GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST): AN ANALYSIS OF THE INDIRECT TAX REFORM IN INDIA

Abstract

It is past time that we stop trying to carve off individual states from the land and instead work toward integrating into a common market. The 1950s marked the beginning of this debate. Indirect Taxes have made this a reality. The European Union is now a fully fledged Economic Union, complete with a single currency and the unrestricted movement of labour, capital, and (men, money and materials). Since gaining independence, India has used a single currency throughout the country. To that end, on July 1, 2017, the government began collecting a new kind of indirect tax known as Goods and Services Tax (GST) from all businesses and consumers in the country. Before Goods and Services Tax (GST), there was Value Added Tax (hereinafter VAT), but rates varied between states, and octroi or entrance tax slowed shipments. There was CENVAT, which stood for Central Value Added Tax, and MODVAT, which stood for Value Added Tax as Modified. Large inefficiencies, room for manipulation, and subjective judgments resulted from all this. Instead than focusing on improving productivity to better compete internationally, many of our largest corporations have instead been spending their time fighting the system’s power to reduce productivity. However, it had the same effect on all public services. There are many people going hungry in states like Orissa because the Food Corporation of India cannot afford to transport the tonnes of wheat that would otherwise be harvested in Punjab and Haryana. A lot of taxes at every stop.