GST exemption for ambulance services continues for government and contracted private ambulance transport under public health provisions.
Ambulance transportation of patients is exempt from GST as health care or public health-related activity entrusted to Panchayats and Municipalities. Services provided by private providers to State Governments under the National Health Mission are exempt when supplied as a pure service to government; if supplied as a composite supply, the exemption applies only where the value of goods in the composite does not exceed the notification's permitted threshold.

Withdrawal of administrative circular clarifies catering services GST treatment incorporated into state tax notification; circular withdrawn and implementation effective.
Circular No. 28/02/2018 GST, which clarified the GST rate on catering services supplied in educational institution messes or canteens, has been incorporated into Notification No. 13/2018 State Tax (Rate) following GST Council decisions and is withdrawn with effect from 27.07.2018; implementation issues are to be reported to the Commissioner's office, and the communication records the circular as coming into force from 31.07.2018.

Place of supply requirement: invoices for inter state supplies must state place and State of supply or face compliance penalties.
Registered persons supplying in the course of inter State trade or commerce must specify the place of supply together with the name of the State on the tax invoice to give effect to the destination based taxation principle; failure to comply may attract penalties and taxpayers should determine place of supply by reference to the Integrated GST place of supply provisions.

Interception of conveyances: release limited to non-violating consignments; detention only for violating consignments under GST rules.
The circular amends interception procedures by replacing "three working days" with "three days" and revising FORM GST MOV-05 release wording. It confirms that once physical verification during transit has occurred at one place, further verification in the State is not required unless specific information of evasion arises. Hard copies of prescribed notices/orders may serve as proof of initiation between tax authorities where electronic forms are unavailable. Detention or confiscation is limited to goods or conveyances proven to violate the GST Act or rules, with an illustration showing only non-compliant consignments are subject to detention/confiscation.

Supply characterisation for free of cost goods determines GST liability and input tax credit reversal implications.
Where moulds and dies owned by an OEM are provided free of cost to an unrelated component manufacturer, such provision is not a supply and the OEM need not reverse input tax credit; the component manufacturer must not add the cost of those moulds/dies to the value of its supplies. If, however, contracts envisage components made using moulds/dies belonging to the component manufacturer but supplied free by the OEM, the amortised cost must be added to component value and the OEM must reverse credit. Separate valuation applies where goods and services are invoiced separately, auction principals and auctioneers may maintain books at principal place on notice and remain eligible for input tax credit, and rail deliveries require production of the e way bill.

Classification of certificates under heading 4907: GST applies to RECs and PSLCs while duty credit scrips remain exempt.
RECs, PSLCs and similar documents of title are classifiable as goods under heading 4907 and, except for duty credit scrips which attract Nil GST under the relevant notification, will attract the GST rate applicable to heading 4907. The residual state Schedule III entry applies only where no other schedule entry covers the goods; prior reliance on the residual entry for PSLCs is thereby restricted.

Refund eligibility for ISDs, composition and non-resident taxpayers clarified: specific return forms suffice to claim cash or credit refunds.
Refund claims by an Input Service Distributor, composition taxpayer, or non-resident taxable person do not require filing FORM GSTR-1 or FORM GSTR-3B; the return forms prescribed for those persons (FORM GSTR-6, FORM GSTR-4, FORM GSTR-5 respectively) suffice for claiming refunds of electronic cash and/or credit ledger balances. Portal filing validation for integrated tax refunds on exports/SEZ supplies is relaxed for specified early tax periods provided the claimed integrated tax/cess does not exceed the aggregate disclosed in columns 3.1(a)-(c) of FORM GSTR-3B.

Apportionment of IGST: ensure inter State supplies to unregistered persons are reported to enable state allocation.
Registered persons making inter State supplies to unregistered persons must report such supplies with place of supply in Table 3.2 of Form GSTR 3B and in Table 7B of Form GSTR 1. Non reporting in Table 3.2 leads to non apportionment of IGST to the State of supply and mismatches in apportioned integrated tax, causing non compliance with apportionment provisions; contraventions attract penal consequences under the statute.

IT grievance redressal mechanism for GST portal glitches enabling remedial filings and potential penalty waivers for affected taxpayers.
An IT Grievance Redressal Mechanism is established for GST Portal-wide technical glitches where GSTN, on verifying electronic records and taxpayer evidence of bona-fide attempts, identifies class-wide issues and forwards suggested solutions to the GST Implementation Committee acting as the IT-Grievance Redressal Committee for approval and implementation; nodal officers will collate applications, the committee may direct remedial steps and recommend waiver of fines or penalties under mitigating circumstances, and GSTN will identify and enable completion of stuck TRAN-1 and related GSTR-3B filings without permitting amendment of recorded credit amounts.

