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As India celebrated GST Day on July 1, public attention rightly focused on one of independent India's most transformative economic reforms. Since its launch on 1 July 2017, the Goods and Services Tax has unified fragmented markets, widened the formal tax base, accelerated digitisation through e-invoicing and e-way bills, strengthened AI-driven compliance, and evolved into one of the world's largest technology-enabled tax ecosystems. Yet GST's most important evolution is no longer fiscal or administrative. It is strategic.
It is informed that various doubts, queries and representations received from taxpayers, trade, GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) and other stakeholders regarding the mandatory capture of the Ship-to field in E-Way Bills and the voluntary closure of E-Way Bills have been examined. Accordingly, a comprehensive set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) has been prepared to provide necessary clarifications on the applicable system validations, procedural requirements and manner of compliance. The stakeholders are requested to go through the FAQs for familiarisation with the applicable requirements, system validations and procedure to be followed.
India's gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose 13.9% year-on-year to Rs 1,94,812 crore in June 2026, compared with Rs 1,71,105 crore in the same month last year, according to provisional data released by the finance ministry on Wednesday. The increase was driven by higher domestic and import revenues. On a cumulative basis, gross GST collections in the April-June period of FY27 reached Rs 6,31,699 crore, an 8.4% increase over Rs 5,82,542 crore collected in the corresponding period last year.
Centre has extended the last date for filing appeals before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) to July 31, 2026, giving taxpayers an additional month to submit their cases after a surge in filings led to technical difficulties on the GSTAT portal. The extension applies to appeals filed under Section 112(1) read with Section 112(3) of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law. The revised deadline replaces the earlier cut-off of June 30, 2026, which had been notified by the government on September 17, 2025.
As India enters the tenth year of rollout of the Goods and Services Tax, the focus is shifting from implementation to efficiency through use of artificial intelligence, data sharing and process simplification to reduce compliance costs, speed up refunds and tighten enforcement. The government is increasingly using technology to simplify compliance, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), while integrating GST, income tax and customs databases to improve risk assessment, curb tax evasion, and reduce manual intervention.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said that when a registered taxpayer shifts or transfers its principal place of business from one tax jurisdiction to another, the new jurisdictional authority will take over and handle all pending proceedings related to the taxpayer. Any action or proceeding like investigation, audit, show cause notice, adjudication under the Central GST law undertaken by the tax officer having jurisdiction over the registered taxpayer on the date such action was undertaken (transferor jurisdictional authority), would remain valid even if the taxpayer subsequently shifts to another tax jurisdiction (transferee jurisdictional authority).
With an eye on Karnataka becoming the state with the highest GST growth this financial year, chief minister DK Shivakumar directed commercial taxes department officials to crack down on tax evasion while ensuring honest taxpayers are treated with dignity. At a review meeting Friday, Shivakumar said Karnataka had achieved 9% GST growth up to May 2026, second only to Telangana's 10%, while outperforming Uttar Pradesh (8%), Tamil Nadu (7%), Maharashtra (5%) and Gujarat (5%).
Punjab finance, planning, and excise & taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday said the state govt has intensified its recovery drive against tax defaulters by initiating public auctions of properties belonging to "chronic VAT and GST evaders." "In a decisive move to recover long-pending dues, the excise and taxation department has carried out three major property auctions, recovering significant amounts from businesses and individuals who failed to clear liabilities despite repeated notices," the minister said.
Reference is invited to the GSTN Advisory dated 20.05.2026 regarding enhancements in the e-Way Bill system, wherein it was informed that “Ship-to GSTIN” shall be mandatorily captured in Bill-to/Ship-to transactions. It was also clarified that where the consignee is an unregistered person, the value “URP” shall be entered in the Ship-to GSTIN field. In this regard, representations have been received from trade, ERP vendors, GSPs, ASPs, private IRPs and other stakeholders seeking clarification on the applicability of the said requirement in cases where e-Way Bill is generated along with e-Invoice or by using IRN. Representations have also been received regarding the Voluntary Closure of e-Way Bill facility and its impact on portal-based and API-based operations.Accordingly, an advisory has been issued to apprise stakeholders of the corresponding changes introduced in the e-Invoice API, e-Way Bill by IRN API and EWB Closure API. It has also been informed that the aforesaid changes have been made available in the Sandbox environment for testing and system preparedness. The changes are scheduled to be implemented in the Production environment with effect from 1st August, 2026.
The GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has fixed June 30 as the deadline for filing appeals against GST orders passed before April 1, 2026, and no appeals will be accepted after the portal closes, GSTAT Bihar vice-president Manoj Shankar said at an awareness programme organised by the Bihar Industries Association (BIA) in Patna on Tuesday. Addressing industrialists, traders, tax professionals and taxpayers, Shankar said GSTATS are now operational across the country and urged eligible taxpayers to file appeals well before the deadline to avoid last-minute difficulties.
Reference is invited to the GSTN Advisory dated 20.05.2026, wherein it was informed that the following functionalities would be implemented in the E-Way Bill system with effect from 15th June, 2026: 1. Mandatory capture of "Ship To GSTIN" in Bill-To/Ship-To transactions; and 2. Voluntary Closure of E-Way Bill functionality. Representations have been received from trade and industry seeking extension of the implementation timeline, citing the requirement of system changes, testing, API/ERP readiness and master data updation across the taxpayer ecosystem. In view of the above, and to facilitate smooth transition and adequate preparedness by taxpayers, GSPs, ERP providers and other stakeholders, it has been decided to extend the implementation timeline for both the above functionalities.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is drafting rules to operationalise Section 11A of the CGST Act, a provision that allows the government, on the GST Council's recommendation, to waive tax dues for an industry in exceptional cases, according to two government sources familiar with the matter.
