A taxing tale: Assessing the impact of six years of GST

Goods and Services Tax (GST) stands at a critical juncture six years after its implementation. Despite promising enormous benefits, it has fallen short and led to a decline in economic growth, especially for the unorganised sector.

—

GOODS and Services Tax (GST) has completed six years since it was launched on the midnight of June 30, 2017. It was billed as India's second freedom. In a repetition of the then Parliament's midnight meeting on August 14, 1947, the Parliament met dramatically in 2017 to hear the Prime Minister announce the launch of GST.

It was said that the fragmented Indian market would be unified into one and a parallel was drawn with 1947, when free India had come together as a union of states.

Promised gains from GST

It was said that introduction of GST in India would bring enormous benefits to the people, with a percentage increase in gross domestic product (GDP), decline in inflation, reduction in black economy, increase in tax collection leading to better public services, ease of doing business leading to increased investments, and so on. There were no negative notes that were made.

GST was under discussion since the late 1990s and the government finally implemented it in July 2017 after political parties and states reached an agreement in 2016. Several prosperous states were reluctant to implement GST since it was a last point tax which would be disadvantageous to them.