International Journal of Research in Social Sciences

Goods and Services Tax (GST), the biggest reform in the taxation era of Indian economy facelifts the brands of India in world's business friendly countries and boosts the economy by eliminating obstacle in the present indirect taxation structure. GST being an important, strategic and most practical step in the rationalization of Indian taxation structure, in the present globalised scenario, GST is a sine qua non for keeping Indian economy competitive not only within the country but also outside the country. The varying taxation structure across the states within India is creating unhealthy competition among the states and impeding the overall growth with increased compliance cost to the business environment. GST has far reaching consequences and implication and effects particularly on the attainment of cost effectiveness.

The urgent need to change over from the dual value added tax (VAT) system at the centre and the states to an integrated GST, with a provision of tax levy only on the value added and input tax credits seamlessly available across the value chain is expected to bring the desired degree of transparency along with tax efficiency which is the crying need of the hour.

In this backdrop, the present paper is a humble attempt being made to capture the essence of GST in India, the developments on policy front as far as GST enactment is concerned, prospects of GST regime of the Indian economy as a whole and the challenges lying on the road ahead in a brief and constant manner.