Goods and Services Tax

Classification of paper bags rests on tariff heading and biodegradability; lacking proof, bags attract the standard 18% GST rate.
Case-Laws
GST
Paper bags composed of paper/paperboard are classifiable under Chapter 48's packing containers heading and, absent evidence of biodegradability, do not qualify for the concessional 5% rate for “Paper Sacks/Bags and bio-degradable bags.” Carton-specific entry for corrugated/non-corrugated cartons is inapplicable to bags. The product falls in the

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Classification of polymer bags: concessional GST applies only if biodegradable; authority cannot determine biodegradability; certification insufficient alone.
Case-Laws
GST
Classification turns on the material and HSN heading: the bags are classified under Chapter 39 (plastics, heading 3923) regardless of claimed compostability. The Authority finds a compostability certificate was produced but holds it lacks competence to verify scientific biodegradability or the sufficiency of testing

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Input Tax Credit: foundation and structural supports can be plant and machinery, but no ruling where work was already completed.
Case-Laws
GST
Advance ruling maintainability and ITC eligibility are considered for construction of foundations and structural supports for heavy machinery. The Explanation to section 17 treats foundation and structural supports as part of ''plant and machinery'' (excluding land, buildings and similar civil structures), making them potentially eligible for ITC

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Extension of Time for Appeal: grant of time with protection from dismissal on limitation and merits adjudication.
Case-Laws
GST
Extension of time for filing the appeal granted until 16-3-2026 with express protection that if filed by that date the appeal shall not be dismissed on limitation and shall be adjudicated on merits; pre-deposit requirement for the statutory appeal does not preclude this relief as the petition is disposed of on that basis. The court declined to interfere with th

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Interest computation now uses minimum cash balance; portal auto populates non editable minimum interest while taxpayers may increase it.
News
GST
From January 2026 the portal's GSTR 3B filing is enhanced: interest is computed using the net tax liability minus the minimum cash balance in the Electronic Cash Ledger from the return due date to payment date (per proviso to Rule 88B(1)), and that system computed interest in table 5.1 will be auto populated as a non editable minimum while tax

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Medical grounds for bail: release ordered where investigation is complete, subject to sureties and passport surrender.
Case-Laws
GST
Bail was granted on medical grounds where investigation was reported complete and custodial interrogation was not required; the petition cited completed probe despite recovery of incriminating physical and digital evidence indicating tax evasion under the GST Act. The court accepted petitioner's documented MRI diagnosis and advised neurosurgery and directe

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Validity of service after registration cancellation requires alternative service; fresh notice and entitlement to personal hearing follow.
Case-Laws
GST
Validity of service by uploading a show-cause notice on the common GST portal after cancellation of registration was treated as deficient; the prevailing principle requires alternative modes of service where registration is cancelled, following prior authority. The impugned adjudication order issued after portal-only service was quashed

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Remand for fresh adjudication subject to a 10% deposit and filing a reply; ledger debits allowed during attachment.
Case-Laws
GST
The High Court found the impugned order was passed by the State Tax Officer rather than the Commissioner and remitted the matter for fresh adjudication on merits; remand is conditional on the petitioner depositing 10% of the disputed tax (confirmed in the impugned order) in cash or from the Electronic Cash Ledger within 30 days and filing a substantive reply

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Arbitration Agreement Separability: arbitrator fees attract reverse charge on payment, arbitration cost reimbursements are not taxable.
Case-Laws
GST
Doctrine of Separability: the arbitration agreement is autonomous and survives invalidity or termination of the underlying contract. Liquidated damages are pre estimated contractual compensation for breach. Section 142(2)(a) applies only where there is an upward price revision pursuant to contracts entered before 01.07.2017 and requires is

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Tobacco leaves retain character after curing, grading or butting, so they qualify for concessional GST classification.
Case-Laws
GST
Cured, graded or butted tobacco leaves retain the essential character of tobacco leaves and therefore fall under tariff heading 240110 as 'tobacco, not stemmed or stripped'. Curing, grading and removal of butts are treated as non transformative physical operations that do not convert leaves into stemmed/stripped tobacco; accordingly such supplies qualify f

