ICAI Publishes Detailed Recommendations of 57th GST Council Meeting Held on October 8, 2026:

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), GST and Indirect Taxes Committee has released a PDF covering all the recommendations discussed in the 57th GST Council Meeting, held on October 08, 2026, in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, focusing on major process overhauls, compliance simplification, and trade facilitation.

The following are the key proposals discussed during the 57th GST Council Meeting:

1. Decriminalisation, Arrest, and Penalties

• Removal of Arrest Powers: It has been recommended to withdraw the arrest provisions by omitting Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017.

• Prosecution Limit: The monetary limit has been proposed to be raised for launching prosecution proceedings from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.

  

• General Penalty: The minimal general penalty has been proposed to be reduced from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10,000.

2. Input Tax Credit (ITC) and Refunds

• ITC and Refunds: The ITC availment eligibility (including certain insurance credits), allowed refunds on capital goods and input services for zero-rated/inverted structures, enabled IDS refunds for input services from November 01, 2026, and introduced phased automated risk-based refund processing.

3. Registration, E-Commerce, and Compliance

• E-Commerce and Transit: The registration process for small sellers on ECO platforms and rationalised e-way bill interception rules have been proposed tobe simplified.

• Returns: In order to curb return discrepancies, alternative amendment mechanisms have been proposed to be implemented.

Refer to the official PDF of recommendations released by ICAI for complete information.