Proper officers for scrutiny of returns and assessment of non-filers under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 include authorised officers not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of State Tax in the State Enforcement Wing. Such authorisation may be given by the Additional Commissioner of State Tax, Additional Commissioner of State Tax (GR-I), or Special Commissioner of State Tax of that wing. The notification takes effect immediately.

The amendments prescribe deemed revocation of specified registration suspensions upon furnishing pending returns, re-credit of electronic credit ledger amounts after deposit of erroneous refunds, and additional UPI and IMPS payment mechanisms. They establish the manner for calculating interest on delayed tax payment and wrongly availed and utilised input tax credit. Refund rules are revised for electricity exports, export valuation, shipping-bill mismatches and withheld integrated tax refunds. GSTR-3B, GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C reporting instructions and related GST forms are also updated.

Notional annual letting value of unsold units held as stock-in-trade may be assessed under income from house property for periods before Section 23(5) became applicable; the provision's later insertion does not bar assessment for an earlier year. No notional rent is chargeable where units are work-in-progress or where advances were received but final possession was not delivered. Annual letting value must be determined by reference to municipal ratable value and cannot be calculated through an ad hoc percentage of investment. Whether the units constituted work-in-progress requires verification; if so, no notional rental income arises.

Claimed loss from forward contracts for coriander was rejected as non-genuine because the transactions lacked payment, delivery, broker or exchange involvement, independent verification, and commercial explanation, and were settled only through journal entries. Applying the burden of proof, substance-over-form approach and test of human probabilities, the loss was treated as arising from sham arrangements designed to create a tax set-off against share-trading profits. The asserted commodity-contract loss was also speculative and could not be set off against non-speculative business income. The disallowance of the loss and denial of its adjustment against share-trading income remained effective.

Electronic voluntary and self-initiated customs payments on ICEGATE replace manual TR-6 payment procedures for past-cleared import and export transactions. Registered users may generate challans and pay electronically without further approval, but the facility cannot be used for live consignments or replace application-generated challans. Payments may be made through the Electronic Cash Ledger or enabled challan-wise modes. Manual TR-6 payments require specific approval after the transition date, supported by recorded reasons.

Accountant-certification for TDS and TCS defaults enables a person responsible for deduction or collection of tax to avoid being treated as an assessee in default under section 398(2). Form No. 149 applies to non-deduction or short deduction of tax, and Form No. 150 applies to non-collection or short collection of tax. The applicable form must be furnished to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or an authorised person. Rule 221 consolidates the earlier separate TDS and TCS certification framework into one provision.

PMLA attachment may continue against property holders who are not accused in the scheduled offence while proceedings against the principal accused remain pending, provided the property is alleged to represent proceeds of crime. Fixed assets may be attached as the value of proceeds of crime where material indicates layering through the entities and they do not provide cogent evidence rebutting the statutory presumptions and burden of proof. Prior acquisition or asserted explained sources do not alone exclude attachment. Attachment cannot exceed the value of proceeds of crime, but final quantification may require relief before the Special Court where prosecution proceedings remain pending.

Automated Out of Charge is available for eligible Bills of Entry filed by Authorized Economic Operator Tier 2 and Tier 3 clients through web-based goods registration. Eligibility requires completion of assessment and OTP-based authentication for duty deferment, and the Bill of Entry must not be selected for examination, scanning, or a partner government agency-related no-objection certificate. The facility operates on a risk basis, subject to a Customs system HOLD override where intelligence is available.

Air transshipment of imported goods may be covered by the TA (Transshipment Air Global) bond for Air-to-Air and Air-to-ICD movements. Registered at any Air Customs port, the TA bond may be used at other Air Customs EDI ports. The local TP transshipment bond remains available for carriers and airlines that prefer local bonds. Registered users may file Air Transshipment EDI messages through email or web upload on ICEGATE, while Service Centre filing continues unchanged.

Condonation of delay in a statutory GST appeal is discussed in the context of recovery proceedings initiated while a belated appeal against an adjudication order remains pending. The note describes circumstances in which, owing to the assessee's factual challenge to tax liability and the particular facts presented, delayed appellate access may be permitted and recovery action, including bank-account recovery, may be set aside. It also highlights that condonation does not determine the underlying tax demand: the appellate authority must examine the merits independently, with all contentions on liability remaining open.

Assessment orders passed without the taxpayer's replies to show-cause notices were set aside after the High Court accepted that bona fide reasons, unavoidable circumstances and sufficient cause had prevented participation. Applying a justice-oriented approach, the Court also set aside the consequential appellate order that had rejected the appeals as time-barred. Subject to costs, the proceedings were remitted to the assessing authority from the stage of filing replies, with directions to allow submission of documents and provide a sufficient and reasonable hearing before fresh adjudication.

