GST Council moves to simplify officers’ committee structure

The GST Council is set to rationalise its elaborate officers’ committee structure, with the government proposing to discontinue all existing committees except three key bodies, nearly nine years after the indirect tax regime was rolled out.

Under the proposal, the existing structure will be replaced by the Office of the Secretary to the GST Council, the GST Implementation Committee (GIC) and a Standing Committee of Officers. All other officers’ committees will be discontinued.

The move comes after the GST system has stabilised following nine years of implementation and extensive rate rationalisation undertaken after the 56th GST Council meeting. The proposal has also been discussed at the sixth National Coordination Meeting held in August, where states and the Centre discussed committee structure, representation, rotation and the handling of representations.

The GIC will function as the top-tier decision-making body and consider matters referred by the GST Council Secretariat. It will take decisions on issues mandated by the Council and, where required, refer important matters to the Secretary to the GST Council, the Union Finance Minister or the GST Council. The GIC will also continue to function as the Information Technology Grievance Redressal Committee.

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The proposed Standing Committee of Officers will deal with changes to GST Acts, Rules, notifications, circulars and forms, besides examining proposals for new rules and processes, simplification of procedures and representations relating to GST law.

The restructuring will also change how states are represented on the committee. The Standing Committee will have 12 state representatives, with states grouped according to their relative size in the GST ecosystem, based equally on post-settlement gross SGST revenue for FY2025-26 and the number of registered GSTINs as of March 31, 2026.

Five larger states Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are proposed to form the core representation and would not be subject to rotation. The remaining seven positions would rotate every two years to ensure wider participation.

For the first two-year cycle, Rajasthan and West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab, and Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Meghalaya are proposed to join the committee alongside the five core states.

The proposal also seeks to create a centralised system within the GST Council Secretariat to receive, screen, categorise and track representations. Similar issues could be aggregated, while matters with wider policy or systemic relevance would be prioritised and referred to the appropriate committee.

The Standing Committee may also circulate agendas in advance to all states, with non-member states allowed to seek participation in specific matters. A 75% quorum has been proposed.