India GST Council approves compliance reforms

India’s Goods and Services Tax Council approved a package of compliance and enforcement changes on October 8, including removing GST arrest powers and raising the prosecution threshold from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, according to meeting notes. The measures also cover registration, returns, refunds and input tax credit. The supplied account does not establish the legal amendments or implementation details that will put the decisions into effect. The Council did not change GST rates at the meeting, the account said. Ahead of the session, Ministry of Finance sources had said it would focus on administrative reforms rather than rates. That report described the planned agenda; it did not confirm the decisions later reported from the meeting. Among the enforcement changes, the general penalty was reduced from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10,000, and the minimum punishment for prosecution was removed, leaving the penalty, imprisonment or both to judicial discretion in each case, according to the meeting notes. The notes also said transit inspections would require specific intelligence and prior authorisation, with inspections limited to the states where goods originate and where they are destined.