Special Additional Excise Duty on diesel exports increased by amendment, effective 21 March 2023 under Central Excise notification.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Central Excise Act and Finance Act, amends Notification No. 04/2022 Central Excise by substituting the entry in column (4) against the designated serial number to increase the Special Additional Excise Duty on diesel exports; the amendment takes effect on the specified commencement date and references prior amendments to the principal notification.

Special Additional Excise Duty on petroleum crude reduced to a lower per tonne rate, effective 21 March 2023.
This notification amends Notification No. 18/2022 Central Excise by substituting the entry at S. No. 1, column (4) in the tariff table to specify a revised per tonne charge for Special Additional Excise Duty on production of petroleum crude; the amendment is made under section 5A of the Central Excise Act read with section 147 of the Finance Act and comes into force on 21 March 2023.

GST compliance framework updated with biometric registration, ITC reversal, appeal withdrawal, and revised return reporting rules.
The Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax (Fifty-Ninth Amendment) Rules, 2023 revise registration, invoice, refund, appeal, and return-filing procedures. The amendments introduce biometric Aadhaar authentication and document verification for specified registrations, update invoice particulars for electronic commerce and online service supplies to unregistered recipients, and strengthen input tax credit reversal and outward supply compliance through rules 37, 37A, 59, 87 and 88C. They also modify refund documentation for unregistered persons, rework appellate filing and withdrawal mechanisms, and substitute several forms and return tables to reflect the revised compliance framework.

Customs appointment for specified purposes expands to include Vadodara airport for unloading and loading of baggage under customs notification.
Central authority amends Notification No. 61/94-Customs (N.T.) to insert Vadodara airport for the State of Gujarat in the airports table, expressly authorising the unloading of baggage and loading of baggage at that airport for the specified customs purposes.

Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit established under section 396(1) Companies Act, located at IICA Manesar, Gurgaon.
Establishment of a Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) under section 396(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 to process accelerated corporate exits, located at the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs campus in Manesar, Gurgaon, with operations commencing on 1 April, 2023.

Fake invoice enforcement requires documented verification, network tracing, reasoned registration cancellation, ITC blocking, and beneficiary action.
GST enforcement guidelines establish procedures for identifying and investigating non-genuine taxable persons involved in fake invoicing and wrongful ITC. Officers must analyse return and e-way bill data, identify the full billing network and beneficiaries, conduct documented physical verification, collect premises, bank, transport, electronic and statement evidence, and preserve evidential records. Where invoicing without actual supply is conclusively established, registration may be cancelled from its effective date through a speaking, reasoned process. Identified non-genuine ITC may be blocked, beneficiaries notified, and liability, recovery-related measures and penalty action pursued under applicable GST instructions.

Commencement of GST amendment provision fixed for state tax framework under the Assam goods and services tax law.
Appoints the 5th day of July, 2022 as the date on which section 13 of the Assam Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2022 comes into force, under section 1(3) of the Assam Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The notification is deemed to have been issued on the same date, thereby fixing the commencement date of the amendment provision in the State GST framework.

Commencement of Amendments: specified amendment provisions brought into force and treated as retroactively issued effective a prior date.
The Governor, invoking sub section (3) of section 11 of the Assam Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, appointed the first day of October, 2022 as the date on which sections 2 to 15, except section 13, of the Assam Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2022 shall come into force, and provided that the notification is deemed to have been issued on the twenty eighth day of September, 2022.

GST schedule amendment adds rab not pre-packaged and labelled, altering the taxable classification and applicability.
Amendment inserts the entry "Rab, other than pre-packaged and labelled" against S.No. 94 in the Schedule to the Puducherry GST (Rate) notification. The change is effected under the amendment power of the Puducherry Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the notification declares the insertion to have come into force from 1st March 2023.

GST exemption for Rab expanded to cover sales not pre packaged or labelled, applied by notification amendment.
Adds an exemption for Rab when sold other than in pre packaged and labelled form by inserting item (iii) against S. No. 94 in the Schedule to Notification No. 1126 F.T., thereby extending the exemption to non pre packaged, non labelled sales of Rab. The amendment is issued under the powers of sub section (1) of section 11 of the State GST enactment and is made effective from the notification's stated commencement date.

