57th GST Council Meeting Begins in Delhi to Discuss Next Phase of Reforms

The meeting is being attended by the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Meghalaya, along with the Deputy Chief Ministers of Manipur and Telangana. Finance Ministers and senior representatives from States and Union Territories, the Secretary of the Department of Revenue, the Chairman and Members of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, and senior Finance Ministry officials are also participating.

Sources said the proposals under consideration include faster GST refunds, simpler business registration and a more trust-based tax administration. The reforms also seek to move a significant number of offences out of the criminal provisions under GST.

The proposals are centred on five broad areas: process reforms, structural changes, ease of doing business, e-commerce and exports of services.

Under the proposed process reforms, GST refunds could be acknowledged within 10 days, with 90 per cent of the eligible amount released following a risk-based check. Relevant information would be obtained automatically from customs and banking systems, reducing the need for manual intervention and facilitating quicker processing.

For tax litigation, the government is working on common standards for notices, hearings and orders. A threshold below which no notice would be issued is also being considered.

The return-filing process is also proposed to be streamlined so that corrections are properly recorded and a clear trail of changes is maintained. Corresponding adjustments would automatically flow into the buyer's ledger through invoice matching, allowing input tax credit to be validated at the time of recording itself. The move is expected to reduce the number of notices arising from mismatches.

On GST registration, sources said 61 per cent of taxpayers are already receiving registration within three working days without intervention from an officer. For the remaining applicants, the process is proposed to be simplified to reduce unnecessary queries and avoid avoidable rejections.

The reforms also seek to make business closure as straightforward as registration. In cases where a GST registration is suspended because of a procedural lapse, it could be restored automatically once the taxpayer rectifies the lapse, without requiring officer intervention.

The broader approach behind the proposed changes is to use available data and technology for processes that can be automated, while reserving officers' involvement for matters that require human judgement, sources said.