Top headlines: 5 years of GST and what lies ahead for the tax reform

In the last five years, since its launch in July 2017, the GST journey has been difficult for both economic and political reasons. Read more on five years of GST in our top headlines.

GST: What lies ahead for India's most ambitious indirect tax reform?

What lies ahead for India’s most complex and ambitious indirect tax reform — the goods and services tax or GST? It is often said that the future lies in the past. And in the last five years, since its launch in July 2017, the GST journey has been difficult for both economic and political reasons. The big question, therefore, is whether the GST can wrench itself free from the handicaps of the past and realise its inherent potential. Read more
 

Five years of GST: Chidambaram to Sitharaman, the people behind the reform

Former finance minister P Chidambaram had in 2006 proposed April 2010 as the deadline for implementing GST. He also released a white paper on state-level value-added tax. Former finance secretary Kelkar is widely credited with being the architect of GST. In 2009, a task force he headed had suggested a comprehensive, nationwide GST. Read more

Five years of GST: Mistakes that have made the regime a disappointment

The goods and services tax (GST) in India, now five years old, has not been the success it was intended to be. Nor has it been a failure — as happened in Malaysia, which tried the tax for three years before dumping it. Like much of what the government tries to do, the GST has its plus and minus points, with the prospect that the minus points can be progressively eliminated. Read more
 

Five years of GST: The still good, but not-so-simple indirect tax

The present should not obscure the fact that democratic politics, parliamentary democracy and respect for tradition were at their finest display under this government. And the ‘good and simple tax’ — as the GST was christened by the Prime Minister on July 1, 2017 — was the cause and beneficiary. Read more

5 years of GST: How far has it lived up to promise of simple tax regime

Well begun, not quite done: Five years to the day since the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was launched, how far has it lived up to its promise of ushering in a good and simple indirect tax regime? Read more
 

Five years of GST: Collections up, but filings decline, shows data

In financial year 2021-22 (FY22), Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased 26.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY). The average monthly collections touched Rs 1.23 trillion, the highest since 2017. However, this was accompanied by a decline in the number of GST filers. A Business Standard analysis found that returns filed under GSTR-3B declined 13.8 per cent YoY in FY22. An average of 7.9 million returns were filed monthly in FY22, compared with 9.3 million in FY20. Read more