New Delhi, Sep 6: The 57th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, scheduled for September 12, has been postponed to October 7 in view of the BRICS summit being hosted by India in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, sources said.
The meeting, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising finance ministers of states, will now be preceded by meetings of officers on October 5 and 6.
The GST Council is scheduled to meet after a gap of more than a year. Its 56th meeting was held on September 3 and 4, 2025, when the Centre and states approved a major restructuring of GST rates and slabs.
The revised structure, effective from September 22, 2025, introduced a two-tier GST structure of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, along with a highest rate of 40 per cent for ultra-luxury and sin goods. It replaced the four slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent that had been in place since the rollout of GST on July 1, 2017.
At its October 7 meeting, the Council is likely to consider simplifying GST registration for businesses that pass on tax credit of more than Rs 2.5 lakh a month.
Currently, there is no uniformity in the procedure followed by Central GST formations and state authorities while granting GST registration to large businesses passing on credit above the Rs 2.5 lakh monthly threshold. The issue has created uncertainty among taxpayers, sources said.
The Council is also expected to consider automation and other changes in the GST registration cancellation process.
The September 2025 meeting had already approved a simplified GST registration scheme for small and low-risk businesses. The scheme was rolled out from November 1, 2025.
Under the simplified mechanism, small and low-risk applicants identified by the GST system through data analysis, as well as applicants who self-assess that their output tax liability does not exceed Rs 2.5 lakh a month—including CGST, SGST/UTGST and IGST—can opt for the scheme.
There are currently around 1.68 crore businesses registered under GST.
The BRICS summit, which India is hosting in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, is expected to deliberate on several pressing global challenges, including the economic consequences of the West Asia crisis.
BRICS originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, while Indonesia joined the grouping in 2025.
