Goods and services tax (GST) on Tourism sector-an overview

Tourism industry has an important potential considering the rich cultural and historical heritage, variety in ecology, terrains and places of natural beauty which spread across the country. It is marked with a rich potentiality in employment generation and a significant source of foreign exchange for the nation. Tourism industry has emerged as one of the key drivers of growth among the various service sectors. This industry has recently got updated with a new set of Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates; which will be applied on their services based on tariffs and turnover. This paper highlights the objectives of the GST and impact of GST on tourism sector in the present scenario. The paper also explores the various pros and cons of one Nation-One tax reform; GST also acts as a sparkle of hope for the hotel and tourism industry, and keep the GST rate between 10 to 15%. It might be a sign with its uniformity of tax rates, a better utilization of input credit which in turn benefits the end user in terms of affordability. GST has been one of the most awaited tax reforms of India. Goods and services Tax if touted as one of the biggest reforms of Modern India. Since last few years, Indian tourism industry has been growing at a rapid pace and it has vast potential for generating employment and earning large amount of foreign exchange. So it is imperative to study the growth and development of Indian tourism industry‖. But GST is going to be an efficient and harmonized destination based tax system ad will remove the problems faced by the sector leading to cost optimization and a free flow of transaction ahead.