GST fraud by fake invoices leads to arrest for issuing fictitious bills and passing illicit input tax credit claims.
A person was arrested after admitting to opening multiple proprietorship firms and issuing bills without movement of goods to enable buyers to avail and pass fraudulent ITC. The conduct is alleged to constitute offences under Section 132(1)(b) and (c) of the CGST Act, treated as cognizable and non-bailable under Section 132(5) and punishable under Section 132(1)(l)(i); arrest was effected under Section 69(1) and further investigation and recoveries are in progress.

Dual GST model: Centre and States concurrently tax supplies, with IGST preserving cross border input tax credit.
GST unified India's indirect taxes through a destination based, dual model where Centre and States concurrently tax supplies (CGST and SGST) and IGST manages inter State transactions to preserve uninterrupted input tax credit. Constitutional amendment created the GST Council to recommend subsumed taxes, rates, exemptions, place of supply principles and compensation; operational features include tax slabs, compensation cess, composition and threshold exemptions, reverse charge/TDS/TCS provisions, e way bills, a common IT portal (GSTN), anti profiteering safeguards and transitional rules to implement a single national market.

GST Council recommendation determines timing of GST levy on petroleum products under constitutional and statutory framework.
Decision on when GST will apply to petroleum products hinges on the recommendation of the GST Council under Article 279A(5); inclusion of previously excluded petroleum products within the GST levy is contingent on the Council's recommendation as contemplated by Section 9(2) of the CGST Act.

GST compliance reforms: simplified returns, technical fixes, fee relief and targeted taxpayer support to ease filing obligations.
Implementation of the Goods and Services Tax eliminated tax cascading and advanced a national single market while simplifying the tax regime to reduce compliance burdens. Return filing posed challenges due to technical glitches and taxpayer unfamiliarity; responses included GSTN user interface updates, a guided GSTR 3B questionnaire, one click NIL returns, Help Centres, deadline extensions, targeted late fee waivers and reductions, an IT Grievance Redressal Committee to recommend relief and portal remedies, and nationwide taxpayer awareness initiatives.

FASTag integration with e way bill to enable RFID-based tracking of goods and curb GST evasion through data linkage.
Integration of the FASTag Bank Mechanism with the E Way Bill system is proposed to use RFID-based FASTag data to track goods movements and curb GST evasion; inter-agency committees including GSTN, NIC, NHAI and NPCI have examined feasibility and submitted reports, and the GST Council and other authorities are reviewing those recommendations for potential operational linkage with a Logistics Databank.

GST return reform: phased mandatory rollout of new annexure returns with transitional filing and extended compliance deadlines.
The Council approved a phased rollout of the new GST return system: Form GST ANX-1 will become mandatory with monthly filing for large taxpayers and quarterly filing for small taxpayers initially; Form GST ANX-2 will be viewable but inactive during transition. Large taxpayers will continue existing monthly filings for two months before filing a consolidated return; small taxpayers will transition to a payment challan form and later to the consolidated return. Form GSTR-3B will be phased out thereafter. The Council also extended filing deadlines for annual returns, ITC-04 job-work declarations, postponed the effective date of e-way bill blocking under Rule 138E, and extended the composition scheme intimation deadline.

GST concessions on electric vehicles and valuation issues referred to expert committees; lottery taxation needs Attorney General legal opinion.
Recommendations focused on three operative matters: GST concessions on electric vehicles and associated services were referred to the Fitment Committee for detailed examination; valuation issues for solar power generating systems and wind turbines were to be placed before the Fitment Committee for recommendation; and the Group of Ministers' report on lottery taxation highlighted rate and destination principle issues warranting a legal opinion from the Attorney General.

E-invoicing introduction phased for B2B transactions to aid compliance and curb tax evasion through electronic integration with taxpayers' systems.
The Council extended the tenure of the National Anti-Profiteering Authority by two years, confirmed deemed ratification of Central notifications and other routine measures, fixed locations for State and Area Benches of the GST Appellate Tribunal (including a common Bench for Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh), and decided to introduce e-invoicing for B2B transactions in a phase-wise manner with an initial voluntary rollout to support tax compliance and curb evasion.

