Limitation extension for recovery of unpaid GST and erroneous input tax credit now extends specified past financial years.
The Government, under state GST powers read with integrated and union territory GST provisions, extends the time limit for issuance of recovery orders for unpaid or short-paid tax and wrongly availed or utilised input tax credit for specified past financial years, by partially modifying earlier notifications and thereby widening the temporal window for departmental assessment and recovery actions.

Extension of limitation period for issuance of recovery orders under section 73(9) allows additional time to recover unpaid tax and wrong credits.
Notification extends the statutory limitation period for issuing orders to recover tax not paid or short paid and for recovery of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised, specifying separate extended cut-off dates for three financial years and partially modifying earlier notifications under the delegated power to alter limitation for issuance of such recovery orders.

Late fee waiver for delayed final GST returns allows registered persons to file within extended window without excess late fee.
Waives the component of late fee for final GST returns (FORM GSTR 10) that exceeds five hundred rupees for registered persons who file after the due date but within the prescribed extended period, limited to returns furnished during that window and effected by central notification under the CGST Act.

Late fee rationalisation for annual GST returns: waiver beyond specified caps and amnesty for eligible delayed filers.
The State waives late fee under section 47 for returns under section 44 for 2022-23 onwards to the extent they exceed specified per-day caps: twenty-five rupees per day (up to 0.02% of turnover) for registered persons with turnover up to five crore rupees, and fifty rupees per day (up to 0.02% of turnover) for turnover above five crores and up to twenty crore rupees. For returns for 2017-18 through 2021-22 filed between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023, late fee shall be waived to the extent it exceeds ten thousand rupees.

Late fee waiver for delayed annual returns: caps on per day penalties and relief for specified past-year filings.
Waiver of specified portions of the late fee for delayed annual returns under section 44 for the financial year 2022-23 onwards is prescribed, setting per day fee rates and maximum caps for two turnover-based classes of registered persons; a transitional proviso waives late fee excesses above a prescribed threshold for certain prior-year returns filed within a notified window.

Assessment order withdrawal: deemed withdrawal if return filed and interest and late fee paid under prescribed special procedure.
Registered persons who failed to furnish a valid return within thirty days of service of an assessment order issued on or before 28 February 2023 shall have the assessment order deemed withdrawn if they furnish the return by the extended cut-off date and pay interest under section 50(1) and the late fee under section 47, regardless of whether an appeal against the assessment order was filed or decided.

Exemption from Biometric Aadhaar authentication amended to replace wording with proviso reference and made retrospective.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 27/2022 Central Tax by substituting the words "provisions of" with the words "proviso to" in order to clarify the textual reference to the exemption from biometric Aadhaar-based authentication under rule 8(4B) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017; the amendment is declared to be deemed to have come into force on the date of the principal notification.

Aadhaar authentication requirement for GST registration ties application date to Aadhaar verification and mandates biometric verification.
Applicants (except those separately notified) opting for Aadhaar authentication for GST registration must undergo Aadhaar authentication at submission, with the application date being the date of Aadhaar authentication or fifteen days from Part B submission of FORM GST REG 01, whichever is earlier. Applications flagged by portal risk analysis must then complete biometric Aadhaar authentication, photograph capture for individuals or notified persons for non-individual applicants, and original-document verification at a Commissioner notified Facilitation Centre; applications are complete only after these steps.

Revocation of GST registration: extended limited window to apply subject to filing returns and payment of dues.
Registered persons whose GST registration was cancelled on or before 31 December 2022 and who failed to apply for revocation within the time under section 30 may apply for revocation up to 31 August 2023 only after furnishing returns due up to the effective cancellation date and paying the tax, interest, penalty and late fee shown in those returns; no further extension is available. This class includes persons whose appeals under section 107 were rejected for failure to meet the time limit in section 30(1).

Late fee waiver: excess fees waived and full waiver where state tax is nil if returns filed in amnesty window.
The amendment inserts a proviso waiving late fee amounts in excess of two hundred and fifty rupees and fully waiving late fees where the total state tax payable in FORM GSTR-4 is nil, for registered persons who failed to furnish returns for quarters July 2017-March 2019 or financial years 2019-20-2021-22 by the due date but who furnish those returns between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023.

