Special Additional Excise Duty on diesel exports increased; amendment effective 16 February 2024 under Central Excise notification.
Amendment to Notification No. 04/2022-Central Excise increases the Special Additional Excise Duty on diesel exports by substituting the tariff entry for diesel in the Table; enacted by Notification No. 07/2024-Central Excise under powers conferred by the Central Excise Act and the Finance Act, effective 16 February 2024.

Special additional excise duty increase on petroleum crude production implemented, amending the prior tariff notification.
Under section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with section 147 of the Finance Act, 2002, Notification No. 06/2024 amends the Table in Notification No. 18/2022-Central Excise by substituting the entry in column (4) against serial number 1 with a newly specified Special Additional Excise Duty rate on production of petroleum crude; the amendment takes effect from 16 February 2024.

Supply of online gaming and casino actionable claims notified under tax provision, altering taxable classification of those supplies.
The Governor, acting under the State GST Act, has notified three categories as taxable supplies: supply of online money gaming; supply of online gaming other than online money gaming; and supply of actionable claims in casinos. The notification alters the GST classification and associated compliance obligations for these supply categories and is effective from the stated commencement date.

Tax collection at source obligations: e commerce operators must restrict unregistered sellers, refrain from collecting TCS, and report supplies.
The electronic commerce operator must allow supplies by an exempted person only if an enrolment number is allotted on the common portal, must not allow any inter State supply by that person, must not collect tax at source in respect of such supplies, and must furnish details of those supplies in FORM GSTR 8 electronically. Where multiple operators are involved, the operator who finally releases payment to the person is treated as the electronic commerce operator for these obligations. The procedure is effective from the stated commencement date.

Tax collection at source requires e commerce operators to block inter state supplies, remit collected tax, and file GSTR 8.
Electronic commerce operators facilitating supplies by persons paying tax under the composition scheme must prohibit inter state supplies through their platform, collect tax at source on such supplies and remit it to the Government, and furnish details of those supplies electronically in FORM GSTR 8 on the common portal; this procedure is effective from 1 October 2023.

Registration exemption for sellers on electronic commerce platforms subject to PAN validation, single state enrolment, and specified supply restrictions.
Exempts persons supplying goods through an electronic commerce operator required to collect tax at source from mandatory State registration if their aggregate turnover does not exceed the registration threshold, subject to conditions: no inter State supplies, single State electronic commerce supply, possession and declaration of PAN and business address on the common portal with validation, issuance of a single State enrolment number on successful validation, prohibition on supplying through the operator without an enrolment number, and cancellation of enrolment on subsequent registration under section 25; effective from 1 October 2023.

Account Aggregator designation permits consent based sharing of GST portal information under section 158A.
Notification designates Account Aggregator as an authorized system with which the common portal may share information on a consent basis under section 158A of the Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and defines Account Aggregator by reference to the RBI directions as a non financial banking company undertaking Account Aggregator business.

Condonation of delay in appeals: require prepayment of admitted tax and specified portion of disputed tax before filing.
Notification permits condonation of delay for appeals against demand orders passed by 31 March 2023, requiring filing in FORM GST APL-01 by the prescribed deadline. Admissibility is conditional on full payment of admitted liabilities and payment of a specified portion of the disputed tax with a minimum share debited from the Electronic Cash Ledger; pending appeals may be deemed filed if they meet this payment condition. No refunds of excess pre-notification payments are available until disposal, and non-tax demands are excluded. Chapter XIII of the Punjab GST Rules, 2017, applies mutatis mutandis.

Composition levy exclusion for suppliers of specified actionable claims now removes them from composition scheme eligibility.
With effect from 1st October, 2023, the words ", other than the registered person making supply of specified actionable claims as defined in clause (102A) of section 2 of the said Act," are inserted immediately after the words and figures "composition levy under section 10 of the said Act" in the cited Punjab notification, thereby excluding suppliers of specified actionable claims from the composition levy.

Valuation of related-party corporate guarantees deemed at a minimum value, altering GST treatment of guarantee services.
A deemed valuation rule for related party guarantee services is inserted: where a supplier provides a corporate guarantee to a banking company or financial institution on behalf of a related recipient, the value of the supply shall be deemed to be a minimum percentage of the guaranteed amount or the actual consideration, whichever is higher. The amendment renumbers rule 28 as sub rule (1) and adds this new sub rule; the rules are effective from 26 October 2023.

Valuation of online money gaming: total amounts paid or deposited with supplier form the GST value; refunds not deductible.
Amendments add suppliers of online money gaming from outside India to the covered classes, require PAN and state/UT declaration in FORM GST REG-01 prior to registration, and mandate separate Input Service Distributor registration. New valuation rules (31B, 31C) set value of online gaming and actionable claims as the total amount paid or deposited with the supplier, including virtual digital assets, and disallow deduction for amounts refunded; winnings retained for further play are not treated as amounts paid to the supplier. FORM GST REG-10 and FORM GSTR-5A are revised to capture supply type, platform details, and to segregate reporting of online information services and online money gaming, with updated return and payment provisions.

