GST on director remuneration: non employee director services and non salary fees attract tax on reverse charge.
Payments to directors who are not employees are taxable and must be discharged by the company on reverse charge; for director employees, amounts recorded as salary and subjected to salary TDS are excluded under Schedule III, whereas amounts recorded and taxed as professional or technical fees are taxable and subject to reverse charge by the company.

Accumulated input tax credit refunds require GSTR-2A reflected supplier invoices, while import, ISD and reverse-charge credits remain unaffected.
Refund of accumulated input tax credit is restricted to credit supported by supplier-uploaded invoices reflected in the applicant's FORM GSTR-2A. Credit relating to invoices not reflected in FORM GSTR-2A is not refundable merely on upload of invoice copies. The restriction does not affect input tax credit availed on import documents, Input Service Distributor invoices, or inward supplies liable to reverse charge; refund treatment for those credits continues unchanged.

Virtual meetings for EGMs extended to end of September, permitting VC/OAVM or postal ballot under existing rules.
Companies may continue to hold extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) through video conferencing (VC) or other audio visual means (OAVM), or transact eligible items through postal ballot, in accordance with the procedures and safeguards specified in General Circular No. 14/2020 and General Circular No. 17/2020; this permission is extended until 30th September, 2020 and all other requirements in those Circulars remain unchanged.

Audit of PPM compliance required annually, with findings reported to trustees, manager and SEBI within six months.
SEBI requires an annual Audit of PPM compliance at each financial year-end, with audit findings and corrective steps reported to the Trustee/Board/Designated Partners, the Manager's Board and SEBI within six months; AIFs that have not raised funds must instead submit a Chartered Accountant's certificate of no fund-raising within the same period. For 2019-20 the compliance deadline is December 31, 2020. Associations representing at least one-third of AIFs may notify Benchmarking Agencies for mandatory AIF benchmarking agreements, and the timeline for initial industry benchmarks and AIF performance-versus-benchmark reports is extended to October 1, 2020.

Sponsor investment requirement mandates placement into growth option, with alternate dividend options specified, effective immediately.
The sponsor or asset management company must make the prescribed minimum investment in the scheme's growth option; if growth is unavailable, the investment must be made in the dividend reinvestment option, and if that is unavailable then in the dividend option. The specification is effective immediately and issued under the regulator's powers to protect investors and regulate the securities market.

Advisory Committee reconstitution: committee to advise on corporate insolvency resolution and liquidation and support Board functions.
The Board reconstitutes the Advisory Committee on Corporate Insolvency and Liquidation by appointing a Chairperson and members from banking, industry, credit information, rating, stock exchange, legal and insolvency professional sectors. Three named members have terms expiring on a near-term date; other members serve three-year terms from the order date. The Committee is charged to advise and provide professional support to the Board, on request or on its own motion, concerning corporate insolvency resolution and liquidation matters under the Code. A General Manager is designated Secretary to the Committee.

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.

Impersonation advisory: fake DGFT websites and emails target exporters-use official portals and report suspected fraud immediately.
Advisory warns of fake websites and email IDs impersonating DGFT to solicit fees and confidential data for services such as IEC issuance. Stakeholders must use only the official DGFT websites (https://dgft.gov.in or http://dgft.gov.in), avoid sharing information or making payments to unauthorised platforms, and report incidents to the DGFT Helpdesk (toll free 1800-111-550 or [email protected]). Regional Authorities must spread awareness and notify the E-Governance & Trade Facilitation Division on receipt of reports.

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.

Automated clearance enabling pre-payment customs compliance verification allows goods registration and parallel processing before duty payment is confirmed.
Automated clearance extends to all Customs EDI and RMS-enabled formations, allowing goods registration before duty payment and enabling designated officers to perform statutory Customs Compliance Verification (CCV). On completion of CCV the officer records it in the system; once duty payment is electronically confirmed the Bill of Entry advances to the Gate Officer queue and the Out of Charge print becomes available. BEs with prior or deferred payment proceed immediately on OOC, permitting parallel processing to reduce dwell time.

