57th GST Council Meeting (Now Oct 8): Arrest Powers Out, Faster Refunds, ₹5 Crore Prosecution Threshold

Event: 57th GST Council meeting
New date: 8 October 2026 (postponed twice)
Theme: Compliance, disputes, refunds
Status: Proposals — not yet decided

Please note — these are proposals before the Council

Everything below is the reported agenda for the 57th GST Council meeting, now set for 8 October 2026. Nothing has been decided or notified; the Council may approve, change or defer any item. This is a preview of what's on the table — not the law as it stands today.

The short version

The 57th GST Council meeting has been postponed a second time — now 8 October 2026 (from 12 Sep, then 7 Oct).
The big proposals: scrap GST arrest powers, raise the prosecution threshold from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, and rationalise the list of criminal offences.
Faster refunds for exporters — 90% paid upfront on risk assessment, 10-day auto-acknowledgement, and data pulled straight from Customs and RBI.
No show-cause notices below ₹10,000 — including cases already pending — plus simpler registration, returns and ITC.

The GST Council's much-awaited process-reform meeting has slipped again — to 8 October 2026 — but the agenda has only grown firmer. This round isn't about tax rates; it's about taking fear, friction and delay out of the system. For exporters and small businesses in particular, some of the proposals could change day-to-day compliance meaningfully.

First, the date: postponed twice

The 57th meeting was originally set for 12 September 2026, moved to 7 October because India hosted the BRICS summit in New Delhi on 12–13 September, and has now been rescheduled again to 8 October 2026, which the GST Council Secretariat attributed to "unavoidable circumstances." It will be chaired, as always, by the Union Finance Minister with state finance ministers.

Decriminalisation: the headline shift

Arrest powers may be scrapped

Enforcement would lean on recovery of dues, interest and penalties rather than arrest. Criminal prosecution would remain available, but only for cases considered genuinely serious.

Prosecution threshold: ₹1 cr → ₹5 cr

The tax amount needed to launch prosecution would rise five-fold, keeping the criminal route for larger alleged evasion.

Fewer offences, lighter penalties

An expert panel has reportedly recommended dropping 9 offences entirely and one partially, a softer approach for 24, and retaining 11 — plus ending mandatory minimum jail terms, allowing fines as an alternative, and cutting the middle-category maximum from 3 years to 2.

Faster refunds — the exporter's highlight

This is where the detail is richest, and it matters: around 38,700 taxpayers currently claim export-related refunds, and cash stuck in refunds is working capital stuck. The proposed changes:

90%

of eligible refund paid upfront on risk assessment

10 days

to acknowledge a refund claim — or it's auto-acknowledged

~38,700

taxpayers who claim export refunds today

90% upfront. After a risk assessment, 90% of an eligible refund could be released immediately, with the balance after verification.
10-day acknowledgement. If the officer doesn't act within 10 days, the application would be treated as automatically acknowledged.
Less paperwork. The system would pull data directly from Customs, the RBI and other databases — potentially ending separate scanned-document uploads.
Wider scope. Refunds could extend to services and to plant & machinery (the latter spread over five years), and to exporters using the duty-drawback route, with the existing domestic-price-linked restriction removed.

Why this ties into the new EDF regime

For service exporters, these refund changes land right alongside the new Export Declaration Form (EDF) rules that replaced SOFTEX from 1 October 2026. Faster, data-linked refunds only work if your EDF, EDPMS and GST returns reconcile — the cleaner that match, the faster the 90% upfront release is likely to flow. Getting that reconciliation right is becoming the single biggest lever on your refund timeline.

Fewer petty disputes

A standout for small businesses: a proposal to bar show-cause notices for amounts below ₹10,000 under specified GST provisions — and, crucially, to apply that threshold to cases already pending before adjudicating authorities, appellate bodies and tribunals. Low-value notices clog the system and cost businesses far more in time than the revenue at stake; this would clear a large share of them.

And the rest of the compliance overhaul

Simpler registration, returns and ITC — the broad aim is lower compliance cost and less time spent on tax admin.
Relief for e-commerce suppliers — simpler compliance for sellers operating through platforms.
Dispute settlement measures — steps to resolve GST-related disputes faster.

What businesses should do now

Exporters: tighten your refund file. Reconcile GSTR-1 Table 6A, GSTR-3B zero-rated supplies and EDPMS now, so you're first in line if 90%-upfront goes live.
Review pending low-value notices. If any demand is below ₹10,000, watch whether the threshold proposal clears it.
Don't change filing or claims ahead of the law. These are proposals — act only once decisions are notified.
Watch for the post-meeting outcome on 8 October and the notifications that follow.

Want to be ready the moment these reforms land?

efiletax tracks every GST Council decision and tells you exactly what changes for your business — refunds, notices, registration and ITC — and gets your filings reconciled and refund-ready.

Talk to our GST team

Disclaimer: This article previews proposals reported to be before the 57th GST Council meeting (rescheduled to 8 October 2026), based on news reports (Livemint, ANI, PTI and others), and is current as at the date of publication. No proposal here has been approved or notified; agenda items, figures, thresholds and outcomes may change. This is not legal or tax advice — please consult a qualified professional. Talk to efiletax if you need help.