khanda, churi/chuni) are fully exempt regardless of end use and interim matters are regularized on an "as is" basis. Carbonated fruit beverages are classed under HS 2202 99 and attract 28% GST and compensation cess; an exclusion has been added in Schedule II. Extruded snack pellets (fryums) fall under tariff item 1905 90 30 and attract 18% GST. Compensation cess at the higher rate applies to vehicles meeting all SUV specifications. Importers may claim lower IGST where eligible.

Refund for unregistered buyers: temporary GST registration and portal claim process for tax borne on cancelled construction or insurance contracts.
Enables unregistered recipients who bore GST on advance or full payments for long-term supplies-e.g., construction contracts or long-term insurance-whose agreements are cancelled after the credit-note period has expired, to obtain temporary portal registration via PAN with Aadhaar authentication and bank details, and file refund claims in FORM GST RFD-01 (category ''Refund for unregistered person'') with Statement 8, supplier's certificate and supporting documents; refunds cannot exceed tax declared on relevant invoices, separate claims are required per supplier and State, the supplier's cancellation letter is the relevant date where services were not received, and the proper officer will process claims and issue FORM GST RFD-06.

Recovery of government dues: Commissioner must notify reduced GST demands after insolvency proceedings, enabling adjusted recovery to continue.
Where a confirmed demand for recovery exists against a corporate debtor and insolvency proceedings have reduced the amount of statutory government dues, the jurisdictional Commissioner shall issue an intimation in FORM GST DRC-25 to the taxable person and the appropriate recovery authority, and recovery proceedings may be continued only in relation to the reduced amount, pursuant to Section 84 and Rule 161 of the CGST framework.

No Claim Bonus treated as permissible discount under GST, reducing taxable premium when reflected in the invoice.
No Claim Bonus (NCB) is not consideration furnished by the insured and does not amount to a supply by the insured to the insurer; when NCB is pre disclosed in policy documents and specifically recorded in the invoice, it qualifies as a discount excluded from the value of supply under the discount deduction provision, and GST is chargeable on the premium after the invoice stated NCB deduction. The exemption from mandatory e invoicing under the notification applies to the entity as a whole and covers all supplies made by that entity.

Limitation for GST re determination: redetermine tax only within prescribed limitation following appellate direction and compute interest and penalty accordingly.
Orders under directions deeming a section 74 notice to be a section 73 notice must be issued within two years from communication of the appellate direction. Re determination of tax, interest and penalty must follow section 73 read with section 73(10): only amounts for which a show cause notice could validly have been issued within the section 73 time window (including cases of erroneous refund) can be recovered; notices issued beyond that window are barred by limitation and proceedings must be dropped. For multi year notices, re determination applies only to years within the permissible time window.

Place of supply foreign destination: IGST applies and Indian recipients may claim input tax credit subject to CGST credit conditions.
If goods are transported from India to a destination outside India, the place of supply for transportation services is the foreign destination; the supply is an inter State supply attractable to IGST, and the Indian recipient may claim input tax credit of the IGST charged subject to the CGST Act's eligibility, apportionment and blocked credit provisions; suppliers must report such supplies in GSTR 1 using the foreign country option.

Input Tax Credit verification: require auditor or supplier certification before allowing ITC where GSTR 3B exceeds GSTR 2A.
Procedure requires the proper officer to obtain invoices for ITC claimed in FORM GSTR 3B but not reflected in FORM GSTR 2A and verify Section 16 conditions: possession of tax invoice or debit note, receipt of goods or services, and payment of consideration including tax to supplier; check for reversals under Sections 17/18 and time limit compliance under section 16(4). To verify supplier payment of tax, require a CA/CMA certificate with UDIN for larger discrepancies and a supplier certificate for smaller discrepancies; relaxations for certain late claims in FY 2017 18 are restricted by proviso.

