Reverse Charge Mechanism applied to government renting of immovable property to registered persons under GST.
The amendment applies the Reverse Charge Mechanism to renting of immovable property supplied by Central/State/UT/local authorities to any person registered under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, making the registered recipient liable to pay tax; it also adds that "insurance agent" shall carry the meaning given in clause (10) of section 2 of the Insurance Act, 1938.

GST exemption for composite supplies with limited goods content protects specified government function services from tax.
Amendments expand nil rated and exempt entries under the Central GST rate notification by inserting a nil rated composite supply entry where the goods component is not more than twenty five percent for supplies to government recipients relating to Panchayat or Municipality functions; add nil ratings for specified international transportation of goods and certain group insurance and reinsurance services; introduce nil rating for intermediaries in IFSC providing international financial services in non INR currencies to customers outside India; and add fumigation, RTI information services and refine educational and event admission treatments.

IGST exemptions broaden nil-rating for specific government, IFSC and education-related services while refining exclusions.
Amends Notification No.9/2017-Integrated Tax (Rate) to add a Government Entity as a recipient and to insert multiple nil-rate exemptions: composite supplies with goods up to 25% value for Panchayat/Municipality functions to government bodies; life insurance to Coast Guard personnel under Naval Group Insurance Fund; reinsurance of specified government insurance schemes; fumigation services in agricultural warehouses; RTI information services; IFSC-located intermediary financial services supplied to customers outside India in non-INR currencies with defined eligibility; and time-limited nil-rating for export transport of goods by aircraft or vessel from Indian customs clearance points, alongside revisions to thresholds, duration, and educational-service related inclusions and exclusions.

UTGST exemptions expanded to include government-entity supplies, composite-supply nil-rating, and specified transport and financial services.
The notification amends UTGST rates to expand nil-rated exemptions by inserting entries that: treat composite supplies with goods constituting not more than twenty-five percent to government recipients as nil-rated; include "Government Entity" alongside governmental authorities; create time-limited nil-rated exemptions for international carriage of goods by aircraft and vessel from India; exempt specified transport, insurance, reinsurance, fumigation, RTI information and certain educational services; and introduce nil-rating for IFSC-based financial intermediaries supplying international financial services in non-rupee currencies to customers outside India, subject to eligibility conditions.

GST rate amendments expand housing concessions and clarify composite works contract treatment for government procured projects.
Notification 1/2018 amends Notification 11/2017 to expand housing related works eligible under concessional treatment to include in situ slum redevelopment, EWS houses under Affordable Housing in Partnership and Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme units, to recognise composite works contracts supplied by sub contractors to main contractors for government entrusted works, to deem the land component in certain composite supplies as one third of the total amount charged, and to revise sectoral entries and input tax credit conditions for services including housekeeping via e commerce operators, vessel time charters, mining exploration, tailoring, environmental services and amusement admissions.

GST rate amendments: revised Union Territory tax classifications and conditions for construction, composite supplies, and services.
Amendment revises Union Territory GST rate schedule to reclassify construction and related services including in-situ slum redevelopment, Affordable Housing EWS units, CLSS houses, and mid-day meal facilities; substitutes and inserts multiple Table entries to adjust rates and conditions for composite works contracts, time charter and rental services, housekeeping via electronic commerce operators where input credit is not taken, tailoring and manufacturing services, environmental and amusement/entertainment services; and prescribes valuation for composite supplies involving transfer of land by deeming land value to be one third of total amount, with defined "total amount."

IGST rate amendments notify revised service classifications and conditions affecting supplies and composite works contracts under GST framework.
Amendments to the IGST rate notification revise classification and rates for numerous services, expand lower-rated or exempt construction-related supplies to include specified affordable housing and slum redevelopment schemes, and set valuation rules for composite supplies involving transfer or lease of land by deeming the land component to be one third of the total amount. The changes also impose conditions on input tax credit claiming for certain service supplies, clarify procurement-linked applicability where services are supplied to government entities, and insert and substitute multiple Table entries affecting works contracts, support services, transport hires, environmental services, entertainment admissions and real estate services.

Compensation cess exemption for used motor vehicles where supplier has not availed input tax credit.
The notification inserts a new Schedule entry exempting all old and used motor vehicles by assigning a NIL compensation cess rate, with an Explanation excluding the exemption where the supplier has availed input tax credit, CENVAT credit, or input tax credit of value added tax or any other taxes on such vehicles, and substitutes a tariff code entry in the adjacent Schedule serial number.

Cross-empowerment of State tax officers amended to narrow the exception to specified sub rules of rule 96.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 39/2017 Central Tax by substituting the exception wording so that it now reads "except sub rules (1) to (8) and sub rule (10) of rule 96" instead of the previous "except rule 96", thereby specifying which sub rules of rule 96 are excluded from the cross empowerment of State tax officers for processing and grant of refunds.

