Zero rated supply treatment: goods sent abroad for exhibition are not zero rated until sold or deemed supplied after the prescribed period.
The circular clarifies that sending or taking specified goods out of India for exhibition or consignment does not constitute a supply at the time of removal because no consideration is received, and therefore is not a zero rated supply. Such movements require a delivery challan and maintenance of prescribed records; bond or LUT is not required. Supply is triggered and a tax invoice is required either on actual sale abroad or upon deemed supply after the stipulated statutory period; refund of input tax credit for zero rated supply may be claimed only after invoicing and if otherwise eligible under statute and rules.

Intermediary classification determines export of ITeS services under GST, affecting tax treatment for suppliers to overseas clients.
Clarification explains that a supplier who provides ITeS on his own account is not an intermediary, whereas a supplier who only arranges or facilitates a client's supply by providing support services will be an intermediary. When both ITeS and facilitation services are supplied together, intermediary status depends on which service is the principal supply. Suppliers who are not intermediaries may qualify as export of services if all statutory conditions-supplier in India, recipient outside India, place of supply outside India, payment in convertible foreign exchange, and non-distinct person relationship-are satisfied.

Post-sales discounts determine GST treatment: unconditional discounts adjust original supply value, conditional discounts trigger service taxation.
Post-sales discounts are governed by clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 15 and must be characterised by their true nature: unconditional discounts relate to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply if sub-section (3) conditions are met; discounts conditional on dealer promotional activities constitute consideration for a separate supply of services by the dealer, on which the dealer must charge GST and the supplier may claim input tax credit. Discounts enabling dealers to offer reduced prices to customers must be included in the dealer's value of supply, and receipt of financial/commercial credit notes does not compel the dealer to reverse ITC where the dealer pays the reduced net value and the supplier had charged original tax.

Refund application processing may proceed by the receiving tax authority despite incorrect portal mapping; inform portal to correct assignment.
Where reassignment of a refund application on the common portal is not possible because portal mapping differs from administrative assignment, the tax authority to which the application has been electronically transferred must process the refund claim without delay and thereafter inform the common portal of the incorrect mapping with a request to update it so future applications are routed to the correct jurisdictional authority.

Place of supply rules: port cargo handling services are ancillary and determined under IGST provisions per contract.
Place of supply for port cargo handling activities (arrival/haulage/siding/unloading/movement/staking/shipment) is determined under the IGST place of supply provisions depending on the contract, as these services are ancillary and not immovable property related. Services on goods temporarily imported for cutting, polishing or similar treatment and exported without being put to any other use have their place of supply determined under the IGST provision for services in respect of temporarily imported goods.

GST on penal interest: taxable when part of a goods supply but exempt if genuine interest charged by a lender.
The circular clarifies that penal interest levied on delayed EMI payments is taxable when it forms part of the value of a supply of goods, but where penal interest is charged by a lender as genuine consideration for extending a loan it qualifies as interest and is exempt; service fees or other charges by the lender do not qualify as exempt interest and remain taxable.

GST exemption on upfront amounts for long-term leases permitted if payable in instalments but determined upfront.
GST exemption applies to the upfront amount charged for long term leases (thirty years or more) of industrial plots or plots for financial infrastructure under Entry No.41 of Notification 12/2017 - State Tax (R). The exemption is admissible whether that upfront amount is paid in one or more instalments, provided the amount is determined upfront. The clarification is effective from 30.04.2019.

Revocation of cancelled GST registration requires prior filing of due returns and thirty day compliance window after revocation.
Clarification of procedure for revocation of cancellation of GST registration under RoD No. 05/2019 and amendments to rule 23(1): where cancellation resulted from non furnishing of returns, returns due up to the date of cancellation must be furnished and amounts paid before filing for revocation; after revocation, returns for the period from cancellation order date to revocation must be filed within thirty days of the revocation order. For retrospective cancellations, an enabling proviso allows filing for revocation provided returns for the period from effective cancellation date to revocation are furnished within thirty days of revocation.

Utilization of input tax credit: integrated tax credit must be exhausted before central or state credits, but may then be apportioned flexibly.
Integrated tax credit must be fully exhausted before any central or state/union territory tax credit is used; thereafter integrated credit may be apportioned in any order or proportion to discharge central or state/union territory liabilities, preventing accumulation in one ledger and permitting flexible cross-utilisation subject to the exhaustion mandate.

Composition scheme option clarified: file prescribed forms to opt; applies to all PAN-linked places of business.
Registered persons eligible for the reduced composition-like levy may opt by filing the prescribed intimation under the Himachal Pradesh GST Rules in the designated form selecting the appropriate supplier category and must furnish the specified statement of input tax credit reconciliation; new applicants may indicate the option at registration; the option applies to all places of business linked to the same Permanent Account Number and is effective from the start of the financial year or from the date of registration for new registrations.

Transfer of input tax credit permitted on death of sole proprietor; transferee files ITC-02 and assumes related liabilities.
Unutilized input tax credit may be transferred when a sole proprietor dies and the business continues under a transferee/successor. The transferee must register with reason "death of the proprietor," the transferor may cancel registration linking the transferee's GSTIN, and FORM GST ITC-02 must be filed electronically by the transferee for the registration being cancelled prior to filing the cancellation; upon acceptance the credit is credited to the transferee's electronic credit ledger. Transferor and transferee are jointly and severally liable for tax, interest or penalty due from the transferor. Effective date: 28.03.2019.

