ICDS applicability limited to mercantile accounting; excludes cash-accounting and individuals/HUFs not subject to tax audit.
ICDS applies to persons following the mercantile system of accounting and does not apply to those following the cash system. For individuals and HUFs, ICDS is applicable only if they carry on business or profession and their books are required to be audited under the tax audit provisions; it does not apply where there is no business or professional income even if mercantile accounting is followed for other heads.

Reversal of Input Tax Credit on switching to composition scheme; capital goods credit prorated by remaining useful life.
Switching to the composition scheme requires reversal of Input Tax Credit on inputs, inputs in semi finished or finished goods held in stock, and capital goods held in stock as on the day before the option is exercised, by payment from the electronic credit or cash ledger after prescribed reductions. For capital goods, reversal is prorated by remaining useful life using an assumed five year useful life, with the credit attributable to remaining months computed as original credit multiplied by remaining months divided by sixty.

Input tax credit eligibility on switching from composition to normal scheme - capital goods credit reduced over time, subject to time bar.
A taxpayer switching from the composition scheme to the normal scheme may claim Input Tax Credit for inputs, inputs in goods held in stock, and capital goods held immediately before liability to pay tax, but credit for capital goods must be reduced by the prescribed periodic reduction measured from the invoice or receipt date, and no credit may be claimed for supplies after one year from the tax invoice date.

Input Tax Credit denial: purchases from composition taxpayers are ineligible for ITC under the GST regime.
A composition scheme taxpayer is excluded from the input tax credit chain, cannot issue a tax invoice or collect tax, and must state that no credit is available. Consequently, a registered person purchasing from a composition dealer cannot claim Input Tax Credit because the supplier does not charge GST in a manner that would enable the recipient to treat the payment as tax paid for ITC purposes.

Composition scheme threshold triggers monthly tax payment and monthly returns requirement for the affected taxpayer.
A taxpayer under the Composition Scheme may pay and file on the quarterly schedule (guidance noting payment on the 18th and quarterly return on the 18th after quarter-end). If the taxpayer crosses the threshold or withdraws from composition, they become a regular taxable person and must pay tax and furnish returns monthly by the 20th of the following month for the remainder of the financial year and subsequent years.

GST payment due date: monthly filers pay with next-month return; composition filers pay with quarterly return.
Tax under GST must be paid not later than the return's due date. Monthly filers must file GSTR-3 and pay tax by the twentieth day of the month following the tax month. Composition taxpayers under the composition scheme file quarterly in GSTR-4 and must pay tax by the eighteenth day after the quarter ends.

Composition levy on exempt supplies raises eligibility ambiguity due to turnover inclusion versus ineligibility for non leviable supplies.
The composition levy's tax base, as defined by turnover, expressly includes exempt supplies, indicating that composition tax is payable having regard to exempted goods; however, Section 10(2)(b) disqualifies persons making supplies "not leviable to tax," creating an ambiguity whether exempt supplies (which definitionally includes nil rated and wholly exempt supplies and non taxable supplies) render a person ineligible for composition. Commentators note this tension and call for clarification or amendment to reconcile the turnover inclusion with the eligibility restriction.

Eligibility for composition scheme may be barred by prior inter state supplies, even if current turnover is below threshold.
A registered person who made inter state supplies during the previous year is ineligible to opt for the composition scheme in the current year, because eligibility under Section 10 is determined with reference to the preceding financial year; thus the absence of inter state supplies must be assessed for the previous year even if turnover remains below the threshold.

Composition scheme eligibility: turnover in preceding financial year determines entitlement; aggregate turnover is all-India and fresh declaration required.
Eligibility for the composition scheme depends on aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year not exceeding the prescribed threshold; aggregate turnover is computed on an all India basis and includes taxable supplies (excluding inward reverse charge supplies), exempt supplies, exports and inter State supplies by the same PAN, while excluding GST and cess. Eligibility is reassessed each year; a fresh declaration is required to opt into the scheme after becoming eligible.

