GST Council Meeting Decisions: The 57th GST Council meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ended today i.e. Thursday (October 08, 2026) in New Delhi. According to an office memorandum of the GST Council Secretariat, due to some urgent reasons, the meeting was changed from Wednesday to another day. Representatives of the Center and states participated in the meeting. In this, many process reforms are expected to be discussed with the aim of making compliance with GST rules easier and reducing the burden on businessmen and taxpayers.
According to media reports, the Council may consider changes in the GST registration, return and refund system as well as measures to resolve disputes and improve the flow of input tax credit. The proposed reforms are aimed at reducing the time and cost of complying with GST rules for businesses and taxpayers.
What decisions were taken?
- ITC Protection: Qualified buyers can be protected from losing input tax credit (ITC) solely due to the fault of the upstream supplier, provided certain safeguards are in place.
- Higher ITC eligibility: The objective of these proposals is to increase the scope of ITC in areas like insurance, exports, infrastructure and select services.
- ITC on Insurance: ITC can be allowed on health and life insurance of employees, which can resolve the long standing dispute.
- Vehicle and Infrastructure Credit: The scope of ITC can be extended to eligible passenger vehicles, leasing and renting of vehicles, telecom towers and external pipelines.
- Passenger vehicles: This proposal may include eligible passenger vehicles with a seating capacity of up to 13 people, while EV-related services may receive the same facilities as internal-combustion-engine vehicles.
- Hospitality and services: ITC may be allowed for resale of like-kind businesses, including certain hotel, fitness, beauty and health services. Restrictions on outdoor catering and hotel stay can also be relaxed to a certain extent.
- Faster refunds: Councils may consider releasing 90% of eligible refunds after automated or risk-based checks to improve cash flow to businesses.
- Refund on inputs: Refund can be given for tax paid on plant and machinery and input services under certain conditions.
- Relief to MSMEs: Small businesses can get options like annual returns, quarterly tax payments and faster GST registration within three working days for eligible applications for eligible B2C taxpayers.
- Low value disputes: A limit of Rs 10,000 is proposed for issuing GST notices, and pending cases with value below this limit can be withdrawn.
- Implementation of GST: The proposals include removing the provisions for arrest under GST and increasing the threshold for prosecution from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.
- Exports and e-commerce: The Council may ease rules for certain export transactions and introduce easier GST registration for small e-commerce sellers in several states.
- Changes in special rates: The proposed measures include reducing GST on re-traded tractor tires to 5%, bringing Isabgol seeds into zero rate category and expanding the scope of exemption for seed storage, coffee curing and medicines for seven more rare diseases.
- Comprehensive reforms: Other proposals include transactions related to shipping, telecom, hospitality, intellectual property and waste and scrap. These proposals signal a shift towards credit certainty, faster refunds and easier compliance.
Nirmala Sitharaman presided over
Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 57th meeting of the GST Council in New Delhi today. In this meeting, the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Meghalaya; Deputy Chief Ministers of Manipur and Telangana; Finance Ministers and senior members of States/Union Territories; Also, Secretary of Revenue Department, Chairman and members of CBIC and senior officials of Finance Ministry participated.