Gujarat Assembly passes GST Amendment Bill 2026; faster refunds, easier compliance for traders

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed the Gujarat State Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, aimed at simplifying GST compliance, easing refund procedures and promoting the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the state, a press release said.

Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai introduced the Bill, saying the amendments were in line with changes made by the Centre following the recommendations of the 56th GST Council meeting.

One of the key provisions is a faster refund mechanism for businesses facing an inverted duty structure. Under the proposed changes, 90% of the eligible refund will be released provisionally within seven days of the application, compared with the existing provision of processing refunds within 60 days.

The Bill also removes the existing ₹1,000 minimum threshold for refund claims on exported goods where tax has been paid, allowing exporters to claim refunds even when the amount is below ₹1,000.

Easier post-sale discounts and credit notes

The amendments seek to make the treatment of post-sale discounts more practical. Changes to Section 15(3)(b) remove the requirement that such discounts must be linked to the original contract.

If a seller issues a credit note for a post-sale discount and the buyer reverses the corresponding input tax credit under Section 34, the seller can deduct the discount from the taxable value and claim a reduction in tax liability.

A corresponding amendment to Section 34(1) will also facilitate the issuance of credit notes for discounts offered after a sale, reducing compliance difficulties for businesses.

Desai said the reforms would particularly benefit small traders and exporters by making GST-related processes faster and more transparent through a faceless system. He said GST registration and certification-related processes would be completed within three days, while eligible refunds would be processed more quickly.

Gujarat records high timely return filing

The Finance Minister said GST, introduced on July 1, 2017, had brought a major change to India’s indirect tax system under the principle of ‘One Nation, One Tax’.

According to Desai, 99.6% of GST returns in Gujarat were filed within the prescribed time during the last financial year, higher than the national average. Gujarat taxpayers have ranked first in the country in timely return filing for the past five years, he said.

He also highlighted recent GST rate rationalisation under GST 2.0, including complete exemption for medicines used to treat serious diseases such as cancer, as well as personal mediclaim and life insurance premiums. GST rates have also been reduced on several products, including butter, ghee, soap, shampoo, agricultural tractors and parts, seed equipment, machinery, stationery, water colours and sports equipment. DeshGujarat