GST Portal functionalities updated: module-wise deployments and webinar/video resources available for taxpayer guidance on an ongoing basis.
The GST Portal has received module-specific enhancements across Registration, Returns, Advance Ruling, Payment, Refund and other taxpayer functions, and month/quarter-wise compilations and a short-video compilation are provided via downloadable links on the GSTN tutorial site and YouTube channel to assist stakeholders.

Input Tax Credit fraud exposed; arrest and GST penal action initiated after analytics revealed goods-less invoice network.
Allegations of fraudulent availment of Input Tax Credit arose after analytics showed issuance and sale of goods-less invoices by linked firms; the principal admitted using his identity for authentication and facilitating inadmissible ITC claims, leading to arrest and remand under GST penal provisions while investigations continue.

Single Click Nil filing simplifies GSTR-1 compliance, enabling one-click nil return submission via the GSTR-1 dashboard checkbox.
Single Click Nil filing of GSTR-1 enables taxpayers to submit a nil outward supplies return by selecting the "File NIL GSTR-1" checkbox on the GSTR-1 dashboard, streamlining the electronic filing step and improving portal performance for nil-return compliance.

GST revenue growth signals stronger compliance and higher collections, increasing post settlement receipts for Centre and States.
The press release reports gross GST revenue for July 2022, its composition (CGST, SGST, IGST and cess), specified settlements from IGST to CGST and SGST, and post settlement totals for Centre and States. Collections for July 2022 rose 28% over July 2021, with year to date growth of 35%; import and domestic receipts increased at different rates. Monthly receipts exceeded a sustained threshold for five months, attributed to compliance measures and economic recovery; a state wise table shows varied jurisdictional growth.

GST applicability to overseas pilgrimage services questioned, with discrimination and extra territoriality issues remaining under judicial consideration.
Challenge to the imposition of GST on Haj and Umrah tour services asserted that Article 245 bars extra territorial application of tax law and that services consumed outside India cannot be taxed, and that differential treatment exists because the Haj Committee's arrangements are exempt while private tour operators' services are taxed; the court addressed exemption and discrimination arguments and left the extra territorial question for separate judicial consideration.

ITC reporting changes require declaration of availed, reversed and ineligible credits in Table 4 of GSTR-3B; portal update pending.
The Notification requires taxpayers to declare Input Tax Credit correctly availed, ITC reversals and ineligible ITC in Table 4 of Form GSTR-3B. The revised Table 4 is being implemented on the GST Portal; until the portal is updated, taxpayers must continue current reporting practices and will be informed when the changes go live.

Tax liability under section 9(5): ECOs and suppliers must report specified supplies using new GSTR 3B Table 3.1.1.
A statutory charge requires electronic commerce operators to pay tax on specified services supplied through them, including passenger transport, accommodation, housekeeping and restaurant services. To facilitate compliance, GSTR 3B has been amended by adding Table 3.1.1, allowing both electronic commerce operators and registered persons to report supplies subject to that charge in their returns.

HSN code reporting mandatory in GSTR-1, with phased GST portal implementation tied to turnover-based reporting levels.
Taxpayers are required to report HSN Codes in Table-12 of GSTR-1 at a minimum digit level determined by their Aggregate Annual Turnover in the preceding year; the requirement is being implemented phase-wise on the GST portal to facilitate compliance.

GST compensation to States ensures prescribed transition-period revenue protection; extension requests reviewed amid reform measures.
Parliamentary law provides for compensation to the States for loss of revenue arising from the implementation of GST for a prescribed transition period, with States' revenues protected against shortfalls measured from a base-year benchmark and a prescribed protected growth rate; eligible shortfalls during the transition period are compensated under the statutory framework established on the GST Council's recommendation.

Pre-packaged and labelled goods: GST applies where Legal Metrology declarations are required, shifting levy from branded goods.
GST applies to specified commodities when they are pre-packaged and labelled, meaning they are pre-packaged as defined by the Legal Metrology Act and required to bear declarations under that Act and its rules. For food items like pulses, cereals and flours, packages up to 25 kg/25 litre that require Legal Metrology declarations attract GST; packages exceeding those quantities are excluded. Supplies at any stage attract GST where the package meets these criteria, and input tax credit remains available; exclusions or exemptions under Legal Metrology remove the GST treatment.

Sale of internet advertising space treated as GST taxable supply under other professional, technical and business services classification.
Sale of internet advertising space leased for a fixed fee (not on commission) is characterised as sale of internet advertising space (except on commission) and, being classifiable under other professional, technical and business services, is subject to GST at the rate applicable to that classification.

