CSR eligibility: Spending CSR funds on national flag campaign permitted when Companies (CSR Policy) Rules and circulars are complied with.
Expenditure of CSR funds on the "Har Ghar Tiranga" campaign is eligible under item (ii) of Schedule VII as promotion of education relating to culture, including mass production and supply of the National Flag and outreach activities. Companies may undertake these activities subject to fulfillment of the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014 and related Ministry circulars and clarifications.

Customs Broker Licensing requires brokers to update valid contact details to receive CBLMS login credentials.
A centralized Customs Broker Licensing and Management System (CBLMS) requires brokers to provide error free active registered email addresses and mobile numbers before login credentials can be issued. Records extracted from ICES showed invalid or inactive contact details; brokers under sub regulation 2 of Regulation 7 of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018 in the Mangalore Commissionerate must submit the prescribed pro forma with updated contact and identifying details for updating in the EDI portal.

Retrospective omission of rule 95A prompts withdrawal of prior circular and rescission of its refund clarifications.
The department withdraws ab initio the earlier circular that provided interpretive guidance tied to rule 95A on refunds for taxes paid on inward supplies to retail outlets in airport departure areas for sales to outgoing international tourists; the rule has been omitted retrospectively and the Chief Commissioner has rescinded the circular under section 168.

Refund of unutilised ITC for export of electricity clarified; filing, REA-based valuation and formulaic calculation prescribed.
Prescribes procedure for refund of unutilised Input Tax Credit on export of electricity: file Form GST RFD-01 under "Any Other" with remark "Export of electricity-without payment of tax (accumulated ITC)", upload Statement 3B (invoice details, energy exported, tariff per unit), REA statement of scheduled energy (Annexure-I) and agreements showing tariff. Relevant date is last day of month as per monthly REA. Refund is calculated under Rule 89(4) by valuing exported electricity as REA scheduled energy x agreed tariff, using the lower of REA or invoice quantities, and applying the formula (zero-rated turnover x Net ITC / Adjusted Total Turnover); officer verifies exclusions and may demand debit from electronic credit ledger before issuing refund and payment orders.

Re-credit in electronic credit ledger: proper officer can re-credit equivalent amounts after deposit of erroneous refunds.
Prescribes a mechanism for administrative re-credit to the electronic credit ledger where taxpayers deposit erroneous refunds. Taxpayers must pay the erroneous refund plus applicable interest and penalty via Form GST DRC-03, state the reason for payment, and submit a written request using the prescribed annexure. Upon verification that full amounts were paid by debit to the electronic cash ledger, the proper officer shall issue an order in Form GST PMT-03A to re-credit an equivalent amount to the electronic credit ledger, preferably within 30 days from receipt of the request or payment.

CLIA diagnostic kit equivalence: ECLIA deemed technologically comparable, enabling similar customs classification for imports.
The Ministry explains that CLIA denotes chemiluminescence-based immunoassays using various label systems, including redox-mediated light emission, and that ECLIA uses an electrochemical redox reaction to generate chemiluminescence. Both techniques rely on antigen-antibody binding, detect chemiluminescent signals for diagnostic analytes, and have the same applications. Consequently, ECLIA is functionally comparable to CLIA, and field formations should treat this technical equivalence when assessing imported diagnostic kits.

Refund entitlement guidance withdrawn after repeal of airport retail refund provision; circular applied mutatis mutandis.
The CBIC has withdrawn Circular No. 106/25/2019-GST ab-initio because Rule 95A, which provided for refunds of taxes on inward supplies by airport departure-area retail outlets to outgoing international tourists, was omitted retrospectively; Maharashtra directs that the CBIC withdrawal be applied mutatis mutandis under the state GST law, and requests trade notices and reporting of implementation difficulties.

Refund of unutilised ITC on export of electricity requires REA-backed scheduled energy, export agreement tariff, and prescribed refund filings.
Applicants seeking refund of unutilised Input Tax Credit on export of electricity must file electronically under the "Any Other" category, upload Statement 3B and REA monthly Statement of Scheduled Energy, provide export agreements showing tariff per unit, and furnish calculation as Statement 3A. The relevant date for limitation is the last date of the month in which export appears in the REA. Turnover for export is the REA scheduled energy multiplied by contracted tariff, using the lower quantity if invoice and REA differ; Adjusted Total Turnover excludes domestic electricity supplies.

Re-credit in electronic credit ledger: procedure established for FORM GST PMT-03A after deposit via FORM GST DRC-03, enabling officer action.
Where a registered person deposits an erroneous refund along with applicable interest and penalty through FORM GST DRC-03 by debit from the electronic cash ledger, the proper officer shall re credit an amount equivalent to the erroneous refund to the electronic credit ledger by order in FORM GST PMT-03A after being satisfied of receipt, following the Annexure A request procedure until portal automation is available.

Refund under inverted duty structure allowed when concessional notification causes lower output tax rate, subject to exclusions and conditions.
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 time due to supply of goods under a government concessional notification; refunds are not available for nil rated or fully exempt outputs and for supplies specifically excluded by government notification, and remain subject to other statutory and procedural conditions for inverted duty refunds.

