Zero-rated supply under GST: exporters may claim IGST or unutilized input tax credit refunds subject to prescribed procedures.
Exports are treated as zero-rated supply allowing either refund of integrated tax paid or refund of unutilized input tax credit when supplies are made under bond or LUT. Shipping bills constitute refund applications for exported goods subject to a valid return; other zero-rated claims must use the prescribed electronic form and be supported by specified statements and documents. Authorities must accept physical submissions where required, limit document demands to prescribed items, rectify data mismatches through return amendment procedures, and avoid withholding refunds for minor procedural lapses. (AI Summary)

Job work under GST: principals may send inputs tax-free subject to documentation, return timelines and deemed-supply consequences.
Job work under GST permits a registered principal to send inputs or capital goods to a job worker without payment of tax, subject to intimation, delivery challan and FORM GST ITC-04 filing, and return or supply from the job worker's premises within prescribed time limits; failure to comply results in the movement being deemed a supply by the principal with tax and interest consequences. Job work services are taxable as supply of services, scrap may be sold by a registered job worker, and input tax credit remains available to the principal even when goods are sent directly to the job worker. (AI Summary)

Maintenance of books and records under GST requires detailed ledgers, electronic logs and multi-year retention for compliance.
Maintenance and retention of books and supporting records are mandatory under GST and must be kept at the principal place(s) of business. Registered persons must record production, inward and outward supplies, stock, input tax credit, output tax and prescribed particulars; electronic records are permitted with edit/delete logs. Separate ledgers for CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST and Compensation Cess (including electronic liability, credit and cash accounts) and accounts for outward/inward supplies, production, services and works contracts must be maintained. Records must be retained for 72 months from the due date of annual return, with extended retention for appeals or investigations. (AI Summary)

GST rates for construction services establish differentiated categories and conditions, with input tax credit restrictions and land valuation rule.
The notification establishes GST rates and conditionalities for categorized construction services and works contracts, differentiating composite supplies, services to government or government entities, subcontractor supplies, earthwork-dominant contracts and specified public-purpose or affordable housing projects; it prescribes that land transferred with construction be valued as one third of the total charged for specified items and provides that rates conditioned on non-availability of input tax credit require exclusive-credit non-claim and reversal treatment for partly used inputs. (AI Summary)

IGST on sale of warehoused imported goods treated as inter State supply; supplier must discharge IGST before ex bond clearance.
Sale or transfer of imported goods remaining in a customs bonded warehouse is a supply and, if made before goods cross the customs frontier, is an inter State supply subject to IGST. The seller is liable to pay IGST on value determined under IGST/CGST valuation provisions; customs duties remain deferred while goods are in bond and become payable on ex bonding, with the ex bonder liable for deferred customs duties. IGST paid on the in bond sale may be available as input tax credit to the purchaser. (AI Summary)

GST on net retained feedstock clarified: levy confined to quantity manufacturers retain, not total supply.
The GST Council clarified that where refineries supply polybutylene feedstock and liquefied petroleum gas through pipelines and manufacturers return excess, the refinery's GST liability is measured on the value of the net quantity retained by the manufacturer, not on the total quantity supplied. (AI Summary)

Input tax credit restrictions limit builders' ability to claim GST credit on construction, requiring attribution and reversals.
Restrictions deny builders full entitlement to input tax credit where works contract services or goods/services are received for construction of immovable property on the builder's own account; credit is allowed only for the portion attributable to taxable construction services, common inputs must be attributed between taxable and exempt supplies, and a statutory time limit for claiming credit plus required reversals after completion/occupation constrain availment and may force cash discharge for previously availed credit. (AI Summary)

GST return compliance schedule: phased filing obligations require specific returns and declarations under staggered deadlines.
Phased GST filing obligations require different classes of registered persons to submit designated returns and declarations within specified due-date windows under rollout notifications. GSTR-3B functions as the interim monthly summary return for all registered persons; GSTR-1 details outward supplies with quarterly relief for smaller taxpayers and monthly submission for larger taxpayers. Specialised filings include GSTR-5, GSTR-5A, GST ITC-01, and GST CMP-03, each tied to taxpayer status and prescribed notification deadlines. (AI Summary)

Payment of tax with interest bars issuance of a show cause notice if the taxpayer timely intimates the proper officer.
Where a person pays tax with interest on self-ascertainment and informs the proper officer, the officer must consider that payment and may not issue a notice or statement in respect of the tax so paid; adjudication orders should record and examine payments, call for bank statements where necessary, and avoid proceeding in a cryptic or arbitrary manner that ignores documentary proof of payment. (AI Summary)

Duty-free importation permitted for pre-existing advance authorization imports, subject to Customs verification and IGST undertaking.
Permits duty-free imports to fulfil export orders under valid Advance Authorization licences issued before 1st July, 2017, conditioned on Customs verification of conformity with licence quantity and value and on availability of input tax credit. Clearance requires an affidavit undertaking to pay IGST with interest if the petitioner fails in the writ petition or fails to meet export obligations, and submission to Customs of lists of valid AAs and pre-1st July export orders. Direction applies only to imports for export orders placed prior to 1st July, 2017. (AI Summary)

GST on under construction property transfers: taxability hinges on timing of consideration and treatment as construction services.
GST is payable on transfers of under construction flats treated as construction services when consideration is received before completion or occupancy; transfers where full consideration is received only after completion or first occupation are not taxable. Time of supply is determined under Sections 12-13 and is often fixed when flats are identified, handed over, or recognised in accounts. Valuation uses Section 15 and Rule 27 for part money consideration. Input tax credit is available only for taxable supplies and is restricted or disallowed for construction of immovable property under Section 17, requiring reversals when supplies are exempt. (AI Summary)

