Summons under CGST Act require prior approval, judicious use, and restraint against routine calls to senior officials.
Guidelines on issuance of summons under Section 70 of the CGST Act require judicious use of the power and discourage routine summons where requisition of information or online statutory records may suffice. Summons by Superintendents need prior written approval from a Deputy or Assistant Commissioner, with reasons recorded, and file records must note appearance, non-appearance and statements. Senior management should not ordinarily be summoned first, repeated summons without proper service should be avoided, and complaints for non-attendance may follow after reasonable opportunity and due service.

Arrest under GST law must rest on credible reasons, investigation necessity, and clear evidence of tax evasion intent.
Guidelines for arrest and bail under the CGST Act require arrest to be founded on clear and credible reasons to believe, and not made routinely or mechanically. Arrest should be justified by the need for proper investigation, the risk of tampering with evidence or witnesses, the possibility of absconding, and evident intent to evade tax, misuse wrongful input tax credit, obtain fraudulent refund, or fail to pay tax collected. Arrest is discouraged in technical disputes or cases involving only a difference of legal interpretation, especially where the person is cooperating with investigation.

GST classification clarifications: electric vehicles, mango products, treated sewage, nicotine gum, fly ash and pulse by products reclassified.
Electrically operated vehicles remain classifiable as electric vehicles attracting concessional GST even without fitted batteries; Napa and similarly minor polished brittle stones qualify as non-mirror polished building stone for concessional treatment; fresh mangoes are exempt while sliced dried mangoes receive concessional treatment and other dried forms including mango pulp attract the standard rate; treated sewage water supplied as water is exempt; nicotine polacrilex gum for tobacco cessation is taxable as nicotine oral products; the 90% fly ash condition applies only to aggregates and not bricks; pulse milling by-products are classifiable as bran/residues and attract the concessional rate, with past periods regularized on an as is basis.

Taxability of contractual penalties: GST applies only when payments constitute consideration for an independent contractual supply, not mere compensation.
GST treatment of payments such as liquidated damages, penalties, compensation or cancellation and late payment charges depends on whether the payment constitutes consideration for an agreement to refrain from an act, to tolerate an act or situation, or to do an act under para 5(e) of Schedule II. Payments that are merely compensatory flows for breach, statutory compensation or fines for violations are not consideration for a supply and are not taxable; payments that represent consideration for ancillary or independent contractual facilities (eg. cancellation fees, late payment acceptance, prepayment or early termination charges) are taxable and assessed as the principal supply where applicable.

GST exemptions and rates clarified for ice cream parlours, educational fees, transit cargo, IVF and vehicle rentals.
Clarifications specify that ice cream sold by parlours is a taxable supply at the standard rate with ITC from the circular date while past lower rate payments are regularised without refund; educational institution fees for entrance, applications, eligibility and migration certificates are exempt; storage of ginned or baled cotton was exempt as raw vegetable fibre until its withdrawal on 18.07.2022; transit cargo related services to and from Nepal and Bhutan, including return of empty containers, are covered by the exemption subject to customs/transit compliance; rentals of vehicles with operator used within mining areas are renting services taxed as such and not exempt transport; IVF services are healthcare and exempt; sale of land remains non taxable though development services are taxable; reverse charge applies where corporates hire vehicles for control over operation.

Authorisation under CGST rule 96 delegates analytics and risk management functions to DGARM nationwide.
Authorisation is granted under clause (c) of sub rule (4) of rule 96 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, delegating the exercise of the functions under that clause to the Principal Director General/Director General of the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM), CBIC, New Delhi, with effect throughout the territory of India as an administrative order by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

Form GSTR-3B consultation opens for stakeholder inputs; comments to be submitted via official portal and email.
The draft FORM GSTR-3B concept paper has been placed on the CBIC portal under "Stakeholder Consultation" to solicit views, comments and suggestions from trade and stakeholders, with submissions to be sent to the designated email by the stated deadline; States are requested to circulate the document for wider dissemination.

