Excise duty refunds under the State industrial-incentive policy are characterised as capital receipts where the policy aims to accelerate industrial development, generate permanent employment, and reduce regional backwardness. The incentive's purpose, rather than any connection with production or trading operations, determines its character. On this purpose-based approach, refunds granted under the policy do not constitute revenue receipts for income-tax deduction purposes, consistently with the earlier binding characterisation of the same policy.

Entry 195B classifies sprinklers and drip irrigation systems, including laterals, under tariff heading 8424 at a 12% GST rate. Its scope includes sprinkler irrigation systems and is not confined to laterals used in drip irrigation. Micro-irrigation systems include conventional and subsurface drip irrigation, micro-spray or micro-sprinkler irrigation, and mini-bubbler irrigation. Sprinkler systems comprising nozzles, laterals and other components attract the applicable 12% GST rate.

Special procedure under section 148 governs rectification of unappealed orders confirming demands for input tax credit treated as wrongly availed under section 16(4), where the credit is available under section 16(5) or section 16(6). Registered persons must apply electronically within six months of 9 July 2025 with Annexure A information. Rectification is confined to such credit, and principles of natural justice apply where it adversely affects the registered person.

Section 292BB validates defects in service of a timely issued assessment notice when the taxpayer participates in proceedings; it does not cure complete non-issuance. Partners' capital is not unexplained income of the firm where confirmations, tax identifiers, returns and other evidence establish source, identity and creditworthiness. Loan credits require identity, creditworthiness and genuineness, while opening balances cannot be taxed as current-year cash credits. Trade creditors remain explained where underlying purchases or expenses are accepted and supporting confirmations and ledgers exist; non-response to information notices alone, without adverse material, is insufficient.

Prepared aquatic, poultry and cattle feed remains distinct from raw fish meal and meat-cum-bone meal, which attract GST as inputs. Animal feed supplements fall under feed preparations only when supplied ready for specific animal feeding and not capable of general use; generally usable vitamins and provitamins are classified separately. Domestic-use LPG supplied in bulk for bottling and onward household supply receives the concessional rate. Interstate movement of cranes, rigs, tools, spares and other machinery for services on own account is not a supply where title does not pass, no transfer to a distinct person occurs, and onward supply is not intended.

For specified return-filing defaults, cancellation of GST registration may be followed by an application for revocation within a revised 30-day calculation. Where notice was served through registered e-mail or the common portal and the cancellation order was passed on or before 12 June 2020, the period is calculated from the later of service of the cancellation order or 31 August 2020. The revised computation is deemed effective from 25 June 2020.

Electronic submission of FORM GST RFD-01A replaces mandatory physical filing of refund applications and prescribed supporting material with the jurisdictional officer. Invoice statements and invoices not reflected in FORM GSTR-2A are to be uploaded on the common portal. Physical filing remains optional, but claimants not allocated to either tax administration must file physically. An ARN is generated only after filing, uploading all required material, and any required ledger debit; electronic transfer to the proper officer follows.

TNMM benchmarking requires a functionally comparable entity not to be excluded solely because it is persistently loss-making; exclusion depends on abnormal conditions evidenced from data up to the relevant year. Cash profit before depreciation may serve as the profit-level indicator where differing depreciation practices are substantiated, and operating-profit-to-operating-revenue workings must be disclosed to permit verification. Functional comparability of entities with diversified activities, differing turnover, or fabricated-item revenue requires verification of the business profile, relationship of activities, and availability of segmental information. Turnover filters and inclusion or exclusion must rest on established functional facts rather than assumptions, with fresh determination where the record is inadequate.

Transfer-pricing benchmarking under Section 92 is confined to operating costs attributable to international transactions with associated enterprises; applying the arm's length margin to costs of non-associated-enterprise transactions is impermissible. Component manufacturers should not be compared with manufacturers of complete telecom or process-control equipment, while comparables affected by amalgamation or related-party transactions require verification. Foreign-exchange gains or losses directly arising from import and export trading form operating items. Depreciation-method differences may distort operating-profit comparability and require reassessment of the profit level indicator; the treatment of excise duty in operating cost requires factual examination. Under TNMM, arm's length pricing should use a reasonable number of comparables rather than a single most favourable comparable.

GST classification of customised printed products depends on the principal supply in a composite supply. Printing of books, pamphlets, brochures and annual reports is a printing service where recipient-supplied content is printed using paper and other physical inputs belonging to the printer. Conversely, printed envelopes, letter cards, boxes, tissues, napkins and wallpaper are supplies of goods where the printer provides the physical inputs; recipient-supplied designs or logos remain ancillary to the printed goods.

Jharkhand GST provisions temporarily extend input tax credit eligibility for supplies made during financial year 2017-18. Registered persons may claim credit after the September 2018 return deadline up to the due date for the March 2019 return, where the supplier uploads the relevant supply details within the prescribed deadline. Rectification of errors or omissions in outward-supply details is also permitted up to the due date for March 2019 or the January-to-March 2019 quarter.

