Special Court designation: Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Patna vested with statewide jurisdiction under securities and depositories laws.
The Central Government designates the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Patna as the Special Court under the securities, securities contracts and depository enactments, following concurrence of the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, and vests that Special Court with jurisdiction throughout the State of Bihar to adjudicate matters under those regulatory statutes.

Faceless penalty procedure centralises electronic penalty initiation, notices, reviews and orders through automated allocation and authenticated e service.
The notification prescribes a faceless penalty procedure whereby cases referred by income tax authorities or the National Faceless Assessment Centre are assigned by the National Faceless Penalty Centre to penalty units via automated allocation; penalty units prepare draft show cause notices, request further information, propose imposition or non imposition of penalty, and may be subject to review by penalty review units. The NFPC serves electronic notices, issues requisitions, forwards responses and review reports, directs penalty units to pass or drop orders, and communicates orders and intimations to the assessee and originating authorities through authenticated electronic channels.

Jurisdiction of Commissioners (Appeals) clarified, reallocating appellate designations and territorial coverage under GST notification.
Amendment replaces column (4) entries in Table I to designate Commissioner (Appeals I) Delhi with Additional Commissioner (Appeals II) Delhi for Sl. No. 7, and Commissioner (Appeals II) Mumbai with Additional Commissioner (Appeals I) Mumbai for Sl. No. 14, and inserts two notes in Table III confirming that Commissioner (Appeals I) Delhi has jurisdiction over Delhi I and Delhi II and that Commissioner (Appeals II) Mumbai has jurisdiction over Mumbai I and Mumbai II.

Faceless penalty scheme: Centralised electronic penalty proceedings with automated case allocation, electronic service and e proceedings facility.
The Scheme creates a centralized electronic mechanism for penalty proceedings under the Income-tax Act by establishing a National Faceless Penalty Centre, Regional Centres, penalty units and penalty review units; mandates exclusive electronic communication, authentication and delivery of notices and orders via registered accounts, email or mobile app with real time alerts; provides for assignment of cases by an automated allocation system to penalty units which draft notices, seek information, and propose imposition or non-imposition; allows review by penalty review units and rectification by the National Faceless Penalty Centre, and prescribes video conferencing for approved personal hearings.

Registration fee changes for investment advisers revise application, grant and renewal fees and add recognized body membership disclosure.
Amendments require applicants and existing investment advisers to disclose membership of a recognized body or body corporate under regulation 14, with compliance as specified by the Board. The Second Schedule revises the fee regime by entity class, prescribing separate application, registration (certificate grant), and renewal fees for individuals and firms and for body corporates including Limited Liability Partnerships, and clarifies the Schedule text to list the specified amounts at each stage.

Notification amendment: substitution of a proviso date alters applicability and timeline of the referenced GST notification.
The Governor, on Council recommendations and under the enabling provision of the provincial GST statute, amends the earlier Department of Excise and Taxation notification by substituting the figures, letters, word and sign "10th January, 2020" in the third proviso with "17th January, 2020", a confined textual change to the proviso's effective-date wording.

FCRA amendment correction replaces 'from' with 'before' in operative drafting of regulations to clarify timing language.
Correction to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) (Amendment) Rules, 2020: the published notification (G.S.R. 695(E)) is amended by substituting the word "from" with "before" at the specified location (page 36, line 4) to correct the operative drafting and clarify the timing language in the rule text.

HSN code digit requirement linked to aggregate turnover, with relaxed invoice disclosure for small registered suppliers to unregistered buyers.
The amendment prescribes HSN code digit requirement for tax invoices by linking the number of HSN digits to a registered person's aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year, requiring shorter HSN disclosure for lower turnover and longer disclosure for higher turnover. It further permits a registered person whose aggregate turnover is within the lower turnover class to omit the specified HSN digit entry when issuing tax invoices for supplies made to unregistered persons. The amendment is effective from the stated implementation date and is deemed to have been issued from an earlier declared date.

Amendment to GST notification extends covered financial years and gives the extension retrospective effect.
Amendment substitutes "financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19" with "financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20" under section 148, thereby extending the notification's temporal scope, and declares the amendment to be deemed issued on the fifteenth day of October, 2020.

GSTR-1 filing deadlines: quarterly special procedure for small registered persons with specified quarterly due dates.
Notification under section 148 of the Assam GST Act prescribes a special quarterly procedure for registered persons with aggregate turnover up to 1.5 crore rupees to furnish outward supply details in FORM GSTR-1 under the Assam GST Rules, specifying mid-January and mid-April deadlines for the October-December and January-March quarters respectively, with monthly return time limits for October 2020-March 2021 to be notified later.

Invoice Reference Number rule: registered taxpayers must obtain IRN via FORM GST INV-01 within prescribed time or invoice invalid.
Registered persons who prepared tax invoices otherwise than as required under sub rule (4) of rule 48 must, for invoices issued during 1-31 October 2020, obtain an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) by uploading specified particulars in FORM GST INV-01 on the Common GST Electronic Portal within thirty days from the invoice date, failing which the document shall not be treated as an invoice; the notification is deemed issued from 1 October 2020.

