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

The GST is still paying the price for govts talking the talk of a good and simple tax on July 1, 2017, but not walking the walk thereafter

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.

The agreement on goods and services tax (GST) required compromises between political parties and between the centre and states. Securing them probably required deploying the full Chankaya arsenal of “saam-daam-dand-bhed”, which Arun Jaitley did successfully. It was politicking and statecraft at its glorious-grubby best.

Then there was the parliamentary debate