Common adjudicating authority centralises adjudication of specified customs show cause notices, reallocating adjudicatory competence administratively.
The Director General, Revenue Intelligence appoints specified officers as a Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the powers and duties of originally named adjudicating officers for listed noticees and the enumerated show cause notices and corrigenda, thereby centralising adjudication responsibility within designated customs officers for the stated customs and export-related matters.

Safeguard duty on solar cells imposed with phased rate reductions across the prescribed safeguard period.
Imposition of Safeguard Duty on imports of solar cells under heading 8541 of the Customs Tariff Act is directed by section 8B and the Safeguard Rules, following the Directorate General of Trade Remedies' final recommendation; the duty applies as phased ad valorem rates during the safeguard period, reduced by any anti-dumping duty payable, and excludes imports from notified developing countries except specified exceptions.

Extension of return filing deadline for Input Service Distributors: additional time granted for GSTR-6 compliance under GST notification.
The notification extends the time limit for furnishing returns by Input Service Distributors in FORM GSTR-6 for the stated months until 30 September 2018, issued under sub section (6) of section 39 read with section 168 of the Karnataka GST Act and pursuant to rule 65 of the Karnataka GST Rules; it supersedes the earlier notification of 31 May 2018 while preserving prior actions or omissions.

Handicraft goods tax exemption: intra state supplies subject only to prescribed reduced State tax rates under notification.
Exempts intra state supplies of handicraft goods from State tax in excess of specified reduced rates by listing tariff classifications and corresponding descriptive categories in a Table. Defines handicraft goods as predominantly hand made items with substantial ornamentation or inlay work and distinctive aesthetic, artistic, ethnic or cultural features, distinguishing them from mechanically produced goods. The notification prescribes reduced State tax rates for each listed tariff entry and specifies the commencement date of the exemption.

Input tax credit exclusion: accumulated ITC on specified goods received after cut off is disallowed and unutilised ITC lapses.
The amendment adds a proviso excluding the notification's application to accumulated input tax credit on supplies of certain listed goods received on or after the relevant commencement date, and provides that accumulated input tax credit remaining unutilised after adjustment against tax paid up to the applicable return period for inward supplies received up to the cut off date shall lapse.

State GST schedule amendments expand exemptions and classifications for specified goods, including sanitary products and composts.
Amendment to the Tripura State GST Schedule inserts and substitutes tariff entries to add exemptions and classifications for specific goods, including sal/siali/sisal/sabai leaf products and sabai grass items, vegetable materials for broom manufacture, de-oiled rice bran (with an exemption clarification), deities of stone/marble/wood, goods made of specified leaves, rupee notes or coins sold to the Reserve Bank or the Government, conditioned coir pith compost, sanitary menstrual products, and rakhi not made of specified chapter goods; the notification takes effect on the stated commencement date.

State GST schedule amendments change classification and applicable tax rates for specified goods under Tripura GST.
The State Government, exercising powers under section 9(1) of the Tripura SGST Act, amends Notification No.1/2017-State Tax (Rate) to reclassify and reassign specified goods across Schedule I (2.5%), Schedule II (6%), Schedule III (9%) and Schedule IV (14%) by inserting, substituting and omitting serial entries and descriptions, thereby changing their applicable State GST rate; the amendments take effect on 27th July, 2018.

Definition of business clarified: government and local authority activities as public authorities are excluded from taxable business.
Clarifies that for Item (vi) of the State GST rate notification the term 'business' does not include activities or transactions undertaken by the Central Government, a State Government or any local authority when they are engaged as public authorities; this Explanation is inserted into the Table entry against serial number 3, column (3), item (vi) of the earlier notification and has a specified operative date.

State GST scope expanded to include Union territories and municipalities under article 243W, amending existing rate notification.
The State Government amends Notification No. 14/2017 State Tax (Rate) by inserting the words "or Union territory" after "State Government" and by adding "or to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution" after "Constitution," thereby extending the notification's application to Union territories and municipalities; the amendment is made under the Tripura State GST statutory power and specifies an effective commencement date.

Taxation of services by individual Direct Selling Agents now applies when supplied to banks and NBFCs.
Inserts a new taxable entry for services by individual Direct Selling Agents (excluding bodies corporate, partnerships, or LLPs) when supplied to a banking company or a non-banking financial company in the taxable territory, and adds an explanation defining "renting of immovable property" to include letting, leasing, licensing or similar arrangements with or without transfer of possession or control; effective from 27 July 2018.