Job work obligations clarified: principals must track goods, adhere to return/supply timelines, and follow challan and ITC rules.
Job work dispatches by a registered principal remain non taxable provided prescribed challans, FORM GST ITC 04 intimation and e way bill requirements are complied with and the inputs or capital goods are returned to the principal or supplied by the principal from the job worker's premises within the statutory timeframes; failure to meet these conditions results in a deemed supply by the principal on the date of initial removal, requiring issuance of an invoice, tax payment and interest, while registered job workers must charge GST on job work services and may claim input tax credit where eligible.

Classification of composite supplies: principal supply governs GST treatment; DISCOM non-transmission services taxable, PSLCs taxable.
Classification of composite supplies depends on identifying the principal supply; bus body building combines goods and services and is classified accordingly. Retreading is predominantly a service though sale of retreaded tyres by the retreader is a supply of goods. PSLCs are taxable as tradeable goods with GST admissible as input tax credit. Transmission and distribution of electricity by utilities are exempt, while other DISCOM services to consumers are taxable. Government guarantees to businesses for consideration are taxable services.

GST exemption on healthcare services clarified: hospital charges, consultant fees and in-patient food treated as part of exempt service.
Hostel accommodation by trusts is not per se charitable, but accommodation with declared tariff below the exemption threshold is exempt. Fees and penalties paid to Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions are not supplies and are not liable to GST. Joy rides (elephant/camel) are treated as recreational services, not transport. Rental of goods is taxed at the rate applicable to like goods and import IGST credit may be applied. Healthcare services and related in-patient food are exempt as composite supplies; cost petroleum is not taxable as consideration to the government.

GST on net retained feedstock: refineries taxed only on quantities kept by manufacturers; returned supplies taxable when onward supplied.
GST is payable by the refinery only on the net quantity retained of Polybutylene feedstock and Liquefied Petroleum Gas supplied to manufacturers for producing Poly Iso Butylene, Propylene or Di-butyl para Cresol. Returned quantities are not subject to GST for the refinery unless those returned quantities are subsequently supplied by the refinery to another person, triggering GST on such onward supply.

GST on college hostel mess fees: third-party catering taxable at reduced rate when input tax credit is not claimed.
Supply of food or drink by a mess or canteen is taxable at a reduced GST rate of 5% without Input Tax Credit. If catering is provided directly by an educational institution that meets the notification definition, the service is exempt. If a third party supplies catering to an educational institution, that supply is taxable at 5% provided input tax credit on goods and services used in supplying the service has not been claimed.

GST on accommodation services: declared tariff fixes rate slab but GST is charged on the actual transaction value.
Declared tariff determines the applicable GST rate slab for accommodation services, but GST is payable on the actual transaction value charged; highest declared tariff across publications fixes the slab and seasonal declared tariffs for the season of supply apply. Entry to casinos, betting and gambling, and horse racing attract GST on the full bet value as the taxable base. Legal services to business entities are taxable under the reverse charge mechanism. Ancillary clarifications: hospital room rent exempt, bakery eating place services eligible for composition, homestays via ECOs and print sales treated as goods when supplier owns copies.

Advance ruling applications eligible for manual filing; fee must be paid online and forms filed in quadruplicate.
Manual filing is authorised under rule 107A while the portal module is unavailable: advance ruling applications must be submitted in quadruplicate in FORM GST ARA-01 with the prescribed fee deposited online following the temporary user ID and challan procedure; appeals must be filed in quadruplicate in FORM GST ARA-02 (and officer appeals in FORM GST ARA-03 without fee), signed as prescribed for different classes of applicants, filed at the jurisdictional State Authority, and accompanied documents must be self-attested.

Maintenance of books of accounts: principal and auctioneer may keep additional-place records at principal place, subject to notice, ITC conditions.
Clarifies that although books of accounts are required at each additional place of business, the principal and auctioneer may maintain books relating to additional places at their principal place of business, must disclose warehouses as additional places, and must intimate the jurisdictional proper officer in writing; ITC eligibility remains subject to other statutory requirements.

Supply on approval: tax invoice due at actual sale; gallery exhibitions are not taxable supplies until purchase.
Where artworks are moved for sale on approval, the artist may transport pieces within or outside the State on a delivery challan (and e way bill where applicable) and issue the tax invoice only at the time of actual supply when a buyer selects the artwork; transfers to galleries without consideration are not supplies until the artwork is sold, and inter State transfers attract integrated tax.

IGST exemption on inter-state movement: rigs, tools and goods on wheels treated neither supply nor service; repairs remain taxable.
Inter state movement of rigs, tools and spares and motorised conveyances is to be regarded as neither as a supply of goods nor supply of service when moved between distinct persons and not for further supply of the same goods, and therefore IGST is not leviable; repairs and maintenance of such goods remain taxable under the applicable CGST/SGST/IGST.

GST exemption for terracotta idols confirmed as nil rate under the clay idols entry, clarifying classification and applicability.
Terracotta, being clay based, is treated as a clay idol and therefore eligible for the Nil GST rate under the State Tax rate notification applicable to idols of clay; the circular directs tax officers to apply this classification and to report any implementation difficulties, and it specifies an effective date for the guidance.