GST Council's new goods rules: Who can stop, check consignments?
What's the story
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has proposed stricter regulations for the inspection of goods in transit. The recommendations were made during the 57th GST Council meeting on Thursday. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the measures are aimed at streamlining the movement of goods while tightening checks against irregularities.
Regulation changes
Only state officers to inspect, detain, or seize goods
The GST Council has proposed that only officers from either the supplier or destination state should inspect, detain, or seize goods.
The new rules also say that goods should only be intercepted based on specific intelligence and with approval from a senior tax officer.
This is aimed at reducing unnecessary checks and making inter-state movement of goods easier.
Inspection protocol
Physical checks limited to origin and destination points
The new system proposed by the GST Council limits physical intervention during inspections to the origin and destination points.
This means that a consignment traveling through multiple states can now be physically checked only at its start and end points.
Abhishek Jain, Indirect Tax National Head and Partner at KPMG in India, said this decision could provide major relief to businesses.
Prosecution limit
Prosecution threshold in GST cases raised
Another major recommendation from the GST Council is to raise the prosecution threshold in GST cases from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore.
Sitharaman said cases involving an amount below ₹5 crore would not face prosecution under the proposed framework.
The Council also recommended reducing the general penalty from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000 as part of a broader effort to make GST enforcement more proportionate while ensuring serious violations continue facing action.