New Delhi, Oct 5 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday highlighted that the next phase of GST reforms will make compliance easier and improve the refund process, giving businesses greater confidence to invest and grow.
This will strengthen the foundation for a Viksit Bharat, said the Prime Minister.
PM Modi was referring to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s article which said that next-Gen GST is making taxation simpler and more predictable while supporting businesses and households. The reform is helping expand economic activity, strengthen revenues and create more opportunities for enterprises across India.
Sitharaman said in a post on X that next-gen GST is delivering the twin objectives of relief for taxpayers and greater momentum for our economy. The next phase will focus on making compliance simpler across registration, returns, refunds, disputes and input tax credit.
The Finance Minister has outlined the government’s case for the next phase of Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, ahead of the GST Council meeting on October 7.
In the article, FM Sitharaman said the proposed process reforms would focus on areas including registration, returns, refunds, dispute resolution, and the flow of input tax credit, with the aim of reducing the time and cost of compliance for taxpayers.
The Finance Minister also highlighted the performance of GST collections and reported taxable supplies since the rate rationalisation that took effect on September 22, 2025.
The forthcoming GST Council meeting is also expected to take up for discussion whether the stand-alone provision under the goods and services tax regime which empowers tax officials to arrest taxpayers under investigation, can be removed as instances of its misuse have come to the fore, a senior official has confirmed.
This proposal has been made as part of the broader suggestions by GST Council’s Law Committee on decriminalisation of GST laws as on several occasions the failure to pay tax has not been deliberately intended. This would result in tax officials no longer having the power under Section 69 to arrest a taxpayer during a GST investigation.
The current GST framework gives the Commissioner the power under Section 69 of the CGST Act to authorise arrest where there are reasons to believe that a person has committed specified serious offences under Section 132.
The current thinking is that in serious cases involving fake invoicing, fraudulent input tax credit and claiming fake refunds can be taken up for criminal prosecution under the provisions of the general criminal law provided in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The Council’s Law Committee comprises officials from the Centre and States. It examines legal provisions under the GST laws and recommends statutory amendments and clarifications to the GST Council.