[REVISION HISTORY]

India GST Council reforms and upcoming meeting agendas

Updated 19 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-23 07:41 UTC → 2026-10-27 00:19 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Following the 57th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting, significant reforms were approved to make the tax framework less punitive. Key measures included removing the power for officials to arrest individuals under GST law, increasing the prosecution threshold from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, and granting judicial discretion over sentencing. Other reforms focused on reducing compliance burdens, streamlining input tax credit (ITC), and improving liquidity for small taxpayers. As the tax regime enters its tenth year, the Council has moved toward a two-tier structure of 5% and 18% rates, with a maximum 40% rate for luxury and sin goods. A meeting originally scheduled for September 12 was postponed to October 7 due to a conflict with the BRICS Leaders’ Summit. This rescheduled session focused on ‘GST 2.0’ initiatives, prioritizing procedural reforms, e-invoicing, and ITC regulations rather than significant rate changes. During the October 8 meeting, officials proposed relaxing blocked-credit provisions under Section 17(5)(b)(i) of the CGST Act. This recommendation aims to allow businesses to claim ITC for outdoor catering services used for dealer conferences, sales meetings, and training programs, though it is not yet an operative amendment. At the 57th meeting held in New Delhi and chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Council recommended the complete withdrawal of departmental arrest powers by omitting Section 69 of the Act. To limit the scope of criminal offences related to tax evasion and fraudulent ITC claims, the Council also proposed narrowing Section 132(1). While no rate changes occurred during this session, the Finance Minister announced that rate changes will henceforth be addressed only once a year at a dedicated meeting, effective from 1 April. Subsequent discussions following the October 8 meeting detailed a suite of compliance-driven reforms.

Versions

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.