Fraudulent input tax credit schemes using fake invoices led to arrest and criminal investigation under GST enforcement provisions.
Two firms fraudulently availed and transferred input tax credit based on invoices from non-existent suppliers; the controller admitted using fake invoices to pass ITC to yarn spinners, conduct characterized as cognizable, non-bailable offences under the CGST regime, leading to arrest under the statutory arrest provision and remand to judicial custody while investigations and recoveries continue.

IGST refund verification: targeted manual checks delay refunds pending ITC verification but exports continue for risky exporters.
Targeted manual verification requires assessment of correct availment of input tax credit for exporters flagged as higher risk under pre-defined parameters. Identified risky exporters have their refund claims held pending ITC verification while exports are allowed to proceed immediately; refunds for these cases are released only after verification within a defined verification timeframe. The measure is framed as an anti-fraud safeguard with assurance that genuine exporters will continue to receive IGST refunds via the automated system.

GST compensation extension needed to prevent state revenue shortfall and protect developmental spending after the compensation period.
The Chief Minister requests extension of GST compensation beyond 2022 under the Compensation Act to prevent a projected state revenue shortfall that would reduce protected revenue, constrain revenue mobilisation and jeopardise developmental and committed expenditures; he also seeks increased central funding for rural drinking water, approval of NDRF crop-relief, and release and augmentation of reimbursements under the rural employment guarantee scheme to avoid wage-payment hardships.

GST return transition plan mandates phased adoption of ANX-1/ANX-2 with RET-01 replacing legacy filing obligations.
A structured transition plan implements a phased introduction of a new GST return system comprising FORM GST RET-01, FORM GST ANX-1 and FORM GST ANX-2. A trial period allows invoice upload and inward-supply viewing without affecting tax liabilities or input tax credit while taxpayers continue compliance through GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. ANX-1 will replace GSTR-1 with differentiated monthly/quarterly obligations for larger and smaller taxpayers; ANX-2 will be viewable with actions restricted initially.

GST update: constitutional basis, amended input tax credit, revised thresholds, composition scheme and new invoice level return system.
The update sets out the GST constitutional and statutory architecture, establishment and powers of the GST Council, and amendments widening input tax credit and rationalising cross utilisation. It summarises registration thresholds, migration relief, an enhanced Composition Scheme with simplified quarterly compliance, allocation of tax administration between Centre and States, and operational rules on reverse charge, returns (including a phased new ANX based system), e way bills, ITC timelines, TDS/TCS, electronically enabled refunds and transitional arrangements for real estate and exporters.

Commendation Certificates eligibility and nomination rules set for GST Day, requiring documentation, clear role description, and deadline.
Granting of Commendation Certificates for GST Day 2019 recognizes officers for contributions to GST administration. Nominations (maximum three per (Pr.) Chief Commissioner/(Pr.) Director General) must use the prescribed proforma, clearly state the individual's role, and include five years' certified APAR gradings and vigilance clearance. Officers already awarded certain high-level recognitions are excluded. Proposals must be emailed and hard-copy posted by 10.06.2019; late submissions will not be considered.

Annual return filing rules: auto-population and declaration driven by when tax was paid, with reconciliation via DRC-03/GSTR-9C.
Procedural rules for FORM GSTR-9 require that auto-populated data from FORM GSTR-2A appear in Table 8A and inward supply credits for the return year be declared in Table 8C; placement in Part II or Part V is determined by when tax was paid via FORM GSTR-3B, omitted outward supplies must be declared in Part II with liabilities computed in Part IV and shortfalls paid through FORM DRC-03, IGST on imports availed in the return year must be entered in Table 6(E), and DRC-03 payments for earlier periods are to be reconciled in FORM GSTR-9C.

GST revenue collection shows year over year growth with central, state and IGST settlements and compensation releases.
GST revenue collection for May 2019 reports total gross receipts with a breakdown among CGST, SGST, IGST (including imports) and cess (including imports), records year over year growth and the number of GSTR 3B returns filed; it quantifies regular IGST settlements to CGST and SGST, states post settlement revenue accruing to Central and State Governments, and notes a separate release of GST compensation to States.