TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GOODS AND SERVICES TAX
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....ECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GOODS AND SERVICES TAX<br>By: - Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal <br>Goods and Services Tax - GST<br>Dated:- 26-6-2025<br>Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India will be completing eight (8) years on 1st July, 2025 which is now celebrated as GST DAY in India. GST has undergone major reforms and amendments besides facing many challenges and legal issues in these 8 years. There have been over 250 petitions/appeals before the Supreme Court alone. MoF has issued a corrigendum dated 20.06.2025 on minor changes / corrections in GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, 2025. Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a Circular dated 20.06.2025 on summoning of advocates before ED in any proceedings before it after withdrawal two summons issued to senior advoc....
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....ates in recent past. The said Circular states that no summons shall to be issued to any advocate in violation of section 132 of the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhniyam, 2023 and if any summons need to be issued under the exceptions carved out in the proviso to section 132, the same shall be issued only with the prior approval of the Director of ED. GSTN has issued few advisories / FAQ's in related to Invoice Management System (IMS), withdrawal of appeal and filing of forms under section 128A of CGST Act 2017, filing of pending returns before three years, services between e-way bill portal etc. Government of NCT Delhi has mandated conduct of all personal hearings for GST under virtual mode. CBIC detected GST a tax evasion of Rs. 2.23 trillion in FY ....
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....2024-25 as against Rs. 2.02 trillion in FY 2023-24 and Rs. 1.01 trillion in FY 2022-23. While there is no official date or agenda for the next GST Council meeting, it is expected that next Council meeting may be take place in July, 2025. GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) is yet to be made operational but the first hearing before Principal bench of GSTAT at New Delhi has been scheduled to be on 1st July, 2025 in the matter of anti-profiteering under section 171 of the CGST Act, 2017. All over the country, MoF and GST Commissionerate are organizing GST conclaves and interaction with stake-holders. Recently, FM has advised to improve parameters for GST registration, refund processing and grievance redressal, besides faster cargo clearances for....
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.... exports and imports. She has also emphasized on speedy closure of investigations and reducing gap between tax evasion and recovery. ED not to summon Legal Practitioners / Advocates * Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued directives (Technical Circular) for issuing summons to legal practitioners to disclose/produce communications and documents in professional capacity pertaining to their clients. * As per section 132 of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), it is amply clear that legal practitioner cannot be compelled to disclose any communication made to him in the course and for the purpose of his professional service as such legal practitioner, by or on behalf of his client unless with his clients express consent. However, pro....
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....viso to section 132 of the BSA, 2023 has carved out certain exceptions. * As per Circular, it has been directed that no summons shall be issued to any advocate in violation of section 132 of the BSA, 2023. * If any summon needs to be issued under the exceptions carved out in proviso to section 132 of the BSA, 2023, the same shall be issued with the prior approval of the Director, ED. (Source: Technical Circular No. 03/2025 dated 20.06.2025 issued by Directorate of Enforcement, GoI, New Delhi read with Press Release dated 20.06.25) Guidelines for mandatory hearings through virtual mode in all proceedings Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has issued Guidelines for Mandatory Conduct of Personal Hearings through Virtual ....
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....Mode in all Proceedings under the Delhi GST Act, 2017 and the Rules framed there under vide Circular No. F.3(640) /GST/P&R/2025/348-55 dated 13.06.2025. While the Circular emphasizes the importance of personal hearings under section 75, 126 and 107 of Delhi GST Act, 2017 to adhere to principles of natural justice in letter and spirit, it also looks at fostering transparency, efficiency and ease of compliance in tax administration. Accordingly, all proper officers and appellate authorities have been directed to comply with following guidelines: * Mandatory conduct of personal hearings in virtual mode * No person to appear in person for personal hearing * Virtual hearings (VH) to be conducted through available web applications (e.g. w....
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....ebex, google-meet etc.) * Date, time and link for virtual hearing shall be shared with tax payer / his authorized representative on registered mail-id / mobile in advance. * Tax payer to download the application and be ready for virtual hearing (VH) at appointed date and time. * Taxpayer and / or his Authorized Representative to submit vakalatnama / authorization letter with photo id and card with contact numbers in advance to enable persona hearing. * Virtual hearing to be conducted from office of proper officer / Appellate Authority only. * All concerned participating in personal hearing through VH shall be appropriately dressed and maintain decorum / dignity. * Submissions made during virtual hearing to be recorded as 'record....