Unutilised input tax credit may be transferred through FORM GST ITC-02 on business reorganisation involving transfer of liabilities. In a demerger or other partial transfer of business assets with liabilities, credit is apportioned using the asset-value ratio at the State level for each distinct registration. The ratio applies to aggregate CGST, TNGST or UTGST, IGST credit and cess, with allocation among tax heads limited by available balances. The ratio is determined on the appointed date of demerger and applied to the electronic credit ledger balance on the ITC-02 filing date.

Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 stays suits and proceedings against a corporate debtor during the insolvency resolution process but does not bar proceedings instituted by it. A counterclaim under Order VIII Rule 6A(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure has the effect of a cross-suit. Accordingly, a corporate debtor may continue prosecuting its counterclaim on merits through its duly appointed resolution professional, while the plaintiff's claim against the corporate debtor remains stayed.

Rule 164 establishes an electronic process for waiver of interest, penalty, or both under section 128A in relation to eligible section 73 notices, statements and orders. Applicants must use FORM GST SPL-01 or SPL-02, meet tax-payment requirements, and provide withdrawal evidence for any appeal or writ petition. Tax paid through FORM GST DRC-03 for an order must be credited against the electronic liability-register debit entry through FORM GST DRC-03A before SPL-02 filing. The process provides for notice, reply, hearing, orders, prescribed decision periods, deemed approval on delay, and circumstances in which waiver becomes void.

Late fees for delayed FORM GSTR-4 returns are waived beyond two hundred and fifty rupees for registered persons filing specified pending returns between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023. Full late-fee waiver applies where the total state tax payable in the return is nil. The relief covers returns for the quarters from July 2017 to March 2019 and the financial years 2019-20 to 2021-22, and takes effect from 31 March 2023.

Rule 49 now permits an SEZ Unit to bring duty-paid goods supplied to the Domestic Tariff Area back into the Unit when the buyer does not take delivery because of fashion or market changes or contractual default, provided return occurs within 30 days, identity is established, the buyer has not claimed benefits including input tax credit, and a separate auditable inventory is maintained. The goods may be resold without alteration in the Domestic Tariff Area on payment of applicable duty as a fresh sale. Prescribed duty-refund provisions apply. Goods returned for repairs may re-enter within six months, an extended period, or the warranty period, whichever is later, with duty on the repair value.

Import tariff rate quotas under the India-New Zealand FTA apply from 20 October 2026 to apples, kiwifruit, albumins and New Zealand MPI-certified Manuka honey, subject to specified in-quota duties, CIF conditions, annual quantities and quota windows. New Zealand export certificates must identify the item, permitted quantity and designated Indian importer, with certificate details communicated for electronic TRQ authorisation. Importers must apply through the designated online system and reference the relevant export certificate. Authorisations are transmitted to ICES, and imports are permitted only through electronic quota debiting. Authorisations remain valid only for the applicable quota year, unused quantities lapse, and further authorisations cease once the quota limit is reached.

Custodians must notify importers or authorised Customs Brokers of the Section 49 storage facility where Customs-held goods are likely to remain uncleared beyond prescribed periods, and issue follow-up reminders if clearance remains pending. For delays arising from sample testing, statutory NOCs or discrepancies after open examination, the concerned Customs officer must similarly notify the importer. Custodians, CFSs, shipping lines, shipping agents and other cargo service providers must maintain communications and records. Failure to comply may be treated as breach of cargo-area regulatory obligations and attract action. The facility creates no automatic right to permission, waiver or relief, and does not alter disposal procedures for unclaimed or uncleared goods.

Manual Container Movement Permission for duty-free containers imported under Notification No. 104/94-Cus will no longer be required or accepted. Shipping lines, NVOCCs, agents and importers holding manual Continuity Bonds must register them in ICES and generate National Bond numbers by 31 October 2026, enabling electronic bond debit and credit through IGM/SAM and EGM/SDM messages. Quarterly Annexures A and B reporting container imports, re-exports and pending containers remains required by email until full automation. Containers not re-exported within six months will be identified through ICEGATE reports. Non-compliance may trigger bond enforcement for duty, interest and penalties; bond cancellation requires verified fulfilment of all conditions.

Risk-based selective physical boarding at Karwar Port will determine inspections through advance profiling of vessel compliance history, voyage and cargo details, and declarations concerning crew effects, ship stores, and satellite devices. The Superintendent (Docks) will review advance mandatory documents, approve physical boarding, and report weekly inspection totals and risk justifications. Vessels not selected for boarding may obtain Entry Inward through advance electronic data, but their Masters and Shipping Agents bear full responsibility for accurate and complete declarations, safeguarding declared stores, preventing unmanifested or restricted goods from being unladen or consumed in Indian territorial waters, and promptly reporting operational or documentation changes. Cargo discharge may proceed immediately after Entry Inward and sailing under advance Port Clearance.