GST exemption expansion: new exempt services added including old age homes and agricultural electricity infrastructure, changing taxable service scope.
Amendment expands state GST exemptions by inserting multiple new exempt service entries and revising existing entries: omissions of recipient-descriptive wording in certain entries, substitution of "value of supply" for "declared tariff", extension of specific transitional years, and clarification that Central and State Educational Boards are treated as educational institutions for conduct-of-examination services. New exemptions include services by old age homes (subject to age and per-member consideration limits inclusive of boarding/lodging), electricity distribution infrastructure to farm tube wells, warehousing of minor forest produce, provident and pension scheme administrative services, government loan guarantees to PSUs, FSSAI testing services, livestock artificial insemination, ERCC royalty-assignment with reconciliation, and membership-fee services by non-profits.

GST treatment of restaurant supplies revised, with input tax credit condition and separate event-based supply classification affecting tax treatment.
The Maharashtra GST notification amends rates and classifications: restaurant and institutional canteen supplies are separately defined and eligible for a reduced rate only if input tax credit on inputs used has not been taken; event-based food supplies at exhibitions, events and marriage halls are separately classified at a higher rate. "Declared tariff" is replaced by "value of supply" for certain items. Multimodal transportation is defined as carriage by at least two different modes with definitions of mode and multimodal transporter. E-books are separately classified with a specified rate. Effective 27 July 2018.

Concessional GST rate for handicraft goods limits state tax to prescribed rates for specified item categories.
Notification exempts intra state supplies of specified handicraft goods from so much West Bengal State tax as is in excess of the rate specified in the Table, issued under powers of section 11 of the West Bengal GST Act to give effect to GST Council recommendations; it defines handicraft goods and lists tariff headings with corresponding concessional State tax rates for enumerated categories.

Input tax credit restriction: exclusion for specified goods; unutilised credits lapse after cutoff for prior inward supplies.
Amends the prior notification to exclude application to input tax credit accumulated on supplies of specified goods received on or after a cutoff date, and provides that any unutilised input tax credit remaining after payment of tax for periods up to the cutoff month, in respect of inward supplies received on or before the cutoff, shall lapse.

GST exemptions expanded to add specified agricultural and sanitary goods, altering state tax schedule entries.
This notification amends the State Tax schedule by inserting and substituting serial entries to specify exempted goods and tariff classifications: listed leaf and grass-based goods, vegetable materials for broom manufacture, de-oiled rice bran (with an explanation as to applicability to the heading), coir pith compost subject to brand-related enforceable-right conditions, sanitary towels/napkins/tampons, rakhi outside a specified chapter, and revised treatment of rupee notes or coins sold to monetary authorities.

GST rate amendments reclassify goods and refine exclusions, reallocating specific products across rate schedules.
Amendment of State GST rate schedules implements Council recommendations by inserting, substituting and omitting tariff entries across the 2.5%, 6%, 9% and 14% Schedules. The notification reclassifies specified goods, refines scope language and bracketed exclusions, adds and removes serial entries, and adjusts descriptions and value thresholds to change rate allocations for items such as ethyl alcohol for blending, fertilizer grade phosphoric acid, bamboo flooring, household electrical appliances, lithium ion batteries, fuel cell vehicles, and various textile and copper articles.

Exclusion of government activities from 'business' clarifies GST applicability; central, state and local authorities acting as public authorities excluded.
The notification inserts an explanation narrowing the term 'business' in a State tax rate item: for that item, 'business' does not include any activity or transaction undertaken by the Central Government, a State Government or any local authority when they act as public authorities, thereby clarifying the scope and applicability of the earlier notification.

Municipal functions exclusion: activities related to municipal functions are not treated as taxable supplies under GST.
Services in relation to functions entrusted to a municipality under article 243W of the Constitution are excluded from being treated as a supply of goods or services for GST purposes; the notification also inserts a reference to Union territories alongside the Central Government, amending the earlier State Tax (Rate) notification under the West Bengal GST Act as necessary in the public interest.

Reverse charge on Direct Selling Agent services to banks and NBFCs now applies, taxing individual DSAs' supplies.
Inserts a new entry treating services supplied by individual Direct Selling Agents (not bodies corporate, partnerships or LLPs) to a banking company or an NBFC in the taxable territory as taxable under the Reverse Charge Mechanism, and adds a definition of "renting of immovable property" to include allowing access, occupation, use or similar arrangements with or without transfer of possession or control.

GST service exemptions expanded to include specified welfare, agricultural and institutional services, subject to defined eligibility and provisos.
The notification amends the State GST exemption schedule by inserting multiple new exempt service entries and textual changes: it exempts specified services (including old age home services to elderly residents subject to a per-member monthly cap inclusive of boarding and maintenance; electricity distribution works up to a farmer's tube well for agricultural use; warehousing of minor forest produce; provident and pension scheme administrative services; government loan guarantees to PSUs; FSSAI testing and licensing to FBOs; artificial insemination of livestock; ERCC assignment of royalty collection rights subject to an end-of-contract GST reconciliation proviso; and limited membership-fee exemptions for non-profit bodies), removes certain entity-specific limitations, substitutes "value of supply" for "declared tariff", updates year references, and clarifies that educational boards qualify as institutions for examination services.

