GST Council meet: Tax officers' arrest power scrapped; easier e-comm norms for small sellers — Check key highlights

The 57th GST Council has decided to remove the power of tax officers to arrest individuals in certain GST-related cases and has raised the threshold for prosecution to ₹5 crore from the existing ₹1 crore, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.

The council also approved simplified compliance requirements for small sellers operating through e-commerce platforms, the ministry stated.

• No changes were made to GST rates, with the Finance Ministry saying the existing rate structure has been settled.

2. "The rate structure is settled, so the Council has turned to how the tax works day to day," the Finance Ministry said, noting that changes to GST rates will henceforth be made once a year, according to PTI.

3. The council also reduced the time available for authorities to acknowledge refund applications from 15 days to 10 days, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated after the meeting.

4. She added that employers will also be eligible to claim Input Tax Credit on GST paid towards insurance coverage provided to employees.

5. The provision prescribing a minimum punishment has been scrapped, with the decision on whether to impose a fine, imprisonment or both now left to the discretion of the court in each case, according to the council's decision.

Also Read | 57th GST Council meeting: What's on the agenda?

6. The general penalty applicable in cases where no specific penalty has been prescribed has also been reduced from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000, the ministry said.

7. On input tax credit claims, the council decided to constitute a Committee of Officers to examine measures to safeguard genuine buyers who possess valid invoices, have received the goods and have made full payment to their suppliers.

"The Committee of Officers will complete its study within three months, and an agenda will be placed before the next Council meeting," the ministry stated.

8. Sitharaman mentioned the GST Council has recommended uniform standards for notices and proceedings.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said that GST remains important for the state as a significant share of its revenue comes through the tax. Speaking after the 57th GST Council meeting in Delhi, he described the meeting as "very, very positive".

"GST is always very useful for a state like West Bengal. Much of the revenue which comes to us accrues through the GST," ANI quoted Dasgupta as saying.

He said improving the ease of doing business was among the key areas addressed through the structural reforms discussed at the meeting.

"In this case, the rationalisation of various proposals, particularly the ease of doing business, which I think this time was one of the major focuses of the structural reforms, I think that ultimately, in the long term, benefits a state like West Bengal, as it will be easier for us to do things," he said.

However, Dasgupta said compliance has remained one of the challenges faced by West Bengal, but expressed hope that greater awareness would help improve the situation.

"In terms of compliance, I think one of the problems which in West Bengal we often face is compliance, and here I think there is a greater awareness to do that. So, overall, I think it's a very, very positive meeting," he said.

Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X

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