Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess applies to imported goods unless an applicable exemption is claimed, and to petrol and high-speed diesel as excise AIDC. Bills of Entry must quote the relevant AIDC exemption notification, including for fully exempt goods. Customs AIDC claims require notification type "C" and additional duty flag "A", while excise AIDC claims require notification type "E" and additional duty flag "A". ICES incorporates the revised levy, exemptions and duty-calculation logic, requiring transitional verification of assessments and EDI calculations.

Revocation of cancelled GST registration was available under a special procedure for eligible registered persons who had not applied within the prescribed period. An application could be made up to 30 June 2023 only after all returns due up to the effective cancellation date were furnished and all related tax, interest, penalty and late fee were paid. No further extension was available. The procedure also covered persons whose appeals were rejected solely because the revocation application was not filed within time.

Delegation of refund powers under the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is amended to authorise State Tax Officers to grant provisional export refunds, issue refund orders, and withhold refunds or deduct unpaid dues before payment. These powers are exercisable alongside Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners under the revised Schedule-A delegation framework.

Irrevocable escrow instructions requiring written concurrence of both the depositor's authorised representative and the beneficiary cannot be overridden by a depositor's unilateral withdrawal direction. A bank accepting such instructions must verify whether the stipulated release conditions are fulfilled and holds the earmarked funds in a trustee-like or agency capacity. Interim mandatory relief is unavailable where the claimant has not challenged the binding escrow terms, has not fully disclosed them, and fails to establish a prima facie case, irreparable injury, or equitable entitlement. A beneficiary with a direct interest in the escrow fund should be joined where its rights may be affected, enabling effective adjudication and an application to vacate injunctive relief.

Customs electronic import and export declarations may use Metric Million British Thermal Unit as an accepted commercial unit of quantity under the code MBT. The unit is included in the Customs EDI System for natural-gas transactions measured by energy content, including commercial negotiations, invoices and ship ullage survey reports. Importers, exporters and trade participants may use MBT in their declarations, and implementation is treated as a standing order for customs officers and staff.

Proposed amendments to Section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962 would mandate advance filing of Bills of Entry before the end of the day preceding arrival of imported goods for home consumption or warehousing. The requirement is intended to facilitate pre-arrival processing and assessment and reduce clearance time. The Board may prescribe different deadlines for specified cases, but not later than the end of the day of arrival. Possible relaxation for certain land, airport, neighbouring-country and short-haul imports remains subject to the amendment taking effect.

Registration compliance requires bank-account details within 30 days of registration or before filing FORM GSTR-1 or using the invoice furnishing facility, whichever occurs first. Non-compliance may result in suspension and restriction on FORM GSTR-1 filing until compliance. Where input tax credit availed in FORM GSTR-3B exceeds credit reflected in FORM GSTR-2B beyond prescribed thresholds, FORM GST DRC-01C requires payment with interest or an electronic explanation within seven days. Unpaid and unexplained differences may proceed to demand, and recovery of unpaid recoverable amounts may be initiated through FORM GST DRC-01D.

Provision for doubtful debts unsupported by evidence or write-off is not an ascertained liability for book-profit computation under section 115JB, and unsubstantiated expenditure and unidentified unclaimed liabilities remain disallowable or taxable. An ad hoc expense disallowance is impermissible where business expenditure is accepted and books are not rejected. Software licence and maintenance costs require item-wise assessment of purpose, duration, recurrence and enduring benefit. Foreign-exchange hedging and marked-to-market gains require a direct export nexus for deduction under section 10A. Excess dividend distribution tax requires verification for refund, while employee stock-option discount is allowable business expenditure.

Section 46 requires advance filing of Bills of Entry, generally by the end of the day preceding arrival, subject to mode- and consignment-based exceptions. Airport and Land Customs Station imports may be filed by the end of arrival day, while specified seaport consignments receive the same deadline. Late filing attracts late charges. Advance Bills of Entry may be filed with House Bill of Lading or House Airway Bill details where master transport documents are unavailable. The Master Bill of Lading or Master Airway Bill may later be updated through an automated, fee-free online amendment.

GST search powers require seized documents, books and things to remain with the proper or authorised officer only while necessary for examination, inquiry or proceedings; returning custody while retaining seizure is inconsistent with that scheme. Material still required may be taken into fresh custody through a fresh seizure order linked to the original seizure. A prohibition order may apply only to goods liable to confiscation where physical seizure is impracticable, not to office equipment, files, documents, books or things that are not confiscable goods; the prohibition order was quashed. Sealing premises is permissible only during an ongoing search when access is denied, not after search completion to store seized material; de-sealing and restoration of possession were directed.

