Customs tariff amendments revising exemptions and duty rates for specified agricultural, solar, medical and industrial inputs and effective periods
Further amendments to the customs exemption schedule insert numerous new tariff entries, substitute duty column entries, omit certain serials with future effect, and impose concessional duty rates or Nil for specified goods used in aquaculture, feed, photovoltaic manufacturing, medical imaging, petrochemical and other industrial applications. The notification adds temporal provisos and sunset clauses for many entries, revises existing provisos to extend operative periods for a broad set of serials, and amends the Annexure to require particular certifications and to expand Lists defining eligible inputs and machinery for conditional exemptions.

Customs exemption threshold for duty free commercial samples increased, expanding eligible imports under the existing notification effective as stated.
Substitutes the previous monetary limit in Notification No.154/94 Customs, in the TABLE against S.No.3, condition (v)(A)(b), with a higher monetary ceiling for qualification as duty free commercial samples; enacted by Notification No.29/2024 Customs and brought into force on 24 July 2024.

GSTR-1A amendments enable optional current-period outward-supply corrections before GSTR-3B, with consequential changes to credit, refunds and returns.
The amendments introduce optional FORM GSTR-1A for adding or amending current-period outward-supply details after GSTR-1 and before the corresponding GSTR-3B. GSTR-1A details are integrated with GSTR-1 information for GSTR-3B and reflected in the recipient's next available GSTR-2B. Consequential changes incorporate GSTR-1A into registration, input tax credit, invoice, export-refund, annual-return, auto-drafted statement and demand procedures. The rules also recast Input Service Distributor credit allocation, establish refunds for additional integrated tax following post-export price increases, digitise Tribunal appeals and demand-payment adjustments, and revise prescribed GST forms.

Nil-rated railway services and specified low-value accommodation exempt from state GST, altering taxable entries and exclusions.
The notification adds three nil-rated Chapter 99 entries for: (i) Indian Railways services to individuals (platform tickets, retiring/waiting rooms, cloak rooms, battery-operated car services); (ii) inter-zone/division services within Indian Railways; and (iii) SPV arrangements allowing Indian Railways to use SPV-owned infrastructure during the concession period and related maintenance services. It amends the accommodation entry by removing certain heading wording, renumbering the Explanation and excluding student residences and hostels/camps/PG accommodations; and inserts a nil-rated accommodation entry for supplies below a specified monthly value when supplied for a minimum continuous period of ninety days.

Agricultural produce packaging exemption excludes packages above prescribed quantity from the pre-packaged and labelled classification for GST purposes.
GST exemption classification for agricultural farm produce is amended so that supplies in packages containing more than 25 kilograms or 25 litres are not regarded as 'pre-packaged and labelled', notwithstanding the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and its rules. The amendment applies under the Tripura State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, with effect from 15 July 2024.

Tripura GST rate amendments place specified paper cartons, milk cans and solar cookers in the lower tax schedule.
Tripura State GST rate schedules are amended to place specified paper or paperboard cartons, milk cans made of iron, steel or aluminium, and solar cookers in the 6% Schedule. Corresponding changes to the 9% Schedule exclude these goods from broader entries for paper containers, metal containers, utensils and domestic appliances. Agricultural farm produce supplied in packages exceeding 25 kilograms or 25 litres is not regarded as "pre-packaged and labelled". The amendments take effect from 15 July 2024.

GST compliance procedures introduce practitioner enrolment surrender, e-way bill unblocking applications, multiplex electronic ticket invoicing, and revised deemed-export refund reporting.
The amendments establish electronic procedures for surrender and cancellation of Goods and Services Tax practitioner enrolment through FORMS GST PCT-06 and PCT-07, extend the rule 137 period to four years, and formalise applications and reasoned orders for unblocking e-way bill generation through FORMS GST EWB-05 and EWB-06. They also deem electronic multiplex cinema admission tickets to be tax invoices when prescribed particulars are included, and revise deemed-export refund reporting in FORMS GST RFD-01 and RFD-01A.

Annual return filing exemption applies to eligible registered persons with aggregate turnover up to the prescribed threshold for 2023-24.
Registered persons with aggregate turnover of up to two crore rupees in financial year 2023-24 are exempt from filing the annual return for that year. The exemption is issued under the first proviso to section 44 of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, on the Council's recommendations.

De-notification of SEZ land reduces notified area under the Special Economic Zones Act, resulting in a revised notified area.
Central Government de-notifies 18.9535 hectares within the Information Technology and ITES SEZ at Viswanathapuram Village, Hosur Taluk, reducing the notified area to 51.0565 hectares. The de-notified land is survey number 3/1 in Hosur village. The de-notification is effected under the statutory de-notification mechanism of the Special Economic Zones Act and rule 8 of the SEZ Rules, following State Government approval and recommendation by the Development Commissioner, with the Central Government satisfied that applicable Act requirements were met.

