Boss scam, or CEO impersonation fraud, uses malicious WhatsApp attachments and impersonation of regulatory officials or company executives to obtain control of WhatsApp sessions and issue fraudulent payment instructions. The alleged network supplied SIM cards, dummy SIMs, WhatsApp accounts and one-time passwords to cyber-fraud operators, illustrating a Cybercrime as a Service model. Preventive measures include avoiding suspicious ZIP, executable, library and APK files and independently verifying all financial-transfer requests.

The time limit for registered persons required to deduct tax at source to furnish FORM GSTR-7 returns for the periods from October 2018 through July 2019 is extended until 31 August 2019. The extension operates under the return-filing and tax-deduction-at-source provisions and the prescribed GSTR-7 procedure. Earlier specified State Tax notifications are superseded, without affecting actions already taken or omitted before supersession.

GST treatment of motor-vehicle salvage depends on contractual ownership after claim settlement. Where the insurer deducts agreed salvage value from a total-loss claim, salvage remains with the insured; the deduction is a contractual deductible, not consideration for a supply by the insurer, and no GST liability arises for the insurer. Where the insurer settles the claim for the full declared vehicle value without a salvage deduction, salvage becomes the insurer's property. The insurer must discharge outward GST on its subsequent sale or supply of that salvage.

The amendments require multiplex cinema-service suppliers to issue electronic tickets deemed to be tax invoices, while allowing non-multiplex suppliers to use that procedure optionally. They establish electronic application and order forms for surrender and cancellation of GST practitioner enrolment, extend the record-retention period, and prescribe an application-and-reasoned-order process for unblocking e-way bill generation. Refund Statement 5B is revised for deemed-export claims to capture relevant supply documents, supplier identification and tax-paid details.

Cash credits require verification of each creditor's identity, genuineness and creditworthiness; where additional material is accepted without further inquiry and adequate opportunity was lacking, fresh assessment verification is required. Repairs and renovation of leased premises are revenue expenditure where they create no capital asset for the taxpayer. Irrecoverable advances to a related subsidiary may be deductible where the write-off has a direct business nexus. Reliably estimated warranty obligations are allowable business liabilities, not contingent liabilities. Costs of an unsuccessful acquisition bid for expansion within the existing business may retain revenue character. Dealer incentives and discounts do not attract tax deduction where dealers purchase and resell independently rather than act as agents.

Departmental GST appeals, applications and special leave petitions are subject to prescribed monetary thresholds, while every proposed appeal must also be considered on merits. The disputed amount is determined according to whether the dispute concerns tax, interest, penalty, late fee or erroneous refund; composite orders are assessed on the aggregate disputed amount. Thresholds do not apply to constitutional or statutory validity issues, valuation, classification, refunds, place of supply, recurring or interpretative issues, adverse strictures or costs, and matters requiring contest in the interest of justice or revenue. Non-filing solely on monetary grounds creates no precedent or departmental acquiescence.

Pre-amendment Section 35FF governed refund of a pre-deposit made before 6 August 2014 under the saving proviso to the amended provision. Interest became payable only if the refundable pre-deposit was not returned within three months from communication of the appellate order. Where the amount deposited in 2005 was refunded within three months of the refund application after the demand was set aside, no interest was payable.

Warranty replacement treatment applies to replacement of entire goods as well as parts. Where a distributor replaces goods or parts from its own stock on behalf of a manufacturer and receives replenishment without separate consideration, no GST is payable on replenishment and the manufacturer need not reverse input tax credit. Extended warranty supplied by a person different from the goods supplier is a separate supply of services. Extended warranty supplied after the original sale is also a distinct taxable supply of services.

Section 13 of the Telangana Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2020 is brought into force with effect from 1 September 2019 under the State Government's commencement power.

Before section 142A(2) took effect on 1 October 2014, a reference to the Departmental Valuation Officer for estimating undisclosed construction investment required prior rejection of the assessee's books of account. Where the books were not rejected, the valuation reference and resulting report could not support additions for unexplained investment under section 69B; the valuation-based additions were therefore unsustainable. Grounds concerning valuation and related claims, left undecided as academic after deletion of the additions, required merits adjudication after affording opportunity. The deletion remained sustained, while unresolved grounds were restored to the appellate authority for decision on merits.

