The 57th GST Council meeting has been rescheduled for the second time, and the new date is October 8.

In an office memorandum, the GST Council Secretariat said that the meeting is being rescheduled due to “unavoidable circumstances”.

The Council meeting was scheduled to be held on October 7.

The GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state ministers, will, in its meeting on Thursday, discuss changes in registration, returns, and refunds mechanism.

It would also discuss policy reforms to resolve GST disputes and improve the flow of input tax credit, with the aim of reducing the time and cost of compliance.

According to sources, the GST Council is likely to consider sweeping process reforms to decriminalise GST offences, remove arrest powers of GST officers and make tax compliance easier for businesses, including e-commerce suppliers.

This is the second time that the date of the 57th GST Council meeting has been rescheduled.

The meeting, which was originally scheduled for September 12, was rescheduled to October 7 on account of the BRICS summit. India hosted the annual BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13.

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