Import manifest amendment process simplified for short landing shipments; shipping lines must submit certificate, reports and email application promptly.
The notice requires shipping lines to notify the Boarding Office at off loading and obtain a Short Landing Certificate backed by reports from the Master and the Terminal Operator; the Shipping Line must then email an amendment application to the Deputy Commissioner (Import Noting Section) attaching those reports, the Short Landing Certificate or endorsement and proof of payment of amendment fees, with the Import Noting Section disposing of requests the same working day and shipping lines registering contact details for official communications.

Due date extension for income tax returns in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh provides additional filing time under statutory order.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes extended the due date for filing Income tax Returns and Tax Audit Reports to 30th November, 2019 for all categories of assessees in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh, partially modifying earlier CBDT orders. It further clarifies that returns filed after the earlier August due date but before this order's issuance shall be deemed filed within the statutory due date when read with prior CBDT directions.

Disclosure of divergence in asset classification requires listed banks to promptly report regulator assessed NPA divergences upon receipt.
Listed banks must promptly disclose to the stock exchange divergences in asset classification and provisioning identified in the regulator's Final Risk Assessment Report when those divergences exceed prescribed materiality thresholds; disclosures must follow the regulator's prescribed format and be made immediately upon receipt of the report rather than in the annual financial statements.

DPD Scheme: importers must file Annexure A with default stacking choice and undertake operational DPD conditions before clearance.
Importers must submit Annexure A including a one time Default Stacking code and preferred CFS where applicable, plus IEC/GST/registration details, import history, commodities requiring tests/NOCs, contact and address information, and required enclosures; applicants must undertake operational conditions for DPD such as engaging own trailers, clearing containers within 24 hours, filing advance bill of entry and paying duty before vessel arrival, providing container details to authorities, producing containers for scanning, notifying AEO/IEC status changes, and making a self declaration regarding past mis declarations or prosecutions.

Drawback rate amendment: refund of duty-paid inputs allowed at All Industry Rate; brand-rate claims require formal application.
Amendment of Chapter 7 removes the words 'basic custom' from paragraph 7.02 and revises paragraph 7.06 to require applications in the prescribed form with supporting documents to the RA or DC for fixation of brand rate; it clarifies brand rate claims where basic customs duty paid is relied upon. It reaffirms that drawback is normally payable at the All Industry Rate where no CENVAT credit was availed by the supplier, and permits applications for brand rate where the All Industry Rate is unavailable or is less than four fifths of duties actually paid on inputs; refund of drawback on duty paid on inputs is allowed on the All Industry Rate.

Special Notified Zone for rough diamonds enables air-only import, on-site viewing and sale with customs-controlled sealing and re-export procedures.
A Special Notified Zone at Gujarat Hira Bourse, Surat is authorised for air-only import, viewing, auction/sale and re-export of rough diamonds under customs supervision. Facility plans and security arrangements must be approved by the jurisdictional customs authority; consignors must be those permitted under the RBI circular. Imported parcels must carry invoice, packing list, insurance and Kimberley Process Certificate, be transhipped from Sahar Mumbai, examined, sealed and placed in the SNZ strong room. Sales occur only by lot, with repacking and resealing within sixty days; sold lots use the mining company sale invoice as the declaration of value under Section 14, and unsold lots must be exported under a shipping bill within seventy-five days.

New GST return system based on annexure-driven invoice reporting enabling real-time supplier upload and recipient acceptance workflow.
Introduction of a New Return System under GST based on GST ANX-1 and GST ANX-2. Taxpayers are assigned return types by turnover and supply profile; returns are prepared from invoice-level ANX-1/ANX-2 data with HSN requirement and reverse-charge reporting. Suppliers upload ANX-1; recipients act on auto-populated ANX-2 to accept, reject or keep pending within stipulated timelines; accepted entries are non-amendable without recipient reset. A matching tool reconciles ANX-2 with purchase registers. A prototype online and trial offline tool released for UAT, supervised by LGSTOs/SGSTOs with master trainers, using dummy data and established feedback channels.

GST exemption for grant of liquor licences: licence fees treated as neither supply, limiting GST applicability to other licences.
Grant of liquor licences by State Governments in return for licence or application fees is excluded from GST treatment and is to be treated as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of service from the notified October date; this circular notes prior transitional exemption for pre GST licence fees and clarifies the exclusion is limited to state-issued liquor licences and does not apply to other licence fees.

Securities lending fees are taxable; intermediaries' facilitation taxed; borrower bears GST under reverse charge from 1 Oct 2019.
Lending of securities under the Securities Lending Scheme does not amount to disposal of securities and thus is not a supply of securities; however, the lending fee charged by the lender is consideration for a taxable service (taxable since 01.07.2017). Intermediaries' facilitation for commission is also taxable. The supply attracts GST at 18%. For 01.07.2017-30.09.2019 GST was payable by the lender under forward charge (IGST); from 01.10.2019 GST is payable by the borrower under reverse charge (IGST).

Place of supply: composite software and chip design with ancillary testing is the recipient's location for taxation purposes.
Where testing of software or chip designs on recipient supplied prototype hardware is ancillary to a composite supply of software/design services, the contract is a single supply and the place of supply is the location of the service recipient; separate application of the rule for goods made physically available by the recipient does not alter the place of supply for the ancillary testing component.

