GST Council scraps officers' arrest powers, raises prosecution threshold to ₹5 crore

The GST Council on Thursday scrapped arrest powers for GST officers and raised the prosecution threshold from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, marking a major shift in enforcement policy. The Council also removed the minimum punishment, leaving fines or imprisonment to judicial discretion, and reduced the general penalty from ₹25,000 to ₹10,000. A Committee of Officers will study input tax credit safeguards for genuine buyers within three months. Finance Ministry officials said rate changes will now occur annually, as the rate structure is settled. The committee's findings will be placed before the next Council meeting.