Minister welcomes move to ease prosecution norms, reduce penalties and widen ITC, refund access
New Delhi: Union minister HD Kumaraswamy has welcomed the recommendations of the 57th GST Council meeting, describing them as an important step towards making the goods and services tax (GST) regime simpler, fairer and more business-friendly.
In a post on social media platform X, Kumaraswamy said the proposed changes would provide greater certainty to businesses and taxpayers by reducing compliance-related burdens and standardising tax proceedings.
The recommendations include removing arrest provisions, raising the prosecution threshold from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, reducing penalties and widening access to input tax credit (ITC) and refunds.
Kumaraswamy said the measures would help improve the ease of doing business while strengthening trust in India’s tax administration.
He also emphasised the importance of balancing taxpayer convenience with effective enforcement. Intelligence-based action, he said, would help ensure that genuine businesses were not unnecessarily burdened while deliberate tax evasion continued to be dealt with firmly.
The minister said the reform agenda reflected an effort to create a more predictable tax environment for businesses while maintaining accountability in the system.
