Place of supply of advertising services: principal-to-principal deals treat recipient abroad, enabling export classification under default rule.
Where an Indian advertising company contracts comprehensively with a foreign client and separately with media owners, it supplies services on its own account on a principal-to-principal basis and is not an intermediary; the recipient is the foreign client and the place of supply defaults to the recipient's location outside India, qualifying as export of services subject to export conditions. Conversely, where the agency merely facilitates a direct contract between foreign client and media owner and invoices only for facilitation, it is an intermediary and place of supply rules for intermediaries apply.

Special Economic Zone approvals: extensions, item permissions, land de notification and procedural compliance ordered for operational oversight.
The Board regularised and extended validity of Letters of Approval for SEZ units, directed DCs to investigate state level delays affecting LoAs, approved specified restricted refrigerants for IT/ITES SEZ operations and authorised export of certain sandalwood products subject to export only conditions and Customs checks, recommended partial de notification of SEZ land, deferred a revival and transfer proposal pending verification of dues and court approved revival alignment, permitted conversion of processing built up area to non processing under Rule 11B, and accepted surrender of a Formal Approval subject to No Objection.

GSTN portal mapping and de-mapping controls tightened to ensure immediate removal of relieved officers and accountability in supervision.
Systemic improvement is directed for mapping and de-mapping of officers on the GSTN portal to prevent continued portal access after an officer has been relieved from charge. The instruction requires immediate de-mapping on execution of the GFR-33, supervisory monitoring by senior officers, submission of compliance reports within the prescribed time, and clear responsibility and accountability of the officers concerned with mapping and un-mapping on the GSTN portal.

Place of supply: data hosting services to overseas cloud providers treated at recipient location, qualifying as export when conditions met.
Where an Indian data hosting provider supplies comprehensive data centre and hosting services to an overseas cloud computing provider, those services are not intermediary services, not supplied in relation to goods "made available" by the recipient, nor directly in relation to immovable property; accordingly the place of supply defaults to the location of the recipient, and if that recipient is outside India the supply can be treated as an export of services subject to other export conditions.

Input tax credit on demo vehicles permitted when used to promote further sale, disallowed for agency or staff transport.
ITC on demo vehicles with seating capacity not exceeding thirteen is blocked under clause (a) of section 17(5) except when used for further supply, transportation of passengers, or imparting driving training. Demo vehicles used by authorised dealers to promote and facilitate sale are treated as used for further supply and ITC is available; vehicles used for other purposes or acquired where the dealer acts only as an agent are excluded and ITC is not available. Capitalised demo vehicles qualify as capital goods and attract ITC subject to section 16(3) (no ITC if depreciation claimed on tax component) and adjustments on subsequent sale under section 18(6)/rule 44(6).

Place of supply rules: end-to-end advertising to foreign clients treated as export, intermediary treatment differs.
Where an Indian agency provides end-to-end advertising and contracts separately with media owners, it is not an intermediary, the recipient is the foreign client, the supply is not performance based under section 13(3), and the place of supply is the recipient's location under section 13(2), making the service exportable subject to section 2(6). If the agency only facilitates a direct contract between foreign client and media owner, the agency is an intermediary and place of supply for its facilitation services is the supplier's location under section 13(8)(b).

Non-resident guarantees prohibition: banks must ensure guarantees to resident Indian parties comply with FEMA restrictions and due diligence.
Non resident guarantees, including SBLCs and performance guarantees in favour of residents in India, are not permitted under FEMA; Category I Authorised Dealer banks must apply due diligence when advising or transmitting such guarantee contracts to resident constituents to ensure compliance with FEMA restrictions and to bring these requirements to the constituents' attention.

Relaxation of LODR disclosure obligations extended; entities must follow Master Circular conditions and regulatory provisions.
Extension of the temporary relaxation allowing listed entities not to send physical copies of financial statements and related documents for AGMs and to apply earlier relief on voting-related dispatch requirements for electronic general meetings is granted until September 30, 2025; entities must comply with paragraph 5.1 and 5.2 of section VI J of chapter VI of the Master Circular dated July 11, 2023, and note that the relaxations are issued under regulatory powers and remain subject to the Companies Act and applicable rules.

Principal auditor responsibility in group audits requires obtaining sufficient appropriate evidence, not blind reliance on component auditors.
Principal auditors in group audits bear primary responsibility for the audit opinion on consolidated and group financial statements and must obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence about component financial information rather than mechanically relying on component auditors. SA 600 must be read with SA 200 and other related Standards and the Companies Act, 2013 obligations. The frequent use of the word 'should' in SA 600 does not render its procedures discretionary; such provisions are presumptively mandatory and must be performed or otherwise justified and documented by alternative procedures.

High risk refund cases: investigation of email-linked clusters with sample-based verification and portal reporting for potential refund fraud.
High Risk Refund email-based clusters are disseminated to CRU Nodal Officers for allocation to Investigation Officers, who must initiate enquiries within seven days and complete investigations within three months using the Insight portal case type "High Risk Refund Cases-Inv." IOs apply a sample methodology (top 10% or top 10 claimants), attempt to identify the KEY PERSON via internal databases or statutory information requests delivered by registered post and email, call for documentary support from the KEY PERSON for 20-30% of the cluster, and then close cases, quantify income escapement for non-genuine claims, or mark unexamined ITRs as "Further Verification Required," with supervisory approvals and portal feedback required within four months.

