Withdrawal of administrative circular on post sales discount guidance; prior clarifications rescinded to ensure uniform GST application.
The State tax administration withdrew, ab initio, its earlier Trade Circular providing clarifications on secondary or post sales discount treatment under GST after receiving numerous representations; the withdrawal was exercised under statutory authority to ensure uniform field implementation and was declared effective from a specified operative date, thereby rescinding the prior administrative guidance.

Refund on appeal: file FORM GST RFD 01 without re debiting electronic credit ledger after favourable order.
Where a refund previously rejected in FORM GST RFD 06 is later allowed in appeal or by another authority, the claimant must file a fresh FORM GST RFD 01 under the category "Refund on account of assessment/provisional assessment/appeal/any other order", supply order details and upload the appellate order and original RFD 06; the claimant need not re debit the electronic credit ledger for amounts already debited. The proper officer will sanction the allowed refund, issue FORM GST RFD 06 and RFD 05, and ensure re credit of any remaining allowed amounts following prescribed guidelines.

Refund re filing after NIL claim: conditions and procedure for submitting a subsequent GST refund application and supporting documents.
A registered person who has filed a NIL refund claim in FORM GST RFD-01A/RFD-01 may reapply for refund for the same period and category only if (a) a NIL refund claim was filed for that period and category and (b) no refund claims under that category have been filed for any subsequent period, with condition (b) limited to unutilized ITC refunds for exports without tax, SEZ supplies without tax, and inverted duty accumulation. Eligible applicants may file under "Any Other" for the same period with supporting documents; the proper officer will calculate admissible refund, request debit via FORM GST DRC-03 if needed, and issue FORM GST RFD-06 and RFD-05 upon receipt of proof.

GST exemption for state-granted liquor licence fees clarified as a non-supply, limited to liquor licences only.
The Circular clarifies that licence and application fees charged by State Governments for grant of liquor licences for alcoholic liquor for human consumption are treated as not leviable under GST, implementing the GST Council's recommendation by exempting fees for the transitional pre-GST period and by classifying the grant of such licences as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of service; this special dispensation is confined to State-granted liquor licences and does not extend to other licences or privileges for a fee.

Retrospective effect of statutory explanation confirmed; explanation inserted under section 11(3) applies from entry inception.
The explanation excluding Government and Local Authority activities from the term business was inserted under the statutory power to add explanations to notifications within one year and therefore operates retrospectively from the inception of the original concessional entry on 21.09.2017. A statement in the subsequent notification setting a later commencement date does not change the retrospective effect conferred by that statutory provision; implementation difficulties may be reported to the Chief Commissioner of State Tax.

Lending of securities is a taxable service; borrowers assume GST liability under reverse charge from October 2019.
Lending of securities under the Securities Lending Scheme, 1997 is a taxable service because it does not involve disposal of securities; the lending fee is taxable from 01.07.2017. Intermediaries' facilitation services are separately taxable. From 01.07.2017 to 30.09.2019 GST was payable by the lender under forward charge (IGST); from 01.10.2019 GST liability shifts to the borrower under reverse charge (IGST).

Place of Supply: for composite software/design services with ancillary hardware testing, supply is at recipient's location under IGST rules.
Where software and integrated circuit design services include testing on sample prototype hardware provided by the recipient and such testing is ancillary to the principal design/development activity, the contract is a composite supply and the place of supply is the location of the service recipient under the IGST recipient location rule; the provision treating goods made physically available by the recipient does not apply separately to the ancillary testing.

GST exemption for DG Shipping approved maritime courses affirmed; courses qualify as educational services exempt under GST law.
Maritime Training Institutes and their DG Shipping approved courses are recognised under the Merchant Shipping Act and STCW Rules; therefore such institutes constitute educational institutions under GST law and their approved courses are exempt from levy of GST, subject to meeting conditions in the State GST exemption notification.

GST exemption for donor name displays when acknowledgement is gratitude, not advertising, so no taxable supply arises.
Where a donor makes a gift or donation to a charitable organisation and the recipient places a name plate or similar acknowledgement that merely expresses gratitude and publicly recognises the donor without advertising any business activity, there is no supply for consideration and no GST liability. Non taxability requires: recipient is a charitable organisation; payment is a gift or donation; and the purpose is philanthropic, not commercial promotion.

GST liability on airport levies: airport operators taxed; airlines may act as pure agents and exclude levies from supply value.
PSF and UDF charged by airport operators are consideration for passenger services and liable to GST; airlines collecting those levies act as agents and, if meeting Rule 33 pure agent conditions, must separately indicate and exclude such amounts (and the GST payable thereon by the airport operator) from the value of the airline's supply, cannot claim ITC on that GST, while passengers may claim ITC based on the pure agent invoice; collection charges to airlines are taxable to airlines and ITCable to airport operators.

Scope of exploration and drilling support services clarified under GST classification; entries governed by service code explanatory notes.
Most operational activities for exploration, mining or drilling of petroleum crude or natural gas fall under heading 9986, while professional, technical and consulting exploration services are covered under heading 9983 (entry inserted effective 1 October 2019). The scope of the heading 9986 entry is governed by explanatory notes to service codes 998621 and 998622, and the scope of the heading 9983 entry by notes to service codes 998341 and 998343. Services outside those entries must be classified in their respective headings and taxed accordingly.

