BENGALURU: The 57th GST Council meeting has recommended the withdrawal of arrest provisions under GST law, raising the prosecution threshold and introducing automated refunds as part of process reforms aimed at easing compliance for taxpayers, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Vivek Chaturvedi said here on Tuesday.
Addressing around 250 taxpayers and trade and industry representatives at the Central Revenue Building on Queen’s Road, Chaturvedi said rate rationalisation alone was not sufficient, and process reforms were needed to reduce compliance difficulties for honest taxpayers.
The recommendations include reducing manual intervention and restricting vehicle inspections to cases involving specific intelligence, with authorisation from an officer not below the rank of Joint Commissioner. Such inspections would be limited to originating and destination states.
Chaturvedi, along with CBIC member (GST) Sanjay Mangal, also highlighted the proposed centralised administration of GST taxpayers under the Central government and faceless assessment. A draft framework for the initiative would soon be placed in public domain for stakeholder comments and suggestions.
Chief Commissioner of Bengaluru CGST Zone Kajal Singh, Karnataka Commercial Taxes Commissioner Vipul Bansal and senior Central and State GST officials attended the interaction.
Representatives of trade and industry bodies, including KASSIA, FKCCI, ASSOCHAM, FIEO, CREDAI, BCIC, ICMAI and eMERG participated in the programme.