GST Council To Focus On Compliance And Process Reforms In 57th Meeting

57th Meeting Focus

Tax experts say the GST Council's priority in its 57th meeting on October 8 should be easing compliance for taxpayers, as revenues remain steady and rates have been rationalised. Ministry of Finance sources confirm the meeting will not deliberate on GST rates and will instead focus on a five-pronged reform effort covering process and structural reforms, ease of doing business, service exports, and e-commerce. Business Standard reports the Council will weigh raising the criminal prosecution threshold from one crore to five crore rupees and shielding genuine buyers from supplier defaults. The Goods and Services Tax system turned nine years old on July 1, 2026, having held fifty-six meetings and successfully implemented a five-year compensation period to States.

Expert Insights

MS Mani, Partner at Deloitte India, notes that high collections allow the Council to relax input tax credit restrictions, reduce complaints for service providers, and provide faster refunds without worrying about revenue impact. Rahul Ahluwalia, Founder Director of the Foundation for Economic Development, states that automatic refunds for exporters and preventing input tax credit accumulation are crucial for working capital. Prabhat Ranjan, Senior Director at Nexdigm, explains that interpretational uncertainty creates hidden costs through litigation and blocked working capital. Brijesh Agrawal, CEO of Busy Infotech, suggests consolidating tax slabs to a maximum of three from the current six, eliminating cess, and amending Section 17(5) to allow unconditional credit on all verifiable business expenses. The Centre is reportedly proposing changes to include ordinary business costs in input tax credits and to allow businesses to register in a single State while selling nationwide. Nitin Vijaivergia, Partner at Price Waterhouse and Co, adds that harmonising audits across multiple registrations will curb duplicative information requests and reduce compliance costs.

Context

The Goods and Services Tax replaced a complex network of central and state levies in India to create a unified indirect tax framework. While initial years focused heavily on rate adjustments and stabilizing state revenues, mature tax administration systems naturally shift toward administrative easing and dispute reduction.