GST Council meeting rescheduled again to October 8 amid ‘unavoidable circumstances’

The 57th GST Council meeting has been rescheduled for the second time and will now be held on October 8, according to an office memorandum issued by the GST Council Secretariat. 

The meeting was earlier scheduled for October 7. The Secretariat said the latest change was necessitated by “unavoidable circumstances”. 

GST 2.0 reforms on agenda 

The GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state finance ministers, is expected to discuss a range of process reforms covering GST registration, returns, and refunds. 

The Council is also likely to consider measures to resolve GST disputes and improve the flow of input tax credit, with the broader objective of reducing compliance time and costs for businesses. 

According to media reports, the meeting could consider sweeping process reforms under the GST 2.0 framework, including proposals to decriminalise certain GST offences, review the arrest powers of tax officers and simplify compliance for businesses, including e-commerce suppliers. 

E-commerce sellers may get easier registration 

One proposal under consideration seeks to allow small sellers operating through e-commerce platforms to use the platform’s warehouse as their registered place of business in states where they do not have their own premises. 

Under the proposed mechanism, a seller would need to establish a genuine presence in at least one state, where physical verification and Aadhaar authentication would be completed. Registrations in other states could then be obtained with the consent of the e-commerce platform, without requiring further involvement of tax officers, sources said. 

The proposed reforms are aimed at simplifying registration and return filing, making the movement of goods more predictable and reducing disputes between taxpayers and the tax department. 

The Council is also expected to examine measures to protect genuine buyers’ input tax credit and reduce litigation involving low-value disputes. 

Meeting postponed twice 

This is the second time that the 57th GST Council meeting has been rescheduled. The meeting was originally scheduled for September 12 but was postponed to October 7 due to the BRICS summit, which India hosted in New Delhi on September 12 and 13. 

The Council’s latest meeting date of October 8 comes as the government looks to advance the next phase of GST reforms, with a focus on simplifying compliance and improving the functioning of the indirect tax system.