Prepayment charges are prohibited for part or full repayment of qualifying floating-rate loans availed by individual borrowers for non-business purposes and sanctioned or renewed on or after 1 January 2026. Compulsory lock-in periods cannot restrict prepayment of such loans. Fixed-rate personal loans may still attract prepayment or foreclosure charges under lender policy and contractual terms. Borrowers should check the loan's rate type, sanction letter, loan agreement and key fact statement, where applicable, and compare applicable charges with potential interest savings before early repayment.

Penalty proceedings under Section 271(1)(c) require a notice under Section 274 to specify whether the charge is concealment of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars. These are distinct defaults, and retaining both limbs in a standard printed notice without striking out the inapplicable limb fails to provide a clear opportunity to respond. Such ambiguity indicates non-application of mind and breaches principles of natural justice. Because penalty proceedings are separate from assessment proceedings, material in the assessment record cannot cure a defective penalty notice. An unspecified notice is invalid and the consequential penalty is unsustainable.

Penalty for furnishing inaccurate particulars is not leviable merely because travelling expenses are disallowed where an identical penalty was deleted in an earlier assessment year and no factual or legal distinction exists. Penalty is also not attracted by a transfer-pricing adjustment on settlement advances where the transactions, amounts and reimbursement basis were disclosed in Form 3CEB, and no particulars were found false or inaccurate. Failure to benchmark settlement advances with interest, without inaccurate disclosure or misrepresentation, does not itself justify penalty. The penalties relating to both issues remain deleted.

Input tax credit reversal is not required for the portion of premium excluded from taxable value under rule 32(4) of the Gujarat GST Rules for taxable life insurance policies. Premium allocated towards investment or savings is excluded under the prescribed valuation mechanism, but this exclusion does not make that amount an exempt or non-taxable supply. Since life insurance service remains taxable and is neither nil-rated nor wholly exempt, the input tax credit restrictions applicable to exempt supplies do not apply to the excluded premium portion.

Additional IGST paid following an upward revision in the price of exported goods may be refunded through an electronic FORM GST RFD-01 claim processed by the jurisdictional GST officer. Pending a dedicated portal category, the claim is filed under "Any other" with specified remarks, Statements 9A and 9B, and supporting proof. Eligibility requires verification of export and debit-note reporting, payment of additional IGST and interest, revised value, and additional foreign-exchange remittance. Claims are subject to the statutory minimum threshold and applicable two-year filing period.

Reassessment under Section 147 may validly proceed on specific investigation material, search material and statements identifying an assessee as a beneficiary of alleged accommodation-entry loans; such material can establish reason to believe that income escaped assessment. However, Section 68 additions cannot be sustained where the assessee provides confirmations, bank statements, tax returns, financial statements, ledger accounts and affidavits supporting the identity, creditworthiness and genuineness of lenders, and the Assessing Officer neither investigates nor disproves that evidence. The loan credits must be deleted, and related interest disallowances cannot survive, requiring recomputation of assessed income.

TDS/TCS refund mechanisms distinguish claims by deductees or collectees from those by deductors or collectors. A deductee or collectee claims TDS/TCS credit through the return of income and receives refund where credit exceeds final tax liability. A deductor's refund is limited to excess deposits and prescribed circumstances, including duplicate deposits, clerical or computational errors, and incorrect challan payments. Rule 219(6) requires the deductor to submit Form No. 139 electronically for sums deposited under Chapter XIX-B. Form No. 139 cannot be used by a deductee or collectee.

Corporate guarantees supplied between related persons to banking companies or financial institutions are taxable services, with valuation under Rule 28(2) applying to guarantees issued or renewed on or after 26 October 2023. Value is one per cent per annum of the guaranteed amount or actual consideration, whichever is higher, and is based on the amount guaranteed rather than loan disbursal. Domestic guarantees attract forward charge, while guarantees by overseas related entities to Indian recipients attract reverse charge. Full input tax credit permits invoice value to be deemed the supply value.

RoDTEP scheme amendments remove specified conditions concerning transferee-holders of duty credit scrips. Corresponding Electronic Duty Credit Ledger provisions extend the validity of RoDTEP scrips from one year to two years from the date of generation.

Zeeba has refreshed its packaging and appointed Chef Vikas Khanna as global brand ambassador to support expansion in India. Its "Aisa Basmati Nahi Dekha" campaign positions the brand around export-quality Basmati rice, consistency, authenticity and a superior culinary experience. Promotional activity will extend across digital, retail and consumer touchpoints. The premium Basmati range is described as carefully sourced, naturally aged and processed according to global quality standards, with emphasis on grain quality, authentic taste, purity and consistency.