North India Statesman
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council Secretariat has rescheduled the 57th GST Council meeting to October 8, 2026, shifting it by a day from its earlier scheduled date of October 7. According to an official memorandum issued by the Secretariat, the national apex tax body—chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state finance ministers—will now assemble at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi starting at 11:00 AM. Officials confirmed that the adjustment was necessitated by unavoidable administrative circumstances.
Decriminalization and Raising the Prosecution Limit to ₹5 Crore
The primary focus of the 57th session will center on procedural ease, regulatory simplification, and the decriminalization of business conduct under the GST regime. A major proposal on the table is the potential softening or removal of arrest provisions for minor and technical defaults, steering tax enforcement toward civil recovery through standard demand notices, interest, and penalties rather than immediate physical detention. Crucially, the Council is slated to review raising the statutory prosecution threshold from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, a reform designed to shield micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from criminal proceedings over procedural disputes.
Process Automation, Refund Acceleration, and ITC Transfers
Beyond enforcement changes, the meeting will deliberate on systemic operational bottlenecks affecting everyday compliance:
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Automated Registration and Cancellations: Expediting new GST registrations while tightening automated biometric verification to curb fake input tax credit (ITC) syndicates.
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Faster Tax Refunds: Creating accelerated refund mechanisms for export consignments and inverted duty structures to unblock working capital.
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Intra-Group Input Tax Credit: Reviewing proposals to allow seamless transfer of unutilized input tax credit across distinct entities operating under the same corporate group.
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Financial Guarantees: Addressing tax ambiguity surrounding corporate and intra-group financial guarantees to avoid unwarranted litigation.
Road to GST 2.0 Compliance Architecture
While major rate rationalizations across broad goods slabs were largely stabilized in previous rounds, the 57th Council meeting marks a transition into what policymakers term “GST 2.0″—a compliance ecosystem built around reduced litigation, predictable dispute settlement mechanisms, and digitized processing. Following intense technical-level discussions among central and state revenue officials, the revised October 8 assembly will formalize operational guidelines aimed at significantly improving ease of doing business across states.
