GST – Missed Opportunities

Abstract

Recently, the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers released the First Discussion Paper on Goods and Services Tax in India. This discussion paper is the result of three years of deliberations between policy makers of the Central Government and State Governments to herald the Indian economy in to a unified common market with free movement of goods and service across the length and breadth of India. Presently, due to various central and state levies on the goods and services, Indian market is fragmented. It is expected that subsuming all indirect taxes and levies under a single tax regime will create a grand common market with little distortions due to local factors. This paper examines some aspects of the proposed regime.

Keywords: First Discussion Paper, Goods and Services Tax in India, Empowered Committee, State Finance Ministers, Indirect Tax, Central and State Governments, Constitution of India, Service Tax, CENVAT, VAT, IGST, GST, CGST, SGST, Credit, Cross-Utilisation, Supply

JEL Classification: E62, H2, H7, K72