NDPS Act invoked to augment customs powers against cross-border narcotics, enhancing deterrence and enforcement nationwide.
Instruction directs invocation of NDPS Act, 1985 in cross-border narcotics matters handled by customs formations, empowering customs officers to use statutory NDPS powers alongside customs law to strengthen operational deterrence against smuggling.

Job work classification distinguishes processing of registered persons' goods from manufacturing services on inputs owned by unregistered persons.
Job work under heading 9988 covers treatment or processing of goods belonging to another registered person and falls within item (id). Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others under item (iv) exclude such job work and apply where the inputs belong to persons other than registered persons under the DGST Act. The entries operate in distinct fields.

Place of supply for composite semiconductor software and design services follows the overseas recipient's location when testing is ancillary.
Place of supply for composite software development and integrated-circuit design services supplied to a recipient in non-taxable territory is the recipient's location where prototype hardware testing is ancillary. Testing and validation using hardware samples or test kits, when undertaken to improve quality or confirm that the developed software or design is error-free, forms part of the composite supply and cannot be artificially separated. The performance-based rule for services involving goods physically made available by the recipient does not separately govern such ancillary testing.

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.

Refund of accumulated Input Tax Credit limited to invoices reflected in GSTR 2A following suppliers' GSTR 1 uploads; imports and RCM unaffected.
Refund of accumulated Input Tax Credit is restricted to ITC corresponding to invoices uploaded by suppliers in FORM GSTR 1 and reflected in the applicant's FORM GSTR 2A; this modifies the earlier para 36 of Circular No. 43/2019 GST. The restriction does not affect refund treatment for ITC on imports, ISD invoices, or inward supplies liable to Reverse Charge, which remain subject to prior practice.

Fast Track FPO eligibility relaxations permit a reduced offer-size threshold and disclosure-based exceptions for regulatory and audit matters.
Temporary relaxations permit issuers satisfying modified Regulation 155 criteria to use the fast track FPO route by reducing the minimum offer size threshold; requiring specific disclosures for show-cause or prosecution proceedings and their potential adverse impacts; recognising fulfilment of settlement terms where SEBI consent or settlement mechanisms were used; and mandating disclosure or restatement of audited accounts to reflect quantifiable audit qualifications, with appropriate disclosure where impact cannot be ascertained.

Contactless Bill of Entry amendment: online filing, officer approval workflow and automatic electronic fee inclusion on payment challan.
The Bill of Entry amendment process is made contactless by enabling online filing through ICEGATE/ICES (message id CACHIOIA) and upgraded remote filing software, with electronically queued amendments requiring officer approval except for auto approved additions to Supporting Documents. A mandatory amendment fee field in the approval form allows fee entry or zero where none is levied; once approved and assessed the amendment fee is automatically included in the electronic duty challan for payment via ICEGATE, and the system sends email notifications to the importer or customs broker about approval/rejection and any fees levied.

Office-wise user creation and role reassignment streamline enforcement jurisdiction monitoring and case migration on the GSTN portal.
Office-wise users for enforcement officials on the GSTN Boweb Portal are to be created by the Zonal Sub-State Administrator so that the work of Mobile Squad or enforcement units can be monitored by office. The circular directs that users under each jurisdiction be recreated office-wise and roles be reassigned according to the revised jurisdiction through the "Add New Role" and jurisdiction-update functionalities. Pending or previous cases are to be sent in the prescribed format so they may be migrated to the new offices through GSTN.

GST refund and adjustment procedures clarified: credit notes, refund vouchers, LUT and filing extensions enable compliant tax treatment.
Where tax was paid on advances or on supplies later cancelled, suppliers must issue a credit note if an invoice was issued, declare it in the return and adjust tax liability; if no output liability exists they may file for refund of excess tax via Form GST RFD-01. If a receipt voucher (but no invoice) was issued, the supplier must issue a refund voucher and may claim refund through Form GST RFD-01. Existing LUT references may be relied upon pending submission of Form GST RFD-11, and timelines for TDS deposit and refund application periods have been extended.