TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
13 Oct 2026 
The official press release of PIB on 57th GST council meeting was available in public domain around 19.10 Hours on 08/10/2026. After going through the press release and attending session on outcome of council meeting on 09/10/2026, it appears that it is nothing less than a silent revolution. The taxpayers were having 100s of issues and this 57th council meeting has already addressed several such issues. The notifications as well as circulars to be issued for effecting the proposals approved on 08/10/2026 shall definitely have huge impact as each and every move are well thought and the solutions seems to be practical.
The officials who deal in adjudication as well as pass first appeal order must clearly understand the intentions of the Government in approving the proposals and all guidelines and suggestions should be made applicable for all OIO as well as OIA being passed after issuance of such notifications/ circulars/ guidelines irrespective of the period under dispute. This aspect should also be made clear in the respective circular /notification itself so that the desired benefits are available to the taxpayer.
The filed formations have developed lot of expertise in raising of a non-issue. "Raising a non-issue" means bringing up a topic, problem, or concern that is irrelevant, unimportant, or already resolved. When someone does this, they are making a big deal out of something that has no meaningful impact on the situation at hand. This is exactly what that is happening on few sections of the CGST Act and though few such issues are already resolved on 08/10/2026 and the next 58th GST Council meeting is under active consideration of the council during January 2027 itself, I propose the following for the kind consideration of the GST Council in their 58th meeting.
There are several decisions being passed by various high courts as well as benches of GSTAT and every day we get new case laws. These reveal that some issues if addressed immediately shall reduce avoidable litigation in a highly significant manner which saves time for tax officer to do more productive job and allows the taxpayer to focus on his business or profession. The list is as below, based on decisions rendered during the last two months.
| No | Issue | Solution |
| 1 | Portal only upload of SCN/OIO | Section 169 (d). Perfect. But in case SCN or OIO go unnoticed?. Kindly issue a circular that wherever SCN is not replied, SCN must be sent by speed post as well as through registered e mail as well. |
| 2 | Tax head mismatch | In case IGST is wrongly paid as CGST and SGST or CGST/SGST is wrongly paid as IGST, there is no short payment of tax. Adjustments must be done at back end or the taxpayer must be allowed to make corrections. Issuing a SCN is a futile exercise. |
| 3 | No personal hearing | Crystal clear violation of sub-sections 4 and 5 of section 75 of the CGST Act. Mechanical and routing passing of OIO without personal hearing must be stopped at once to avoid further litigation. Personal Hearing is right of the taxpayer and it is not at the mercy of the adjudicating authority. This issue requires to be addressed appropriately. |
| 4 | Demand of GST @18% on entire trade payables as on end date of financial year as per financial statements. | It is on the assumption that all creditors are older than 180 days. When we submit ledger extract of major suppliers to prove that none of the creditors are older than two months, at SCN stage demand is confirmed 100% on the pretext that proof for each and every case not submitted. Due to volume, it may take two full days to verify all entries. This issue must also be addressed |
| 5 | Threshold Exemption | The current limits of 20 lakhs and 40 lakhs were fixed in 2017 and 2019. Forget cost of inflation index. Forget GDP growth. Going by any standard, 20 should become minimum 25 and 40 should become minimum 50. Ideally, 20 to 30 and 40 to 60 is much desirable. This shall help in the long run. |
| 6 | Real Estate Sector | The most ignored sector in GST is real estate sector. The most taxed sector in GST is real estate sector. Developer/ promoter passes on ITC loss to consumer. The sufferer is common man. Land cost is as high as 70% whereas abatement available only for 33.33%. |
| 7 | 16 (2) ( c ) | 100s of judgements already came. Clue is available there for necessary correction. It is highly illogical to punish A for the fault of B. It requires complete resolution urgently. This issue is now before the committee which requires to be resolved as soon a spossible. |
| 8 | 17 (5) | What we needed was food for an elephant. What is proposed now is food for a rat. It is highly illogical to continue with 17 (5). The most unwanted sub-section in entire GST law is 17(5) which is ranked as number one sub section in terms of rank due for deletion. |
| 9 | Why 180 days | The trade and industry have huge working capital deficiency. They borrow from banks at exorbitant interest rate and pay GST in time to avoid 18% interest. Kindly amend section 16 in such a manner that a buyer is eligible only upon payment of applicable GST to seller before 15th of the succeeding month so that GST is paid by all without any difficulties. |
| 10 | Last, but not the least. | Why GSTAT has only 32 benches as against ITAT having 63 benches . No adequate support staff. Inadequate space. The benches of GSTAT are to be strengthened with more benches, more members, more infrastructure, more staff. |
It is expected that the Government continues to be responsive as was the case in 56th and 57th GST Council meetings in all the meetings in future.