GST Council proposes reforms to simplify e-commerce registration

The 57th GST Council meeting, led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has proposed several reforms to simplify tax processes, including the introduction of Rule 14B. This new rule aims to facilitate easier registration for small sellers using Electronic Commerce Operators (ECOs), addressing previous hurdles regarding interstate business expansion and the difficulty of setting up physical offices in multiple states.

Other proposed reforms include the automatic acceptance of certain registration amendments and the automatic approval of registration cancellations once pending returns are filed and dues are cleared. To improve efficiency, the Council also suggested that excess cash ledger balances be processed automatically, reducing the acknowledgment period from 15 to 10 days. Additionally, for refund claims related to zero-rated supplies and inverted duty structures, 90 percent of the claimed amount is expected to be sanctioned based on risk assessments.