Clubbing of authorisations: amended rules limit eligible authorisations and set temporal, input and regularisation conditions for consolidation.
Amendments to Para 4.38 define the facility of clubbing of Authorisations: requests in ANF 4C to issuing RA; no clubbing for certain earlier or tainted Authorisations or where EODC/redemption or adjudication is complete; clubbing limited to redemption/regularisation of Advance Authorisations with no further imports/exports; allowed across financial years and EO periods subject to SION/ad hoc norms and minimum value addition; only Authorisations issued within an eighteen month window from the earliest Authorisation may be clubbed and only imports within thirty months of the earliest Authorisation are considered, with excess regularised under Para 4.49; clubbed Authorisations are treated as one for CIF/FOB and value addition calculations.

GST liability on banking services via business facilitators: banks are the service provider and must account for GST accordingly.
Under RBI guidelines banks engage BFs/BCs but remain responsible for customer-facing services; consequently, the banking company is the service provider and must pay GST on the entire service charge or fee charged to customers. Exemption under Heading 9971 for services relating to accounts in a rural branch requires that BF/BC services be in the individual capacity, fall under Heading 9971, and relate to a branch classified as rural per RBI guidelines, with the bank's classification accepted for exemption purposes.

Educational institution exemption clarified: institutional supply of food and beverages is exempt, third party catering is taxable.
Supply of food and beverages by an educational institution to its students, faculty and staff is exempt from GST under Notification No. 12/2017-(Rate), Sl. No. 66, when provided by the institution itself; similar supplies made by a third party under contract are taxable under Notification No. 11/2017-(Rate), Sl. No. 7(i). The notifications are to be read together, exemption entries prevailing where the description clearly covers the supply. Amendments were made to remove references that caused doubt and heading 9963 was added to Sl. No. 66.

Classification of printing of pictures as photographic processing services, attracting GST at the applicable photographic-services rate.
The circular clarifies that printing of pictures is classified under 998386 Photographic and Videographic Processing Services, since explanatory notes include colour printing of images from film or digital media in 998386 and exclude it from 998912; therefore printing of pictures attracts the GST rate applicable to photographic processing services and implementation queries may be raised with the Commissioner.

Immunity from taxation: services supplied by ADB and IFC are exempt from GST, limited to the institutions themselves.
Services supplied by the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation are immune from taxation and hence exempt from GST under their respective Acts; this immunity includes exemption from any obligation to collect or pay taxes and prevents domestic tax provisions from applying to services provided by the institutions themselves. The exemption is limited to services provided directly by ADB and IFC and does not extend to entities appointed by or acting on their behalf. The clarification is stated to be applicabl from 1 January 2019.

Educational institution status of IIMs exempts long-duration degree programmes from GST while short executive courses remain taxable.
IIMs, deemed educational institutions from 31 January 2018, are exempt from GST for services to students in all long duration programmes of one year or more that confer degrees/diplomas recommended by their Boards of Governors; short duration executive programmes under one year awarding participation certificates not recognised by law are taxable at the standard GST rate. Transitional rules apply for the period 1 July 2017-31 December 2018, with specific earlier exemptions limited to three named programmes.

GST rate on micro irrigation systems clarified to include sprinklers, drip irrigation and laterals under the tax schedule.
The circular clarifies that the tariff classification for sprinklers encompasses sprinkler irrigation systems and that drip irrigation systems including laterals are covered by the same entry; consequently a sprinkler system comprising nozzles, laterals and other components falls within the cited tariff entry and attracts the notified GST rate. The communication is clarificatory, reflects the GST Council's recommendation on micro irrigation classification, and directs implementation from the stated retrospective date while inviting reports of difficulties to the Commissioner.

GST classification clarifications: specific goods' taxability and applicable rates affirmed, affecting feed, LPG, plastics, timber and machinery.
Clarification of GST classification and applicable rates: unbranded Chhatua/Sattu under HSN 1106 is exempt while branded packed variants attract the concessional rate; fish meal and meat-and-bone meal under heading 2301 attract the meal/flour rate whereas prepared aquatic/poultry/cattle feeds under 2309 are nil-rated; animal feed supplements are classified by form and specific use (feed supplement versus general-use chemical); bulk LPG supplies for domestic use by refiners or between OMCs qualify for the domestic concessional rate; polypropylene bags laminated with BOPP classify as plastic articles under HS 3923 and attract the standard plastic rate.

Electronic submission of refund claims required; ARN-linked filing triggers transfer to jurisdictional officer and acknowledgement process.
Shift to electronic submission requires all documents and invoice statements accompanying FORM GST RFD-01A to be uploaded on the common portal at filing; ARN is generated only after complete filing and upload, after which the application is electronically transferred to the jurisdictional proper officer who will issue acknowledgement or deficiency memo based on portal records. Misassigned applications are to be reassigned electronically to the correct officer within a short period, rectified applications after deficiency memos are refiled manually under the earlier ARN, and taxpayers retain the option of physical submission where applicable.

Export of services: outsourced foreign work treated as import subject to reverse charge, enabling full export recognition.
An Indian exporter outsourcing part of a services contract to a foreign supplier is treated as supplying the entire contract value to the foreign recipient, while simultaneously importing the outsourced portion; the Indian supplier must pay integrated tax on that imported portion under reverse charge and may claim input tax credit, and the full contract value can be treated as export of services even if part of the payment is made directly overseas provided integrated tax on the outsourced portion has been discharged and the central bank permits retention of payment outside India.

