New Delhi, October 5: The next phase of Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms will focus on simplifying compliance and reducing the time and cost of meeting tax obligations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, as proposals are set to come before the GST Council on October 7.
Sitharaman said the process-related changes would build on the GST rate revisions introduced on September 22, 2025, which she described as the first part of the Next-Gen GST reforms. The forthcoming proposals have been prepared in consultation with states and are intended to provide taxpayers with greater predictability while supporting economic activity.
“The next phase of process reforms will come before the GST Council shortly,” Sitharaman said in an article shared on LinkedIn.
She said the broader reform effort seeks to provide relief to households, give businesses greater certainty and make it easier for taxpayers to meet their obligations. A simpler and more predictable GST framework, she added, would help enterprises, including small businesses in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, expand and contribute to India’s growth.
The minister pointed to recent GST trends while outlining the impact of the reforms. The value of reported taxable supplies increased 25.8 per cent between October 2025 and July 2026 compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.
Gross GST collections rose 11.6 per cent to Rs 12.46 lakh crore during April-September 2026. Collections recorded double-digit annual growth in each month from June through September, with the four-month period registering an increase of nearly 15 per cent.
Net GST collections, after accounting for refunds, grew 10.4 per cent during the first half of the financial year, Sitharaman said.
Reported consumer sales, or B2C supplies, also increased 26.7 per cent during the post-reform period. GST registrations reached about 1.71 crore at the end of August, nearly 15 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Sitharaman said around Rs 1.80 lakh crore was refunded between April and September and stressed the importance of greater predictability in refunds for businesses.
Aggregate SGST receipts of states, including their share of IGST settlements, increased about 16 per cent during April-September.
The minister said the next set of measures is aimed at advancing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision by making GST processes more predictable and less burdensome for taxpayers.
