Late fee waiver for delayed GST returns: caps by turnover class and conditional relief for prior-year filings.
A waiver prescribes defined daily caps on late fees for return filings for 2022-23 onwards, differentiated by aggregate turnover bands and subject to a maximum of 0.02% of turnover in the State; additionally, returns for 2017-18 to 2021-22 filed between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023 receive a waiver of late fees exceeding ten thousand rupees, with the notification effective from 31 March 2023.

Assessment order deemed withdrawn when registered persons file the required return and pay interest and late fee promptly.
Assessment orders issued on or before 28 February 2023 shall be deemed withdrawn for registered persons who failed to furnish a valid return within thirty days of service, provided those persons furnish the return by 30 June 2023 and pay the interest and late fee due, regardless of the filing or outcome of any appeal.

Revocation of cancelled GST registration permits late applications until June 30, 2023 subject to returns filing and payment.
Registered persons whose GST registration was cancelled on or before 31 December 2022 and who failed to apply for revocation within the statutory period may apply for revocation up to 30 June 2023 only after furnishing returns due up to the effective date of cancellation and paying tax, interest, penalty and late fee; no further extension of time will be available, and persons whose appeals were rejected for failure to meet the original time limit are included. The notification is deemed effective from 31 March 2023.

Late fee waiver for GSTR-4 returns: excess fees waived and fully waived where state tax payable nil for eligible filers.
The amendment waives late fee amounts in excess of two hundred and fifty rupees for registered persons who file FORM GSTR-4 for quarters from July 2017 to March 2019 or financial years 2019-20 to 2021-22 between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023; it fully waives late fee where the total State tax payable in the return is nil. The change inserts a proviso into the earlier notification and is made effective retrospectively from 31 March 2023.

Notification amendment adjusts statutory deadline and provides retroactive effective date altering prior GST notification for compliance purposes.
The amendment substitutes the deadline date in the sixth proviso of the earlier Punjab GST notification, effected under section 128, and declares the notification to be deemed to have come into force retrospectively from an earlier date in July 2022; its operation is confined to that textual substitution and the retrospective commencement.

Exemption from annual return filing for registered persons with limited turnover applies to the specified financial year in J&K.
Exemption from annual return filing is granted to registered persons in Jammu and Kashmir whose aggregate turnover in the financial year 2022-23 is up to two crore rupees, by Notification S.O. No. 88 dated August 23, 2023 issued under the first proviso to the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, thereby removing the obligation to file the annual GST return for eligible registered persons for that year.

Aadhaar authentication requirement mandates biometric verification and in person document checks before GST registration is complete.
The amendment requires applicants (except those notified under subsection (6D) of section 25) who opt for Aadhaar authentication to undergo authentication at submission, making the submission date the authentication date or fifteen days from filing Part B of FORM GST REG 01, whichever is earlier; applicants flagged by portal data analysis and risk parameters must additionally undergo biometric Aadhaar authentication, have a photograph taken, and present original documents for verification at Commissioner notified Facilitation Centres, with the application deemed complete only after this process.

Exemption from specified income granted to Swasthya Sathi Samiti covering government grants and bank interest subject to conditions.
Notification exempts Swasthya Sathi Samiti, Kolkata, from tax on specified income comprising Government of West Bengal grants and bank interest, subject to conditions: no commercial activity, unchanged activities and income nature across the relevant years, and filing returns under clause (g) of sub section (4C) of section 139; the exemption is retrospective to the assessment year for financial year 2021-2022 and applies to subsequent specified assessment years.

Tax exemption for statutory authority: UIDAI's specified income exempted subject to non-commerciality and return-filing conditions.
Notification under section 10(46) recognises the Unique Identification Authority of India as eligible for exemption of specified incomes: central grants/subsidies; fees and subscriptions (including RTI and tender fees, sale of scrap, PVC card receipts); authentication, enrolment and updation charges; term/fixed deposit receipts; and interest on these receipts. The exemption is subject to conditions that the Authority shall not engage in commercial activity, the nature of activities and specified incomes remains unchanged, and the Authority files income-tax returns as mandated by clause (g) of sub-section (4C) of section 139.

Exemption for welfare board income: labour cess, contributions and interest notified as specified tax-exempt receipts.
Notification grants specified income exemption to Punjab Building and Other Construction Welfare Board for labour cess collection, contribution collection, and interest earned on those collections, subject to conditions that the Board shall not engage in commercial activity, its activities and the nature of the specified income remain unchanged during the financial years, and it files returns of income as required by the return-filing provision in clause (g) of sub-section (4C) of section 139.

Exemption for District Mineral Foundation Trust exempts specified DMF receipts from income tax subject to non commercial and filing conditions.
Notification designates District Mineral Foundation Trust as a notified class of Authority under clause (46) of section 10, exempting specified receipts-leaseholder contributions, interest on late payments, penalties, interest on DMF funds, savings account interest and term deposit interest-subject to conditions that Trusts not engage in commercial activity, maintain unchanged activities and income character across years, and file income tax returns as prescribed; the notification is applied retrospectively to the listed Trusts in the schedule.

