Srinagar, Oct 04: The GST Council is likely to consider major changes to tax enforcement at its October 7 meeting, including a proposal to require judicial authorisation for arrests by GST officials, media reports said on Sunday.
Under the proposed reforms, GST officers would no longer have independent powers to authorise arrests under Section 69 of the Central GST Act. Any arrest would require a court order.
The Council may also consider raising the threshold for criminal prosecution from the existing ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, restricting prosecution largely to serious cases of deliberate tax evasion and fraud.
The proposals also seek to decriminalise certain offences arising from differences over tax classification, valuation and input tax credit claims. Nine of the 24 existing prosecution offences could be removed, while imprisonment provisions may be eased and fines made available as an alternative.
However, tax recovery powers would remain unchanged, with authorities continuing to recover unpaid taxes and impose applicable interest and penalties.
The proposed changes form part of the government’s next-generation GST reforms aimed at shifting enforcement towards a more data-driven and civil recovery-based system. Any approved changes would require amendments to the GST law before coming into force.