GST compensation cess adjusted to specified per unit retail price rates for tobacco and pan masala, with R defined as retail sale price.
Amends the Schedule to the principal notification by substituting specified per unit entries for multiple tariff items relating to tobacco, pan masala and related products, inserting new entries for homogenised/reconstituted tobacco and pan masala categories, and updating certain tariff classifications; per unit rates are expressed in terms of R denoting retail sale price.

Late fee waiver for delayed GSTR-4 returns allows excess fees to be waived if filed within the specified filing window.
For registered persons who failed to furnish FORM GSTR-4 for specified earlier periods but file between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023, the amendment provides that the late fee payable under section 47 of the CGST Act in excess of two hundred and fifty rupees shall be waived, and the entire late fee shall be waived where the total central tax payable in the return is nil.

Foreign Trade Policy notified, establishing a new regulatory framework and coming into force to govern foreign trade.
Notification announces the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 as a new regulatory instrument issued under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992. The Central Government, through the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, has notified the Policy and specified its commencement, thereby placing the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023, into force and establishing the framework for export import regulation and trade governance.

Commencement of Section 163 brings the Finance Act provision on compensation cess into force as notified by the Central Government.
Section 163 of the Finance Act, 2023 is brought into force by a Central Government notification under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Finance Act, 2023, appointing the day on which the provision concerning the compensation cess regime shall come into operation by Notification No. 01/2023-Compensation Cess issued by the Department of Revenue.

Inclusion of unlabelled Rab in the GST notification schedule expands the listed goods and alters applicable classification.
The notification amends the Schedule to the earlier Commercial Taxes and Registration Department notification by inserting Rab, other than pre-packaged and labelled as an item against Serial No. 94, Column (3). The amendment is made under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act and is stated to be effective from the first day of March, 2023.

Inclusion of courts and tribunals under the Tamil Nadu GST notification expands specified entities and alters clause scope.
Amendment substitutes the words ", State Legislatures, Courts and Tribunals" for "and State Legislatures" in clause (h) of the Explanation to Notification No.II(2)/CTR/532(d-16)/2017, thereby expressly including Courts and Tribunals among the entities referenced; issued under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and effective retrospectively from 1st March, 2023.

Entities conducting entrance examinations to be treated as educational institutions for limited GST classification purposes.
Authorities, boards or bodies set up by the Central or State Government, including national testing agencies, that conduct entrance examinations shall be treated as educational institutions for the limited purpose of providing services by way of conduct of entrance examinations, with the amendment operating from 1 March 2023.

Exemption of deposits: scope expanded to include electronic use and effective date deferred by customs notification amendment.
The amendment inserts the word electronic after 'used for making' in paragraph 1(III) of Notification No.19/2022 Customs (N.T.), thereby specifying electronic use within the exemption description, and substitutes the implementation date in paragraph 2 with a later date, deferring the notification's commencement, effected through Notification No.19/2023 Customs (N.T.).

Exemption of deposits under section 51A(4) for specified imports/exports and baggage granted temporarily, excluding electronic payment deposits.
Exemption is granted from all provisions of section 51A of the Customs Act, 1962 for deposits relating to goods at customs stations without automated systems, goods through International Courier Terminals, accompanied baggage, and deposits other than those used for electronic payment of customs duty, integrated tax, GST Compensation Cess, interest, penalty or fees; the exemption is effective from 1 April 2023 until the notification's substituted terminal date.

Advance Ruling authority appointment: member substituted, appointing Joint Commissioner as replacement under GST framework.
The Government amends the Kerala Authority for Advance Ruling notification to substitute Shri. Abraham Renn S, I.R.S., Additional Commissioner-1, with Shri. Abdul Latheef K, Joint Commissioner (Audit), Thrissur, effecting a change of member under the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax rules as set out in S.R.O. No. 443/2023 dated 29th March, 2023.