GST rate amendments for specified services: restaurant, event catering, multimodal transport and e book classifications updated.
Amendment revises Notification No.1135 F.T. to reclassify and set GST rates for specified services: (a) restaurant and catering supplies are defined to include institutional canteens and exclude premises with declared tariff above seven thousand five hundred rupees per unit per day, with a lower rate contingent on non availment of input tax credit; (b) event based food supplies at exhibitions, conferences and marriage halls are placed in a separate higher rated item; (c) multimodal transportation of goods is defined and classified; and (d) e books are treated as a distinct lower rated supply while other telecom and information services remain separately rated.

Amendment to SEZ Authority membership adds two new members replacing prior entries under the SEZ notification.
Amendment substitutes the entries at Sl. No. 5 and 6 in the original SEZ notification to include newly named members in the MEPZ SEZ Authority, replacing prior nominees and recording the corporate affiliations of the appointees; the amendment is effected under powers conferred by Section 31 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and notes prior and subsequent related substitutions via cross-referenced notifications.

Exemption on handicraft goods lowers state tax for listed categories under Tamil Nadu GST, effective via notification.
The notification, under section 11(1) of the Tamil Nadu GST Act, exempts specified intra state supplies of handicraft goods from state tax under section 9 to the extent they exceed the reduced rates set out in the accompanying Table. It defines handicraft goods by predominant manual production and distinctive aesthetic or cultural features, and prescribes individual tariff classifications with corresponding lower state tax rates for a detailed list of handicraft categories. The exemption applies only to goods matching the Table entries and is effective from the date specified in the notification.

Input tax credit restriction: accumulated ITC on certain goods for supplies received after specified date excluded and will lapse.
The amendment inserts a proviso excluding input tax credit accumulated on supplies received on or after a specified date for a listed group of goods from the notification's application, and provides that accumulated input tax credit balances for those goods, remaining unutilised after payment of tax for and up to a defined prior month on inward supplies received up to the end of that prior month, shall lapse.

GST schedule amendments expand tax exemptions to specified leaves, de-oiled rice bran, deities, sanitary items, coir compost and rakhi.
Amendments to the Tamil Nadu GST Schedule insert and substitute tariff entries to exempt specified goods, notably sal and related leaves, vegetable broom materials, de-oiled rice bran under heading 2306, stone/marble/wood deities, goods made of sal leaves, refined treatment for currency notes and coins sold to central authorities, branded coir pith compost subject to enforceable brand-right conditions, sanitary towels and tampons under specified lines, and rakhi made of goods outside a defined chapter; and specify the date of commencement.

GST rate schedule amendments reclassify and amend taxable goods across schedules, altering entries and rates for specified items.
Amendments revise tariff-level classification under the Tamil Nadu GST notification by inserting, substituting and omitting specific serial entries across the 2.5%, 6%, 9% and 14% rate Schedules, adding new commodity headings, altering descriptions and exceptions, reclassifying goods between schedules, and adjusting qualifying thresholds to effectuate changed rate applicability.

Business definition clarified to exclude governmental activities undertaken in a public authority capacity, narrowing notification scope.
The notification inserts an explanation excluding from the term business any activity or transaction undertaken by governmental bodies when engaged as public authorities, thereby narrowing the scope of a specified entry in an earlier tax notification under the state GST framework; the amendment is a declarative clarification issued by executive notification and takes effect as stated in the instrument.

GST notification amendment expands recipient references to Union territory and to municipalities under the Constitution.
Modification of the first paragraph of Notification No.II(2)/CTR/532(d-17)/2017 inserts the phrase "or Union territory" after "State Government" and inserts "or to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution" after "Constitution", thereby expanding the entities referenced; the amendment is made under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act and comes into force from 27th July, 2018.

Reverse charge on services by individual direct selling agents shifts GST liability to recipient banks and NBFCs.
Amendment imposes reverse charge on services supplied by individual Direct Selling Agents (DSAs) not constituted as bodies corporate, partnerships, or LLPs to banking companies and non-banking financial companies located in the taxable territory, thereby designating such financial institutions as the persons liable to pay tax. It also inserts a definition of renting of immovable property to include allowing access, occupation, use or similar arrangements, with or without transfer of possession or control.

GST exemption expansion for specified services including aged-care caps, agricultural electrification and nonprofit membership fee limits.
The notification amends the State GST exemption schedule by inserting new exempt services (including old age home services to senior residents subject to a monthly cap inclusive of boarding and maintenance; electricity distribution to agricultural tube wells; warehousing of minor forest produce; provident and pension organisation services; food testing/licensing by the food safety authority; artificial insemination of livestock; and guaranteeing loans by governments to undertakings), by introducing a conditional exemption mechanism for assignment of royalty collection to contractors limited to GST paid by mining lease holders, and by clarifying terminology and educational-board treatment for exams.