Undertaking in lieu of bond extended during lockdown; acceptance continued with registered email submission and e Sanchit upload required.
Temporary acceptance of an undertaking in lieu of the formal customs bond is extended until 15.05.2020, with the proper bond to be submitted by 30.05.2020. The undertaking must be sent from the registered email ID of the IEC holder or authorised customs broker and uploaded on e Sanchit. All other conditions of the earlier Public Notice remain in force and the relaxation will be reviewed at the end of the lockdown period.

Special Refund and Drawback Drive accelerates processing of pending refund and IGST claims by requiring prompt document rectification.
A Special Refund and Drawback Disposal Drive has been instituted at the Customs Commissionerate, Ludhiana to expedite pending refund, drawback and IGST refund claims by requiring applicants to furnish requisite documents and rectify errors to designated refund officers, including submission for PFMS bank-account validation, with specified contact points and instructions for CHAs and trade associations to inform exporters.

IGST refund on exports: extension of SB005 alternate mechanism, stakeholders urged to review circular and avail relaxations.
IGST refund on exports under the alternate SB005 mechanism has been extended; stakeholders including importers, exporters and customs brokers are directed to consult the referenced circular and avail the relaxations offered, and to report any implementation difficulties to the issuing office.

GST compliance relief clarifies credit notes, LUT extension, TDS filing, and refund timelines during the COVID-19 period.
Clarification is issued to ensure uniform implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 during the COVID-19 period. It explains that cancelled advances and returned goods generally require issue of a credit note and adjustment of tax liability in returns, while cases with no output liability may proceed by refund claim through FORM GST RFD-01. It also extends the LUT filing deadline for zero-rated supplies, the due date for FORM GSTR-7 and TDS deposit, and the time limit for refund applications falling within the specified period.

GST refund and adjustment require credit notes or refund vouchers and specified refund filings under law.
Where GST was paid on advances or on supplies later cancelled or returned, suppliers must issue a credit note when an invoice was issued and adjust tax liability in the return; where no output liability exists, the supplier may file a claim for excess payment of tax using the prescribed refund form. If GST was paid on advances without invoice, a refund voucher must be issued and refund claimed via the specified refund form. Extensions for LUT filing, TDS deposit and refund application timelines are also prescribed.

Reduced interest and late fee waivers for GST returns, conditional on filing returns by the notified extended deadlines.
Clarifies State implementation of Central notifications granting temporary reliefs due to COVID 19: extensions for filing composition scheme intimations, self-assessed tax statements and annual composition returns, conditional nil/reduced interest and waiver of late fees for specified returns if filed by the extended cut offs, cumulative adjustment of input tax credit for the lockdown months to be made in a later return, extension of expired e way bill validity during the lockdown window, and permitted filing by an extended date for deductors, collectors and input service distributors; reliefs are subject to prescribed conditions and noncompliance attracts regular interest, late fees and penalties.

Clubbing of refund periods allowed across financial years, with proportional cash and credit refund mechanisms enforced.
Clubbing of tax periods across Financial Years for refund claims is no longer restricted; refund of accumulated ITC is not available where input and output are the same despite rate changes; refunds of tax paid (other than zero rated or deemed exports) will be paid proportionately in the original modes of payment with cash refunds by FORM RFD 06 and ITC re credits by FORM GST PMT 03; admissible ITC for refund is limited to invoices reflected in FORM GSTR 2A and Annexure B now requires HSN/SAC codes where applicable.

GST registration and input tax credit rules for corporate debtors during CIRP clarified, including registration, returns and refund mechanics.
Pre-CIRP GST dues are operational debt and coercive action is prohibited; claims must be filed before the tribunal. GST registration during CIRP must not be cancelled and may be suspended; IRP/RP need not file pre-CIRP returns but must obtain new registrations and file the first return for the post-appointment period. A special procedure permits IRP/RP to claim input tax credit in the first return for invoices bearing the erstwhile GSTIN subject to Chapter V conditions (with limited exceptions), and cash ledger deposits made by IRP/RP prior to the notification are refundable even if returns were not filed.

Apportionment of input tax credit: asset value ratio at the state registration level governs transferable ITC on reorganisations.
The circular clarifies that ITC on demerger or similar partial business reorganizations is apportioned at the State/registration level using the value of assets ratio from the scheme; "value of assets" covers entire business assets. The ratio applies to the transferor's total unutilized ITC (sum of CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST and cess) and the transferor may allocate the transferable amount among tax heads when filing Form GST ITC 02. The asset ratio is to be taken as on the scheme's appointed date, while the ITC balance used is that on the date of filing Form GST ITC 02.