Taxation of pre-packaged goods adjusted: specified sweet products and pencil sharpeners reassigned to different GST rate categories.
Amendment revises GST classification: Rab, when pre-packaged and labelled, is moved to the reduced-rate schedule alongside jaggery and Khandsari Sugar (pre-packaged and labelled); pencil sharpeners are inserted as a distinct taxable item in the intermediate-rate schedule and explicitly excluded from a higher-rate schedule entry. The changes reallocate specified items among scheduled rate categories and are declared effective from the stated commencement date.

Reverse charge mechanism extended to courts and tribunals; commercial services to registered persons now taxable under RCM.
Seeks to subject certain commercial services provided by Courts and Tribunals to taxation under the reverse charge mechanism when received by a registered person by amending the Explanation to notification No. 1137 F.T., substituting "State Legislatures" with "State Legislatures, Courts and Tribunals" so that such services fall within the supplier categories chargeable under RCM, effective from the 1st day of March, 2023.

Exemption for conduct of entrance examinations: government exam authorities treated as educational institutions for GST exemption purposes.
The state GST notification amendment clarifies that any authority, board or body set up by the Central or State Government, including the National Testing Agency, shall be treated as an educational institution solely for the purpose of providing services by way of conduct of entrance examinations for admission to educational institutions, thereby bringing such services within the nil-rated/exempt treatment; the amendment is deemed to have come into force from an earlier specified date.

GST rate amendment: pencil sharpeners reclassified into reduced-rate schedule and jaggery descriptions updated, effective immediately.
The notification amends GST rate schedules by substituting the jaggery entry to explicitly cover all types and certain pre-packaged sugar products; inserting pencil sharpeners as a distinct item under the intermediate-rate schedule with the specified commodity code; and adding an exclusion for pencil sharpeners in the higher-rate schedule entry. The changes are effected by substitution and insertion and are deemed to have come into force from the commencement date stated in the notification.

Inclusion of Courts and Tribunals in GST notification expands explanatory scope, amending clause to add these authorities.
The notification amends the Explanation to clause (h) of the Puducherry GST rate notification by substituting the words "State Legislatures" with "State Legislatures, Courts and Tribunals", thereby expressly including courts and tribunals within that explanatory provision, and declares the amendment to be effective from 1st March 2023 pursuant to the statutory authority to notify GST rates.

Exchange rate determination sets revised import and export conversion rates effective 17 March 2023 under Customs Act.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, exercising its statutory power, supersedes the earlier notification and prescribes distinct conversion rates for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for imported and export goods, effective from 17 March 2023, with two schedules listing per unit and per 100 unit rates for use in customs valuation and related procedures.

Educational institution definition clarified to include government examination bodies for entrance exam services under GST.
The notification adds an Explanation clarifying that any Authority, Board or Body set up by the Central or State Government, including the National Testing Agency, shall be treated as an Educational Institution solely for the purpose of providing services by way of conduct of entrance examinations for admission to Educational Institutions.

Tax schedule amendment: Rab other than pre-packaged and labelled added to rate list, effective March first.
An amendment to the State tax rate notification inserts the entry "Rab, other than pre packaged and labelled" into Column (3) against the specified Schedule serial number in Notification No. 2/2017 State Tax (Rate), thereby distinguishing non prepackaged Rab in the tax rate schedule. The notification declares the amendment effective from 1 March 2023 as a modification to the Schedule under the State GST rate notification regime.

GST rate amendment adds specific jaggery classifications and reassigns pencil sharpeners between tax slabs under state law.
The State GST rate notification is amended to substitute the Schedule I entry to include jaggery of all types and pre-packaged and labelled Khandsari Sugar and Rab at 2.5%; to insert a new Schedule II entry (HSN 8214) classifying pencil sharpeners at 6%; and to exclude pencil sharpeners from an existing Schedule III 9% entry by adding the bracketed exclusion. The amendments take effect from the stated commencement date.

Inclusion of Courts and Tribunals expands entities covered by the Explanation to clarify State GST scope and application.
The notification amends the Explanation to Notification No.13/2017 State Tax (Rate) by substituting the words "and State Legislatures" with ", State Legislatures, Courts and Tribunals" in clause (h), thereby expressly including Courts and Tribunals among the entities covered by that Explanation; the amendment is made under sub section (3) of section 9 of the State GST Act and takes effect from the date specified in the notification.