The GST Council is expected to discuss proposed reforms aimed at simplifying compliance, improving tax administration and easing working capital pressures for businesses. The meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, may consider changes to GST registration, returns, refunds, input tax credit and dispute resolution. Proposals concerning enforcement, including arrest and prosecution provisions, are also expected to be discussed on Thursday. Tax experts believe some measures could help reduce compliance and working capital concerns. Jayant Krishna, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Former Group CEO, UK India Business Council (UKIBC) said, "the proposal for refund of accumulated GST on capital goods deployed in plant and machinery (spread over 5 years) as well as input services, that was so far confined to raw material consumption, is a welcome move as it would reduce the overall GST burden, lower the working capital requirement, enhance business competitiveness and improve the profitability of businesses. If this provision goes through, it would specially help capital intensive manufacturing investments. Once it happens and if the manufacturing industry passes on a substantial part of these benefits to the end-consumers, it would stimulate demand and reduce inflationary trend in the economy to some extent. Eventually, India needs to move closer to the global trends of reduced incidence of GST which would also improve compliance besides increasing consumption." Experts also feel both the Government and consumers witnessed the impact of easing rates during GST 2.0. Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya said, "a year ago, GST 2.0 was introduced, reducing GST rates and reducing the slabs. It led to increased resilience and growth in the domestic economy while also increasing the tax collections for the government, where the rest of the world staggered under the impact of global instability. It is clear that GST simplification, reduced number of slabs and reduced rates help the economy, the government and the people. We hope the government will double down on this formula and further reduce taxes and the number of slabs. It is to be noted that China, India’s principal manufacturing competitor, has a standard VAT rate of 13% on most goods and 6% on many key services." Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Business, Economy and around the World. Sakshi Bajaj is a seasoned Associate Editor with over 15 years of experience in broadcast journalism. She has anchored, scripted, produced shows and w... View More