GOODS AND SERVICE TAX (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: Recently, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections reached ₹1.68 trillion in November, boosted by festive demand that bolstered sales, although this figure was lower than the ₹1.72 trillion recorded in October.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

• About: It is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based, that is levied on every value addition, focusing on the consumption of goods and Services.

oDestination tax refers to a tax collected by the authority with jurisdiction over the place of consumption, also known as the place of supply.

• Introduced by: The Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016, introduced by 122nd Amendment Bill.
• Came into effect: From 1st July 2017.
• Origin: GST was first implemented as a tax regime in 1954 in France and later adopted by several countries, including Australia, Cnanada, UK, Spain etc.
• In India: It came into consideration after a committee headed by Vijay L. Kelkar concluded that GST could help improve tax structure in India.
• GST Slabs: 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
• GST Tax Structure: Central GST (CGST), State GST (SGST), Integrated GST (IGST) and Union Territory GST (UTGST).