GST in India

GST in India shall eliminate multiple tax structures and complexity of filing tax returns. The bill shall also regulate GST payment for the consumers. Currently, the indirect tax system in India is complex leading to inefficient tax collection and adversely affecting GDP growth. The introduction of MODVAT, then CENVAT and now VAT was India's progress towards achieving an efficient system of taxation. Following VAT, GST in India will likely introduce a tremendous improvement to the indirect tax framework in India. In this article, let us look at some of the key aspects of GST in India.

GST Overview

In India, the Kelkar Task Force introduced the concept of GST during 2004. The Kelkar Committee strongly recommended integrating GST on a national basis and since then various other Committees and Commissions have worked the roadmap to unveiling GST in India. Therefore, it shall apply to all the businesses in a uniform manner. It shall also result in eradicating multiple tax structures that create difficultly for ease of doing business in India.

GST, when introduced in India, would have a very wide and comprehensive tax base extending overall goods and services. Further, it would have two components: Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) levied by the Central Government of India and State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) levied by the respective State Government. The basic features of law and classification would be the same for both CGST and SGST thereby avoiding any disputes.

Central Government Taxes under GST

The following are the central government taxes that would be subsumed under GST:

Central Excise Duty
Additional Excise Duties
Excise duty under the Medicinal and Toiletries Preparation Act
Service Tax
Additional Customs Duty
Special Additional Customs Duty
Surcharge and Surcharges
Cess

The following are the state government taxes that would be subsumed under GST:

VAT
Sales Tax
Entertainment tax
Luxury tax
Tax on lottery, betting and gambling
State Cess and Surcharges
Entry tax

Liability for GST Payment

The liability for GST payment in India will finally fall on the person finally consuming the commodity. Therefore, the tax liability would be payable by the end consumer. Also, the tax revenue for the State Government from the SGST component would be calculated based on the state where the goods or services were consumed.

GST Rollout in India

The current Central government proposes to implement Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2016. It got delayed for long due to the lack of consensus among states over crucial issues such as revenue loss to the state, state government compensation structure, entry tax and tax on petroleum products. However, in a bid to roll out the GST, which would subsume excise and service taxes, the Centre has come out with a new Constitutional Amendment Bill. Therefore, the implementation shall roll out shortly.