GST may be recast next week to make compliance easier

NEW DELHI: India is set to unveil another revamp of the goods and services tax (GST) regime next week aimed at making compliance simpler. The GST Council meeting on January 18 is expected to take up changes in the definitions of terms such as supply and handicrafts as part of this effort besides replacing the three forms that need to be submitted with one, said two government officials aware of the development. It may also drop the requirement for upfront invoice matching, they said. “These changes would be taken up by the council at the upcoming meeting,” said one of the officials.

This will be the second significant overhaul of GST after a November rejig that saw the tax rate on 178 household goods being lowered and that on restaurants brought down to 5%.

India rolled out GST, which replaces multiple state and central taxes and cesses, on July 1. The levy has been tweaked over the past few months based on feedback from businesses.


The council had set up two committees – one to review GST law and procedures and the second to formulate a definition for handicraft. Both have submitted their reports to the council secretariat and it will now take a final call on the recommendations.