Quick Response code with embedded IRN becomes a prescribed invoice feature under Assam GST rules.
Assam Goods and Services Tax Rules are amended to prescribe a Quick Response (QR) code with embedded Invoice Reference Number (IRN) for invoices issued under rule 48(4). The Commissioner may, on Council recommendations and by notification, exempt a person or class of registered persons from issuance of invoice under that sub-rule for a specified period, subject to conditions and restrictions. Where such invoice is issued, the QR code with embedded IRN may be produced electronically in lieu of the physical copy for verification.

Dynamic QR Code compliance for B2C invoices extended by amending the implementation date and turnover reference under Assam GST rules.
Amends the Assam Goods and Services Tax notification on Dynamic QR Code requirements for B2C invoices by replacing "a financial year" with "any preceding financial year from 2017-18 onwards" and substituting 1 October with 1 December as the implementation date. The amendment extends the time for compliance with the QR code requirement and is stated to operate retrospectively from 30 September 2020.

E-invoicing exemption widened to cover prior financial years and export supplies under the amended GST notification.
Amendment to the State GST e-invoicing exemption notification widens the turnover reference from a financial year to any preceding financial year from 2017-18 onwards. It also extends the exempt supply category by inserting supplies for exports alongside supplies to a registered person. The notification is deemed to have come into force from 30 September 2020.

Assam GST rules amended: SMS filing for nil returns, HS code digit requirements, and multiple GST form revisions.
The amendment allows the Board to mandate specified digits of Harmonised System of Nomenclature codes for classes of taxpayers or supplies, enables furnishing of Nil returns via SMS with OTP verification, requires audit and FORM GSTR-9C filing for taxpayers with aggregate turnover exceeding five crore for FY 2018 19 and 2019 20, relaxes certain return filing restrictions for Feb-Aug 2020 until 15 Oct 2020, and substitutes and revises numerous GST return and payment forms (notably FORM GSTR 2A, GSTR 1, GSTR 5/5A, GSTR 9/9C and DRC/ASMT formats) to standardise tables, add ARN and instruction changes and accommodate FY 2019 20 reporting.

GST return amendments enable SMS filing for nil returns and extensive form and HSN reporting revisions.
The amendment empowers the Commissioner to notify HSN digit reporting requirements or exemptions, permits use of SMS with OTP for furnishing Nil returns in GSTR-3B/GSTR-1/CMP-08, mandates audit and electronic filing of audited accounts and reconciliations in GSTR-9C for large taxpayers for FY 2018-19 and 2019-20, suspends certain restrictions for returns not filed between 20 March and 15 October 2020, relaxes procedural language in rule 142, and materially revises formats, tables and instructions across GSTR-1, GSTR-2A, GSTR-5/5A, GSTR-9/9C and multiple GST forms to reflect updated reporting, amendment and auto-population rules.

HSN code disclosure requirement adjusted by turnover threshold, allowing omission for low-turnover suppliers to unregistered recipients.
Amendment revises tax invoice HSN Code disclosure by substituting the Table to require different numbers of HSN digits based on aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year, and allows a registered person whose aggregate turnover does not exceed the lower threshold to omit HSN digit mention when issuing invoices to unregistered recipients; the substitution has a stated operative date and is deemed effective from an earlier date under the proviso to the relevant GST rule.

GST notification amendment extends covered financial years, applying retroactively to include an additional fiscal year.
Amendment expands the temporal scope of Notification No. 47/2019 - State Tax by substituting the originally specified two financial years to include an additional third financial year, thereby broadening the notification's applicability. The change is enacted under the State Goods and Services Tax legislative power and is declared to operate retrospectively from an earlier effective date, clarifying the covered period of the principal notification for compliance and administrative purposes.

Return filing deadlines for FORM GSTR-3B set, with extended monthly due dates for eligible small taxpayers.
Notification prescribes electronic furnishing of the return in FORM GSTR-3B for October 2020 to March 2021 through the common portal, generally due by the twentieth day of the succeeding month; taxpayers with aggregate turnover up to five crore rupees whose principal place of business is in the State of Jharkhand have an extended due date of the twenty-fourth day. Payment of tax must be discharged by debiting the electronic cash or electronic credit ledger as applicable, and interest, penalty or other amounts by debiting the electronic cash ledger, not later than the applicable filing due date.

GSTR-1 due date extended to the eleventh day of the following month for specified taxpayers for Oct-Mar period.
The Commissioner extends the time limit for furnishing details of outward supplies in Form GSTR-1 by registered persons exceeding the aggregate turnover threshold for each month from October 2020 to March 2021 until the eleventh day of the month succeeding such month; the time limit for related returns under the corresponding provision will be notified later, and the notification is effective from 15th October 2020.