57th GST Council Meeting Today: Faster Refunds, ITC Reforms And Removal Of Arrest Powers On Agenda

The 57th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting in New Delhi on Oct 8 is expected to discuss major reforms aimed at simplifying compliance, accelerating refunds and reducing regulatory burdens on businesses.

According to media reports, the agenda includes easier registration, streamlined Input Tax Credit (ITC) procedures, decriminalisation of offences and changes to the definition of service exports.

The proposals are expected to benefit businesses across agriculture, manufacturing, exports and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

GST Council may review arrest powers and export rules

One significant proposal involves removing the standalone arrest provisions under Section 69 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, Moneycontrol reported.

Currently, the GST commissioner can authorise arrests when there are reasons to believe that specified offences, including fraudulent invoicing, wrongful ITC claims and tax evasion, have occurred.

The council is expected to consider withdrawing these powers from tax authorities during investigations.

Another proposal seeks to broaden the definition of service exports.

Under the proposed changes, Indian companies could retain export status when billing overseas clients through foreign branches.

Services performed in India for international customers could also qualify as exports.

The move could benefit global capability centres (GCCs), which provide engineering, product development and testing services to multinational companies.

Some such services currently attract 18% GST because of rules determining their place of supply. Qualifying them as exports could remove this tax liability.

Faster GST refunds and simplified registration proposed

The council is also expected to examine measures to accelerate GST refunds and improve business cash flow.

Although existing legislation provides a 60-day refund timeline, the proposed system would acknowledge applications within 10 days and release 90% of eligible claims following risk assessment.

Automated verification would draw information from customs and banking systems.

Another proposal could allow 61% of taxpayers to obtain GST registration within three working days without intervention from tax officers.

For other applicants, the process could be simplified to reduce unnecessary queries and rejections.

The council may also consider allowing eligible small businesses supplying exclusively to consumers to file GST returns annually instead of monthly.

The proposed reforms aim to make tax administration more efficient, technology-driven and predictable for businesses.