Taxability of transferable development rights: exclusive permanent transfers treated as sale of immovable property, licences treated as taxable services.
Where exclusive, permanent and irrevocable development rights are transferred to a developer, those rights create an interest in land and amount to a sale or transfer of immovable property rather than a license; licences, leases, tenancies and easements of vacant land are treated as taxable services. When the developer gives flats to the landowner as consideration, the developer is providing construction services and is liable for GST on the value of those services, including on the owner's share received in kind. (AI Summary)

GST return due dates clarified for different registrant categories and return types under notified schedules.
The schedule sets GST return due dates by registrant category and return form, distinguishing regular taxable persons by turnover, composition scheme holders, non resident taxable persons, suppliers of online information/database services, input service distributors, and job worker transactions. Each category is assigned specific forms (GSTR 3B, GSTR 1, GSTR 4, GSTR 5, GSTR 5A, GSTR 6, GST ITC 04, GST TRAN 1) with deadlines anchored to specified notifications and orders; several returns will be notified for subsequent months and phased implementation is indicated. (AI Summary)

GST applicability on processed agricultural products clarified: warehousing exemption excludes finished tea, coffee, jaggery and split pulses.
Only unprocessed produce arising directly from cultivation or rearing qualifies for the nil-rated exemption on loading, unloading, packing, storage and warehousing; processed outputs such as finished tea, processed coffee, jaggery, dehusked or split pulses, processed spices, processed dry fruits and processed cashew nuts are excluded and not exempt. Input tax credit on aircraft engines, parts and accessories is available for inter-state stock transfers between distinct persons despite restrictions on credit for certain passenger transport services. Insurance services fully paid for by government and specified government-to-individual services are exempt from GST. (AI Summary)

Composite supply classification: principal supply rule decides whether printing outputs are taxed as goods or as services under GST.
Goods taken out on approval can be transported on delivery challan (and e way bill if applicable) and invoiced upon acceptance; inter state movements attract IGST. Printing contracts are composite supplies: where content is supplied by the recipient and physical inputs belong to the printer, the principal supply is a service; where the predominant element is the printed good, the supply is of goods. GST on SKO retained for n paraffin is payable by the refinery on the net retained quantity; returned SKO is taxable only when supplied onward. Unstitched fabric pieces retain classification under Chapters 50-55 and the applicable GST rate. (AI Summary)

Arm's Length Pricing: align GST valuation with transfer pricing to reduce mismatches and litigation.
The article identifies the need to align GST valuation rules for supplies between distinct or related persons with Income Tax transfer pricing principles. It summarizes that Rule 28 prescribes a hierarchy-open market value, like-kind value, then Rule 30 (cost-plus) or Rule 31 (residual)-with a resale-price option for onward sale and an invoice-declaration proviso where the recipient has full input tax credit. It highlights practical difficulties in comparability analysis, absence of tolerance under GST compared with transfer pricing tolerances, and evidentiary issues when transfer pricing adjustments affect GST treatment, including zero-rated supplies. (AI Summary)

Reverse charge liability timing: recipient pays GST when the time of supply occurs, based on payment or invoice rule.
Reverse charge shifts GST liability to the recipient for notified supplies and for supplies from unregistered persons to registered recipients. Time of supply under RCM for services is the earlier of payment (or bank debit) or the day after sixty days from invoice; for goods it is receipt, payment (or bank debit), or the day after thirty days from invoice. A deferment notification exempts specified supplies from RCM for its deferment period, so a recipient must check whether the time of supply falls on or before the notification cut off to determine RCM liability. (AI Summary)

GST exemptions and reverse charge rules updated, with revised government entity exemptions and transitional compliance measures.
Notifications implement GST Council recommendations expanding exemptions (inter state supplies from unregistered suppliers; broadened government entity and governmental authority exemptions; new exemptions for grant funded services, goods transport agency services to unregistered recipients, and road/bridge access by annuity), amend reverse charge entries (including specified services and goods supplied by government entities and services to the Reserve Bank), adjust tax rates and motor vehicle/cess treatment with transitional conditions, and revise procedural rules, filing deadlines and composition thresholds to effect the changes. (AI Summary)

Declared tariff determines GST slab for accommodation while GST is charged on the actual transaction value collected.
GST on accommodation and hospitality services is governed by the declared tariff per unit per day to determine the applicable rate slab while GST is payable on the actual transaction value charged; highest declared tariff applies where multiple declarations exist, seasonal or dynamic tariffs use the tariff for the period of supply, discounts change the taxable amount but not the slab, and inpatient room rent in hospitals is exempt. Casino admission and betting are taxed on the full admission or bet value; restaurant, catering and takeaway supplies fall into slabs determined by air-conditioning, liquor licence and venue rental; ITC, reverse charge for electronic commerce operators, inter-state branch transfers and transitional credit rules are addressed. (AI Summary)

Tax Deduction at Source on government contracts requires specified public authorities to deduct tax when contract value exceeds threshold.
Section 51 creates a statutory Tax Deduction at Source framework requiring specified public authorities and notified entities to deduct tax at source at one per cent on contract payments (value excluding GST) where contract value exceeds the threshold. Deductors must register, deposit deducted tax by the 10th of the following month, issue a prescribed TDS certificate, and file Form GSTR 7; failures attract interest, late fees and recovery. Exclusions apply for non taxable or exempt supplies, certain location combinations, and where reverse charge or notifications remove liability; excess deductions are refundable unless credited to the supplier's electronic cash ledger. (AI Summary)