FLA reporting moved to secure web portal; online submission mandatory, non-compliance treated as FEMA violation.
Reserve Bank requires migration of Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets to a web-based FLAIR portal with entity registration, RBI-issued login credentials, system-driven validation, system-generated acknowledgements, ability to revise and download filings, and provision to submit earlier years on RBI confirmation. The revised form mandates investor-wise direct investment and fiscal-year financial details, broader FATS reporting, and fields for first year of FDI/ODI receipt and disinvestment. Email submission is discontinued and non-compliance will be treated as non-compliance with the Foreign Exchange Management Act, effective immediately for 2018-19.

Post sale discounts as conditional consideration require GST by the dealer and affect input tax credit entitlement and valuation.
Post sale discounts without dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from supplier's value of supply if statutory reduction conditions are met. Conditional post sale incentives given for promotional acts are separate consideration for services by the dealer and subject to GST, with the supplier eligible for input tax credit. Payments by the supplier enabling the dealer to reduce customer price form part of the dealer's value of supply, and credit note situations do not obligate the dealer to reverse ITC if the dealer pays the reduced net value plus original tax in accordance with rules.

Incorrect GST portal mapping requires receiving tax authority to process refunds and request mapping correction.
Where a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A is electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority that does not match the taxpayer's administrative assignment and electronic reassignment on the portal is unavailable, the authority which received the application should proceed to process the refund. After completing processing, that authority must inform the common portal of the incorrect mapping and request an update so future applications route to the correct jurisdiction. Trade notices should publicize this guidance and implementation difficulties reported to the Commissioner.

Place of supply rules: cargo-handling follows contractual IGST provisions; temporary imports for processing follow export exception.
Clarification sets the place of supply for port cargo-handling activities as determined under section 12(2) or 13(2) of the IGST Act based on contractual terms, and provides that services on goods temporarily imported for treatment and exported without other use (e.g., cutting and polishing of diamonds) are treated under section 13(2) of the IGST Act.

Post-sales discounts: contingent incentives to dealers constitute consideration for services and attract GST when charged.
Clarifies that post sale discounts without dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply if statutory conditions are met. Discounts contingent on dealer activities are consideration for services, attracting GST charged by the dealer with corresponding input tax credit to the supplier. Supplier funded reductions to induce lower customer prices are consideration to the dealer and must be included in the dealer's value of supply; customers' input tax credit is limited to tax actually paid. If discounts cannot be excluded, suppliers may issue financial/commercial credit notes but cannot reduce original tax liability; dealers need not reverse input tax where they pay the reduced value adjusted by such credit notes.

GST on penal interest: interest charged by seller as part of supply is taxable; financier's interest may be exempt.
The circular clarifies that penal interest charged by the seller as part of an installment sale must be included in the value of the supply of goods and is taxable, whereas penal interest charged by a separate financier qualifies as exempt "interest" and is not subject to GST; fees or charges that do not meet the definition of interest remain taxable. Penal interest is not treated as a separate taxable service under the Schedule II entry for agreeing to tolerate or refrain from an act.

Refund application processing should proceed even when portal mapping sends claims to the wrong jurisdictional tax authority.
Where reassignment on the common portal is not possible, the tax authority that has electronically received a FORM GST RFD-01A refund application should proceed to process the claim and thereafter notify the common portal of incorrect taxpayer mapping with a request for correction so that future applications are routed to the correct jurisdictional authority.

Place of supply for port cargo handling hinges on ancillary service status; contract terms determine territorial taxation.
Place of supply for port-related cargo handling services that are ancillary to goods movement is determined by the contractual terms between supplier and recipient and under the general place-of-supply provisions for such services, not under immovable property rules. For services on goods temporarily imported for processing and exported without being put to use in India, including cutting and polishing of unpolished diamonds, the place of supply follows the rule specific to services in respect of temporarily imported goods destined for export after treatment.

GST on penal interest: penal interest by seller is taxable as part of supply value; lender charged interest may be exempt.
Clarification distinguishes penal interest included in the value of supply when credit is supplied by the seller (taxable as part of the goods' value) from penal interest charged by an independent lender (exempt as interest on loans); non interest service charges by lenders are not exempt.

Extension of Pre-shipment Inspection Agency recognition: validity extended to 30 September for listed agencies in Appendix.
Recognition validity of Pre-shipment Inspection Agencies (PSIAs) listed in Appendix 2G of the Appendices and Aayat Niryat Forms is further extended: agencies whose three year tenure had expired and whose validity was extended to 30.6.2019 are granted continued recognition up to 30.09.2019 under powers exercisable in paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy and by relaxation of the Handbook of Procedure provision.

