Welcome to another Friday, chief!

In today’s edition — GST filings get a makeover as Table 12 of GSTR-1 splits into two: 12A for B2B and 12B for B2C, promising smoother filing and faster processing. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok went full rebel, accusing its creator of being involved in a romantic drama. In return, the AI chatbot got an earful.

Split the Bill? GST Dept Just Did

Vishwas Ved

Changes in tax rules rarely make life easier. But this one is different.

The GST department has introduced an update that could make things simpler for businesses. If you file monthly returns using the GSTR-1 form, you’ll now be reporting your sales in a clearer and more structured manner.

The government has made a small but important change to Table 12 of the GSTR-1 form. Instead of reporting all your sales in one place, you’ll be able to split them. 

Now, there will be Table 12A which will be used for business-to-business (B2B) sales, and Table 12B for business-to-customer (B2C) sales. The idea behind this change is to make your filings more organised.

Better Reporting

According to the new rules, Table 12A will be compulsory for all B2B transactions. You’ll have to report these sales using HSN codes that classify various goods and services. 

Table 12B, on the other hand, will be only for B2C sales. This section is optional for now, but it’s best to start using it in order to get comfortable with the new system.

So why does this matter? 

For starters, it makes GST returns easier to understand. Instead of clubbing everything under one head, you can now split them the way you segregate B2B and B2C transactions.

That not only means fewer chances of errors, but also a better sorting of your sales data.

Faster Filings

The change also helps the GST system become more efficient and user-friendly. With segregated data, it will be easier for the government to track the movement of goods, cross-check invoices, and spot discrepancies such as tax mismatches and fake invoicing. 

Another benefit is automation. Since HSN codes can be pulled from e-invoices, your filings could become quicker, your staff will breathe easy, and your business is less likely to trigger scrutiny.

Fixes for Glitches

That said, the rollout of the changes hasn’t been entirely without hiccups. Some smaller B2C businesses ran into problems when the system asked for B2B details in Table 12A even when they had none.

To fix this issue, the GSTN has provided a temporary solution. If you don’t have any B2B sales, you can still fill out Table 12A by entering “0” in all the value fields. This satisfies the system check and lets you file without any errors.

According to experts, this is just the beginning of a more smooth and user-friendly GST system. Clearer reporting by businesses will make it easier for the department to verify all the details.

Even though Table 12B is optional for now, it’s worth getting used to it. The sooner businesses adapt, the smoother future updates will be.

Bot Bites Its Billionaire Daddy

Guess who took a cyber shot at Elon Musk. 

Not a rival billionaire, not an unhappy Tesla investor, not even friend-turned-foe US President Donald Trump.

The sniper, much to Musk’s consternation and shock, was hiding in his own backyard. It was his very own AI chatbot, Grok.

Yes, the machine turned on the creator. Not exactly the Terminator style — but more like a close tell-tale relative who, seeing you’re not within earshot, gossips about your alleged affairs behind your back. 

The subject of the gossip was Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller — the White House deputy chief of staff.

According to a report, Grok, the AI Musk proudly brought onto X, casually told a user that Elon had probably posted (and then deleted) a post bragging about “stealing” Katie.

In the same breath, Grok went acutely visceral and said that though the post had been deleted, “the evidence leans toward the post being real but removed, consistent with Musk's pattern of deleting controversial posts”.

The target on Grok’s back soon went neon, and Elon, channeling peak dad-energy, hit back with a classic: “No, it’s fake ffs. I never posted this.” 

Katie Miller was the DOGE spokesperson when the department, headed by Musk, was working out of the White House. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that she was seen with Musk “almost all the time” during that period and ultimately left her government role to work full-time for him, which puts the husband-wife duo in a sticky position as they now work for rivaling bosses.

But the only one in a real spot here is Grok that probably became the first AI to get grounded by its daddy.

₹500 Crore

The 45-day Maha Kumbh held in Prayagraj has proven to be more than just a massive religious gathering. It contributed around ₹500 crore in additional GST and VAT to the state exchequer. In the first two months of 2025 alone — January and February — tax collections from sectors directly tied to the event totalled ₹239.47 crore. Prayagraj was the highest contributor, generating ₹146.4 crore.

—269 mn out of extreme poverty.  India’s extreme poverty rate dropped to 5.3% in 2022-23 from 27.1% in 2011-12, according to the latest estimates released by the World Bank. The decline amounts to 269 million people moving above the international poverty threshold over an 11-year period. The number of individuals classified as living in extreme poverty fell from 344.47 million in 2011-12 to 75.24 million in 2022-23. The assessment is based on the $3 per day poverty line. 

—Being a trade bully won’t work: ECB.  There’s no longer-term advantage to being a bully on global commerce, according to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. “Coercive trade policies are not a sustainable solution to today’s trade tensions,” she said in Beijing. Lagarde spoke just hours after the US and China agreed to a preliminary plan to ease tensions in cross-border commerce, which are near an all-time high — primarily due to President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs.

—₹78,213 crore in unclaimed bank deposits. The Finance Ministry highlighted that unclaimed bank deposits have soared 26% year-on-year, reaching ₹78,213 crore as of March 2024. Deposits under the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund alone stood at ₹62,225 crore by the end of March 2023. Recognising this growing pool of unclaimed money, the Finance Minister instructed key regulatory bodies—RBI, SEBI, MCA, PFRDA, and IRDA—to launch special camps aimed at returning unclaimed amounts to rightful owners.

—Musk sorry for posts about Trump. Tesla CEO and former 'friend' of Donald Trump, Elon Musk said that he 'regrets' a few posts he made on social media in relation to the US President. A feud erupted between the two following Musk's exit from the White House. It all began when the US entrepreneur criticised Trump's 'The Big Beautiful Bill' and labelled it as 'The Big Ugly Bill.' Musk's post comes days after Trump said his relationship with the SpaceX CEO was over. "I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far," he said in his post on X.

—Tariff talk deadline may extend. US President Donald Trump said this week that he was willing to extend the July 9 deadline for completing trade talks with countries before his sweeping tariffs take effect. Trump made these remarks at the Kennedy Center before a performance and added that he does not believe that extending the deadline would be necessary, Reuters reported. He further added that trade negotiations were ongoing with 15 countries, including South Korea, Japan as well and the European Union.

ICYMI | A Tale of Two GSTs

Missed last week's update? MCA’s slow and sluggish platform for company filings, V2, is retiring from July 14, and it will be replaced by Version 3, or V3, that promises to be faster and more efficient. Meanwhile, a legal liqueur started simmering in Gonda when a judge’s tea arrived with a foul-smelling snack instead of the usual biscuit. A show-cause notice has been served on the orderly who committed the faux pas.

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