Waiver for recording UIN on invoices extended; attested invoice copies must be submitted to the jurisdictional officer.
Waiver from recording of UIN on invoices is extended for supplies relating to refund claims for April 2020-March 2021, provided invoice copies are attested by the authorized representative of the UIN entity and submitted to the jurisdictional officer; authorities should publicize the concession and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Post-registration verification required for deemed GST registrations where Aadhaar authentication is absent, enabling physical and financial scrutiny.
Deemed registrations where Aadhaar authentication was not opted for or failed must undergo compulsory post-registration verification including physical verification of principal and additional places, inspection of premises, verification of ownership/lease, employee records, Aadhaar and PAN, and bank KYC; supplemented by preliminary financial verification through income tax returns, bank account activity linked to registration, capital composition, audited balance sheets where available, and loan proposals, with FORM REG-17 notices usable in specified risk scenarios and cancellation proceedings initiated if registration appears not genuine.

Quarterly return with monthly payment scheme lets eligible small taxpayers file quarterly returns while paying tax monthly.
The QRMP scheme allows registered persons below the aggregate turnover threshold to file FORM GSTR-3B quarterly while making monthly tax payments for the first two months by either a system-derived fixed sum challan or by self-assessment in FORM GST PMT-06. Eligibility is GSTIN-wise, based on prior year turnover recorded on the portal, and loss of eligibility during a quarter takes effect from the next quarter. Optional Invoice Furnishing Facility permits selected invoice reporting in the first two months to reflect in recipient GSTR-2B; quarterly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filing obligations and interest and late fee rules apply as specified.

GST Council extends GSTR 1/3B regime, approves QRMP, mandates GSTR 1 before GSTR 3B, and extends compensation cess, but borrowing options lacked consensus.
The Council authorised reopening of the TRAN 1/TRAN 2 portal for 26 technical glitch cases, ratified recent notifications, and granted in principle approval to REAP and the QRMP scheme. It extended the GSTR 1/GSTR 3B regime until legal alignment by March 2021, mandated GSTR 1 filing before GSTR 3B from 01.04.2021 with system enforcement (late fee and interest population; e way bill blocking), tightened HSN/SAC reporting, mandated PAN/Aadhaar linked validated bank accounts for refunds, included GST laws in the Economic Offences Limitation schedule, and extended Compensation Cess beyond June 2022 until shortfall is covered while compensation borrowing options remained unresolved.

Input tax credit reconciliation for cumulative periods requires reversal of excess credit and adherence to supplier upload eligibility.
Clarification: sub-rule (4) of rule 36 applies cumulatively for February-August, 2020 and reconciliation must be done against supplier-uploaded invoices available in GSTR-2A up to the due date of GSTR-1 for September, 2020. Cumulative ITC availed in GSTR-3B for those months must not exceed a prescribed percentage-based cap computed from uploaded eligible invoices; any excess ITC identified must be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of the GSTR-3B for September, 2020, with the substantive entitlement limits under section 16 remaining applicable.

Interest on net cash tax liability to be recovered administratively; notices based on gross liability to be held pending amendment.
Field formations are instructed to recover interest only on the net cash tax liability - i.e., tax paid by debiting the electronic cash ledger or payable through the cash ledger - for the earlier GST period; show cause notices issued on gross tax payable should be kept in the call book pending the retrospective amendment of section 50.

GST compensation entitlement must be paid from the Compensation Fund; Council can recommend borrowing or extend cess.
The Compensation Act requires that compensation for GST revenue loss during the five-year transition be paid from the GST Compensation Fund; States are entitled to full compensation during that period, the Act contains no express provision obliging the Union to meet Fund shortfalls, and the GST Council may lawfully recommend measures - including extension of the cess or borrowing arrangements - to credit additional resources to the Fund.

e-Office adoption: taxpayers urged to submit searchable PDFs with contact details to obtain diary acknowledgements.
Taxpayers are encouraged to submit communications electronically to the Commissionerate as PDF files, preferably searchable, and to include mobile numbers and email addresses so the e-Office application can provide immediate acknowledgements and allocate a Diary Number for reference; difficulties or suggestions may be reported to the Commissionerate.

Deemed approval of GST registration resumed; pending applications to be cleared before automatic approval by specified dates under revised timeline.
Deemed approval of GST registration under section 25(10) and rule 9 was suspended during the COVID lockdown and has now been restored: deemed approvals were granted for applications pending as on 30 June 2020 unprocessed till 15 July 2020; the three day deemed approval rule resumes from 1 August 2020. A special drive must dispose of pending applications by 30 July 2020, with daily monitoring through 28 July, and jurisdictional officers may perform physical verification for applications technically deemed during lockdown.

GST compliance for construction services: developers must pay tax on procurement shortfalls using the prescribed electronic form.
Tax liability arises where a promoter/developer fails to procure the prescribed portion of inputs and input services from a registered supplier for construction of residential apartments; such shortfalling value is taxable and must be paid electronically on the common portal using Form DRC-03 within the period prescribed for the quarter following the financial year.

