Jammu and Kashmir SGST rate schedules replace specified tariff-classification entries in Schedule I, attracting 2.5%, and Schedule III, attracting 20%. Schedule I substitutes the entries for serial numbers 150 and 151, while Schedule III substitutes entries for serial numbers 2 and 3. The revised tariff classifications are deemed effective from 1 May 2026.

Enforcement Directorate used PMLA information-sharing powers to seek a police FIR over alleged bribery, sham consultancy payments, and laundering of funds linked to CMRL and Exalogic Solutions. The allegations concern purported payments for IT consultancy services, use of Exalogic Solutions as a corporate vehicle for routing payments, and alleged transfers of funds to Dubai. The investigation also draws on allegations of fictitious corporate expenditure that generated cash for unlawful payments.

Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act permits the Enforcement Directorate to share criminal-investigation findings with law-enforcement agencies for registration of a fresh FIR or complaint. A police case registered on that information can form the basis for a PMLA case. In the reported investigation, FIR registration was sought on evidence gathered during the PMLA probe and searches concerning alleged consultancy payments.

Under TNMM, foreign associated enterprises may serve as tested parties for software-service transactions when they are the less complex entities, reliable comparable data is available, and sufficient information is provided for verification. Tested-party selection is not restricted to an Indian entity. Performance guarantees linked to a taxpayer's own contractual obligations, where associated enterprises receive no independent benefit, fall outside the scope of an international transaction. These principles govern arm's-length benchmarking of software services and the transfer-pricing treatment of guarantees.

Strategic Advisory Board appointments add Mr. Rajaram and Mr. Bala Swaminathan to UpTik's advisory leadership for its invoice discounting and alternative credit operations. Their respective experience in structured finance, regulatory compliance, banking operations, treasury and institutional finance is intended to strengthen governance, risk oversight, compliance, credit-management frameworks and institutional partnerships. The appointments support expansion of transparent and responsible alternative credit access for MSMEs.

Pending operationalisation of the Appellate Tribunal, recovery of the balance confirmed demand stands stayed where a taxpayer pays an amount equal to the prescribed pre-deposit through the electronic liability register and undertakes to file the Tribunal appeal within the applicable timeline. Failure to pay the equivalent pre-deposit, furnish the undertaking, or timely file the appeal permits recovery. Amounts inadvertently paid through FORM GST DRC-03 may, on filing FORM GST DRC-03A, be adjusted against the relevant demand and counted towards appellate pre-deposit, subject to stated conditions.

Second Special All-India Drive against fake GST registrations operates through coordinated Central and State tax action to verify suspicious or high-risk GSTINs and remove fake billers from the GST ecosystem. GSTN-supported risk analysis and locally developed intelligence may identify cases for time-bound verification. Where a taxpayer is non-existent or fictitious, officers may suspend or cancel registration, block input tax credit, identify recipients of credit passed through invoices without underlying supplies, and initiate recovery action. Cross-jurisdictional recipient cases require prompt referral through nodal officers, supported by evidence and prescribed reporting.

Proceedings concerning delayed real-estate projects require a fresh comprehensive proposal addressing possession, refunds, delayed-possession compensation, and enforcement-related claims of all homebuyers across the developer's group entities. An inadequate proposal may lead to appointment of a High-Powered Committee to assume relevant responsibilities. Frozen bank accounts remain under restraint, and a request by the Insolvency Resolution Professional to operate an account for company affairs was not entertained. The proceedings also raise concerns over enforcement of real-estate regulatory directions and protection of homebuyers facing prolonged delays.

Proper Officers handling refunds, assessments, cancellation, demands and recovery must follow prescribed procedure and issue reasoned and speaking orders addressing all issues in the matter. Orders concerning show-cause notices and other cases require detailed consideration and must not merely reproduce standard passages without addressing the issues involved. Recording reasons supports quasi-judicial decisions in disputed claims and demonstrates that decisions rest on legal principles.

Income from eligible shipping operations computed under the Tonnage Taxation Scheme is determined independently of the actual receipts, revenue and expenditure of the shipping business. Transfer-pricing adjustments concerning interest on ship purchases, ship acquisition prices and hire charges therefore do not affect tonnage income, where those transactions relate to the eligible shipping business. A negative lien over shares, although it creates no repayment obligation or direct financial commitment, provides lender comfort and remains subject to arm's-length benchmarking. The benchmarked charge was restricted to 0.25%, requiring recomputation of the related adjustment.