GST registration cancelled for non-compliance may be considered for revocation where pending returns are filed, tax liabilities are paid and late fees are deposited. Filing returns shortly after cancellation supports fresh consideration because permanent cancellation can restrict the taxpayer's ability to conduct business. Revocation applications should be assessed by the competent authority after compliance with return-filing, tax-payment and late-fee requirements. The appellate and revocation-rejection orders were set aside, and the revocation application was remitted for fresh consideration within two months.

Non-consideration of an assessee's detailed reply to a GST show cause cum demand notice violates principles of natural justice. An ex parte adjudication order passed without addressing that reply is infirm and perverse. The High Court therefore quashed the order and remitted the matter for fresh, independent and reasoned adjudication after an effective opportunity of hearing. No merits of the underlying GST demand were decided.

Writ jurisdiction against CGST Orders-in-Original is unavailable where the statutory appeal provides an efficacious and comprehensive remedy for reviewing facts, law, evidence and adjudicatory correctness. Objections concerning hearing, notice service, technical difficulties, evidentiary authentication, corroboration, cross-examination and voluntary payment require record-based factual assessment by the appellate authority. Neither patent lack of jurisdiction nor a manifest, common breach of natural justice was established to justify bypassing that remedy. Petitioners who had already invoked the statutory appeal could not simultaneously pursue writ relief over the same order without exceptional circumstances. The writ petitions were dismissed, with merits left open for appellate consideration, including any request to exclude time spent in writ proceedings according to law.

Input tax credit under section 16(5) of the CGST Act is a retrospective statutory entitlement where relevant returns were filed within the prescribed cut-off. Failure to submit a rectification application within the period set by a departmental circular does not by itself defeat that entitlement. The denial of credit was quashed because the show-cause notice acknowledged timely filing under section 16(5), and the claim was remitted for reconsideration, subject to satisfaction of other eligibility conditions.

Amortised write-offs of the net realisable value of advances and goodwill arising under a High Court-approved amalgamation scheme were treated as allowable miscellaneous expenses. Identical claims for the immediately succeeding assessment year had been accepted by the Tribunal and affirmed by the jurisdictional High Court. The claims were disclosed in the accounts and represented a legally permissible treatment under the approved amalgamation scheme. The binding earlier determination governed the identical issue, supporting allowability in favour of the assessee.

Valuation-based additions for unexplained construction investment require rejection of the books before a Departmental Valuation Officer's report can support an addition. Additional evidence may be admitted where delayed production is reasonably explained and the material is examined in remand without authenticity concerns. Capital and cash-credit additions fail where banking records, PAN details, returns and confirmations establish identity, creditworthiness and genuineness without rebuttal. Adequate interest-free funds support the presumption that interest-free advances came from those funds. Depreciation on vehicles within a block of assets remains allowable despite personal-use disallowance of vehicle expenses. Books cannot be rejected solely for absence of a stock register, and uncorroborated, unconfronted third-party material cannot sustain unexplained-investment additions.

Refund allowed in an assessee's appeal may be released despite a pending departmental appeal before the Tribunal where no hearing has been fixed. Withholding was considered unwarranted given the petitioner's status as a manufacturing company and its undertaking to deposit any liability ultimately arising if the departmental appeal succeeds. Release was made conditional on furnishing that undertaking and a certified copy of the order, with the Revenue directed to issue the refund within six weeks. The departmental appeal remained subject to adjudication by the Tribunal.

Electronic service of GST show-cause notices and adjudication orders requires more than uploading them to the 'View Additional Notices and Orders' tab of the GST Common Portal. Portal-only uploading does not constitute proper service under the CGST Act unless the recipient acknowledges receipt or responds. A retrospective amendment permitting functions under the GST Rules to be performed through the portal does not expand the portal's specified functions or replace formal statutory service. The writ petition was disposed of consistently with the established position on deficient portal-only service.

Section 171(1) requires suppliers to pass any additional input tax credit arising from GST implementation to recipients through a commensurate price reduction. Project-specific CA-certified data was accepted because statutory records consolidated figures across projects and could not provide a project-wise split. The post-GST ratio of credit availed to purchase value had declined, showing that no additional input tax credit accrued. Transitional VAT credit passed to eligible purchasers did not concern the applicant, whose agreement was executed after GST implementation and for whom no corresponding VAT credit arose. The DGAP report was accepted and profiteering was not established.

Appeals under the advance ruling mechanism lie before the Appellate Authority only against an advance ruling pronounced under section 98(4) of the CGST Act. An order rejecting an advance ruling application under the first proviso to section 98(2) does not constitute such a ruling. Consequently, an appeal against rejection of the application is not maintainable under section 100(1), and was held inadmissible.