KYC identifier requirement: electronic retrieval of KYC records mandated, limiting duplicate document requests and requiring registry updates.
Reporting entities must seek or retrieve the KYC Identifier and obtain KYC records online from the Central KYC Records Registry, and may not require duplicate KYC documents unless the registry record has changed, is incomplete or non compliant, document validity has lapsed, or further verification or enhanced due diligence is necessary; entities must retrieve and update their records when notified of registry updates and follow regulator guidelines, with certain actions to be completed within seven days or as notified by the Central Government.

Reduced prescribed GST rate applies retrospectively, replacing the earlier rate under Tamil Nadu's statutory amendment.
The rate prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 52 of the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is reduced by substituting 0.25 per cent. for "half per cent." The amendment, made on the recommendations of the Council, is deemed to have come into force from 10 July 2024.

TCS rate reduction lowers the previously prescribed rate to a reduced rate, effective mid July under Rajasthan GST amendment.
Amends the prior state notification to substitute the words "half per cent." with 0.25 per cent for Tax Collected at Source under the Rajasthan GST framework, effected under the State Government's powers on the Council's recommendation; the amendment modifies notification F.12(56)FD/Tax/2017-Pt-II-117 and is effective from 10th July, 2024.

Exemption from annual return filing for registered persons below specified turnover threshold, effective for FY 2023-24.
Notification exempts registered persons whose aggregate turnover in FY 2023-24 is up to two crore rupees from filing the annual return for that financial year; the Commissioner, on the Council's recommendation, issued the notification dated 19 July 2024, and the exemption is effective from 10 July 2024 under the Goa Goods and Services Tax Act.

Specified person status for pension fund enables tax exemption on eligible investments subject to compliance and conditions.
AIMCo India Infrastructure Limited is specified as the person eligible for exemption under clause (23FE) for qualifying investments in India subject to conditions: timely return filing, Form 10BBC compliance certificate, quarterly Form 10BBB reporting, segmented accounts, regulation under Alberta law, administering assets solely for statutory retirement/social security plans, a capped allowance for non-core wholly government-owned assets with earnings credited to government accounts, prohibition on borrowings for Indian investments, and no day-to-day participation in investees apart from monitoring rights. Non-compliance renders the fund ineligible.

Issue of duty credit under RoDTEP amended to include Special Economic Zone units with revised export documentation timing.
The amendment expands RoDTEP eligibility by inserting "or unit in Special Economic Zone" after "Export Oriented Unit", thereby making SEZ units eligible for duty credit issuance. It also adds a proviso that, for goods manufactured by or exported by an SEZ unit, the shipping bill or bill of export must be presented on or after the prescribed commencement date, establishing a temporal condition for entitlement to duty credit under the scheme.

Aadhaar-based GST registration authentication strengthened with biometric verification, document checking, and deemed completion rules for applicants.
The Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2024, effective from 21 June 2024, substitute rule 8(4A) of the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017. Applicants opting for Aadhaar authentication must complete authentication while submitting the registration application, with the application date treated as the date of authentication or fifteen days from submission of Part B of FORM GST REG-01, whichever is earlier. Risk-identified applicants must also undergo biometric Aadhaar authentication, photograph capture, and document verification at a notified Facilitation Centre before the application is deemed complete.

Annual return exemption: registered persons below prescribed turnover threshold exempt from filing for financial year 2023-24.
The Commissioner of State Tax, on Council recommendations and under the first proviso to section 44 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, exempts registered persons whose aggregate turnover in financial year 2023-24 is up to the small-taxpayer threshold from filing the annual return for that financial year.

Annual return exemption relieves eligible registered persons with limited aggregate turnover from filing for the relevant financial year.
Registered persons with aggregate annual turnover not exceeding two crore rupees in financial year 2023-24 are exempt from furnishing the annual return for that financial year. The exemption operates under the first proviso to section 44 of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Countervailing duty continuation on subsidized tyre imports from China PR to remain in force, with prescribed application and calculation rules.
Definitive countervailing duty is continued and imposed on new/unused pneumatic radial tyres under tariff items 40112010 and 40118000 when the product description matches, targeting imports originating in or exported from China PR. The designated authority found continuing countervailable subsidies, limited quantification due to non-cooperation, and a likelihood of injury if duties ceased. The Central Government, under section 9 of the Customs Tariff Act and relevant rules, prescribes the duty rate on CIF value, requires payment in Indian currency, sets exchange rate determination by bill of entry date, and limits application to specified descriptions and export/origin scenarios.

Extension of exemption under section 10(23FE) for a specified pension fund extends applicability through the next fiscal year.
The Central Government amends the principal notification under Explanation 1 to clause (23FE) of section 10 to extend the applicability of the exemption for Ravenna Investments Holding B.V. by substituting the earlier cut-off date in the opening paragraph with a later cut-off date, thereby prolonging the exemption period; the amendment applies from 1 April 2024 until publication of this notification in the Official Gazette.