GST exemption for educational services: DG Shipping approved maritime courses qualify when they lead to legally recognised certificates under shipping law.
Services supplied by DG Shipping approved Maritime Training Institutes qualify as exempt educational services where the institute provides education as part of a curriculum leading to a qualification recognised by law; DG Shipping approval under the Merchant Shipping Act and STCW Rules establishes institute and course recognition, and the exemption is subject to conditions at Sl. No. 66 of Notification No. 12/2017 State Tax (Rate).

GST on donor name display not leviable where mere acknowledgement lacks advertising or quid pro quo
Where a charitable organisation displays a donor's name or places name plates as an expression of gratitude and public recognition without advertising or promoting the donor's business, there is no obligation (quid pro quo) and the receipt remains a gift/donation rather than consideration for a service; accordingly GST is not leviable. The non-taxability requires three conditions: (1) the recipient is a charitable organisation, (2) the payment has the character of a donation, and (3) the purpose is philanthropic and not for advertisement.

GST on airport levies: airlines acting as pure agents should not charge GST on PSF and UDF; airport operators liable.
PSF and UDF are consideration for services provided by airport operators and are taxable. Airlines that collect these charges act as agents and, if meeting pure agent conditions under Rule 33, must separately indicate PSF/UDF and the GST payable by the airport operator on their invoices; such amounts are excluded from the value of the airline's supply and airlines may not claim ITC on GST paid on PSF/UDF. Airport operators are liable to remit GST on PSF/UDF; collection charges paid to airlines are taxable to airlines and ITC is available to airport operators.

Support services to oil and gas extraction clarified: operational support vs technical consulting classified under distinct GST service headings.
Most operational and on-site activities associated with exploration, mining or drilling of petroleum crude or natural gas are classified as support services under heading 9986, while professional, technical and consulting exploration services are captured under heading 9983 per the explanatory notes; services outside those entries must be classified elsewhere and taxed accordingly.

GST classification clarifications: specified goods and import scenarios reclassified with corresponding GST rates and exemptions.
Clarification on GST classification and rates: dried leguminous vegetables subjected only to mild heat treatment remain classified as dried legumes (5% if branded and packed; otherwise exempt); almond milk is classed under the residual beverage entry (18%); mechanical sprayers of all types are covered by the mechanical sprayer entry at 12%; parts for solar water heaters and systems falling under chapters 84, 85 and 94 attract 5%; parts solely or principally for specified medical devices classify with the device and attract 12%; imported naval stores are GST-exempt; imports under lease supplying certain services are IGST-exempt subject to bond conditions.

Withdrawal of circular on secondary discounts alters GST guidance; prior circular withdrawn ab initio under statutory authority.
The Commissioner withdraws the earlier departmental clarificatory circular on the GST treatment of secondary or post sales discounts, declaring that circular void ab initio under the Commissioner's statutory authority to ensure uniform implementation across field formations; field officers are instructed to note the withdrawal and to report any implementation difficulties to the Commissioner's office.

Refund on account of assessment or appeal: file fresh RFD-01 without re debiting previously held credits after appellate allowance.
Where a refund claim rejected in FORM GST RFD-06 is subsequently allowed in appeal or any other order, the claimant must file a fresh refund application under the category Refund on account of assessment/provisional assessment/appeal/any other order without re debiting amounts previously taken from the electronic credit ledger if those amounts were not re credited due to the pending appeal; the application must include order particulars and supporting documents, and the proper officer shall sanction the allowed refund, issue FORM GST RFD-06 and FORM GST RFD-05, and ensure any required re crediting in accordance with the prescribed guideline.

Re-filing refund claim eligibility: conditions and procedure for correcting inadvertently filed NIL refund applications.
Registered persons who filed a NIL refund claim in FORM GST RFD-01A/RFD-01 may re-apply for refund for the same period and category only if (i) the NIL claim was filed for that period and category and (ii) no refund under the same category has been filed for any subsequent period; condition (ii) applies only to unutilized ITC on exports without tax, unutilized ITC on supplies to SEZ without tax, and unutilized ITC due to inverted tax structure. Eligible applicants must file under "Any Other" for the same period with supporting documents; officers will calculate admissible refund, seek DRC-03 debit proof, and then issue FORM GST RFD-06 and RFD-05.

GST exemption cap for residential association maintenance determines whole amount taxability and registration obligations based on turnover.
Supply of services and goods by a Residential Welfare Association to its own members is exempt from GST where charges do not exceed Rs. 7,500 per month per member; the exemption limit was raised from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 7,500. An RWA with annual aggregate turnover up to Rs. 20 lakh need not register or pay GST even if charges exceed Rs. 7,500. If aggregate turnover meets the threshold and charges exceed the cap, the entire maintenance amount is taxable, not merely the excess.

Brand Rate duty drawback: specified cesses included in calculation while stowage excise is excluded from rebate.
Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess, Social Welfare Surcharge, and Clean Energy/Environment cess (where collected as additional Customs duty) are required to be included in the Brand Rate calculation for duty drawback under the Drawback Rules, 2017; Stowage Excise duty under the Coal Mines Act, 1974 is excluded because refund/drawback provisions of Customs/Central Excise do not apply to it. Field formations must apply this clarification in fixing Brand Rates and circulate it to trade bodies, treating the directions as a standing order.