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Classification of Parts: condenser fans supplied for air conditioning machines are classed as parts of air conditioning machines, not industrial fans.
Case-Laws
GST
The note on parts classification requires parts that are goods included in a chapter heading or are suitable solely or principally for a particular machine to be classified with that machine; applying this, condenser fans and blowers used as components of bus rooftop or vehicle air conditioning systems function to expel hot

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Goods classification: printed reproductions on acrylic and wood take the essential character of the picture-frame and keychain classified accordingly.
Case-Laws
GST
Classification rests on the essential character and Chapter 49 notes: printed reproductions (including photos reproduced by UV printing) fall under printed matter heading 4911 when not more specifically covered elsewhere, and frames of a kind and value normal to the picture form part of the picture; accordingly the UV-printe

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Attention : Update on Advisory on Interest Collection and Related Enhancements in GSTR-3B
GST
Dated:- 20-2-2026

In continuation to the advisory posted on the GST Portal on 30th January, 2026 on the above subject, it is hereby informed that the functionality to utilise CGST or SGST ITC for payment of IGST liability, in any order of payment after complete exhaustion of IGST Credit (ref point no 3 of the advisory), shall be available from February-2026 period.

 Advisory on Interest Collection and Related Enhancements in GSTR-3B

It is hereby informed that from January-2026 period onwards, the following enhancement have been made in filing of GSTR-3B:

Update in Interest Computation for GSTR-3B

From January-2026 tax

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x (No. of days delayed / 365) x Applicable Interest Rate

1. System-Computed Interest in Table 5.1:

The interest auto-populated on the basis of the revised computational formula mentioned above, in table 5.1 of GSTR-3B shall be non-editable and taxpayers would not be allowed to amend the auto-populated values downward. It may be noted that the interest auto-populated in GSTR-3B is only the minimum interest that is required to be paid by the taxpayer. However, the taxpayers needed to self-assess their correct interest liability, and amend the auto populated values upward, if required.

2. Auto-Population of Tax Liability Breakup Table in GSTR-3B

The 'tax liability breakup table' in GSTR-3B capture the supplies of previous tax perio

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modify upwards these values based on their own records and computations, if required.

The auto-populated breakup can be viewed at:

Login → GSTR-3B Dashboard → Table 6.1 (Payment of Tax) → Tax Liability Breakup

3. Update in Table 6.1 – Suggestive Cross-Utilization of ITC

From January-2026 period onwards, once the available IGST ITC has been fully exhausted, the GST Portal will allow to pay IGST liability in Table 6.1 of GSTR-3B using available CGST and SGST ITC in any sequence,

4. Collection of Interest in GSTR-10 for Delayed Filing of Last Applicable GSTR-3B

In case of cancelled taxpayers, if the last applicable GSTR-3B return has been filed after the due date, then the interest applicable on such delayed fi

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Nodal Officer designation for GST intelligence under IGST Act section 14A(3) appointed, superseding prior notification and now in force.
Notifications
GST
Central Government designates the Principal Additional Director General/Additional Director General (Intelligence) of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence Headquarters as the nodal officer for implementation of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2025 in relation t

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Suspension pending disciplinary inquiry: prima facie misconduct from chronology, suspension not to continue and inquiry to proceed.
Case-Laws
GST
Suspension pending disciplinary inquiry is evaluated through a prima facie assessment of misconduct based on the chronology of events; the timeline showed an adverse inspection report pre-dating a fraudulent input tax credit claim, supporting initial misconduct findings. The article emphasises that departmental proceedings must be completed wi

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Appellate remand prohibition: remanding GST matters back to adjudicating authority is impermissible, petitioner need not be relegated.
Case-Laws
GST
Appellate remand power under Section 107(11) was challenged and the court found that the appellate authority's practice of remitting matters back to the adjudicating authority is impermissible; consequently the court refused to direct the writ petitioner to pursue relief before the GST appellate forum. The court noted connected orders dated