Indian National Flag supplies conforming to the Flag Code are exempt from GST under the Har Ghar Tiranga programme.
The Office Memorandum confirms that the Indian National Flag is exempt from GST and that flags conforming to the Flag Code, 2002 (including the 30 December 2021 amendments) supplied under the Har Ghar Tiranga programme fall within that exemption, so procurement and distribution should treat the final cost of compliant flags as GST-exempt.

GST Appellate Tribunal reforms to align tribunal provisions with judicial principles while preserving federal balance and tax uniformity.
A Group of Ministers has been constituted to recommend amendments to GST law governing the GST Appellate Tribunal so as to preserve the federal balance, ensure uniform taxation, and align tribunal provisions with judicial principles; the GoM may consult legal experts, will be assisted by the Joint Secretary (Revenue), and must submit a report to the GST Council by the prescribed deadline.

Withdrawal of administrative circular after retrospective omission of refund rule; prior guidance declared withdrawn ab initio and publicized.
Rule 95A providing refunds for taxes on indigenous goods supplied by airport retail outlets to outgoing international tourists against foreign exchange has been omitted retrospectively, and the Board has withdrawn Circular No. 106/25/2019-GST ab initio. The Board requests issuance of trade notices to publicize the withdrawal and inform stakeholders.

Refund of unutilised ITC for export of electricity: filing, documentation and calculation rules under GST procedures.
Refund claims of unutilised Input Tax Credit for export of electricity must be filed in FORM GST RFD-01 under "Any Other" with the remark "Export of electricity- without payment of tax (accumulated ITC)"; applicants must upload Statement 3B with export invoice details, monthly Regional Energy Account (REA) statement of scheduled energy from the RPC Secretariat and tariff agreements, and provide a refund calculation in Statement 3A. The refund is calculated using the rule 89(4) formula, with turnover of exports determined by scheduled energy in the REA multiplied by the agreed tariff per unit; where quantities differ between invoice and REA, the lower is used.

Re-credit of electronic credit ledger allowed after deposit of erroneous refund, with officer order in FORM GST PMT-03A.
Re-credit in the electronic credit ledger is permitted where a taxpayer deposits an erroneously sanctioned refund with applicable interest and penalty through FORM GST DRC-03; the taxpayer must request re-credit using the prescribed Annexure-A, and the proper officer, after verifying payment, shall re-credit an equivalent amount by order in FORM GST PMT-03A, preferably within thirty days from receipt of the request or payment.

Refund of accumulated input tax credit allowed where concessional notification causes lower output tax rate, subject to exclusions.
Refund of accumulated Input Tax Credit is available where accumulation arises because the rate of tax on outward supplies is lower than the rate on inputs at the same point in time due to supply under a concessional notification; refunds remain unavailable for nil rated or fully exempt supplies and for supplies specifically excluded by Government notification, and other statutory conditions for refund continue to apply.

Input Tax Credit clarification: ITC for deemed exports and utilisation rules for electronic ledgers clarified under GST.
The Circular clarifies that portal-enabled ITC for claiming refunds on supplies regarded as deemed exports is not ITC under Chapter V and must be excluded from Net ITC for refund computations; the proviso expanding credit availability where an employer is legally obliged to provide goods or services applies to the entire blocked-credits clause; "leasing" in the blocked list is limited to motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft; employer contractual perquisites are outside GST as services by employee to employer; electronic credit ledger may discharge only output tax (excluding reverse charge) while electronic cash ledger may meet tax, interest, penalty, fees and other liabilities.

Fraudulent input tax credit: recipients face demand, recovery and penal action; issuers face penal liability for fake invoices.
Where tax invoices are issued without actual supply, the issuer does not create a supply and thus no tax demand under recovery provisions arises against the issuer, but the issuer is liable to penal action for issuing invoices without supply; recipients who fraudulently avail and utilize input tax credit without receipt of goods or services are liable for demand and recovery of such ITC with interest and penal action under provisions addressing fraudulent availment or utilization, and those who further pass on ITC without supply are not liable for output tax demand but are subject to penal provisions for issuance of invoices and improper use of ITC.