Reduced GST interest rates and conditional late fee waivers extend relief for delayed GST returns under amended notifications.
The circular explains amended notifications that alter interest and late-fee relief for delayed GST returns: for taxpayers above the aggregate turnover threshold a brief nil-interest grace period is followed by a reduced interest rate until a cut-off date and then the normal rate; for taxpayers below the threshold extended nil-interest windows and a subsequent reduced rate apply until a later cut-off date. The waiver of late fee is conditional on filing FORM GSTR-3B by specified dates, otherwise late fee is payable from the original due date until filing.

Transitional input tax credit: statutory concession subject to prescribed time and manner; limited portal error relief via IT grievance process.
The GST Policy Wing directs field formations to adopt its consolidated position that transitional CENVAT/input tax credit is a statutory concession subject to prescribed time and manner; Rule 117 and Rule 120A are valid rule making exercises under the CGST Act; limited relief for non filing due to portal technical difficulties is available through the IT Grievance Redressal mechanism based on system logs; cesses are not eligible for transition; and CVD/SAD paid on conditional imports are not admissible as input tax credit under Section 142(8)(a).

Cross-empowerment of tax officers confirms central and state officers may act as proper officers unless conditions are imposed.
Officers appointed under the State GST Acts and the Central GST Act are authorised to be proper officers for purposes of the respective Acts without a separate notification where no conditions are imposed; a notification is required only to specify conditions limiting or qualifying that cross-empowerment, and subordinate legislation can only impose such conditions, not expand the statutory authority.

GST Council: IGST apportionment and compensation mechanics reviewed; composition rule, removal-of-difficulty power and targeted interest relief agreed.
The Council approved Minute corrections from the 39th meeting; reviewed GST revenue, compensation cess and the unapportioned 2017-18 IGST balance, explaining a four-leg reversal and apportionment process and a May 2020 zero-cash transfer of Rs. 33,412 crore to the Compensation Fund with remaining settlements to be addressed by a GoM. TRU-II proposals to amend Rule 7 CGST for composition rates, notify Finance Act provisions extending Removal of Difficulty powers, and extend revocation-of-registration filing to 30.09.2020 were endorsed. For small taxpayers (turnover up to Rs.5 crore) interest was reduced to 9% (excluding lockdown period) until September 2020, subject to review.

Centralized GST offence database requires timely case entry, modus operandi coding, and GSTIN-linked monitoring across investigations.
CBIC prescribes a Standard Operating Procedure for maintaining a centralized GST offence database on the DIGIT platform of DGGI. The procedure requires timely entry of case details from detection through investigation, adjudication, appeal, prosecution and rewards, together with GSTIN-linked data, modus operandi codes, quantum involved, recovery, and later case developments. It also requires monthly monitoring and reporting, and mandates that offence details be entered within 24 hours from 01.07.2020, including older cases in the prescribed template.

GST on director remuneration: non employee directors' fees taxable on reverse charge; employee salaries excluded, professional fees taxable.
For directors who are not employees, remuneration for services is taxable and the company must discharge GST under reverse charge. For director employees, amounts treated as "salaries" and subjected to TDS as salary are excluded from GST under Schedule III, while amounts separately treated as professional or technical fees and subjected to TDS as fees are taxable and attract reverse charge by the company.

Refund of Input Tax Credit limited to ITC reflected in supplier-filed GSTR-1 and appearing in recipient GSTR-2A; imports and ISD unaffected.
Refunds of accumulated Input Tax Credit are restricted to ITC supported by invoice details uploaded by suppliers in FORM GSTR-1 and reflected in the applicant's FORM GSTR-2A, modifying prior guidance that allowed refunds based on missing invoices uploaded by applicants. This restriction does not affect refund treatment for ITC on imports, ISD documents, or inward supplies liable to reverse charge, which remain governed by pre-existing practice.

IRP registration requirement relaxed: extension granted and non-defaulting corporate debtors exempted from fresh GST registration.
The circular extends the time for IRP/RP to obtain GST registration to thirty days from appointment or by 30th June, 2020, and exempts corporate debtors who have timely filed FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B prior to appointment from taking fresh registration. A single new registration need be taken only once; subsequent changes of IRP/RP are treated as change of authorized signatory and may be effected by the authorized signatory or jurisdictional officer. Time limit extensions to 30th June, 2020 also apply to the merchant exporter ninety day export requirement and to filing FORM GST ITC-04 for the quarter ending March 2020.

Refund and adjustment of GST clarified: credit notes or refund vouchers govern recovery and refund procedures for cancelled supplies.
Where tax has been paid on advances or on invoiced supplies later cancelled, suppliers must issue a credit note and adjust tax liability in the return; if no output liability exists, a refund claim for excess payment of tax may be filed. If GST was paid on advances without an invoice, a refund voucher must be issued and refund sought via the prescribed refund procedure. Expired Letters of Undertaking for zero-rated supplies may be relied upon provided the LUT for the relevant year is filed by the extended deadline, and specified filing and TDS deposit timelines falling within the relief period are extended with no interest if complied with within the extended cutoff.

Expedited GST refunds: process pending refund claims promptly with due diligence and electronic communications.
Pending GST refund claims, including IGST refunds, must be processed immediately while ensuring due diligence and adherence to relevant legal provisions. Communications shall be conducted via official email IDs and physical document submission is not required. Cases of exporters with suspended records continue to follow the previously notified procedure. Zonal and field leadership must monitor daily and prioritize disposal of pending refunds within the administrative timeline.