Goods and Services Tax is a comprehensive indirect tax levied at prescribed rate on every supply of goods and services, GST act was passed on 24th March, 2017 and was applied to its full capacity on 1st July, sole motive behind this was 'One Nation,One Tax'. GST Council is headed by the Finance Minister's of the Central as well as the State government, it was a committee 21 members who worked on GST Bill which was proposed in the both the Parliament Houses.When GST was first launched it had percentage bifurcation of 5%,12%,18%,28%, in which Petroleum Products,Alcoholic drinks and also Electricity was not taken under the federal tax system wherein it was handled by the States under their Individual Tax Systems.
GST has replaced many indirect taxes levied by Central and State Government, all Indirect taxes levied by Central and State government, all Indirect Taxes have been merged in a single tax i.e.GST. Moving ahead as GST completes a tenure of 5 years few new implications have been brought into, some of them are:-
● 5% GST on pre packed,labelled food items like atta,paneer ans curd.
● 12% GST on hospital rooms with tariff of upto ₹1000 a day, maps and charts.
● 5%GST on hospital rooms, not on ICU with rent above ₹5000.
● 18%GST on Tetra Packs.
● Substantial increase of GST in solar water heater from 5% to 12%
● 12 %GST on bio medical waste treatment facilities. GST has substantial effects on the country, working mechanism of GST is that it is levied on each and every stage where in the goods and services are consumed and also it has been bifurcated into three categories:-
● CGST
● SGST
● IGST
This taxation pattern has brought a revolutionary change in the tax paying system of the country as it might seem that a seller or buyer is paying a huge amount of tax but the hidden charges being removed from it, Small and Medium enterprises have certainly benefited from this pattern.
Simple tax pattern helps any individual understand how much amount are they investing in paying taxes moreover, since GST has uniformed rate of tax so it has boosted up the production of country.
Considering the earlier tax rate service charges was 15% which has rosen up to 18% to 25% in the service sector which undoubtedly has increased the burden on common man's pocket which in turn is a negative signal for GST. Since the GST has given rise to the inflation price which is a alarming sign for a smooth conduct of taxation policy.Also the tax filing process was earlier easy but now GST has made it little bit more complex which means a common man needs to go to an experienced person and seek help for the same which in turn will increase the cost for same. GST is certainly beneficial in the long run only if there is a proper check over the rates.
Author:- Tanushree Thakur