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Composite GST notices for multiple years can be quashed; fresh year wise notices permitted and pendency excluded from limitation.
Case-Laws
GST
The note examines sustainability of composite notices issued under the CGST/SGST scheme for multiple assessment years, holding that the concept of a “valid return” and the limitation linked to the financial year constrain multi year adjudication. It recognises that officers may investigate instances spanning years but stresses that consolidated

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Limitation for filing appeal paused when certified adjudication order is supplied; appeal to be filed and decided on merits.
Case-Laws
GST
High Court directed petitioner to file an appeal under the Finance Act, 1994 within fifteen days and ordered that if the appeal is filed within that period the appellate authority shall not raise limitation objection because a certified copy of the adjudication order was supplied; petitioner must file the certified copy with the Appellate Authority w

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Manual Filing of Appeal: appellate offices must accept manual appeals when the e filing portal prevents electronic submission.
Case-Laws
GST
Where an appellant cannot upload an appeal on the common electronic portal because the portal refuses filing absent deposit of a separate demand item, the office must accept a manually filed appeal; the core legal point is that a technical or procedural barrier on the e filing system that prevents initiation of an appeal constitutes a valid ground

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Penalty for false import declarations requires specific pointed findings and a fresh, reasoned hearing before penalties impose.
Case-Laws
GST
Sections 112(a), 112(b) and 114AA are characterised as onerous penalty provisions and require the department to make specific, pointed findings establishing serious violations and an intention to evade duty before imposing penalties; mere reliance on a retracted statement and bills of entry without detailing the petitioner's role, the false declar

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Input Tax Credit pass-through ensured: respondent found to have passed on GST benefit; remaining small payment to buyers to be made.
Case-Laws
GST
Respondent passed on the benefit of additional input tax credit to home-buyers, satisfying the anti-profiteering obligation by providing a commensurate reduction in price; the investigative report acknowledged this pass-through except for a residual payment owed to seven buyers, which the respondent agreed to remit. The tribunal accepted the

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Classification by essential character distinguishes shaving cream and shaving foam; cream attracts concessional rate, foam attracts higher rate.
Case-Laws
GST
Classification by essential character determines that both shaving cream and shaving foam fall under HSN heading 3307 but occupy different subheadings: shaving cream is classifiable under tariff item 33071010 while shaving foam falls under 33071090. A conjoint reading of Schedule I and Schedule II entries in the concessional rate

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Tripura tea auction centre likely to be operational by April: official
GST
Dated:- 19-2-2026
PTI
Agartala, Feb 19 (PTI) The proposed tea auction centre in Tripura is likely to be made operational by April, an official said on Thursday.

Chief Minister Manik Saha had laid the foundation stone for the state's first tea auction centre at Gurkhabasti in West Tripura district in March, 2024. At present, the country has seven tea auction centres.

“We have set a target to operationalise the first tea auction centre at Gurkhabasti by April,” Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) chairman Samir Ranjan Ghosh told PTI.

He said buyers have been seeking a transport subsidy to make the auction centre viable, and paying heed to th

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Habeas Corpus: unlawful remand and failure to provide grounds of arrest justify writ relief and set aside remand.
Case-Laws
GST
Habeas corpus petition found maintainable where remand order was not in accordance with law, rendering the arrest illegal; court applied the “reasons to believe” standard to assess whether arrest relied on credible evidence or mere suspicion and found remand record silent on that inquiry, undermining exercise of arrest powers under the special statute. Failure

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Territorial jurisdiction for writs upheld where account debit freeze occurred within limits; bank directed to restore account operation.
Case-Laws
GST
Territorial jurisdiction under Article 226(2) is satisfied because the principal cause of action-the debit freezing of the petitioner's bank account-arose within the Court's territorial limits, permitting a writ petition challenging that freeze. The court applied the principle that a legal right infringed within territorial limits support

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