Overview
- The GST Council voted on Thursday, October 8 to remove GST officers’ standalone power to arrest and to raise the monetary threshold for criminal prosecution from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.
- The Council ordered that no new notices be issued for tax demands of Rs 10,000 or less and that pending notices below that amount be withdrawn, aiming to cut low‑value litigation.
- Refund rules were tightened for speed and automation with acknowledgement cut from 15 days to 10 days and a framework to auto‑sanction most claims after risk checks.
- A Committee of Officers will study protection for genuine buyers’ input tax credit when suppliers default and report back within three months, while some ITC categories were opened up for relief.
- Officials said the rate structure was left unchanged and that the reforms will need legal amendments, model rules and phased implementation by the Centre and states before benefits reach exporters, MSMEs and e‑commerce sellers.