GENESIS (MILESTONES)  OF  GST  IN  INDIA 

📝It has  now  been  more  than  a  decade since  the idea  of national  Goods  and  Services  Tax  (GST)  was  mooted  by Kelkar  Task  Force  in  2004.  The  Task  Force  strongly recommended  fully  integrated ‘GST’  on  national  basis.  

📝`Subsequently,  the  then  Union Finance  Minister,  Shri  P.  Chidambaram,  while presenting the Central  Budget (2007-2008),  announced  that  GST  would  be introduced  from  April 1,  2010.  Since  then,  GST missed  several  deadlines  and continued to  be shrouded  by  the  clouds  of  uncertainty.  

📝The talks  of  ushering  in  GST,  however,  gained  momentum  in the  year  2014 when  the NDA  Government tabled  the  Constitution (122nd  Amendment)  Bill,  2014  on  GST  in  the Parliament  on  19th  December,  2014.   The  Lok  Sabha passed  the  Bill on  6th  May,  2015  and  Rajya  Sabha  on 3rd  August,  2016.   Subsequent  to  ratification  of  the Bill  by  more  than  50%  of  the States,  Constitution (122nd  Amendment)  Bill,  2014  received  the assent  of  the President on  8th September,  2016  and  became  Constitution  (101st  Amendment)  Act,  2016, which  paved  the  way  for  introduction  of  GST  in  India.

📝In  the  following  year,  on  27th  March,  2017,  the Central  GST  legislations  -  Central  Goods  and Services  Tax Bill,  2017,  Integrated  Goods  and Services  Tax  Bill,  2017,  Union  Territory  Goods and Services  Tax  Bill,  2017  and  Goods  and Services  Tax  (Compensation  to  States)  Bill,  2017 were  introduced  in Lok  Sabha.   Lok  Sabha  passed  these  bills  on  29th  March, 2017  and  with  the  receipt  of  the  President’s  assent  on 12th  April,  2017,  the Bills  were enacted.   The enactment of  the Central  Acts  was  followed  by  the enactment  of  the  State  GST  laws  by  various  State  Legislatures.   Telangana, Rajasthan,  Chhattisgarh,  Punjab,  Goa  and  Bihar  were  among the  first ones  to pass  their  respective  State GST  laws.  

📝 GST  is  a  path breaking  indirect  tax  reform  which  will  create a  common national  market.   GST  has  subsumed  multiple  indirect  taxes  like  excise  duty, service tax,  VAT,  CST,  luxury  tax,  entertainment tax,  entry  tax,  etc.  

📝France  was  the  first country  to  implement GST in  the  year  1954.   Within 62  years  of  its  advent, about  160  countries  across  the  world  have adopted  GST  because this  tax  has  the  capacity to  raise  revenue in the most  transparent  and neutral  manner.

ViN...!!!

ALL ABOUT TAX

What  is a  tax? What is DIRECT  AND INDIRECT TAXES ? Goods  and Services  Tax  (GST).
A  tax  may  be  defined  as  a  "pecuniary  burden laid  upon individuals  or  property  owners  to  support the Government,  a  payment  exacted by legislative  authority.  A  tax  "is  not a  voluntary  payment or  donation,  but  an enforced  contribution,  exacted  pursuant  to  legislative authority".  

 In  simple  words,  tax  is  nothing  but  money  that  people  have  to  pay  to  the Government,  which is  used  to  provide  public  services.

DIRECT  AND INDIRECT TAXES 
Taxes  are  broadly  classified  into  direct  and  indirect  taxes.  

 Direct Taxes:   A  direct  tax  is  a  kind  of  charge,  which is  imposed  directly  on the taxpayer  and  paid  directly  to  the  Government  by  the  persons  (juristic  or  natural) on whom  it  is  imposed.   A  direct  tax  is  one  that  cannot  be  shifted  by  the  taxpayer to  someone  else.    A  significant  direct  tax  imposed  in  India  is  income  tax.

 Indirect Taxes:   If  the  taxpayer  is  just  a  conduit  and  at  every  stage  the  tax incidence is  passed  on  till  it  finally  reaches  the  consumer,  who  really  bears  the brunt  of  it,  such  tax  is  indirect  tax.    An  indirect  tax  is  one  that  can  be  shifted  by the  taxpayer  to  someone  else.     Its  incidence  is  borne  by  the  consumers  who  ultimately  consume  the  product  or the  service,  while  the  immediate  liability  to  pay  the  tax  may  fall  upon  another person  such  as  a  manufacturer  or provider  of  service  or  seller  of  goods.

Also  called  consumption taxes,  they  are  regressive  in  nature  because  they  are  not based  on  the  principle  of  ability  to  pay.    All  the  consumers,  including  the economically  challenged  bear  the  brunt  of  the  indirect  taxes  equally.    Indirect  taxes  are  levied  on  consumption,  expenditure,  privilege,  or  right  but  not on  income  or  property.   Hitherto,  a  number  of  indirect taxes  were  levied  in India, namely,  excise  duty,  customs  duty,  service  tax,  central  sales  tax  (CST),  value  added tax  (VAT),  entry  tax,  purchase  tax,  entertainment  tax,  tax  on  lottery,  betting  and gambling,  luxury  tax,  tax  on  advertisements,  etc.

  However,  indirect  taxation  in  India  has  witnessed  a  paradigm  shift  on  July  01,  2017 with usherance  into  a  unified indirect tax  regime  wherein a  large number  of  Central and  State indirect  taxes  have been amalgamated  into  a  single  tax  –  Goods  and Services  Tax  (GST).   The  introduction of  GST  is  a  very  significant  step in  the field  of indirect  tax reforms  in  India.    Customs  duty  will  continue in post-GST  regime.

Economists  world  over  agree that  direct  and  indirect  taxes  are complementary  and therefore,  a  rational  tax  structure should  incorporate in itself  both types  of  taxes.

ViN...!!!