GST Council recommends removing officers' arrest power and raising the prosecution threshold to ₹5 crore
8 October 2026
The 57th GST Council meeting, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, took up compliance reforms.
The Council recommended removing the power of arrest under GST.
The prosecution threshold rises from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore.
The general penalty falls from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000.
No notice will be issued where the amount involved is below ₹10,000.
The refund acknowledgement period drops from 15 days to 10 days.
In plain words
GST Council Goods and Services Tax Council — The constitutional body under Article 279A that recommends GST rates and rules, chaired by the Union Finance Minister.
ITC Input Tax Credit — Credit for tax paid on inputs that a business can set off against its output tax.