Audit under section 44AB is recommended where a partnership firm proposes to declare actual book profit that is low in relation to the presumptive-tax framework, even though turnover is below Rs. 1 crore. The low-profit trigger under section 44AB(e), read with section 44AD, requires examination beyond turnover alone. The position depends on verification of the firm's section 44AD history and the nature and composition of its receipts.

Inspection-based adjudication under Section 67 of the TNGST Act, 2017 is allocated according to the revenue effect in the show-cause notice. Cases exceeding Rs. five crore are assigned to an Assistant Commissioner (State Tax), while cases up to Rs. five crore are assigned to a State Tax Officer. For multi-year inspections, where any one financial year exceeds Rs. five crore, all years must be transferred together to an Assistant Commissioner; otherwise, the case is transferred to a State Tax Officer.

Solar cookers operating on solar energy and grid electricity, all sprinklers including fire water sprinklers, and parts of poultry-keeping machinery attract GST at 12%. Agricultural farm produce supplied in packages exceeding 25 kilograms or 25 litres is excluded from "pre-packaged and labelled" and does not attract the 5% GST levy. Past-period classification issues are regularized on an "as is where is" basis. Regularization for specified government distribution supplies requires certification and reversal of relevant input tax credit.

Elevated crude prices arising from West Asia supply and maritime-transit risks increase India's oil import costs and may pressure the trade balance and currency. Higher international crude prices can feed into domestic inflation through fuel, transport and energy costs, depending on domestic price pass-through and the duration of the increase. Retail fuel-price restraint may compress fuel-retailer margins and increase LPG under-recoveries. Refiners, distributors, airlines, petrochemical businesses and other energy-intensive sectors also face higher costs, particularly where crude, LPG and naphtha supplies depend on regional transit flows.

Taxability of loans provided by an overseas affiliate to its Indian affiliate, or by a person to a related person, under the Delhi GST framework is governed, mutatis mutandis, by the corresponding central GST clarification. The position applies the central clarification to identified affiliate and related-person loan arrangements for implementation of GST law. It is clarificatory in nature and intended to ensure uniform application of the clarified treatment.

Alternative Investment Fund units are not offered through public solicitation. Subscriptions, purchases or dealings in units may occur only by private placement to eligible investors and on the terms of the relevant private placement memorandum and constitutive documents. The material is not investment advice or a recommendation concerning securities or companies. Securities-market investments carry market risk, and past performance does not assure future results. Category III fund management is also associated with investment-process assessment, risk governance and institutional infrastructure.

GST treatment of warranty and extended-warranty transactions, including related input tax credit availability, is aligned with the applicable central clarification for implementation under the Delhi GST framework. The central clarification applies mutatis mutandis to promote uniform treatment of GST liability and input tax credit. The clarification is explanatory in nature, and implementation difficulties may be brought before the Commissioner of State Tax, Delhi.

CENVAT credit is admissible for additional duty of customs paid on imported steam coal at a concessional rate under a customs exemption notification. The restriction in Rule 3(1)(i) applies only to concessional excise duty paid under specified central excise notifications. Although additional duty is measured by reference to equivalent excise duty, it is levied and collected as customs duty under the Customs Tariff Act. As the concession arose under a customs notification rather than a central excise notification, Rule 3(1)(vii) permitted credit and disallowance was not legally sustainable.

Input tax credit on ducts and manholes used in optical fiber cable networks is to be assessed under the blocked-credit framework in section 17(5) of the CGST Act, 2017. The Central clarification applies mutatis mutandis for implementation under the Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, ensuring aligned treatment within Delhi. Implementation difficulties may be referred to the Commissioner of State Tax, Delhi.

Input tax credit on demo vehicles is available where authorised dealers use them for test drives and demonstrations that promote their own further supply of similar motor vehicles. Credit is unavailable where vehicles are used for staff or management transport, or where a dealer merely provides marketing or facilitation services for a manufacturer without selling vehicles on its own account. Capitalisation does not affect otherwise eligible credit, but credit is barred where depreciation is claimed on the tax component. Subsequent sale of a capitalised demo vehicle attracts the required amount or tax.