Central Processing Center jurisdiction established: Registrar to examine specified company e Forms nationwide and decide within a prescribed period.
Establishes Central Processing Center with a Registrar empowered to examine specified applications, e Forms and documents nationwide and to decide on them within thirty days of filing, except where Central Government, Regional Director or other competent authority approval is required. The examination follows sub rule (2) to (5) of rule 10. A listed set of corporate filings (resolutions, capital alteration notices, name change applications, conversions, section 8 license matters, deposit returns, dormant/active status applications, and buy back/solvency documents) are subject to central examination, and multiple simultaneous filings are to be decided together. The rule does not confer section 399 powers on the Central Processing Center Registrar; territorial Registrars retain those powers.

Input-tax credit reconciliation: new procedure mandates electronic intimation and prompt taxpayer response or payment with interest.
The amendment formalises electronic compliance mechanisms: bank-account details must be furnished on the common portal within thirty days or before filing outward-supply details; registration may be suspended where return data and Form GSTR-1/Form GSTR-2B analysis show significant anomalies or rule 10A contraventions, with a thirty-day show-cause opportunity and suspension revoked on compliance; and a new rule prescribes system-generated intimations (Form GST DRC-01C) for differences between input-tax credit claimed in Form GSTR-3B and that available in Form GSTR-2B, requiring payment via Form GST DRC-03 with interest or an electronic explanation, failing which amounts become demandable under sections 73/74.

Registration suspension and blocked filings on automated ITC and bank detail non compliance, with electronic intimation and remedy.
The amendment revises procedural and electronic compliance: bank account details must be furnished early at registration and non-furnishing blocks filing of outward supply statements; registration may be suspended on automated return to GSTR 1 reconciliation anomalies or rule 10A contraventions, with electronic intimation and a time window for explanation and revocation on compliance. A new electronic intimation and reply mechanism addresses differences between auto generated ITC statements and claimed credits, requiring payment with interest or explanation within a short period, failing which demands and recoveries follow prescribed provisions.

ITC(HS) export policy for Chapters 01-39: immediate prohibitions, licensing, APEDA and certification requirements.
Notification No. 60/2023 (13 Feb 2024) notifies the ITC (HS) based Export Policy for Chapters 01-39 of Schedule 2, effective immediately. It classifies items as Free, Restricted (exports under licence) or Prohibited, and imposes chapter and product-level conditions including CITES/Wildlife Act restrictions, APEDA registration, veterinary and health certificates, pre-shipment inspection, shipment/production-process certificates, and specified port routing. Full product-level policy conditions are in the annexure and on the DGFT website.

Limitation extension for recovery orders under section 73 grants additional time for tax recovery for specified fiscal years.
The Government, invoking powers under section 168A read with the Integrated GST provision and partially modifying an earlier notification, extends the time limit under subsection (10) for issuance of orders under subsection (9) of the recovery provision of section 73 in respect of specified financial years, thereby moving the cut-off deadlines for issuing recovery orders relating to those periods.

Consultation committee oversight expanded: liquidators must obtain and record committee advice before key liquidation, sale, valuation and dissolution actions.
Amendments enhance consultation committee oversight: liquidators must act on committee recommendations for compromises, consult and record committee views before seeking early dissolution or running the debtor as a going concern, convene meetings at least quarterly, present costs, litigation status and progress, seek committee advice before initiating legal proceedings, require committee concurrence for private sales, mandate valuation meetings and confidentiality undertakings for valuation reports, and set auction payment timelines with interest and cancellation consequences; real estate assets given in possession to allottees are excluded from the liquidation estate.

Import port list expansion: Mundra and Garhi Harsaru added, widening permitted channels for new vehicle imports.
Mundra Port and ICD Garhi Harsaru are added to the authorized list of Customs ports for import of new vehicles by amending Policy Condition 2(II)(d) of Chapter 87, ITC (HS) 2022, Schedule 1 (Import Policy). The import of new vehicles shall be permitted only through the specified Seaports, Airports and ICDs, with Mundra included among seaports and Garhi Harsaru among ICDs. The change takes immediate effect, increasing the total authorised ports/ICDs for new vehicle imports to eighteen.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment consolidates adjudication of specified show cause notices against an importer.
Appointment of a Common Adjudicating Authority under sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Customs Act, 1962 to consolidate and complete adjudication of the specified show cause notices issued to M/s Pernod Ricard India Pvt. Limited, with a Table designating which officers are to exercise the powers and duties of the originally named adjudicating authorities for each listed notice.

GST commencement notification appoints the effective date for specified amendment provisions under the Uttarakhand tax framework.
Effective dates are appointed for specified provisions of the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023. The Governor notifies that section 2, section 7, sub-section (1)(a) of section 26, and section 27 shall come into effect from 1 October 2023.