GST classification clarifications: specified goods' tariff entries and concessional or exempt rates, affecting levy and applicability.
Clarifies GST classification and rates: dried leguminous vegetables under HS 0713 remain so when only heat-treated and attract 5% if branded and packed else exempt; almond milk classifies under 2202 99 90 at 18%; mechanical sprayers are covered by Schedule II entry No.195B at 12%; imported naval stores are GST-exempt under Customs Act provisions; imports under lease are exempt from IGST when tied to supply services under Schedule II subject to Condition No.102; solar water heater parts under Chapters 84/85/94 attract 5%; parts solely for medical devices under Chapter 90 note 2(b) attract 12% IGST.

Anti-profiteering screening committee nomination updated after transfer, with a new state government member appointed in place of the earlier nominee.
A State Level Anti-Profiteering Screening Committee had been constituted under rule 123(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 with one State Government officer to be nominated by the Commissioner and one Central Government officer to be nominated by the Chief Commissioner. Following the transfer of the officer earlier nominated as the State Government member, the Commissioner nominated Ms. Sudha Verma, Additional Commissioner, Commercial Tax, Uttar Pradesh, in place of Ms. Yashu Rustagi for the member position at serial number (a).

Perquisite exclusion: employer-paid medical treatment at approved hospital not treated as perquisite and no TDS deduction.
Approval is granted to M/s Divyadrishti Eye Centre Pvt. Ltd. under the proviso and Rules 3A(1) & 3A(2) so that any sum paid by an employer for medical treatment of an employee or family member at the approved hospital for diseases specified in Rule 3A(2)(e) shall not be treated as a perquisite; accordingly the employer shall not be liable to deduct tax at source in respect of such sums. The approval is effective from 01.01.2018 to 31.12.2020 and is subject to withdrawal for misrepresentation or non compliance with Rule 3A(1).

Employer-paid medical treatment non-perquisite for specified diseases at approved hospital; employer need not deduct tax at source.
Approval is granted to M/s Dr. Bimal Hospital & Research Centre Pvt. Ltd., Patna under sub-clause (b) of clause (ii) of the proviso to clause (viii) of sub-section (2) of section 17 read with Rules 3A(1) and 3A(2), so that employer-paid medical treatment at the approved hospital for specified diseases shall not be treated as a perquisite for sections 15, 16 and 17. The employer is not required to deduct tax at source in respect of such sums. The approval is time-limited, conditional on Rule 3A(1) compliance, and subject to withdrawal for misrepresentation or non-compliance.

Retrospective explanatory amendments exclude government and local authority activities from business from the concessional-rate entry's inception.
The explanation excluding activities or transactions undertaken by Government and local authorities from "business" under the concessional-rate entry operates from 21 September 2017. Inserted within one year under section 11(3) of the RGST Act, it has effect as though it formed part of the original notification. A stated later commencement date does not alter its operation from the inception of the entry.

Securities lending is a taxable service, with borrower liability under reverse charge replacing lender forward-charge compliance.
Securities lending does not constitute a disposal of securities and is therefore not excluded from the definition of services. A lender's temporary transfer of securities for a lending fee is a taxable securities-lending service, while intermediary facilitation for commission or fee is separately taxable. The service is classifiable under heading 997119 and taxable at 18%. GST was payable by the lender under forward charge until 30 September 2019, subject to protection against duplicate IGST where CGST and SGST were already paid. From 1 October 2019, the borrower must pay IGST under reverse charge.

GST exemption for approved maritime education applies where recognised training curricula satisfy educational institution conditions.
GST exemption for educational services applies where education is imparted under a curriculum leading to a qualification or degree recognised by law. Maritime Training Institutes conducting courses approved by the Director General of Shipping qualify as educational institutions because their courses, training, assessment programmes and institutional approvals are recognised under the Merchant Shipping statutory framework. Their approved maritime courses are exempt from GST, subject to fulfilment of the conditions applicable to the educational-services exemption entry. Corresponding exemption treatment applies under integrated, Union territory and central GST frameworks.

Philanthropic donor recognition avoids GST where name displays express gratitude without advertising or promoting the donor's business.
GST does not arise when a charitable organisation displays an individual donor's name merely as gratitude or public recognition of philanthropy, without promoting the donor's business. The donation is then not consideration for a supply because there is no corresponding obligation or quid pro quo. Non-leviability requires that the recipient be a charitable organisation, the payment retain the character of a gift or donation, and the purpose be philanthropic without commercial gain or advertising.

Airport levy GST treatment excludes passenger fees from airline value when airlines satisfy pure-agent conditions.
PSF and UDF are consideration for airport services supplied by airport operators to passengers, and GST is payable by the airport operator. Airlines collecting these levies may exclude them from the value of air-transport services only when acting as pure agents of passengers. The airline must separately show the actual levies and related GST, recover only actual amounts, and cannot claim input tax credit on that GST. Collection charges paid to airlines are taxable consideration for collection services under forward charge.