Post-sales discounts: supplier payments can either reduce original supply value or be consideration for dealer services, affecting GST and ITC.
Clarification explains that post sales discounts without dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply under sub section (3) of section 15; discounts that are consideration for dealer promotional activities constitute separate supplies of services subject to GST and ITC; discounts paid to enable reduced customer prices are consideration added to the dealer's value of supply under section 15, with customer ITC claim limited to tax actually paid; where exclusion is impermissible the supplier may issue financial/commercial credit notes but cannot reduce original tax liability, and dealers need not reverse ITC if they pay the reduced value plus original tax.

Post-sales discounts under GST: conditional incentives treated as payment for dealer services, unconditional discounts adjust supply value.
Post-sales discounts are governed by the valuation provisions and may be excluded from the supplier's value of supply only if granted without further obligation by the dealer and the conditions for adjustment are met. If the discount requires the dealer to undertake promotional activities, it is consideration for a separate supply of services by the dealer, on which the dealer must charge GST and the supplier can claim input tax credit. Payments by a supplier to enable a dealer to offer reduced customer prices form part of the dealer's value of supply. Where a supplier issues financial/commercial credit notes because exclusion is not permitted, the supplier cannot reduce original tax liability; the dealer need not reverse ITC provided the dealer pays the reduced value after adjusting credit notes and the original tax charged.

Refund application processing when portal mapping is incorrect: process with receiving tax authority and request portal mapping correction.
Where a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A has been electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority other than the taxpayer's administrative assignee and portal reassignment is unavailable, the tax authority that received the application may process the refund claim without delay. After processing, that authority should notify the common portal of the incorrect administrative mapping and request an update so subsequent applications route to the correct jurisdictional tax authority.

Refund jurisdiction: wrongly mapped GST refund applications may be processed by the authority that receives them on the portal.
Where a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01 is electronically transferred by the common portal to a tax authority that is not the taxpayer's administratively assigned jurisdiction, the receiving authority should process the refund without waiting for portal re-assignment. After completing processing, the authority should inform the common portal of the incorrect mapping so future applications are routed to the correct jurisdictional authority.

Place of supply rules: port cargo handling follows contract-based provisions; processing of temporary imports follows export exception.
Clarification: cargo-handling services by ports are ancillary, not immovable-property related, so their place of supply is determined under sub-section (2) of Section 12 or sub-section (2) of Section 13 of the IGST Act depending on contractual terms. Services on goods temporarily imported for processing and exported without being put to other use (e.g., cutting and polishing of unpolished diamonds) fall under the temporary import/export exception and their place of supply is determined under sub-section (2) of Section 13 rather than the general performance-location rule.

Place of supply rules: ancillary port cargo handling services determined by contract; temporary imports for processing follow export-location rule.
Services connected to cargo handling at ports are ancillary and their place of supply is determined under Section 12(2) or Section 13(2) of the IGST Act according to contractual terms, not under the immovable property rule in Section 12(3). Services on goods temporarily imported for processing and exported without being put to use, such as cutting and polishing of unpolished diamonds, are subject to the temporary-import exception and their place of supply is determined under Section 13(2) of the IGST Act.

Interest exemption under GST: penal interest by lenders can be exempt, but penal interest included in sale consideration is taxable.
Clarifies that penal interest included in the consideration for a taxable supply of goods must be included in the value of supply under section 15 and is taxable, whereas penal interest charged by an independent lender qualifies as interest under notification No. 12/2017 and is exempt under Sl. No. 27; fees or charges not meeting the definition of interest remain taxable.

GST on penal interest: seller charged penal interest is includible in supply value, lender interest may be exempt.
Additional or penal interest on delayed EMI payments is taxable when charged by the seller because it must be included in the value of the supply of goods; penal interest charged by a separate lender on a loan qualifies as exempt interest under the exemption for extending loans or advances, provided it meets the statutory definition of "interest". Penal interest meeting that definition is not a separate taxable service under the provision covering tolerance or abstention, while service fees or other non interest charges by a financier are taxable.

Post sale discounts: conditional incentives are taxable supplies of services, while unconditional discounts adjust original supply value.
Post sale discounts without dealer obligations relate to the original supply and may be excluded from the supplier's value under section 15(3); discounts conditional on dealer promotional activity are a separate supply of services by the dealer and attract GST with corresponding ITC to the supplier. Discounts paid to enable dealer price reductions are consideration for the dealer's supply and must be added to the dealer's value under section 15; customers may claim ITC only to the extent of tax paid. Where discounts cannot be excluded and commercial credit notes are issued, the supplier cannot reduce original tax liability, yet the dealer need not reverse ITC if he pays the reduced value after adjusting credit notes and the original tax charged.

Jurisdictional assignment of GST refund applications: process refunds received via incorrect portal mapping to avoid delays and notify portal.
Where the common portal has electronically transferred a GST refund application to a tax authority that is not the taxpayer's administratively assigned jurisdiction and reassignment on the portal is not possible, the authority which received the application should proceed with verification and processing to avoid delay. After processing, that authority must inform the common portal of the incorrect mapping and request an update so subsequent applications route to the correct jurisdiction.