Overview
- The GST Council is set to consider on Wednesday a proposal to remove Commissioner-authorised arrest powers under Section 69 and require judicial authorisation before any arrest is made.
- Officials are reported to favour raising the monetary threshold for criminal prosecution from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore so routine disputes over classification, valuation and input tax credit stay in civil recovery processes.
- The package under discussion would fast-track refunds by mandating acknowledgement within 10 days and releasing up to 90% of eligible refund claims automatically after a risk check.
- Process reforms being tabled include simpler multi-state registration (allowing small e-commerce sellers to use platform warehouses), protection of genuine buyers’ input tax credit, limits on low-value notices and waivers of late fees for small taxpayers.
- The proposals build on 2025 rate rationalisation and recent decriminalisation moves, reflecting confidence in invoice-level matching and GSTN data to detect fraud while keeping recovery, compounding and prosecution for large, deliberate evasion.