Taxmann's Your Queries on GST 2.0 book by Kishore Harjani

Your Queries on GST 2.0 is a practitioner's manual for the 2025 rate rationalisation and compliance reset. Framed entirely as answers to practical queries, it translates the 56^th GST Council decisions (September 2025) into actionable steps for pricing, documentation, credits, transitions, and consumer-facing obligations. The book explains the shift from the earlier four-tier system (5/12/18/28%) to a streamlined two-tier structure (5% and 18%), alongside a special 40% slab for demerit/luxury goods and specific services, and shows how this plays out across food, education, health, textiles, automobiles, energy, construction, electronics, local delivery and gaming/casinos. Each chapter combines statutes, rules, judicial precedents, circulars/press notes, and worked illustrations, allowing readers to transition from 'what changed' to 'how to implement today'.

This book is intended for the following audience:

• Indirect Tax Consultants & Litigation Teams needing sector-wise rate maps, anti-profiteering positions and transition treatments
• CFOs/Tax Heads & In-house GST Teams who must recast MRPs, pass on benefits, re-paper contracts, adjust credits, and cleanly handle returns/re-invoicing
• Accountants & CA/CMA/CS preparing returns, audits and reconciliations where time-of-supply and credit rules intersect with rate change
• Sector Stakeholders in FMCG, pharma/medical, education, textiles, auto, electronics, logistics/GTA, hotels, e-commerce, local delivery/ECO and entertainment
• Consumer-facing Brands & Legal/Metrology Teams implementing MRP changes and disclosures under Legal Metrology and NPPA directions

The Present Publication is the October 2025 Edition, incorporating Notifications issued on 17-09-2025. It is authored by CA. Kishore Harjani, with the following noteworthy features:

• [Sector-wise Impact Mapped with HSN-wise Tables] Crisp 'What changed/What remains the same' tables for goods and services—so teams can re-tag SKUs and services quickly
• [Anti-profiteering & Consumer-law Alignment] How to evidence 'commensurate reduction', what survives via CPA/CCI, and how to handle grammage vs. price in low-price packs
• [MRP under Legal Metrology & NPPA] Revised price stickers, unit-price rounding, sector exceptions (scheduled drugs), and communication duties down the chain
• [Credit & Cash-flow Clarity] When to reverse ITC on exemption (Sec. 18(4)/Rule 44), why refund of accumulated ITC is limited after mere rate cuts, and how inverted duty refunds work
• [Transition 'Edge Cases'] Pre/post-change supplies, advances, returns, credit notes vs. financial credit notes (when recipient hasn't reversed ITC), re-invoicing, long-term fixed-price contracts
• [E-way Bill Continuity] Confirms no re-issue needed for goods already in transit; validity unaffected by rate change
• [Official FAQs, Worked Examples & Matrices] Consolidated Government clarifications across insurance, hotels/beauty services (5% without ITC), job work (5%/18%), multimodal transport, ECO/local delivery, automobiles, beverages, textiles and renewables
• [Annexures] CBIC price-tracking format; Legal Metrology permissions/waivers; NPPA instructions for drugs/devices; extended packaging-material usage timelines
• [Author Credibility] CA. Kishore Harjani brings two decades of indirect-tax practice across multiple sectors, Big-4 engagements, government trainings, and prior authorship on classification, tariff and FTP—assuring both depth and practicality
• [Use Cases] Ideal as a desk-companion for price-reset programmes, statutory audits, consumer-law exposure reviews, and Board-level briefings on GST 2.0's commercial impact

The coverage of the book is as follows:

• Chapter 1 – Introduction
• Places GST 2.0 in context, recaps the July 2017 rollout, and explains the 56th Council Meeting (3 Sept 2025) that drove rationalisation; includes the '7 Pillars' visual
• Chapter 2 – What has Changed/What Remains the Same
• The heart of the book's HSN‑linked rate tables. Examples:
• Automobiles – Most passenger vehicles/items shifted 28%→18%, but certain cars/motorcycles now 40%; EVs remain at 5%
• Common Household & Personal‑care Items – Tooth powder, feeding bottles, umbrellas, utensils (iron/copper/aluminium), bicycles & parts, napkins/diapers, toothbrushes—many moved 12/18%→5%
• Services – Specified gaming/actionable‑claim categories now at 40% with ITC; cultural/religious/public‑convenience services unchanged.
• Chapter 3 – General FAQs
• Explains why 12%/28% were removed, the new 5/18/40 structure, timelines (22 Sept 2025 effective date; treatment of tobacco while cess accounts are settled), and macro intent (inflation/demand)
• Chapter 4 – Whether To Pass on The Benefit
• Maps Section 171 principles to CPA 2019 and clarifies the CCI's empowerment (Dec 2022–Sept 2024) to examine profiteering when NAA wound down—plus what this means post‑April 2025
• Chapter 5 – How To Pass on The Benefit
• Mechanics—price revision, credit notes, discounts, MRP declaration—and how to talk about it (e.g., avoid implying it's merely 'voluntary compliance'). Includes e‑commerce platform liability if old MRPs remain online
• Chapter 6 – Impact on Accumulated ITC
• No ITC reversal merely because output rate falls; Rule 44 doesn't cover simple rate reductions—illustrated with a numeric example.
• IDS refunds—what Section 54(3) allows, how CBIC circulars evolved, and how courts read them (BMG Informatics; Baker Hughes; Shivaco; Micro Systems)
• Chapter 7 – Handling Transitional Challenges
• Section 14 clarified with tables for goods/services when supply, invoice, and payment fall on either side of 22‑09‑2025; detailed credit‑note treatment when returns/adjustments occur post‑change; fixed‑price contract nuances and AAR/HC case law (e.g., Universal MEP Projects)
• Chapter 8 – Modifying E‑way Bills for Goods in Transit
• Explains Rule 138 parts A/B, how systems auto‑populate rates by HSN, and—critically—that existing e‑way bills aren't invalidated and validity isn't affected by a rate change; cancellation/re‑generation isn't triggered solely by revised rates
• Chapter 9 – FAQs Issued by Government
• Conspectus of official clarifications—e.g., NPPA OMs confirm no recall/re‑labelling for medicines already released; just price‑list updates and retailer‑level compliance. Also includes job‑work rates (pharma/leather to 5% with ITC; residuary job‑work 18%; E&P offshore works contracts 18%)

The structure of the book is as follows:

• Each FAQ presents the issue → legal position (Act/Rules/Notifications/Circulars) → practical approach → documentation & evidence → worked example
• Cross-references to Council decisions, Legal Metrology, NPPA/DoP OMs, and CBIC instructions are embedded for implementation
• Sector-wise Rate Tables provide quick look-ups; matrices simplify time-of-supply during transition; illustrations cover MRP rounding and SKU-level benefit passing