Overview
- The GST Council is scheduled to consider the package at its rescheduled meeting on October 8, 2026, with most measures currently proposed rather than enacted.
- A major enforcement change would remove or curb GST officers’ power to arrest and require judicial authorisation for custody while keeping tax recovery, interest and penalties as civil remedies.
- The package proposes raising the criminal prosecution threshold to Rs 5 crore and barring show‑cause notices for demands below Rs 10,000 to cut routine, low‑value litigation.
- Refund and ITC reforms would speed cash flows by acknowledging claims within 10 days, releasing up to 90% of eligible refunds after automated risk checks, and protecting genuine buyers’ input tax credit when upstream suppliers default.
- Measures to ease business operations include automated three‑day registration for eligible applicants, a single multi‑state registration workflow and allowing e‑commerce sellers to use platform warehouses as registered places of business, with some changes needing later legislative or phased rollout through 2027.