GST Council proposes 17-day refund window and faster registration for Indian businesses

At its upcoming meeting, the GST Council will seek to tighten the GST refund timeline to roughly 17 days, allowing a maximum of 10 days for acknowledgement—after which refunds are automatically considered acknowledged—and seven days for processing. Presently, acknowledgement may stretch from 21 to 45 days, even though around 90% of refunds are processed promptly. The council aims to accelerate GST registration by automating the process, reducing the time for the 39% of applications that currently lag behind the three-day average for most registrations.

Small businesses with turnover below Rs 2.5 lakh already receive numbers in about 34 minutes, and the council will explore ways for multi-state sellers to avoid duplicate registrations when they use e-commerce platforms with recognised warehouses. A proposal will also allow cancellation of registrations without physical site verification, moving to a trust-based system. Additionally, the council plans to broaden input tax credit to cover services such as vehicle leasing, insurance, and telecom tower construction, supported by an upgraded invoice-matching system that can flag fake credits early.