Composition scheme validity continues while statutory conditions are met; annual intimation is not required for eligible taxpayers.
The composition levy remains valid so long as statutory eligibility conditions and applicable CGST Rules are complied with; no fresh annual intimation is required if those conditions continue to be met.

Composition levy option must be elected before the financial year begins; prior electronic intimation required.
The option to pay tax under the composition levy must be exercised by giving electronic intimation in FORM GST CMP-02 prior to the commencement of the relevant financial year under the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017.

Composition levy withdrawal: file FORM GST CMP-04 and submit FORM GST ITC-01 detailing stock within the prescribed period.
Withdrawal from the composition scheme is effected by filing a duly signed or verified application in FORM GST CMP-04, and the applicant must electronically furnish FORM GST ITC-01 detailing stock of inputs and inputs contained in semi-finished or finished goods held on the date of withdrawal within thirty days of withdrawal.

Composition scheme: importers may remain in composition though IGST on imports may not yield input tax credit, service providers excluded.
Importers can opt for the composition scheme where otherwise eligible; there is no categorical bar on importers availing composition levy. IGST is payable on import and such tax may not yield input tax credit for a composition taxpayer. Pure service providers remain ineligible for composition, and importing services for business or captive consumption does not automatically make a person a service provider or disqualify composition eligibility.

Composition scheme eligibility: exporters cannot use composition tax where their supplies are treated as inter State, barring such option.
Exports are treated as inter State supplies for GST purposes. The composition levy prohibits a taxpayer from making inter State outward supplies of goods while paying tax under the composition scheme. Therefore, an exporter whose transactions are classified as inter State supplies cannot opt to pay tax under the composition scheme in respect of those export supplies.

Composition scheme: suppliers cannot make inter State outward supplies to SEZ while remaining in the scheme.
Supplies from the domestic tariff area to an SEZ are treated as inter State supplies, and Rule 5/Section 10 conditions for the composition levy prohibit a composition taxpayer from making inter State outward supplies; therefore a person paying tax under the composition scheme cannot make outward supplies of goods to an SEZ while remaining in the scheme.

Composition scheme eligibility denied where stock on appointed day was purchased inter state, imported, or received from outside State.
Persons below the turnover threshold who hold stock on the appointed day cannot opt for the composition scheme if that stock was purchased inter state, imported, or received from an out of State branch, agent or principal; possession of such goods on the appointed day disqualifies a registered person from the composition levy.

Composition scheme eligibility barred for casual and non-resident taxable persons; cannot claim composition as casual dealer.
A taxpayer acting as a casual taxable person or a non-resident taxable person is expressly excluded from the composition levy; therefore casual dealers and non-resident taxable persons cannot avail the composition scheme while operating in that capacity.

Composition scheme ineligibility: manufacturers of ice cream, pan masala and tobacco and certain suppliers cannot opt.
Section 10(2) excludes five categories from the composition scheme: suppliers of services (except restaurant services), suppliers of non taxable goods, inter State suppliers, persons supplying through electronic commerce operators, and manufacturers of notified goods. Rule 5 adds further ineligible classes. A notification further specifies that manufacturers of ice cream, pan masala, and all tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes are not eligible for composition levy.

Composition scheme lapse triggers transition to regular tax liability and requires issuing tax invoices and filing withdrawal notice promptly.
Crossing the aggregate turnover threshold causes the composition option to lapse from the day the threshold is exceeded; the person is liable to pay tax under section 9 from that day and must issue tax invoices for every taxable supply made thereafter. The person must also file an intimation for withdrawal from the scheme in FORM GST CMP-04 within seven days of the occurrence of such event.

Composition scheme eligibility may be available for suppliers using e-commerce operators while TDS/TCS provisions remain inoperative.
Eligibility for the composition scheme is negated for suppliers making supplies through an electronic commerce operator required to collect tax at source; however, because the TDS/TCS provisions are not yet operative and ECOs are not required to collect tax, suppliers using ECOs may currently opt for the composition scheme until the collection provisions are brought into force, and an administrative clarification from the government is recommended to remove uncertainty.