Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2018

The Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2018 is Act No. 31 of 2018. It amended a wide range of provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 relating to supply, composition levy, input tax credit, registration, invoices, returns, payment of tax, refunds, appeals, recovery and Schedules.

Act No. 31 of 2018 Enacted: 29 August 2018 Amends CGST Act, 2017 Ministry of Finance
Historical amendment page: This page explains the changes made by the 2018 Amendment Act. The CGST Act has been amended many times since 2018. Accordingly, a provision introduced or amended in 2018 should not automatically be treated as the law presently in force. For current statutory wording, refer to the consolidated CGST Act on India Code.

Overview of the CGST Amendment Act, 2018

The Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted on 29 August 2018 as Act No. 31 of 2018 to further amend the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Different amendment provisions were brought into operation in accordance with Central Government notifications.

The 2018 amendments dealt with definitions, scope of supply, reverse charge, composition levy, eligibility and restrictions on input tax credit, registration, tax invoices, credit and debit notes, returns, electronic credit ledger utilisation, refunds, recovery, appeals, detention of goods, transitional credit, job work and the Schedules to the CGST Act.

Key changes made by the 2018 Amendment Act

Composition levy The statutory framework under section 10 was expanded, including provision for limited supply of services by eligible composition taxpayers. The turnover ceiling was made capable of being increased up to ₹1.5 crore by notification.
Reverse charge Section 9(4) was recast so that reverse charge on supplies received from unregistered persons could apply to specified classes of registered persons and specified categories of supplies as notified.
Input tax credit Section 17(5) and related provisions were amended, including the treatment of motor vehicles, vessels, aircraft, insurance, repairs, employee-related supplies and other blocked credits.
Registration Sections 22, 24, 25 and 29 were amended to modify registration, compulsory registration and cancellation-related provisions.
Credit and debit notes Section 34 was amended so that a registered person could issue one or more credit or debit notes for supplies made in a financial year, subject to the statutory conditions.
Input tax credit utilisation Sections 49A and 49B were inserted to regulate utilisation of input tax credit and empower prescription of the order and manner of utilisation.
Appeals and pre-deposit Sections 107 and 112 were amended, including provisions affecting statutory pre-deposit requirements for appeals.
Schedules Schedules I, II and III were amended, including changes concerning transactions between related/distinct persons and activities treated neither as supply of goods nor supply of services.
Important correction to older summaries: Some statements commonly associated with the 2018 amendment-such as historic composition thresholds or the then-existing audit framework- have since been affected by later notifications and legislative amendments. They should therefore be read as part of the 2018 amendment history, not as a statement of current GST law.

Amended and Inserted Sections

The following internal pages reproduce and organise the amendments covered by the 2018 Amendment Act:

Current-law status of important 2018 amendments

The 2018 Amendment Act remains important for understanding the legislative history of the CGST Act. However, the principal Act has subsequently undergone numerous amendments.

In particular, section 43A, which was inserted by the 2018 Amendment Act as part of the proposed return and input tax credit matching framework, is now shown as omitted in the current consolidated CGST Act. Other areas amended in 2018-including composition levy, return filing, input tax credit, audit, appeals and recovery-have also been affected by later legislation, rules and notifications.

For this reason, readers should use this page to identify the changes made in 2018 and use the current consolidated CGST Act for present-day compliance, litigation and advisory work.

Official source and commencement information

The official India Code record identifies the Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2018 as Act No. 31 of 2018 dated 29 August 2018. CBIC's Central Tax notification archive records the notifications used to bring the amendment provisions into force.

For legal proceedings or compliance, always verify the text of the relevant section as applicable to the tax period concerned, together with its commencement notification, rules, notifications, circulars and subsequent amendments.