Denial of composition option: tax authorities may make denial effective from the date of contravention, with recovery consequences.
A taxpayer's withdrawal from the composition scheme takes effect on the date indicated in FORM GST CMP-04, not earlier than the financial year's commencement. Where the tax authority denies the composition option, denial may be effective from a date including a retrospective date determined by the authority but not earlier than the date of contravention. Thereafter proceedings for tax, interest and penalty must be initiated for the period from the date of contravention to issuance of the FORM GST CMP-07 order, and the taxpayer is liable to pay tax as a normal taxpayer from the date of that order.

Taxability of government disposals clarified; government must register and pay GST when supplying used or seized goods to unregistered persons.
Supply of used vehicles, seized and confiscated goods, old and used goods, waste and scrap by government entities to unregistered persons is taxable and such departments must register and pay GST where recipients are unregistered. Penalty under section 73(11) applies only when section 73 proceedings are invoked; late GSTR 3B filing with tax and interest paid does not attract that penalty though section 125 may apply. Debit/credit notes under section 142(2) attract GST rates; TCS under Income Tax is includible in taxable value; owner for section 129(1) is consignor or consignee if invoice accompanies consignment, otherwise proper officer to decide.

Transshipment commercial invoice requirement: shipping lines must submit invoices when seeking transshipment approval under ICES or manual processing.
Shipping lines must submit a copy of the commercial invoice when seeking cargo transshipment approval; para 3(vi) of Public Notice No. 29/2018 is amended to require generation of a transshipment approval order with TP number and date in the ICES system similar to other ICD transshipment permits following Public Notice No. 06/2013, or to be done manually if ICES generation is not feasible. The amended procedure is effective from 15.02.2019 and other contents of the original notice remain unchanged.

Regional Advisory Committee meeting scheduled; notice to convene quarterly consultation and attendance requested by zonal chief.
Notice convening the Regional Advisory Committee meeting for the fourth quarter of F.Y. 2018-19: the zonal Principal Chief Commissioner has fixed the meeting date, time and venue and requests attendance by the Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of CGST divisions, noting that the meeting date and agenda points were previously communicated by email.

Denotification of Customs Area removes specified CFS parcel from customs handling and reclassifies operational coverage.
The Commissioner of Customs, exercising statutory authority, has denotified 8,682 square metres of the Container Freight Station at Virugambakkam (3,512 sqm covered-Shed No. XI-and 5,170 sqm open), removing that parcel from handling of Customs cargo. The Public Notice records the remaining Customs Area at the CFS and specifies the denotification's effective date.

Denotification under Section 8(b): leased land removed from the customs area, with effect from the announced date.
Denotification of a plot of 83,973.31 sq.ft at M/S Sanco Trans Ltd. Container Freight Station is effected under Section 8(b) of the Customs Act, 1962 due to expiry of the lease; all other Customs Area arrangements at the premises remain unchanged. The change is formalised by Public Notice No. 06/2019 and takes effect from 01/02/2019.

Customs area designation allocates specific areas for export LCL and FCL cargo handling under Customs Act authority.
The Commissioner of Customs, invoking authority to define a Customs Area, notifies that within the previously approved export cargo footprint at M/S APM Terminal India Pvt. Ltd. CFS, 1198 sq.mtr is allocated for handling Export LCL cargo and 185 sq.mtr is allocated for handling Export FCL cargo, effective from the stated commencement date, thereby formalising area-specific handling of export cargo at the premises.

Taxability of government disposals: government supplies to unregistered persons attract GST and require departmental registration and payment.
Supply of used vehicles, seized and confiscated goods, old and used goods, waste and scrap by government entities to unregistered persons is taxable and requires the supplying department to register and pay GST; reverse charge applies where the recipient is registered. Penalty under section 73(11) arises only on invocation of section 73; late filing with payment of tax and interest does not attract that penalty though general penalty provisions may apply. TCS is includible in taxable value and TDS applies only to government-controlled authorities with majority participation. Owner of goods is the consignor or consignee if documents accompany consignment, otherwise the proper officer decides.

Official Assignee status: treated as artificial juridical person, not representative assessee; each estate must file separate ITR.
Official Assignees do not qualify as Representative Assessee under section 160(1)(iii) because they do not manage property or receive income on behalf of the debtor after adjudication; instead they must be treated as an artificial juridical person under section 2(31)(vii), obtain a separate PAN for each insolvent estate, file the applicable ITR electronically for artificial juridical persons, and have the estate income taxed at rates applicable to such juridical persons.

Appointment of Transworld Terminals as custodian for container and break bulk cargo with bond, insurance and compliance obligations.
M/S. Transworld Terminals Private Limited is appointed Custodian for containerised, over-dimension and break-bulk cargo through Kolkata/Haldia Port under Section 45(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 and in a notified Customs Area. The Custodian must execute a bond (initially Rs. 70.94 crores), maintain insurance cover (Rs. 195.90 crores for one year), indemnify Customs for losses, and comply with operational, security, EDI and regulatory obligations under the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, subject to periodic review, termination rights of the Commissioner and prescribed custodianship terms.