High-Risk refund cases: JAOs must verify and give feedback within 30 days via the Insight portal.
JAOs must verify high risk refund ITRs received via the Insight portal and, within 30 days, submit either "ITR can be processed" or "Further risk assessment required." The latter feedback is required only where specified criteria are met, including recent disallowances confirmed on appeal, penalty orders for incorrect facts, repeated revised return refund increases, repeated high risk flags on the PAN, or CRIU/VRU information suggesting under reporting or disallowed deductions. If a revised return is filed for the relevant year, no further activities may be performed; when marking further assessment, the JAO must enter the refund at risk amount and provide mandatory remarks via Insight.

High risk refund cases: TAN-based clusters sent to TDS officers; AOs must verify and mark further risk or no risk.
TAN-based clusters of high-risk refund ITRs for AY 2024-25 are disseminated to CIT(TDS) for verification. AOs must allocate clusters, follow the SOP, examine historical risk flags and compliance indicators in Insight/TRACES, and submit mandatory feedback as either "No Further Risk Assessment required" or "Further risk assessment required" with remarks and supporting documents; presence of multiple historical flags, penalty/prosecution, repeated demands, or defaulter listing requires marking for further risk assessment.

Upfront option premium collection mandated; calendar-spread benefits revoked on expiry and intraday position monitoring strengthened.
SEBI requires upfront collection of options premium from buyers as part of initial margin, mandates separate margin treatment and withdrawal of calendar-spread benefits for contracts expiring on the same day, prescribes intra-day monitoring of position limits with random snapshots, increases tail-risk coverage for short options expiring that day, recalibrates minimum contract-size criteria for new index derivatives, and limits weekly expiries to one benchmark per exchange, with exchanges and clearing corporations directed to amend rules and systems for phased implementation.

Stress testing enhancements for equity derivatives mandate Stressed VaR, filtered historic simulation and factor-model based MRC determinations.
The circular adds three stress-testing methodologies-Stressed VaR (stress-period variance-covariance matrix, doubled volatility, Monte Carlo, 100% option volatility shock), Filtered Historic Simulation (EWMA =0.94 rescaling of historical returns), and a Factor Model (largest three-day NIFTY moves since 2000 scaled by stock beta with 100% option volatility shock)-to determine the MRC of the Core SGF for equity derivatives, mandates a 3-day SPOR, permits a conditional one-time inter-segment transfer of excess ECM funds and penalties to EDX, sets timelines for initial additional contributions and staggered ongoing contributions, and requires CCs to implement SOPs and disclosure and to categorize CCs for exposure modelling.

Compounding framework under FEMA, 1999 set out: eligibility, computation matrix, procedures, timelines and payment rules.
The Reserve Bank, under FEMA, 1999 and the Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules, 2024, prescribes procedures for compounding contraventions under section 13 (except section 3(a)), including jurisdictional allocation, application channels and fees, eligibility and exclusions, required administrative corrective actions, factors and a guidance matrix for computing compounding amounts (subject to a 300% cap and other provisos), timelines for orders (180 days) and payment (15 days), and processes for referral to the Directorate of Enforcement where contraventions are serious or ineligible for compounding.

Delegation of powers enables local disposal of condonation applications for delayed refund and loss carry forward claims.
Delegation of administrative authority permits Commissioners and CPC Bengaluru to accept or reject condonation applications for delayed refund claims and carry forward/set off of losses within prescribed monetary bands; a five-year bar from the end of the assessment year applies to applications filed on or after the effective date, with target disposal within six months. Decisions must ensure reasonable cause and genuine hardship, permit AO inquiries, exclude court-pending periods for certain claims, and limit supplementary refund admissions to specified conditions including no interest and source of excess tax.

Interest equalisation scheme extended for pre and post shipment rupee export credit; MSME fiscal benefit cap limits further claims.
The Interest Equalisation Scheme for pre and post shipment rupee export credit is extended for three months to 31.12.2024 on the same terms, with an additional condition that fiscal benefits to each MSME, on aggregate, will be capped at Rs.50 Lakhs for the fiscal year during the extended period. MSME exporters who have already availed Rs.50 Lakhs or more up to 30.09.2024 will not be eligible for further benefit. The extension is valid for three months or until any earlier revised approval, and applicable banking guidelines and notifications apply.

GST classification clarification covers solar cookers, sprinklers, poultry machinery parts, and pre-packaged agricultural produce.
Clarification is issued on GST rates and classification for solar cookers, sprinklers, parts of poultry-keeping machinery, and agricultural farm produce. Dual-energy solar cookers are classifiable under heading 8516 and attract 12% GST; all sprinklers, including fire water sprinklers, attract 12% GST; and parts of poultry-keeping machinery attract 12% GST under tariff item 84369100. Agricultural farm produce in packages exceeding 25 kilogram or 25 litre is excluded from "pre-packaged and labelled" and does not attract 5% GST.

GST clarifications on Railway services, RERA collections, digital incentives, reinsurance, retrocession, and accommodation exemptions
Clarifications were issued on the GST treatment of specified services, including Indian Railways services, RERA statutory collections, digital payment incentives, reinsurance of specified insurance schemes, retrocession services, and certain accommodation services. The circular exempts or regularises past-period GST for Railways and SPV transactions, clarifies that RERA statutory collections are covered by the governmental authority exemption, treats specified incentive sharing as subsidy and not taxable, regularises reinsurance liabilities on an 'as is where is' basis, and clarifies that accommodation services meeting the stated value and duration conditions are exempt.

Digitization of customs bonded warehouse procedures enables online licensing, validated transfers and electronic monthly returns uploading.
An ICEGATE Warehouse Module provides online filing and backend processing for warehouse licences, records and validates transfers across three scenarios (ownership change, warehouse change, both), integrates bond and insurance data with ICES validation, enables PDF uploads of prescribed monthly returns, tracks into-bond consignments through successive transfers, and preserves the requirement for prescribed security and physical bond submission at the port of import.