Refund claims for inverted duty, deemed exports and electronic cash ledger balances must be filed and processed manually.
Manual filing and processing of refund claims for inverted duty structure, deemed exports, and excess electronic cash ledger balances is required until the portal refund module is available; claims must be made in FORM GST RFD-01A (monthly, with quarterly option for eligible small taxpayers), accompanied by prescribed statements (Statement-1/1A for inverted duty, Statement-5B for deemed exports) and necessary undertakings, with provisional sanctions subject to repayment undertakings and inter-authority communication via designated nodal officers for payment.

Additional TER for beyond-top cities revised to permit extra expense charging on a wider set of city inflows.
The circular expands the geographic cohort eligible for an additional TER of up to thirty basis points by substituting references to top-15/beyond-top-15 cities with top-30/beyond-top-30 across the cited SEBI circulars, while retaining existing eligibility tests based on the higher of a specified share of gross new inflows or a proportion of average assets under management; the amendment is effective from the stated applicability date and preserves other provisions unchanged.

Additional expense charge prohibited for mutual fund schemes without exit load; AMCs must discontinue such levies immediately.
Where a mutual fund scheme, including close-ended schemes, does not levy an exit load or exit load is not applicable, the AMC is not eligible to charge the additional expenses permitted under Regulation 52 (6A)(c); schemes currently levying such charges must discontinue them immediately.

Customs jurisdiction expansion transfers customs functions from excise formations to the Visakhapatnam Commissionerate, altering administrative control.
The reorganization transfers customs functions formerly handled by Central Excise formations to the Commissioner of Customs, Visakhapatnam and expands the Principal Commissioner's territorial jurisdiction to include the Port of Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram Port, Visakhapatnam International Airport, the Special Economic Zone, Greater Visakhapatnam municipal areas, a specified Container Freight Station, and the continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone areas, with administration of customs work in those areas vested in officers under the Principal Commissioner pursuant to the cited notifications.

Appointment of Appellate Authority: Additional Commissioner designated to hear HGST appeals under relevant appellate provisions.
Sh. R.B.S. Tewatia, Additional Commissioner of State Tax, Head Office Panchkula, is designated as Additional Commissioner of State Tax (Appeals)-cum-Appellate Authority for Haryana to hear appeals under the HGST appellate provisions, assigned in addition to his present duties and without any extra remuneration.

Ahmedabad Customs adds an Export Promotion Circle; traders must approach jurisdictional GST for LUT issuance and factory sealing.
Ahmedabad Customs has added an Export Promotion Circle and issued an amended Annexure A listing EPC jurisdictions and offices; traders are directed to approach their jurisdictional GST offices for issuance of Letters of Undertaking and for factory sealing matters as per the applicable LUT rule and board circulars, and to report any difficulties to the department.

GST refund workflow requires nodal officer email coordination and strict acknowledgements and finalisation timelines for manual claims.
Designation of nodal officers and a defined manual refund workflow mandate that nodal and jurisdictional proper officers use official email for all communications, forward misdirected claims promptly, and ensure back office entries. Taxpayers file RFD-01A with ARN on the portal and submit hardcopies to proper officers who must scrutinize applications, issue single deficiency memos if required, record entries in the back office, issue provisional and final refund orders and payment advice from the back office, present payment advice to PAO/Treasury with MTC 70 register entries, and monitor and update payment releases.

e-Way Bill system extension; existing GST Inward and Outward Permit regime continues during trial phase.
The circular announces an extended trial of the e-Way Bill system for inter-State and intra-State goods movement and states that a nationwide implementation date will be notified later; meanwhile the existing GST Inward Permit and GST Outward Permit regime administered by this Commissionerate continues to apply for transport of taxable goods into and out of the State.

Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures compliance required by exporters and importers; strict adherence to issued trade notice.
Non-compliance with Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures by exporters and importers is the central issue; stakeholders are required to adhere strictly to SPS requirements and the procedural and documentary standards set out in the referenced trade notice attached for implementation.

Manual refund processing for inverted duty, deemed exports and excess cash ledger requires specified forms, undertakings and nodal liaison.
Manual processing is required for refunds of ITC accumulated due to inverted duty structure, deemed export supplies, and excess balance in the electronic cash ledger; such claims must be filed in FORM GST RFD-01A (monthly, or quarterly for eligible quarterly GSTR-1 filers) after filing requisite GSTR returns. Applicants must provide a manual undertaking for provisional sanctions, complete prescribed statements (Statement 1/1A for inverted duty, Statement 5B for deemed exports), and furnish documentary evidence and counterparty undertakings for deemed exports. Nodal officers of Central and State tax authorities shall liaise by dedicated e-mail for sanction communication and payment, and rejected amounts shall be re credited by FORM GST RFD-1B until portal functionality is restored.