Fraudulent Input Tax Credit leads to arrest under GST Act for bogus invoices and alleged tax evasion.
Availment of inadmissible Input Tax Credit on the basis of goods-less invoices prompted a DGGI investigation into M/s AKS Electrical and Electronics Ltd., linking purchases from M/s Abhishek Industries to alleged bogus ITC from non-existent entities. Verifications, documentary evidence and recorded statements indicated prima facie large-scale inadmissible credit claims. The Director was arrested under the GST Act and placed on judicial remand to facilitate further investigation.

ITC comparison tool demos showing reconciliation of eligible input tax credit with availed credit through live webinar sessions.
GSTN will run multilingual webinars demonstrating two compliance tools: a Liability Comparison feature aligning GSTR 1/IFF declarations with GSTR 3B liabilities, and an ITC Comparison feature aligning GSTR 2A/GSTR 2B eligible credits with ITC availed in GSTR 3B. Each demo is presented by GSTN personnel, includes live Q&A via YouTube LiveChat/comments, and will be recorded and posted to GSTN's YouTube channel for later access.

Nullification of negative cash ledger balances restores composition taxpayers' cash positions; affected taxpayers notified by email.
Reversal entries produced negative cash ledger balances for some GST composition taxpayers; the government has administratively nullified those negative balances, restoring affected cash ledger positions, and notified taxpayers of the rectification by email via GSTN.

One Nation One Tax advances through GST reforms, emphasizing compliance, digitalisation and ease of doing business.
The fifth anniversary observance presented GST as the framework realising One Nation One Tax, highlighting administrative and technological measures - digitalisation, simplified procedures, seamless input tax credit, e invoicing and increased use of data analytics and artificial intelligence - to strengthen compliance, reduce evasion and improve ease of doing business. The event recognised 50,000 compliant taxpayers and awarded 32 officers, underscoring taxpayer facilitation, enforcement calibrated by analytics, and training initiatives as drivers of improved GST administration.

GST revenue growth: June collections rose year-on-year, driven by stronger imports, domestic activity and anti-evasion measures.
Gross GST revenue for June 2022 showed a marked year-on-year increase, with the monthly composition set out across CGST, SGST, IGST (including imports) and cess. The Government completed regular settlements of IGST to CGST and SGST and effected an additional ad-hoc IGST settlement between Centre and States/UTs, producing consolidated net receipts for Centre and States. The month is noted as the second-highest gross collection historically, driven by higher import and domestic transaction revenues and supported by economic recovery and anti-evasion measures.

GST rate rationalization updates rates, exemptions, compliance and procedural reforms including GSTN IT measures and refund facilitation.
Council recommended GST rate rationalization and withdrawal or narrowing of exemptions for specified goods and services, issued clarifications on concessional treatments (including electric vehicles and certain bricks), and regularized past GST treatment for ice-cream parlours. Procedural reforms include modified refund calculation for unutilized ITC in inverted duty cases, transmission of suspended IGST refund claims to jurisdictional officers, re credit mechanisms for erroneous refunds, selective registration relaxations for supplies through e-commerce operators, and adoption of AI/ML mechanisms by GSTN for registration verification and risk based monitoring.

GST on gambling services deferred pending valuation review and renewed stakeholder consultation before council reconvenes to decide.
The Council deferred final determination on applying Goods and Services Tax to casinos, online gaming, horse racing and lottery pending further stakeholder consultation on the appropriate valuation mechanism. A Group of Ministers was instructed to reassess submissions on whether online gaming should be taxed on the full value of consideration, including entry fees, and whether GST should be levied on the full value of pooled bets in totalisators for race courses, with a report to the Council prior to reconvening.

Input tax credit verification: taxpayers must reconcile GSTR 2B and GSTR 3B and claim ITC only as per law.
Duplicate entries in the auto drafted GSTR 2B feed have been corrected; taxpayers must ensure that the Input Tax Credit (ITC) they claim in GSTR 3B accords with statutory entitlement. Taxpayers should reconcile ITC using the downloaded auto drafted ITC statement (GSTR 2B), the system generated GSTR 3B PDF, or the ITC shown on mouse hover of Table 4, and resolve any differences with the prefilled on screen GSTR 3B before filing.

New tax rate reporting in GSTR 1: upload items under the new rate; temporarily file HSN entries under the existing rate.
New tax rate has been added to the item details sections of all GSTR 1 tables and supplies subject to the new rate must be uploaded against that tax rate in item details; HSN table 12 is not yet updated, so HSN details for such supplies should be temporarily reported under the nearest existing tax rate with values and tax amounts adjusted to reflect actual supplies.