Budget 2026 and Expected GST Changes in India
Why GST changes happen outside the Union Budget
Unlike income tax, GST rates and structural changes are not set solely through the annual Union Budget — they are decided by the GST Council, a body comprising the Union Finance Minister and state finance ministers, which meets periodically throughout the year. The Union Budget can still influence GST-adjacent matters like customs duty and compliance procedure, but slab-rate changes typically flow from Council meetings and subsequent CBIC notifications.
What changed with GST 2.0
The most significant recent structural change was GST 2.0, effective September 22, 2025, following the 56th GST Council meeting. This abolished the 12% and 28% slabs, consolidating rates into a simplified 0%, 5%, 18%, and 40% structure — with most goods previously at 12% moving to 5% and luxury/sin goods previously at 28% moving to 40%. GSTFlix's calculators and slab reference reflect this structure.
Areas commonly discussed for further reform
Ongoing policy discussion in India's GST ecosystem regularly touches on: further rate rationalisation to reduce the number of active rate categories, bringing petroleum products under GST (currently outside its scope), simplifying return filing further for small taxpayers, and refining the compliance burden for e-commerce sellers around TCS and registration requirements. These remain subjects of Council deliberation rather than settled law until formally notified.
How to track GST changes reliably
The safest sources for confirmed GST changes are official CBIC notifications and circulars, GST Council press releases following each meeting, and the GST Portal's official update section — not social media summaries, which can misrepresent proposals as finalised rules. GSTFlix updates its slab tables and rate references promptly after each confirmed notification.
What this means for your business
Rate changes affect pricing, invoicing templates, and ERP/accounting system configuration. When a slab change is notified, businesses typically need to: update product/service HSN-rate mapping in billing systems, revise price lists reflecting the new tax-inclusive MRP, and communicate changes to customers where contractually relevant. Use the Compare Slabs Calculator to quickly see the pricing impact of a rate change on your product range.