GST litigation coordination with CBIC strengthens defence in writ petitions challenging central laws and notifications.
GST-related writ petitions and public interest litigations challenging Central Acts, rules or notifications, where the Government of India, Department of Revenue or CBIC is not impleaded as a respondent, require coordination with the Commissioner (Legal), CBIC through the Litigation Section, Headquarters, so that effective defence and representation may be ensured. Important judgments in favour of the Revenue by the High Court and Supreme Court are to be shared with the respective CBIC legal authorities through Headquarters.

Clubbing of refund claims across financial years permitted; refunds allocated by original payment mode with credit re crediting.
Restriction on clubbing refund claims across financial years is removed, allowing clubbing of successive tax periods across years. Refund of accumulated ITC is not available where input and output are the same despite a rate reduction. Refunds for supplies other than zero rated supplies will be paid proportionately by original mode of payment: cash via RFD 06 and credit re credited via FORM GST PMT 03. Accumulated ITC refund is limited to invoices uploaded in GSTR 1 and reflected in the applicant's GSTR 2A. Annexure B must include HSN/SAC codes where present.

Interest recovery on net cash tax liability directed for uniform GST implementation within the existing legal framework.
Administrative instructions were issued for recovery of interest on net cash tax liability with effect from 01.07.2017, to be implemented in the true spirit of the GST Council decision and within the existing legal framework. Officers were directed to follow the instructions contained in the Department of Revenue, GST Policy Wing letter dated 18 September 2020 for uniform implementation of the GST Act.

Revisional Authority authorisation under GST expands jurisdiction-specific revision powers for designated tax officers immediately.
Officers of the Commercial Taxes administration are authorised to act as Revisional Authority under the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for the jurisdictions specified in the table. The authorisation covers revision of orders or decisions passed by subordinate officers within the stated jurisdictional areas and also orders passed by other State Tax authorities relating to persons or registered taxable persons within those jurisdictions. The order modifies earlier revision authorisations and takes immediate effect, while preserving actions already initiated under previous authorisation.

Appellate Authority authorisation under GST law for specified State Tax officers across designated jurisdictional circles and units.
Officers of the State Tax department were authorised to act as Appellate Authority under section 107 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, subject to rule 109A, for appeals arising from orders or decisions of adjudicating authorities within specified jurisdictional circles. The authorisation covered the named officers and their designated areas, including the Large Taxpayer Unit and several territorial circles. The order superseded earlier authorisations relating to appeals under the Act, took immediate effect, and preserved actions already initiated under prior authorisation.

GST interest relief: initial zero interest then reduced rate until cut off date, reverting to normal interest thereafter.
Clarification explains revised GST relief measures: zero interest for an initial short grace period, a reduced interest rate thereafter until a specified cut off date, and reversion to the normal interest rate for further delay. Separate interest schedules and illustrative day wise calculations are provided for registered persons above and below the aggregate turnover threshold. The circular also confirms that waiver of late fee for FORM GSTR 3B is conditional on filing by the revised specified dates, and that late fee is payable from the original due date if those dates are missed.

GST treatment for companies under insolvency: moratorium protects pre insolvency tax dues and sets registration and ITC procedures.
Pre CIRP GST dues are treated as operational debt and cannot be subject to coercive recovery; tax authorities must file claims before the insolvency forum. GST registration during CIRP should not be cancelled (may be suspended); IRP/RP need not file pre CIRP returns but must obtain new registrations and comply with GST obligations for the CIRP period. A special procedure permits first return input tax credit on invoices bearing the erstwhile GSTIN and allows refund of cash ledger deposits made by the IRP/RP despite unfiled periodic returns.

GST refund and adjustment procedures clarified: credit notes, refund vouchers, LUT extension, and return deposit compliance guidance.
Suppliers who paid GST on advances or on supplies later cancelled or returned must issue credit notes where invoices were issued and declare them in the return for the month of issuance to adjust tax liability; if no output liability exists, claims may be filed as "excess payment of tax" via Form GST RFD-01. Where advances had no invoice, suppliers must issue a refund voucher and may claim refund by Form GST RFD-01. Continuity of LUT for zero-rated supplies is preserved subject to furnishing Form GST RFD-11 within the extended timeline, and timelines for TDS deposit (GSTR-7) and refund application filing are correspondingly extended.

Securities lending for consideration is taxable as a service, with borrower liability applying under reverse charge from the prescribed date.
Lending of securities under the Securities Lending Scheme, 1997 is a taxable GST service because temporary lending for a fee does not involve disposal of securities. The lender's fee is consideration, while intermediary services facilitating lending and borrowing for commission or fees are separately taxable. For the earlier period, the lender was liable under forward charge; from 1 October 2019, the borrower is liable to pay IGST under the reverse charge mechanism.

Audit assessment compliance under Assam VAT is accelerated through strict timelines, reporting duties, and disposal norms for assessing officers.
Audit assessment under the Assam Value Added Tax framework is expedited to secure timely revenue realisation and ensure compliance by dealers. Case selection under Rule 22, completion timelines for pending and future assessments, monthly disposal reporting, minimum disposal norms, and performance monitoring are prescribed. Officers are required to meet fixed deadlines for audit assessment work, and deviation or laxity may invite disciplinary action. The circular supersedes earlier instructions on the subject.