Mandatory reporting of inter State supplies ensures accurate GSTR 3B/GSTR 1 disclosure and correct Input Tax Credit reversal accounting.
Suppliers must report place of supply wise inter State supplies to unregistered persons, composition taxable persons and UIN holders in Table 3.2 of FORM GSTR 3B and corresponding GSTR 1 tables; maintain accurate customer state data; and ensure GSTR 1 amendments reflect in GSTR 3B. FORM GSTR 2B auto populates Table 4(A) of GSTR 3B with total ITC, but registered persons must separately report absolute ineligible reversals in Table 4(B)(1) and temporary/reclaimable reversals in Table 4(B)(2). Net ITC credited to the electronic credit ledger is 4(A) less 4(B)(1) and 4(B)(2); time barred ITC may be shown in Table 4(D)(2). Reversals under section 17(5) must be placed in Table 4(B), not Table 4(D).

GST Council approves key reforms on refunds, registration for e-commerce sellers, returns, rate rationalisation and system upgrades.
The GST Council approved Law Committee clarifications and rule changes on inverted duty refunds (admissible where input and output goods are same and rate differential arises from concessional notifications) and directed amendment of Rule 89(5) to proportionately account for ITC utilisation on inputs and input services. It sanctioned procedural rules for cross-jurisdiction enforcement actions, approved a Circular on fake invoice consequences, authorised re-credit via FORM GST PMT-03A, endorsed Centre notification of Finance Act provisions with new rule insertions, and accepted measures on e commerce registration waivers (PAN based intra state supplies without registration), GSTR 3B reforms, Rule 96 IGST refund handling, suspension thresholds with automatic revocation, system reforms, consent based data sharing, and multiple Fitment and GoM rate rationalisation recommendations.

Post-audit and review of refund claims: standardized procedures, mandatory speaking orders, and portal-based transmission for oversight.
Commission directs uniform procedures for sanction, post-audit and review of GST refund claims. Proper officers must follow the principle of natural justice, upload a detailed speaking order with FORM GST RFD-06 addressing filing period, duplication, deficiency memos, limitation, supporting documents, return and dues status, notices and replies, applicant submissions, case law relied upon, and assessment of unjust enrichment. Additional specified verifications are required for ITC refunds, zero-rated supplies, exports, deemed exports and cash-ledger refunds. All refund orders must be transmitted online to the review module; post-audit cells should conclude audit within three months and reviews completed before the appeal-timing window; offline procedures via e-Office are allowed until online functionality is ready.

Voluntary tax deposit: Taxpayers may submit GST liability via DRC-03 during investigation; officers must inform them.
Voluntary payment of GST during search, inspection or investigation is permissible via DRC-03 initiated by the taxpayer on the GST portal; officers must inform taxpayers of this mechanism. Recovery of unpaid or short paid tax can only occur after statutory notice and confirmation of demand by an adjudication order, so coercive recovery during ongoing proceedings is not authorised, and complaints of force should be promptly investigated with disciplinary action where appropriate.

Scrutiny of returns: risk based selection, standardized notices and timelines require quantified discrepancy communication and structured follow up.
The SOP establishes a uniform, risk based process for scrutiny of specified GST returns, directing centralized selection of GSTINs by a risk analytics function, reliance on available departmental data sources for verification, assignment of Superintendents as proper officers to conduct scrutiny, issuance of a single FORM GST ASMT 10 per GSTIN per financial year to communicate quantified discrepancies, acceptance and payment via FORM GST DRC 03 or response via FORM GST ASMT 11, conclusion by FORM GST ASMT 12 if acceptable, and initiation of determination or referral for audit/investigation where replies or payments are unsatisfactory; prescribed timelines and reporting registers apply, and manual procedures remain until an online module is available.