GST Council approves rate and rule changes, e commerce and registration reforms, data sharing and procedural clarifications; select items deferred.
The GST Council on 17 December 2022 ratified notifications and approved Fitment Committee rate/classification changes for specified goods and services, accepted Law Committee recommendations to amend CGST/IGST rules and forms (notably Aadhaar biometric pilot, registration verifications, GSTR 1/3B reconciliation mechanism, decriminalisation thresholds with exception for fake invoices, refund and interest computation rules, and e commerce procedural measures), approved limited relaxations on penal interest for initial bank remittance delays, endorsed masked GST data sharing with government departments, and deferred select contentious items for further examination.

Withholding of IGST refunds: system generated refund claims transmitted for risk verified exporters require jurisdictional verification before sanction.
Withholding of IGST refunds is effected where data analysis deems verification of exporter credentials including ITC essential; DGARM places all India alerts on ICES, transmits affected Shipping Bill data to GSTN via ICEGATE which generates system FORM GST RFD 01 claims deemed filed on transmission. Jurisdictional proper officers must process these auto acknowledged refund claims per rule 89 and section 54 timelines, verify genuineness and ITC correctness (including physical verification or supplier investigation if needed), issue detailed speaking orders with Form GST RFD 06 sanctions, and provide feedback on alert continuation or removal to DGARM.

Transitional credit verification: filing window reopened; claims subject to tax officer verification and ledger posting after due process.
Guidelines require jurisdictional tax officers to verify TRAN-1/TRAN-2 claims filed or revised during the court-ordered window, follow principles of natural justice, seek counterpart verification where claims span administrative jurisdictions, apply prescribed documentary and substantive checks for each TRAN table, and pass reasoned orders within the prescribed timeline to allow admissible transitional credit to be reflected in the Electronic Credit Ledger; inadmissible or excess credits may be recovered with interest and penalty.

Refund of unutilised input tax credit: amended formula and specified goods restriction apply prospectively to later-filed applications.
An amendment to the refund calculation formula for unutilised input tax credit due to inverted duty structure applies prospectively to applications filed on or after its effective date, with pre amendment applications governed by the earlier formula; a separate notification barring refunds for specified goods likewise applies prospectively to applications filed on or after its effective date and does not affect earlier filings.

Enforcement jurisdiction controls consequential actions, while jurisdictional tax authority must issue recurring show cause notices and handle refunds.
All consequential actions arising from an enforcement action lie with the authority that initiated the enforcement, while refunds must be granted by the jurisdictional tax authority administering the taxpayer. Recurring SCNs do not require fresh investigation and should therefore be issued by the jurisdictional authority that maintains the taxpayer's records and assessments rather than by the initiating investigating authority.

GST system reforms group of ministers reconstituted with revised membership and unchanged terms of reference.
Partial modification of the earlier office memorandum on GST system reforms reconstitutes the Group of Ministers by specifying its revised membership and designating Shri Devendra Fadnavis as Convenor. The memorandum lists the members from several States and confirms that the other terms of reference remain unchanged.

Transitional credit filing reopened-one time portal window allows aggrieved taxpayers to file or revise TRAN 1/TRAN 2 claims.
The circular reopens the GSTN common portal to allow aggrieved registered taxpayers a one time opportunity to file or revise claims for transitional credit using FORM GST TRAN 1 and FORM GST TRAN 2, subject to electronic verification and upload of a prescribed Annexure A declaration (and TRANS 3 where applicable). Claims will be verified by jurisdictional officers, who will adjudicate on merits after granting hearing and, if allowed, reflect the transitional credit in the Electronic Credit Ledger. Once submitted and filed on the portal the form is frozen and no further revisions under this dispensation are permitted.

Prosecution under the CGST Act requires strong evidence, mens rea, and careful sanction before criminal proceedings are launched.
Prosecution under the CGST Act is to be launched only where offences under section 132 are supported by adequate evidence meeting the criminal standard of proof. Prosecution should not rest merely on confirmation of demand in adjudication and should not be initiated in technical disputes or cases based only on interpretative differences. In company cases, proceedings should be confined to persons responsible for day-to-day conduct or those who actively participated in, or connived at, the evasion.