Input tax credit clarification: ITC for deemed exports and exclusions, plus electronic ledger use for tax payments.
Tax paid on supplies treated as deemed exports is refundable; the interim allowance enabling recipients to avail ITC on such tax for portal refunds is not ITC under Chapter V and therefore not subject to ITC reversal or included in Net ITC for refund computations. The proviso expanding availability of credit for employer provided goods or services applies to the whole exclusion clause for employee supplies, while "leasing" exclusion is confined to motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft. Electronic credit ledger balances may be used only for output tax (excluding reverse charge tax) and not for interest or penalties; electronic cash ledger may meet tax, interest, penalty or other GST liabilities.

Inter State supply reporting: Mandate to report place of supply details and segregate ITC reversals in returns.
Registered persons must report inter-State supplies to unregistered persons, composition taxpayers and UIN holders place-of-supply-wise in Table 3.2 of FORM GSTR-3B and the matching tables in FORM GSTR-1; portal auto-populates Table 3.2 from GSTR-1 but suppliers must ensure correct customer state data. Table 4(A) of GSTR-3B is auto-populated from GSTR-2B; permanent reversals and ineligible ITC must be reported in Table 4(B)(1), temporary/reclaimable reversals in Table 4(B)(2), and Net ITC credited equals 4(A) minus the sum of 4(B)(1) and 4(B)(2).

Fraudulent input tax credit: recipients who avail and use ITC on fake invoices face demand, interest and statutory penalties.
The circular clarifies that issuance of tax invoices without actual supply does not amount to supply and ordinarily does not attract tax demand under the demand provisions, but issuers are punishable for issuing invoices without supply. Recipients who fraudulently avail and utilize ITC on such invoices are liable to demand, recovery with interest, and penal action under the fraud provision; if penalised under that fraud provision, no duplicate penalty for the same act may be imposed elsewhere. Where fraudulent ITC is passed on by issuing further invoices without supply, no tax demand arises for outward transactions, but the intermediary is liable to penal action for both issuing invoices without supply and improper availment/utilisation of ITC.

GSTR-4A comparison with e-way bills enables detection of tax irregularities in composition dealers and supports lawful action.
Officers are instructed to download GSTR-4A of composition dealers in Excel format from the GSTN portal and compare it with the concerned dealers' e-way bills. GSTR-4A is an auto-populated purchase-related return generated from suppliers' GSTR-1 uploads against the composition dealer's GSTIN. The comparative exercise is meant to detect discrepancies relating to actual turnover, tax evasion, and other tax irregularities, and appropriate action may be taken in accordance with law.

GSTR-3B reform proposal seeks stronger linkage with GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B for clearer tax reporting.
Stakeholder comments were invited on a draft proposal for comprehensive changes to FORM GSTR-3B, placed in the public domain pursuant to the GST Council's recommendation. The proposal seeks closer linkage with FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-2B through greater auto-population, reduced manual entry, and sequential filing. It also contemplates amendment tables, reporting of negative values, and specific rows for input tax credit reversals and reclaims, with an emphasis on clearer reconciliation and improved administrative efficiency.

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.

Import of wireless equipment requires WPC import licences or ETA; self declaration routes exist for OEMs and TSPs via Saral Sanchar.
Import of wireless transmitters/receivers/transceivers requires WPC import licence; devices in license exempt bands need ETA which may be obtained by self declaration for specified finished products (supported by a Saral Sanchar import undertaking) or by scrutiny based ETA for DGFT 'Restricted' items which then require an RLO import licence. OEMs with valid DPLs may import transceivers/radio modules without separate WPC import licences subject to undertakings and reporting; TSPs may import on self declaration via Saral Sanchar. Experimental, trial, manufacturing, testing and demonstration licences include import permissions but prohibit commercial sale and require compliance with technical, stocking and reporting conditions.

e-KYC Aadhaar Authentication: entities authorised as sub-KUA must register with KUA and UIDAI to perform KYC.
Entities notified for sub-KUA status may perform Aadhaar-based e-KYC Aadhaar Authentication for securities market KYC only after entering into the UIDAI-prescribed agreement with an authorised KUA and registering with UIDAI as sub-KUAs. KUAs must facilitate onboarding, and sub-KUAs must follow the prescribed e-KYC processes and any further UIDAI directions.

Tariff classification alignment preserves concessional basic customs duty entitlement for open cell imports despite HSN reclassification.
Amendment aligns tariff references so that Open Cells for manufacture of LCD and LED TV panels are treated as Flat Panel Display Modules and preserves the existing concessional basic customs duty where goods match the exemption description and importers follow the concessional import procedure; parts remain classifiable as parts for display apparatus, and entitlement should not be denied solely for prior classification during the transitional period.

Timely refund disposal requires statutory compliance, with delayed GST and VAT refunds attracting interest and structured grievance monitoring.
Timely disposal of VAT and GST refund applications is required to prevent interest liability on delayed refunds. GST refund orders must be issued within sixty days of receipt of the application, failing which interest may become payable. Pending refund grievances may be filed through the DVAT Portal, transmitted by the EDP Branch to the concerned ward and zonal in-charge, and decided on merits within ten working days. Zonal supervision, weekly reporting, nodal monitoring and performance-appraisal consequences apply to unresolved or non-compliant cases.