Separately supplied laterals and parts of sprinklers or drip irrigation systems attract the GST rate applicable to those systems where they are classifiable under the specified irrigation-equipment heading and are suitable solely or principally for such use. Parts of general use, if classifiable under another heading under the applicable Section and Chapter Notes, attract GST at the rate applicable to that respective heading.

Tamil Nadu State tax exemption is extended to food preparations of millet flour in powder form, classified under tariff heading 1901, where millets constitute at least 70% by weight. The exemption applies only where the products are not pre-packaged and labelled, and is deemed effective from 20 October 2023.

Tamil Nadu State tax rate schedules are amended to include molasses and qualifying pre-packaged and labelled millet-flour powder preparations in the 2.5% schedule. The 9% schedule is revised for specified food preparations and expanded to include spirits for industrial use. The first serial entry in the 14% schedule is omitted. The revised rate treatment is deemed effective from 20 October 2023.

Unclaimed TDS credit relating to professional receipts already offered to tax may be sought through rectification under Section 154 where a return processed under Section 143(1) omitted TDS reflected in Form 26AS or AIS. TDS credit is linked to assessment of the corresponding income under Section 199 read with Rule 37BA. The rectification request should provide a TDS-wise reconciliation showing the deductor, corresponding professional receipt, inclusion in presumptive turnover, income offered, and credit claimed.

Entry 23A exempts annuity consideration only for access to a road or bridge under heading 9967. Road construction is classified separately under heading 9954, including construction of highways, streets, roads, bridges and tunnels. Where road-construction consideration is partly paid upfront and partly through deferred annual instalments called annuities, the payment structure does not change the nature of the service. Consequently, deferred annuity payments for road construction do not qualify for the exemption applicable to road-access annuities.

Erratum inserts an omitted concluding commencement clause in the annexure governing amendments under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The clause gives deemed retrospective commencement to the operative measure, treating it as having entered into force from 8 October 2024. It fixes temporal application from that specified prior date and expressly records the commencement basis applicable to the annexure's amendments.

India-Japan startup cooperation is proposed to advance through a deep-tech capital corridor, a two-way innovation bridge, manufacturing and technology integration, and joint startup pitching platforms. Collaboration is directed towards patient capital, early-stage research, deep-tech commercialisation, technology validation, precision manufacturing, investment and market access. The partnership also emphasises MSME integration with startups and global supply chains, co-investment mechanisms, plug-and-play infrastructure, and institutional links among universities, research institutions, incubators and industry.

Government loan-guarantee services supplied by the Central Government, State Government or Union Territory to their undertakings or public sector undertakings are exempt from GST. The exemption applies where the guarantees relate to loans taken by those undertakings or PSUs from banking companies or financial institutions and is covered by Entry 34A of Notification No. 12/2017-State Tax (Rate).

Sugar price-control measures combine authorised raw-sugar imports, stockholding limits for dealers and bulk consumers, and an existing export prohibition to address elevated domestic prices. Imports are permitted within the specified period, while stockholding restrictions seek to curb speculation and hoarding. Retail prices continued to rise despite lower ex-mill prices, and the regulatory approach focuses on augmenting supply, limiting stock accumulation, and preventing export-related pressure on domestic availability.

Appellate Tribunal procedure is revised through a two-part FORM GST APL-02A for provisional acknowledgement and final communication on appeals or applications. Appeals not involving a question of law may be transferred to a Single Member Bench, while matters involving a legal question or an identical issue previously heard by a Technical and Judicial Member Bench require reconsideration by the appropriate Bench. Revised forms prescribe detailed appeal, cross-objection, order-summary, demand, pre-deposit, and payment reporting requirements.

Legal developments include resolution of long-pending tenancy, commercial and property disputes through a special Lok Adalat mechanism, including a digitally signed international settlement. Other matters concern a challenge to a riot-related murder conviction, allegations of administrative irregularities and selective case listing, fast-track court pendency, cancellation of a recruitment process following suspected examination malpractice, fraudulent identity documents used to claim citizenship, medical-qualification standards, and opposition to uranium exploration and mining.

Catering services supplied to educational institutions, including pre-schools and schools, are exempt from GST, with the exemption expressly covering mid-day meal services. Anganwadis are treated as educational institutions because they provide pre-school non-formal education. Accordingly, food-serving and catering services supplied to Anganwadis, including mid-day meals, are exempt irrespective of whether funding comes from government grants or corporate donations.

SIDBI-RRB MSME co-lending arrangement is proposed for expansion to increase credit access for micro, small and medium enterprises in rural and semi-urban areas. The arrangement combines SIDBI's understanding of MSME credit requirements with Regional Rural Banks' local reach. SIDBI's Co-Lending Origination Platform provides an end-to-end digital credit process intended to enable faster, paperless loan processing, in-principle sanction communication, documentation and direct account disbursement without branch visits.

Section 74 GST demand proceedings require the assessing officer's independent satisfaction of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts. An input tax credit mismatch or alleged short payment alone cannot establish these conditions. Unsupported assertions of suppression for invoking extended limitation are insufficient, and audit objections cannot replace the assessing officer's satisfaction. A show cause-cum-demand notice lacking factual allegations of a deliberate device to evade tax or avail excess input tax credit is vulnerable.

Income-tax appeals for specified assessment years were withdrawn at the appellant's request. The CIT(A) was directed to dispose of the pending appeals expeditiously by the prescribed date, after providing a personal hearing and at least five working days' prior notice to the appellant. The appeals were dismissed as withdrawn.

Voluntary Aadhaar authentication may be used to establish identity for employment-related assistance, including job matching, counselling, vocational guidance, skilling information, apprenticeships and career events. Yes/No and/or eKYC authentication may support de-duplication, fraud prevention and timely verification. Consent is mandatory, authentication remains voluntary, and services cannot be denied to persons who refuse or cannot authenticate through Aadhaar. Alternate identification includes PAN, passport, voter identity card, driving licence, Employment Exchange ID and specified universal account identifiers.

Composite milling of wheat into flour, including fortification, or paddy into rice for the Public Distribution System is exempt where the value of supplied goods, including fortification inputs and packing material, does not exceed 25 per cent of the composite-supply value. Eligibility requires factual determination in each case. Where the goods component exceeds that threshold, the supply is taxable at 5 per cent if provided as job-work service to a registered person, including a person registered solely for tax deduction purposes.

Recipients of deemed export supplies may avail input tax credit and claim refund, subject to debit of the corresponding credit from the electronic credit ledger and declarations preventing duplicate refund claims. Refund relaxation applies where zero-rated supplies were mistakenly reported in Table 3.1(a) of FORM GSTR-3B, subject to the aggregate tax or cess reported in Tables 3.1(a), 3.1(b), and 3.1(c). For unutilised input tax credit refunds, the capped value of zero-rated export goods must be used consistently in both zero-rated turnover and Adjusted Total Turnover.

GST Practitioner registration under Rule 83(2) of the Bihar Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 is entrusted to Shri Pankaj Kumar Sinha, Additional Commissioner of State Tax-cum-Joint Secretary, Headquarters, Bihar, Patna. He is authorised to register eligible applicants as Goods and Services Tax Practitioners.

Bonus payable to an employee eligible under section 26 of the Code on Wages, 2019, whose monthly wage exceeds seven thousand rupees, must be calculated on seven thousand rupees per month or the minimum wage fixed by the Central Government, whichever is higher. The determination is deemed effective from 21 November 2025.