GST demand alleging suppression of taxable value in bank guarantees should follow scrutiny and verification of self-assessment returns. The GST framework permits scrutiny, audit, special audit, inspection and investigation to identify possible revenue leakage; a Form GST DRC-01 notice should not be issued directly without first undertaking the relevant exercise. The demand order discussed was quashed and remitted for inspection or investigation and, if warranted, fresh determination of revenue leakage from guarantees issued to customers. The valuation and taxability issues concerning corporate guarantees were left open. Limitation exclusion was directed for the intervening period, and recovery remained in abeyance pending the statutory exercise.

A provisional attachment under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 operates for only one year from the date of its order. On expiry of that statutory period, the attachment ceases automatically by operation of law, making a merits determination of its validity unnecessary. The writ petition challenging the attachment was therefore disposed of as infructuous, while preserving the Bank's liberty to pursue other remedies in accordance with law if required.

Ophthalmic binocular surgical microscopes are classified under tariff heading 9018 because they are specialised instruments for eye examination and surgery, and the relevant explanatory notes exclude them from heading 9011 for compound optical microscopes. Heading 9012, covering non-optical microscopes and related scientific apparatus, does not apply. As goods under heading 9018, these microscopes fall within Entry No. 483 of Schedule I to Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) and attract GST at 5 per cent.

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers for valuation of imported second-hand and used machinery requires prescribed engineering qualifications, valuation experience, professional membership, supporting records and eligibility verification. Applicants must maintain a clean professional and legal record, provide full disclosure, act independently, avoid conflicts of interest and comply with applicable valuation standards and departmental requirements. Only notified qualifying persons may conduct inspections or valuations. Empanelled Chartered Engineers must submit timely valuation reports and periodic self-appraisals, preserve records and cooperate with oversight. Negligence, misleading valuation, misconduct or incorrect information may lead to suspension, cancellation, removal and further legal action.

Commodity-trading losses require cogent evidence establishing genuine purchase-and-sale transactions rather than accommodation entries, including sauda books, regulatory trade records, and proof of applicable fees or taxes. The taxpayer also must substantiate actual-delivery contracts in the relevant commodities and show that non-delivery contracts were entered into to hedge price-fluctuation risk in those contracts for exclusion from speculative-transaction treatment under section 43(5). Fresh adjudication is required where the existing evidentiary record is inconclusive, including determination of any arithmetical error in the disallowance after admitting evidence and providing an adequate hearing.

Paper bags made of paper or paperboard and classifiable under tariff item 48194000 fall within Entry 319 of Schedule I to Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate). The entry covers paper sacks/bags and biodegradable bags under Chapters 39 and 48, prescribing GST at 5%. The note describes the inclusion as addressing eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastic bags, with Chapter 48 covering paper bags and Chapter 39 covering biodegradable plastic bags.

A Tribunal cannot condition remand for breach of natural justice on payment of costs so that default automatically validates an invalid ex parte appellate order. Although it may impose ordinary procedural costs, its discretion cannot defeat the statutory right of appeal or make the remedy illusory; the automatic-confirmation clause was quashed and the appeal restored unconditionally for merits adjudication. A first appellate authority must issue a speaking order stating the points for determination, decision and reasons; the non-speaking ex parte order was void. For the unsecured-loan addition, banking and corporate records required proper factual evaluation, and general third-party reports without independent inquiry were insufficient; the issue was remanded for fresh adjudication.

Retrospective taxation through a purportedly clarificatory amendment cannot create a fresh charge or withdraw benefits accrued under the unamended law. The Finance Act, 2010 amendment to section 9, which dispensed with the requirement that technical services be rendered in India, was treated as substantive and applied prospectively despite its stated retrospective date. The notes also state that beneficial Board circulars could be withdrawn only prospectively. Where domestic law and the India-USA DTAA permitted competing interpretations, the interpretation favourable to the assessee prevailed; technical-service income required rendition and utilisation of services in India. The amendment therefore could not impose tax on offshore technical services retrospectively.

Interest paid by a co-operative bank to another co-operative society, including a non-member depositor society, falls within the inter-co-operative-society exemption from tax deduction at source. The exclusion of co-operative banks from the member-payment limb does not extend to the separate limb covering payments between co-operative societies; a co-operative bank retains its character as a co-operative society. The recipient society's eligibility for deduction of its income is determined at assessment stage and does not govern the payer's independent transactional withholding obligation. Accordingly, the co-operative bank was not required to deduct tax on such interest and could not be treated as an assessee in default.