Indore GST Experts Welcome Council's Proposals For Faster Refunds, Lower Penalties And Easier Compliance

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The decisions taken at the 57th meeting of the GST Council, which concluded in Delhi on Thursday, are expected to ease business operations for taxpayers through faster refunds and simplified compliance procedures. The Council recommended direct refunds without official intervention in many cases while retaining scrutiny provisions for high-risk cases.

City GST experts welcomed the recommendations at a meeting organised by the Tax Practitioners Association (TPA) and the Indore branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to review the Council's October 8 decisions and their impact on taxpayers.

CA Palkesh Asawa said no changes in tax rates were recommended. The meeting focused on facilitating ease of doing business through amendments to provisions and return forms addressing issues related to registration, refunds and return filing.

He said taxpayers could benefit from proposals to reduce the general penalty under Section 125 from Rs 50,000 to Rs 20,000, remove certain discretionary arrest powers of officials and increase the criminal prosecution threshold from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.

CA Sunil P Jain highlighted proposed refunds of taxes paid on capital goods for exporters and refunds on capital goods and services under the inverted duty structure. These measures would improve working capital availability for exporters and other eligible taxpayers.

CA Krishna Garg said the proposed direct refund system would ensure timely refunds and streamline business processes, with official scrutiny retained for high-risk cases.

TPA president CA Vijay Bansal welcomed the proposed relief concerning arrest and prosecution provisions, saying it would reduce fear surrounding GST and promote a simplified, trust-based tax regime.

Chartered accountants, tax consultants and advocates, including Nilendu Dave, PD Nagar, Pramod Taparia, Avinash Agarwal, Nilesh Maheshwari, Ankur Agarwal and Rishabh Vora, attended the gathering.