Welcome to another Friday, chief!

In today’s edition — The GST department just flipped the switch on GSTR-3B. Starting this month, you cannot manually edit any data at the filing stage. However, in a different case, the Bombay High Court reminded the tax department that logic can still supersede rigid rules. 

Meanwhile, we reliably learn that there is a reason ultra rich people don’t use curtains. And it’s simpler and more straightforward than you think. Hang on, we’ll tell you all about it.

Automation Rules, So Does Logic

Vishwas Ved

This month brought two big updates on the GST front — one from the government, and one from a court.

First, the tax department has made it official that there will be no more manual edits in Table 3.2 of GSTR-3B (monthly GST summary return form) from the July 2025 tax period.

Second, the Bombay High Court intervened to remind the GST department that there should always be room to accommodate common sense. 

The court made that observation while ruling in favour of a company that had been denied tax credit simply because the online system didn’t allow it to fix an old error.

Two unrelated developments, but a common theme: there should be some balance between fairness and the need to automate everything. 

Let’s understand the two developments in detail:

No CTRL+Z Allowed

If you’ve been manually correcting numbers in Table 3.2 of GSTR-3B, that era is over. 

From the July tax period, this section, which covers inter-state supplies to unregistered buyers, composition dealers, and unique identity number (UIN) holders, will be fetched directly from your GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, or IFF (Invoice Furnishing Facility). 

In other words, you will not be able to change any data at the filing stage.

For businesses, this means tightening coordination between finance, sales, and tax teams. If you have to make any changes, you’ll need to carry it out through GSTR-1A or while filing the tax for the next period.

Court Rap for Tax Dept

While compliance is getting stricter and going fully digital, a court has made clear that bureaucracy won’t be allowed to manufacture inefficiencies in the system.

The Bombay High Court in a recent order called out tax authorities for being unreasonable with a company trying to claim central value-added tax, or CENVAT, credit.

The company, Johnson Matthey Chemicals, missed entering three bills in its original TRAN-1 (Transition Form 1) in 2017. This form allowed businesses to carry forward input tax credit from the old tax system — excise duty, service tax, or VAT — into the new GST regime. 

When the portal reopened in 2022, they manually revised their older return because the system wouldn’t let them do it online.

But the tax officer rejected the claim, saying the revision wasn’t electronic and was filed after the expiry of a one-year deadline.

The court said a company cannot be expected to follow a process that doesn’t work. “It would amount to calling upon the petitioner to do something which was not possible electronically post 1 July 2017,” the court observed in the judgement. 

Subsequently, in the second week of this month, the court ordered the credit — ₹1.16 crore — to be processed within eight weeks. 

The ruling also reminded everyone that procedural errors should not be allowed to affect genuine claims, especially when the government isn’t losing money.

What This Means for You

GST compliance is clearly getting stricter. The system is moving toward automation and less manual intervention. That means you’ll need to catch mistakes before they happen, not after.

At the same time, the high court ruling is a bit of a relief. While the courts cannot undo every compliance error, at least they won’t let you miss out on a legitimate entitlement..

Curtains are for Middle-class Mortals

Have you ever been in a posh neighbourhood and found yourself staring into someone’s luxurious living room? 

As you stand there appreciating the grandeur, you also notice that the opulent house owners have no privacy concerns whatsoever. 

Their huge windows, with no curtains of course, give you a clear and unobstructed view of everything — from plush furniture to shining chandeliers to that expensive designer lamp in the corner.

At this point, it’s natural to question the conduct of your roving eyes and even start believing that you might be the creep here. And if your mind sprinted to that conclusion, just hold that thought for a moment and listen to this first:

According to a recent piece in The Atlantic, this whole “no curtains” thing is actually a trend among the wealthy. And you are staring at their living room not because you are a dishonourable Peeping Tom; it’s because they want you to. You’re just a peeping pawn doing their bidding.

Apparently, if you make over $150,000 a year, you're almost twice as likely to leave your windows uncovered. Which is hilarious when you remember that the rest of us draw the blinds just to avoid our neighbours seeing us chomp on our chips.

Truth is, they’re showing off. If you’ve spent a fortune on interior design and a couch on which you’re not allowed to sit, of course you want people to see it. 

And if anyone tries anything funny, there’s a high-tech security system and probably a dog that bites.

Meanwhile, the middle class is covering their sofas with throws just to make sure the original fabric does not fade or attract dust.

So next time you catch yourself gazing into a well-lit mansion with no curtains, don’t feel weird. You’re not snooping. 

You’re simply appreciating rich people doing what they do best: making sure we know they’re rich… even when they’re not home.

₹22,845.73 crore

The total amount Indians lost to cyber criminals in 2024, marking a sharp 206% surge from the ₹7,465.18 crore reported in 2023, the ministry of home affairs informed Parliament this week. In 2024 alone, 36.37 lakh incidents of financial fraud were reported through these platforms, up from 24.42 lakh cases in 2023.

—Tighter norms for digital banking. In a move that could deal a setback to the cross-selling of financial products, the RBI has proposed prohibiting banks from displaying third-party products and services on their digital banking platforms. “Third-party products and services, including those of promoter groups or bank group entities, shall not be displayed on banks' digital banking channels except as specifically permitted by the Reserve Bank from time to time,” the RBI stated in its draft Digital Banking Channels Authorisation Directions, which is open for public feedback until August 11. 

—Now, Starbucks study rooms in China. Starbucks has launched free “study rooms” for young workers in some of its China outlets, the company’s latest initiative to help boost consumer traffic as domestic competition surges in its second-biggest market. The study areas have been launched in some stores in southern Guangdong Province, home to millions of young workers at the country’s export, manufacturing and technology hubs, Starbucks China said in a statement.

—Kerala HC bans AI tools in judicial decision-making. The Kerala High Court has come out with an AI usage policy which prohibits usage of such tools for decision making or legal reasoning by the district judiciary. The high court has come out with the 'Policy Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in District Judiciary' for a responsible and restricted use of AI in judicial functions of the district judiciary of the state in view of the increasing availability of and access to such software tools.

—CoinDCX offers $11-million bounty. Cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinDCX has unveiled a recovery bounty initiative after a security breach that led to the theft of $44.2 million (around ₹378 crore) from its treasury. The platform will offer up to 25%  of recovered funds (around $11 million) as a reward to those who assist in retrieving the stolen assets and identifying the culprits. The programme invites ethical hackers, wwhite-hat researchers, and ecosystem partners to collaborate in the investigation.

ICYMI | Silver’s Golden Future

Missed last week's update? Silver is on a high, propelled by supply shortages and a demand for solar panels and new-age gadgets. With white metal prices climbing and investors lapping it up like hotcakes, one thing is certain: the silver rush is real, and it’s here to stay. Meanwhile, ‘pig-butchering’ scams in Southeast Asia are dishing out romance, deception, and financial ruin — in that very order.

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