Fit and proper person criteria expanded; disqualifications defined and mandatory replacement of unfit directors or KMP within a set period.
Requirement and criteria of fit and proper person apply at all times to applicants, recognised stock exchanges, recognised clearing corporations, and their shareholders, directors and key management personnel, requiring general reputation, financial integrity, good character and honesty. Disqualifications include convictions for economic or securities offences, winding up or insolvency, regulatory orders restricting market access with bar periods, pending recovery proceedings by the Board, wilful defaulter categorisation, and other Board-specified disqualifications. Directors or KMP found unfit must be replaced within a specified period, failing which the fit and proper criterion may be invoked against the entity, and the Board's decision is final.

Fit and proper person criteria tightened: expanded disqualifications, director replacement obligation and Board's decision deemed final.
The amendment strengthens the fit and proper person requirement for applicants, depositories, shareholders, directors and key management personnel by defining fitness indicators (financial integrity, reputation, honesty) and listing disqualifications (convictions for economic or securities offences; winding up, insolvency; Board orders restricting market access or bearing on the securities market with specified consideration periods; pending recovery proceedings; willful defaulter status; and other Board specified disqualifications). Depositories must replace unfit directors or KMP within a short prescribed period and the Board's decision on fitness is final.

GST compliance amendments revise interest calculation, refund processing, electronic ledger re-credit, payment methods, and return reporting requirements.
The amendments prescribe deemed revocation of specified registration suspensions upon furnishing pending returns, re-credit of electronic credit ledger amounts after deposit of erroneous refunds, and additional UPI and IMPS payment mechanisms. They establish the manner for calculating interest on delayed tax payment and wrongly availed and utilised input tax credit. Refund rules are revised for electricity exports, export valuation, shipping-bill mismatches and withheld integrated tax refunds. GSTR-3B, GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C reporting instructions and related GST forms are also updated.

Late GST payment interest: phased reduced rates for small taxpayers followed by higher standard rate after initial period.
The amendment substitutes the first proviso's wording to refer to persons liable to pay tax but failing to do so, changes the table heading from "Tax period" to "Month/Quarter", and inserts new table entries that prescribe phased interest treatment by turnover bands and return-filing categories under section 39, providing initial reduced or nil interest for early days after the due date and higher interest thereafter, applicable to specified months and a quarter in 2021; the notification is deemed effective from April 18, 2021.

Exemption from registration for suppliers using e commerce operators subject to conditions and validated PAN enrolment.
Supplies of goods through an electronic commerce operator by persons required to have tax collected at source are exempted from obtaining registration in the State if their aggregate turnover does not exceed the registration threshold and they comply with conditions: no inter State supplies, no supplies through an e commerce operator in more than one State or Union territory, valid Permanent Account Number declared and validated on the common portal, issuance of a single State enrolment number upon validation, prohibition on supplying without enrolment, and cessation of enrolment validity upon grant of formal GST registration.

Account Aggregator designation enables consent-based sharing of GST portal information with regulated aggregators.
Notification designates Account Aggregator as a permitted system for consent-based sharing of taxpayer information through the common GST portal, defining Account Aggregator as a non-banking financial company operating under policy directions of the central banking regulator and the Account Aggregator directions, and specifying the notification's effective commencement for enabling such sharing.

Appeal procedure for GST transitional credit claims-manual filing, no upfront deposit required, prescribed forms and acknowledgment.
Specifies a special procedure for manually filing appeals in duplicate against orders under Sections 73 or 74 of the Maharashtra GST Act pursuant to Supreme Court directions in Filco; appeals must use the prescribed annexed format, include relevant documents and a self certified copy of the order, be signed by the authorised signatory, and are treated as filed only upon manual issuance of an acknowledgement in FORM GST APL-02. The notification waives the requirement to deposit any amount under Section 107(6) as a precondition to filing and requires the Appellate Authority to issue a prescribed summary of its order.

Commencement of GST provisions: sections 2-23 (except 14-18) from Oct 1; sections 14-18 from Aug 1.
The Government, by Notification No. 28/2023-State Tax dated 22nd August, 2023 and exercising powers under sub section (2) of section 1, appoints different commencement dates: the first day of October, 2023 for the provisions corresponding to sections 2 to 23 except a specified subset, and the first day of August, 2023 for the provisions corresponding to sections 14 to 18.

Electronic commerce operator compliance for unregistered suppliers: enrolment-based supply control, no tax collection at source, and GSTR-8 reporting.
Special procedure is notified for electronic commerce operators handling supplies of goods made by persons exempted from registration. The operator must allow such supplies only where an enrolment number has been allotted, must not permit inter-State supplies, must not collect tax at source on those supplies, and must report the supplies in FORM GSTR-8. In multi-operator transactions, the operator who finally releases payment is treated as the relevant electronic commerce operator.