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.... of personal hearing' on 'online personal hearing module and after signature / stamping, it to be shared with taxpayer on registered mail-id of taxpayer / AR. * In case of any adjournment, a notice of adjournment shall also be sent through BO Portal mentioning details of next date of hearing. * If any document including additional documents is to be considered during virtual hearing, scanned copy of such self-attested documents to be sent to concerned authority before virtual hearing. * If there is a need to submit physical set of documents, it may done after due attestation by taxpayer / AR during office hours. * Proceedings of virtual hearing / documents shall be deemed to be valid document / record under CGST / DGST Act or Rules.....
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.... * If mandatory virtual hearing can not be done for any reason by taxpayer / AR and a physical hearing is requested, such request to be approved by zonal incharge / officer after reasons being recorded. * Any officer representing the Department may also participate in the virtual hearing through video conferencing, as required. (Source: Circular No. F.3(640) /GST/P&R/2025/348-55 dated 13.06.2025) Introduction of enhanced Inter-operable Services between E-Way Bill Portals * GSTN has advised that NIC shall be introducing enhanced inter-operable services between E-way bill portals with launch of new e-way bill 2.0 (https://ewaybillgst.gov.in) w.e.f. 1st July, 2025. * It will provide enhanced inter-operability between the existing E-W....
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....ay Bill 1.0 Portal (https://ewaybillgst.gov.in) and the new portal. It enables cross-portal access to critical E-Way Bill functionalities, ensuring seamless operations for taxpayers and transporters. * The following additional services will be available on the E-Way Bill 2.0 portal for E-Way Bills generated on either portal (E-Way Bill 1.0 or E-Way Bill 2.0): a) Generation of E-Way Bill based on Part-A details entered by the supplier b) Generation of Consolidated E-Way Bills c) Extension of validity of E-Way Bills d) Update of transporter details e) Retrieval of consolidated E-Way Bills * Both portals will operate on a real-time synchronised architecture wherein E-Way Bill data will be mirrored across both systems wi....
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....thin seconds. This dual-system approach is designed to eliminate dependency on a single portal and ensure business continuity. * Services will also be made available to taxpayers and logistics operators through APIs, in addition to the web portal interface. These APIs are currently hosted on the sandbox environment for testing and integration purposes. * Eventually, the data from both E-Way Bill1 and E-Way Bill2 portals shall be seamlessly merged and integrated, thereby eliminating dependency on the E-Way Bill1 system during exigencies. * Criss-cross operations between the two portals are fully enabled updates made to E-Way Bills generated on the E-Way Bill1 portal can be carried out on the E-Way Bill2 portal, and vice versa. * In t....
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....he event of non-availability of the main portal due to technical reasons, Part-B details of E-Way Bills generated on the E-Way Bill1 portal can be updated through the E-Way Bill2 portal, and both versions of the E-Way Bill slip may be carried accordingly. (Source: GSTN Advisory dated 16.06.2025) Filing of pending returns before expiry of 3 years * GSTN has issued an advisory for filing pending returns before expiry of three years. * As per Notification No. 28/2023-CT dated 31.07.2023, w.e.f. 01.10.2023, the taxpayers shall not be allowed file their GST returns after the expiry of a period of three years from the due date of furnishing the said return under Section 37 (outward supply), Section 39 (payment of liability), Section 44 (ann....
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....ual return) and Section 52 (Tax Collected at Source). These sections cover GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, GSTR 3B, GSTR-4, GSTR-5, GSTR-5A, GSTR-6, GSTR 7, GSTR 8 and GSTR 9 or 9C. * These returns will be barred for filing after expiry of three years. * This restriction will be implemented on the GST portal from July, 2025 tax period. * Accordingly, any return for which due date was three years back or more and hasn't been filed till July Tax period will be barred from Filling. In this regard an advisory was already issued by GSTN on October 29th, 2024. * Therefore, GSTN has advised the taxpayers to reconcile their records and file their GST Returns as soon as possible if not filed till now. (Source: GSTN Advisory dated 18.06.2025) FAQ's on cla....
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....rification on IMS * GSTN has issued clarifications by way of FAQ's on issues in Invoice Management System (IMS) in relation to: * ITC of wrongly rejected invoice / debit note while GSTR-3B is also filed for same period * Impact of rejection of original record by recipient but supplier furnishes same record in GSTR-1A. * Reversal of ITC of wrongly rejected credit note in IMS but Form GSTR-3 already filed. * Rejection of original credit note by recipient but supplier furnishes same in Form GSTR-1A. * Taxpayers are advised to refer to FAQ's to resolve / address these issues. (Source: GSTN Advisory dated 19.06.2025) *************<br> Scholarly articles for knowledge sharing by authors, experts, professionals ....