GST in India was a dream to reform various area of economy and taxation system. Finally, GST has been rolled out in India since 1st July 2017 as the biggest tax reform and same has been founded on the notion of “One Nation” One Market, One Tax”. The single biggest indirect tax regime has kicked into force, dismantling all the inter-state barriers with respect to trade. The GST rollout, with a single stroke, has converted India into a unified market of 1.3 billion citizens. Fundamentally, the $2.4-trillion economy is attempting to transform itself by doing away with the internal tariff barriers and subsuming central, state and local taxes into a unified GST.
The GST regime is believed to be good for the Indian startup sector as it carries with it tax credit on purchases, a simple compliance model, increased limits for registration, and the ability to promote the free flow of goods and services. It takes away the complication and confusion of the previous VAT laws, especially for those in the ecommerce industry. GST may stir inflation but there’s the optimistic view that the undesirable effects will not last long, and will eventually be offset by the positive impact of an improving economy.
On the other hand, it can be said that GST is mostly viewed as an inflationary measure. However, the Indian government believes otherwise. As per the current Revenue Secretary, consumer price inflation with GST implemented will go down by 2% by the end of 2017. Naturally, not many are convinced by this claim. The fact that the tax rate on services has been raised to 18% from around 15% is already expected to raise inflation above levels experienced before the institution of GST.
It is expected that GST would not just mean a lower rate of taxes, but also minimum tax slabs. Countries where the Goods and Service Tax has helped in reforming the economy, apply only 2 or 3 rates – one being the mean rate, a lower rate for essential commodities, and a higher tax rate for the luxurious commodities. Currently, in India, we have 5 slabs, with as many as 3 rates – an integrated rate, a central rate, and a state rate. In addition to these, cess is also levied. The fear of losing out on revenue has kept the government from gambling on fewer or lower rates. This is very unlikely to see a shift anytime soon; though the government has said that rates may be revisited once the RNR (revenue neutral rate) is reached.
The impact of GST on macroeconomic indicators is likely to be very positive in the medium-term. Inflation would be reduced as the cascading (tax on tax) effect of taxes would be eliminated. The revenue from the taxes for the government is very likely to increase with an extended tax net, and the fiscal deficit is expected to remain under the checks. Moreover, exports would grow, while FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) would also increase. The industry leaders believe that the country would climb several ladders in the ease of doing business with the implementation of the most important tax reform ever in the history of the country.
We can summaries the benefits of GST as below;-
- Removal of bundled indirect taxes such as VAT, CST, Service tax, CAD, SAD, and Excise.
- Less tax compliance and a simplified tax policy compared to current tax structure.
- Removal of cascading effect of taxes i.e. removes tax on tax.
- Reduction of manufacturing costs due to lower burden of taxes on the manufacturing sector. Hence prices of consumer goods will be likely to come down.
- Lower the burden on the common man i.e. public will have to shed less money to buy the same products that were costly earlier.
- Increased demand and consumption of goods.
- Increased demand will lead to increase supply. Hence, this will ultimately lead to rise in the production of goods.
- Control of black money circulation as the system normally followed by traders and shopkeepers will be put to a mandatory check.
- Boost to the Indian economy in the long run.
By CA. Manoj Chaubey