Registration verification: fresh applications may be rejected if cancelled registrations remain unrevoked and disqualifying conditions persist.
Proper officers must scrutinise fresh registration applications against common-portal records for earlier or cancelled registrations on the same PAN, verify FORM GST REG-01 entries for concealed material information, and cross-check proprietor/partner/director details. If an earlier registration was cancelled for statutory non-compliance and the applicant has not sought revocation while disqualifying conditions persist, that omission constitutes a deficiency and may justify rejection of the new application where explanations are unsatisfactory.

Refund of accumulated input tax credit: file under "any other" and debit admissible amount via FORM GST DRC-03 before refund.
Where reversal of lapsed input tax credit (ITC) for the relevant period has been made, claimants should, as a one time measure, file the refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A under the category "any other" with required declarations; the proper officer will calculate the admissible refund per refund calculation rules, request the taxpayer to debit the admissible amount from the electronic credit ledger through FORM GST DRC-03, and upon receipt of proof, issue FORM GST RFD-06 and FORM GST RFD-05. Subsequent period claims must use the standard inverted-structure category.

Inter-state supply determination: IGST applies to trading of PSLCs on the RBI e-Kuber portal, overriding prior CGST/SGST payments.
The supply of PSLCs between banks is treated as a supply of goods in the course of inter-State trade or commerce; accordingly IGST shall be payable on PSLC trades conducted on the RBI e-Kuber portal for both the earlier forward-charge period and the later reverse-charge period. Banks that have already paid CGST/SGST or CGST/UTGST for such supplies are not required to pay IGST for those payments.

Tax treatment of sales promotion schemes clarifies supply characterization and Input Tax Credit consequences for promotional offers.
Free samples and gifts supplied without consideration are not treated as supply under GST except where Schedule I applies; Input Tax Credit is disallowed for inputs, input services and capital goods used for such distributions unless the activity qualifies as a supply. Buy one get one offers are treated as multiple goods supplied for a single price with tax determined by composite or mixed supply rules and ITC available to the supplier. Known discounts established at or before supply reduce taxable value if valuation conditions are met; secondary post supply discounts do not reduce taxable value under those conditions, though credit notes may be issued commercially.

Inter State supply treatment: suppliers deemed compliant if central and state tax paid equals integrated tax for warehoused goods.
Supply of goods deposited in customs bonded warehouses during July 2017-March 2018 was inter State in character; owing to portal limitations taxpayers reported and paid central tax and state tax instead of integrated tax. As a one time exception, suppliers who paid central and state tax for such supplies during that period are deemed to have complied with tax-payment requirements provided the combined central and state tax equals the integrated tax due.

Job work provisions clarified: principals must account, invoce and declare supplies when statutory time limits for return lapse.
Amendments align prior HPGST circulars with the GST Amendment Acts: principals may send inputs or capital goods to job workers without tax and must keep accounts; if goods are not returned or supplied within the time specified under section 143 the sending is deemed a supply by the principal on the date of initial dispatch, requiring issuance of an invoice and return declaration with interest payable; job workers must register when aggregate all India turnover exceeds the statutory threshold or when making inter State supplies subject to exemption; valuation of job work services follows section 15 and excludes principal provided goods only if their value is already included in the job worker's price; detention procedures now allow fourteen days for payment before confiscation action; registration suspension during cancellation proceedings relieves routine compliance while final return filing remains required.

Electronic submission of refund claims: portal uploads replace physical filing and ARN marks the filing date for processing.
Mandates electronic filing of FORM GST RFD-01A with all supporting documents uploaded on the common portal, with ARN generation treated as the filing date under rule 90(2) and automatic electronic transfer of the claim to the jurisdictional proper officer for acknowledgement or deficiency processing; mis assigned claims must be reassigned electronically within three days. Clarifies that Net ITC for inverted duty refunds includes ITC on all inputs availed in the relevant period regardless of tax rate, that reversed ITC is not eligible for refund unless re availed and accounted for, and that ITC availed in the electronic credit ledger via FORM GSTR-3B for the relevant period must be included in refund calculations. Also addresses recomputation and eligibility rules for compensation cess refunds and excludes input services and capital goods from inverted duty ITC refunds.

Refund procedure: rectified GST refund applications accepted under original ARN; re-credit of ITC not required.
When a deficiency memo in FORM GST RFD-03 is issued, taxpayers must file the rectified refund application under the original ARN because the portal does not allow a fresh filing for the same period; re-credit of Input Tax Credit to the electronic credit ledger using FORM GST RFD-01B is not required at present and rectified applications under the earlier ARN will be accepted by jurisdictional authorities. Separately, exporters receiving capital goods under the EPCG Scheme are eligible to claim refund of IGST on exports despite restrictions applicable to certain importers under amended notifications; earlier circulars on these issues are superseded.

GST return reconciliation requires matching GSTR-1/2 with GSTR-3B and payment or adjustment of tax and ITC.
System-based reconciliation requires filing and correction of outward and inward statements so that FORM GSTR-2A auto-populates recipient data and the portal drafts FORM GSTR-3. The portal recalculates output tax and eligible ITC; where FORM GSTR-3 shows higher tax payable than paid in FORM GSTR-3B the taxpayer must pay the shortfall by debiting electronic cash or credit ledger with interest. If FORM GSTR-2 supports additional ITC, it is credited on submission of FORM GSTR-3 and may be used to meet increased tax liability. Unpaid GSTR-3B submissions remain subject to reconciliation and interest liabilities.