Common GST Electronic Portal designated for registration, tax payment and return filing; e-way bill site designated for electronic way bills.
Notification designates www.gst.gov.in as the Common GST Electronic Portal for facilitating registration, payment of tax, furnishing of returns and computation and settlement of integrated tax, and designates www.ewaybillgst.gov.in as the Common GST Electronic Portal for furnishing electronic way bills; it supersedes the earlier notification and specifies the managing agencies for each website and an effective date.

Extension of filing deadline for Input Service Distributor returns in Form GSTR-6 to a newly prescribed due date.
The Commissioner, invoking powers under the Central Goods and Services Tax framework and rules, extends the time limit for furnishing the return by an Input Service Distributor in Form GSTR-6 for specified monthly periods, superseding the earlier notification except as to prior actions.

Late fee waiver: caps excess daily late fees for delayed GSTR 6 return filing under GST.
The Central Government, under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and on Council recommendations, issues a notification that waives the portion of the late fee payable by any registered person for failure to furnish FORM GSTR-6 by the due date which is in excess of a fixed nominal daily amount, thereby capping the recoverable daily late fee for delayed filing of that return.

Late fee waiver for delayed FORM GSTR-5A filings: excess waived, lower threshold applies where integrated tax liability is nil.
The Central Government waives that portion of the late fee for failure to furnish FORM GSTR-5A which exceeds a prescribed per day amount for each day of default, with a lower per day excess threshold for waiver where the return shows nil integrated tax liability; the notification was later rescinded.

Late fee waiver reduces penalty exposure for delayed GSTR 5 filings, with lower waiver thresholds where return shows nil tax.
Notification waives the amount of late fee payable by any registered person for failure to furnish FORM GSTR-5 by the due date to the extent it exceeds a prescribed daily threshold, and provides a lower waiver threshold where the total central tax payable in the return is nil.

Late fee waiver for delayed GSTR 1 filing provides conditional relief when returns are furnished within prescribed extended windows.
The notification waives or limits late fee liability for delayed FORM GSTR 1 filings by permitting waiver of amounts in excess of prescribed daily minima and by granting time limited filing windows for earlier tax periods that, if complied with, eliminate or reduce additional late fee exposure. It also establishes a class based cap structure for later tax periods, providing nominal capped amounts for nil outward suppliers and for taxpayers within lower turnover bands, with subsequent amendments extending or modifying the covered periods and dates.

E-way bill requirement: pre-movement electronic furnishing and unique number generation for consignments, enhancing transport compliance obligations.
A comprehensive amendment package revises timelines and rate wordings, prescribes an Input Service Distributor invoice format and credit-transfer mechanism, establishes deemed valuation rules for lotteries and betting under new rule 31A, excludes specified services from aggregate exempt supplies for threshold calculations, expands refund entitlement where suppliers availed specified central notifications, and overhauls the e-way bill regime by mandating pre-movement electronic furnishing in FORM GST EWB-01, unique e-way bill numbers, transporter and consolidated e-way bill procedures, validity periods tied to distance, cancellation rules and specified exceptions.

Cross-empowerment of State tax officers enables processing and grant of IGST refunds under amended notification.
Operatively, the amendment substitutes the prior exception wording to specify that only particular sub rules of the procedural provision continue to be excepted, narrowing or clarifying the exception clause so as to enable State tax officers to exercise delegated authority for refund processing and grant except where those enumerated sub provisions apply.

Filing deadline extension for GSTR-3B granted, shifting the final filing date under central GST rules.
Amendment of a central tax notification substitutes the date in the Table entry at serial number 5, column (3), thereby extending the final statutory date for filing FORM GSTR-3B for the specified month under the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules and enabling a short administrative extension to the compliance deadline.

Composition scheme rates and taxable base revised: levy reduced and base confined to taxable supplies of goods.
Amendment alters two clauses of the principal notification governing the composition scheme: it reduces the stated rate for a specified category of taxpayers and narrows the computation base for another category by substituting "turnover" with "turnover of taxable supplies of goods", thus confining liability calculation to taxable goods supplies.

Composition scheme rate adjusted to a lower rate and clarified basis to taxable supplies of goods.
The notification amends Notification No.2/2017-Union Territory Tax by substituting the words "one per cent." in clause (i) with a lower rate expression and, in clause (iii), replacing "half per cent. of the turnover" with "half per cent. of the turnover of taxable supplies of goods," thereby refining the composition scheme rate wording and restricting the taxable base to turnover of taxable supplies of goods.