The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) was hailed as a transformative fiscal reform; however, the journey of GST has been a mixed bag of successes and challenges. Analyse.

Goods and Services Tax GST was introduced via the 122nd constitutional Amendment Act and assumed within it several taxes such as Value Added Tax, VAT, GST etc. destination based tax eliminated cascading of taxes Pan India. Transformative features: Universal application. Successes of GST: (1) Raised tax collectors: All time high monthly GST collections of 1.6 lakh crore. (2) Step towards raising indirect tax over direct tax in the with NK single committee recommendations. (3) Formalisation of the economy: Need for e-way Bill, etc. (4) Fixed rates promoted transparency and reduced harassment by official. (5) Improved tax collections at distribution states from seller earned.

Shortcomings in GST: (1) MSMEs doing out orders from big players due to delayed input credit/IHL (2) Too many slabs delaying manufacture confused by sweets at 12%, mithai at 5% (3) Does not cover petroleum electricity (4) Fall in tax revenue for producer states & dissatisfaction over compensation. (5) Imposition of CoE and surcharge by centre not shared with states. (6) Inverted duty structure & High 28% bracket for housing project. Kalekan committee recommended Way forward - Hinduism review of tax brackets - Gradual inclusion of petroleum, ATF, alcohol, etc. - Promote digital and financial literacy among MSMEs - GST remains an unfinished agenda - It requires timely updations