Right to appeal to Appellate Tribunal: appeals may be filed after the Tribunal's President assumes office, preserving time limits.
Appeals must follow the prescribed appellate hierarchy under the Assam GST Rules with appellate authorities disposing pending appeals expeditiously; appeals to the Appellate Tribunal that cannot be filed due to the Tribunal being unconstituted will have the statutory filing period run from the date the Tribunal's President or State President enters office as provided by the Assam GST (Ninth Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2019, and appellate orders may note that appeals can be filed within the prescribed period from that date.

Reverse Charge Mechanism for motor vehicle renting applies when non corporate suppliers don't charge higher GST rate to corporate recipients.
RCM applies to renting of passenger motor vehicles (with fuel included) supplied to a body corporate only when the supplier is not a body corporate, does not issue an invoice charging the higher GST rate that permits full input tax credit, and thus the body corporate recipient is liable to pay GST under reverse charge; suppliers charging the higher rate remain outside RCM. The circular is clarificatory and applied retrospectively for the specified transitional period.

Optional annual return filing allows eligible small taxpayers to submit GSTR-9 and GSTR-9A before the due date through the portal.
Taxpayers eligible under the special notification may optionally furnish annual returns by filing FORM GSTR-9A (composition taxpayers) or FORM GSTR-9 (other registered persons) for the specified years before the due date; the common portal will disallow filing after the due date. Separately, taxpayers may voluntarily self-assess and pay any short-paid tax or ineligible input tax credit through FORM GST DRC-03.

SB005 error correction extended for earlier shipping bills to facilitate IGST refund processing and ease exporter hardship.
Extension of the SB005 error correction facility in the Customs EDI system to permit resolution of invoice mismatches that block automated IGST refund disbursal for shipping bills up to the specified cutoff; trade stakeholders are directed to prevent such mismatches and issue guiding trade notices, and field formations must report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Undertaking in lieu of bond extended for customs clearance, with deferred bond submission and option for electronic upload.
Temporary acceptance of an undertaking in lieu of bond for customs clearance is extended until fifteen May, with the deadline for submission of the proper bond deferred until thirty May; undertakings must be submitted from the registered IEC email or authorised broker and may also be uploaded on e Sanchit. All other conditions of the earlier circular remain unchanged and the Board will review the relaxation at the end of the lockdown period.

Electronic sealing implementation deferred; stakeholders must align operations and report any operational difficulties to the Board.
Deferral of the electronic sealing requirement for deposit in and removal of goods from customs bonded warehouses is directed in response to vendor representations concerning Circular-10/2020-Customs; the Board has postponed the earlier implementation timetable and established a revised commencement date, instructing stakeholders to align operational processes and to report any difficulties to the Board.

AGM timing flexibility permits companies affected by pandemic to hold annual meetings within an extended statutory period.
Companies whose financial year (other than the first) ended on 31 December 2019 may hold their annual general meeting within an extended nine-month period from the year end without such conduct being viewed as a violation; references to the AGM due date in the Act or rules are to be construed accordingly for these companies.

Electronic communication of eGatepass and eOoC enables paperless exit verification using digitally signed QR codes for authenticity.
Electronic transmission will email secured PDF Final eOoC copies of the Bill of Entry and PDF eGatepass to registered importers and customs brokers upon Out of Charge, each bearing digitally signed, encrypted QR codes (including a version number) for authenticity verification; eGatepass PDFs will include overall and container/package-level QR codes and required manifest/container details, and EDI OOC messages will continue to registered custodians on ICEGATE.

Out of Charge procedure reduces physical visits by enabling electronic Scan EIR, PGA NOC and E Sanchit uploads.
Procedures permit electronic processing for grant of Out of Charge (OOC): Scan EIR stamped by Container Scanning Division may be emailed for OOC; PGA NOCs are accepted via portal verification or emailed provisional NOCs for manual clearance; where alerts or Assessment Group/CCR documentary requirements exist, RMS-FC will raise ICES queries and importers/CBs must upload documents to E-Sanchit and respond in ICES for RMS-FC verification and OOC processing.

Paperless customs: accept PDF gate passes and OOC bill copies electronically; verify authenticity before permitting cargo release.
Acceptance of PDF-based gate passes and OOC copies of Bills of Entry is authorised; printed copies are not required. Importers and customs brokers should e-mail PDF eGatepasses and eOOC Bill of Entry copies to the port address. Port officers must verify authenticity via the ICETRAK app provided by the DG System before taking further action. Implementation difficulties are to be reported to the designated dock authority by e-mail, and the notice's directions shall be treated as a standing order for officers.

Late fee waiver for bills of entry granted to facilitate clearance of import consignments during COVID-19 disruption.
Late fee charges will not be imposed on Bills of Entry filed late for clearance of import consignments that arrived at the Customs Port/ICD on or after 21.03.2020, pursuant to an amendment to Public Notice No. 05/CCP/JMR/2020; this relief is granted under the Bill of Entry regulations and the proviso to Section 46(3) of the Customs Act in view of the COVID-19 exigency and remains until further orders.