GST exemptions expanded for specified public and welfare services, with conditions and reconciliation limits on certain royalty-collection exemptions.
The notification inserts and amends multiple exempt service entries under Tripura SGST, replacing "declared tariff" with value of supply, adding zero-rated exemptions for specified services (including regulated old age home care with capped monthly consideration, electricity distribution extension to tube wells, warehousing of minor forest produce, pension and provident fund administrative services, government loan guarantees to PSUs, FSSAI testing to food businesses, livestock artificial insemination, ERCC royalty-collection services subject to reconciliation limits, and membership-fee exemptions for certain non-profits), clarifies educational boards' status for examination services, and comes into force on 27 July 2018.

GST classification of restaurant and transport services updated, altering tax basis and defining multimodal transportation consequences.
Amendments modify GST classification and rates by redefining restaurant and catering supplies to include institutional canteens (non-event), explicitly include supplies by Indian Railways/IRCTC, restrict input tax credit for those supplies, substitute "declared tariff" with "value of supply" for certain accommodation-linked items, separately treat event-based food supplies, define "multimodal transportation" carried by at least two transport modes by a multimodal transporter acting as principal, and distinguish e-book supplies from other telecommunications services.

Penalty cap under FCRA: amended rule limits penalties to no more than the value of foreign contribution involved.
The corrigendum substitutes paragraph 2 of the prior notification to provide that the amount of penalty computed for any offence or offences listed in the notification's table shall not be more than the value of the foreign contribution involved, thereby capping monetary sanctions at the quantum of the foreign funds implicated.

Concessional GST rate for handicraft goods limits state tax on specified intra state supplies to reduced rates.
Prescribes concessional state GST rates for specified intra state supplies of handicraft goods by exempting state tax in excess of the reduced rates listed in the Table; defines "handicraft goods" as predominantly hand made, ornamented or inlaid items distinct from mechanically produced goods; and limits the state tax payable on listed tariff headings and descriptions to the specified concessional rates, effective from the stated commencement date.

Input tax credit restriction: exclusion of refund for certain accumulated credits and mandated lapse after prior tax payments.
The amendment inserts a proviso excluding the notification's application to input tax credit accumulated on supplies of specified goods received on or after 1st August, 2018, and stipulates that any unutilised input tax credit remaining after payment of tax for and up to July, 2018 on inward supplies received up to 31st July, 2018 shall lapse.

GST exemption schedule amended to add and clarify specified exempt goods, with conditions and an effective date.
Amendment to the State GST exemption schedule to add and substitute specified exempt goods including natural fiber leaves and grasses, vegetable materials for brooms, sanitary towels and tampons, rakhi (excluding Chapter 71 goods), de oiled rice bran limited to the stated tariff heading, rupee notes or coins sold to the Reserve Bank or Government, coir pith compost subject to brand related conditions, and deities of stone, marble or wood; the notification is effective on the stated date to give effect to GST Council recommendations.

GST rate amendments: state tax classifications adjusted to add, omit and substitute items across rate schedules.
Amendment to a prior State GST notification implements Council recommendations by inserting, substituting and omitting entries across four State rate schedules to reclassify and adjust tax treatment of specified goods-adding items such as ethyl alcohol for blending, fertilizer grade phosphoric acid, bamboo flooring, lithium ion batteries, refrigerators and household washing machines, substituting descriptions and exclusions, changing retail value thresholds, and removing certain serial entries-effective on the stated commencement date to reduce or alter State tax rates on those commodities.

Business exclusion: governmental activities performed as public authorities are not treated as business for GST notification purposes.
The notification inserts an explanation in item (vi) of S.R.O. No. 370/2017 clarifying that the term business excludes any activity or transaction undertaken by the State Government, the Central Government or any local authority when they are engaged as public authorities, thereby narrowing the scope of what constitutes taxable business under that item.

Public authority activities relating to municipal functions are treated neither as supply of goods nor as supply of services.
The notification amends the state GST notification to include "or Union territory" and to treat activities relating to functions entrusted to a Municipality under Article 243W (and to a Panchayat under Article 243G) as neither as a supply of goods nor as a supply of services, thereby excluding such public-authority local government functions from GST supply classification pursuant to sub-section (2) of Section 7 of the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act.

Reverse Charge Mechanism: services by individual Direct Selling Agents to banks and NBFCs placed on recipient liability under GST.
Amendment inserts a new TABLE entry in S.R.O. No. 372/2017 specifying services supplied by individual Direct Selling Agents (DSAs), other than bodies corporate, partnerships or limited liability partnership firms, to a banking company or a non-banking financial company (NBFC) located in the taxable territory as a listed category under the notification issued under sub-section (3) of section 9 of the Kerala SGST Act; the amendment is effective from 27th July, 2018 and also adds an Explanation defining "renting of immovable property" to include letting, leasing, licensing or similar arrangements.