NEW DELHI: The Centre plans to introduce faceless Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) administration for taxpayers operating under multiple tax jurisdictions, with implementation targeted for the financial year 2027-28, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference following the 57th GST Council meeting, Sitharaman said the initiative would simplify tax administration for businesses dealing with multiple CGST authorities across states. “Going forward, we intend to bring a centralized tax administration for these multiple CGST jurisdiction tax payers,” she said.
The proposed framework will provide a unified window for scrutiny of returns, audits, adjudication, appeals, taxpayer services and grievance redressal, reducing the need for businesses to deal with different tax authorities.
According to Sitharaman, around 69.5 lakh taxpayers fall exclusively under CGST jurisdiction, of whom approximately 2 lakh operate under multiple CGST jurisdictions within or across states. “For these taxpayers, we intend to introduce faceless tax administration, CGST,” she said.
#WATCH | Delhi | 57th GST Council meeting | Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, “There was an agenda on amending Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act, where the ITC passed on to the final genuine taxpayer was blocked or reversed. When any one of the suppliers in the value chain allegedly failed to deposit the ITC accrued or passed on fake ITC…Currently, the ITC is blocked even when the recipient taxpayer is in possession of the invoice, has received the supply, and has himself paid the tax amounts to the suppliers, on the ground that if any supplier at any level in the supply chain is found non-compliant, the problem starts from there. This creates challenges for taxpayers. It needs to be rationalised. The Council today deliberated on the issue and discussed ways to address this anomaly. This involved balancing the concerns of genuine taxpayers while also curtailing the misuse of ITC. Upon the suggestions of several states, and in the spirit of cooperative federalism, it was decided to have an officers’ committee to examine this further…We proposed that we should limit it to the one next to the taxpayer and not go to the entire chain. But because today some states have requested, in the spirit of cooperative federalism, we’ve agreed to have an officers’ committee to examine this further…The committee of officers will submit its report within three months, and it will be immediately placed before the Council for a final decision, so that whatever the decision may be, I can’t pre-empt it. That also becomes a part of the 1 April 2027 onwards implementation agenda. No GST rates have been changed at this meeting, which I’ve already said earlier”
— ANI (@ANI) October 8, 2026
The Finance Minister said the proposal draws on the experience of faceless administration under the income tax system. “A framework will be finalized and put up for public consultation before the budget next year and will be implemented during the next financial year 27-28,” Sitharaman said.
She clarified that the initiative was a separate Central Government announcement and not part of the GST Council’s agenda. The announcement comes as the government seeks to simplify GST compliance, reduce administrative hurdles and improve ease of doing business following last year’s rate rationalisation.
Meanwhile, the GST Council deferred a final decision on protecting genuine buyers from losing input tax credit (ITC) due to defaults by suppliers elsewhere in the supply chain.
Sitharaman said taxpayers currently face difficulties even when they possess valid invoices, have received goods and have paid their suppliers, if another supplier in the chain fails to comply with GST requirements. “Why should an honest payer be put to difficulty and made to wait till such a time everyone in the supply chain comes out clean?” she said, highlighting the concerns raised by businesses.
The Council decided to refer the issue to a committee of officers following concerns raised by some states. Sitharaman said the committee would submit its report within three months, after which the matter would return to the Council for a final decision, with implementation targeted from April 1, 2027. (ANI)