C-Form issuance is restricted to eligible specified-goods dealers, subject to justified application, recommendations, approval, and temporary portal access.
C-Forms may be issued only to eligible dealers purchasing specified petroleum products or alcoholic liquor for human consumption, and to manufacturers or processors of those specified goods. Portal access for obtaining C-Forms is disabled. Dealers must show sufficient cause to the assessing authority, whose recommendation is forwarded through the Joint Commissioner for approval. Once approved, the dealer login is temporarily unblocked to download the requested C-Form and immediately blocked again.

Section 107 appeals against Mobile Squad orders require quarterly reporting, module entry, and timely monitoring of appellate compliance.
Appeals under Section 107 against orders passed under Sections 129 and 130 by Mobile Squad units are to be monitored through a new M.S. module. Mobile Squad units must enter appellate order details into the module to ensure timely implementation. Details of orders from the second quarter of 2017-18 to the first quarter of 2020-21 must be emailed in the prescribed format by 31 August 2020, and thereafter within 10 days of each quarter end.

Reduced interest relief for delayed GST filings establishes nil then lower interest followed by normal rate after notified cutoffs.
Clarification explains the staged application of modified interest rates and conditional waiver of late fees for delayed filing of FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-1: an initial nil interest window immediately after the return due date, a subsequent reduced interest rate until notified cut off dates, and reversion to the normal statutory rate thereafter; distinct schedules and examples are provided for taxpayers above and below the aggregate turnover threshold, and waiver of late fee applies only if returns are filed by the dates specified in notifications.

Input tax credit reconciliation under rule 36(4) requires cumulative adjustment for February to August 2020.
Clarification relates to the cumulative application of rule 36(4) for February, 2020 to August, 2020, requiring taxpayers to reconcile ITC availed in GSTR-3B with supplier-uploaded invoices up to the due date for GSTR-1 of September, 2020. The cumulative ITC for these months must not exceed 110% of the eligible credit reflected in uploaded invoices or debit notes, subject to the overall ITC limit under the substantive provisions. Any excess credit must be reversed in Table 4(B)(2) of the September, 2020 GSTR-3B, failing which it is treated as ineligible ITC.

GST interest relief: zero initial window, reduced rates thereafter and conditional late fee waiver for timely filing.
Clarifies calculation and applicability of COVID 19 GST relief: segmented interest treatment where an initial zero interest window applies after the return due date, followed by a reduced interest rate for a prescribed period and the normal rate thereafter; separate regimes are set for taxpayers above and below the aggregate turnover threshold. Confirms that late fee waiver is conditional on filing Form GSTR 3B by dates specified in notifications and that late fee is payable from the original due date if not so filed. Illustrative examples show day wise allocation of interest bands.

NIL refund applications may be corrected through a same-period claim under Any Other category, subject to eligibility conditions.
A registered person who inadvertently filed a NIL refund claim in FORM GST RFD-01A/RFD-01 may seek refund again for the same period by filing under the "Any Other" category with the required supporting documents. For specified unutilised input tax credit refund categories, refiling requires that no subsequent-period refund claim under the same category has been filed. The proper officer examines eligibility, determines the admissible amount, may require electronic credit ledger debit through FORM GST DRC-03, and may issue the prescribed refund and payment orders after proof of debit.

End Use Certificates for imported goods await GST Council guidance before issuance by state tax officers.
End Use Certificates for imported goods by officers of the State Tax Administration remain under consideration before the GST Council's Law Committee, and detailed guidance has not yet been issued by the competent forum. Earlier communication had advised that issuance of such certificates should await instructions from the Law Committee, GIC or GST Council. Reports that some field officers had issued certificates, and requests from trade for repeated issuance directions, were noted, but the matter was still pending at the level of the Law Committee.

State GST communications must include a DIN; missing DINs are invalid unless regularized within 15 working days.
State GST officers must electronically generate and prominently quote a Document Identification Number (DIN) on specified communications; the DIN is a 19-character code verifiable on the departmental website. Exceptions (technical failure or urgent issuance while the officer is outside office) require written reasons and an express statement that the communication lacks a DIN. Communications without an electronically generated DIN and not covered by exceptions are invalid; exigent issuances must be regularized within 15 working days by superior approval, post-facto DIN generation, printing the DIN pro-forma and filing it.

GST jurisdiction and inspection coordination guide investigation continuity, ITC blocking, and referral of jurisdiction-linked actions.
State and Central GST officers may initiate action concerning firms within the other authority's jurisdiction, but parallel proceedings on the same subject matter are barred once one proper officer has already acted. Investigations should be completed by the authority that first initiated them, while jurisdiction-linked measures such as blocking ITC, cancellation of registration, or blocking e-way bill generation should be referred to the concerned State or Central GST authority with specific recommendations. The circular also requires year-wise, zonal-wise consolidated reporting of inspections of Central jurisdiction firms and the action taken.

Payment details updating in the MS Module ensures proper recording of tax, penalty, and fine under mobile squad proceedings.
Updates to the MS Module online register are directed for mobile squad proceedings under Section 129 and Section 130 of the State GST framework. Modifications in the Payment Details menu are intended to ensure that payment of tax, penalty, or fine is properly entered and confirmed, and earlier online and offline payment-related entries must be updated within the prescribed timelines. A separate module has also been created for updating appellate decisions received after disposal of appeals under Section 107, with entries up to July 2020 to be completed by 31-08-2020.