New Delhi, Oct. 9 -- The GST Council on Thursday, October 8, cleared a major set of changes to GST (goods and services tax) administration, including higher prosecution threshold, lower general penalty and curbs on arrest powers for tax officers.

These reforms, scheduled to come into force on 1 April 2027, aim to reduce the compliance burden on businesses. They follow the broader GST reforms introduced last year, when rates were mostly cut and tax slabs rationalised.

Here's the list of compliance-related changes that would largely impact businesses from next financial year onwards:

However, these changes raise an important question about whether businesses already facing prosecution or other enforcement action under the existing provis...