Manual refund procedure for zero-rated supplies: offline filing, prescribed forms, documentary proofs, and administrative processing timelines.
Manual processing applies to refunds for zero-rated supplies where FORM GST RFD-01A printouts and supporting documents are physically filed with the jurisdictional officer; unutilized input tax credit claims require an electronic credit ledger debit and ARN proof from the portal, and all communications and actions (acknowledgement, deficiency memo, provisional and final orders, payment advice, recrediting via FORM GST PMT-03/ RFD-01B) must be recorded in prescribed refund registers and processed per the TNGST Rules until the portal module is available.

Self sealing of export containers: online pre-intimation required, permission non-transferable and subject to risk-based examination.
Self sealing of export containers at approved premises requires exporters to intimate the jurisdictional Superintendent of Customs at least one day before each self sealing, providing premises details, goods description and whether incentives are claimed. The permission is non-transferable, subject to annual confirmation and may be amended only by competent authority. Self-sealed consignments are subject to risk-based and intelligence-led examination and the facility will be withdrawn for any violation. Exporters are required to use the Cochin Customs e-sealing portal to register and submit advance intimations, with the portal storing all related documentation.

Temporary suspension of bill of entry filing due to budget update; trade must expedite clearances before maintenance.
Temporary suspension of Bill of Entry filing at ICES 1.5 was instituted to implement Union Budget updates, with Section 48 approvals also suspended; CHAs and importers are instructed to expedite clearance of pipeline Bills of Entry before the suspension, while other ICEGATE services remain operational until ICES 1.5 is updated.

GST customs jurisdiction change: Customs formations will handle brand rates, B 17/LUT, EOU and concessional duty imports.
With effect from 15.01.2018, Customs related work-including fixation of brand rates, acceptance of B 17 Bond/LUT, EOU issues and duty free import at concessional rates-for taxpayers in the Chennai GST & Central Excise Zone will be handled by the notified Customs commissionerates (e.g., Chennai IV, Customs (Preventive) Tiruchirappalli, Customs (Preventive) Cochin, Customs (Preventive) Vijayawada) as mapped in the Annexure; GST, Central Excise and Service Tax functions remain with existing GST & Central Excise formations.

Customs duty changes and new social surcharge announced, with concurrent procedural and tariff amendments taking immediate provisional effect.
Provisional notifications and Finance Bill provisions give immediate effect to extensive chapter wise changes in Basic Customs Duty, introduction of a Social Welfare Surcharge, imposition of a Road and Infrastructure Cess on motor spirit and diesel with concurrent excise adjustments, and numerous tariff increases or reductions across specified headings; concurrent amendments to the Customs Act expand enforcement reach, create provisions for inward/outward processing, advance rulings, Customs Automated System clearance, electronic cash ledger payments, audit and controlled delivery, and authorize reciprocal exchange of information and modern modes of service. The Finance Bill and notifications remain the authoritative legal texts.

Customs duty changes and provisional levy: immediate tariff and procedural amendments take effect, altering import duties and processes
Immediate tariff and levy adjustments have been prescribed under notifications to implement Finance Bill, 2018 proposals, many effective from 1/2 February 2018 by declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931. The measures amend Basic Customs Duty chapter wise (increasing, reducing or exempting specified headings), introduce a Social Welfare Surcharge while abolishing Education Cess and SHE cess, impose a Road and Infrastructure Cess on petrol/diesel with offsetting excise adjustments, and propose extensive Customs Act amendments to modernise procedures (Advance Rulings, Customs Automated System, audit, controlled delivery, inward/outward processing, electronic cash ledger, and exchange of information).

Retrospective service tax exemptions announced converting certain pre transition liabilities and exempting specified government services.
Targeted service tax exemptions and retrospective adjustments announced in the Union Budget 2018 convert certain import integrated tax liabilities to integrated tax payments for cross border leased aircraft and exempt specified government linked services (naval group life insurance to Coast Guard personnel, GSTN services to governments, and the Government's share of profit petroleum as consideration for petroleum exploration/lease services) for defined pre transition periods; these measures take effect on enactment of the Finance Bill, 2018.

LUT and bond acceptance for zero-IGST exports must be made before the jurisdictional GST authority, not Customs.
LUT/Bond execution for exports without payment of IGST must be executed before the jurisdictional GST authorities: Rule 96A and Circular No. 8/8/2017-GST provide that the Commissioner having jurisdiction over the exporter's principal place of business shall accept the LUT or bond, and exporters may furnish it to either the Central or State tax authority until administrative allocation is implemented.

Electronic submission of digitally signed supporting documents required; phased mandatory adoption to streamline import clearance and document verification.
The e-SANCHIT facility requires authorized persons to upload digitally signed supporting documents to ICEGATE, obtain and use unique Image Reference Numbers (IRNs) when linking documents to Bills of Entry, and enable Customs officers to access electronic documents in ICES for assessment, queries and Post Clearance Compliance Verification, while certain documents still require hardcopy presentation though they too must be uploaded.

Annual return filing deadline under U.P. VAT extended for Forms 52, 52A and 52B due to trader difficulties.
The time limit for filing the annual return for the year 2016-17 in Forms 52, 52A and 52B under the U.P. VAT framework was extended in light of difficulties faced by traders during the of implementation of the tax system introduced from 1 July 2017. The filing date was finally extended up to 28 February 2018.