MOTHER OF ALL TAX REFORMS: INDIA’S GOODS AND SERVICES TAX 2017

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is the single biggest tax reform in India's history. No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come, and it is now time of GST. GST will be levied on the supply of goods or services or both in India. GST will subsume a number of existing indirect taxes being levied by the Centre and State Governments. With the introduction of GST, India had switchover to new indirect Tax regime which is administered with the help of new age Information technology. In GST, all the business transaction is captured on a common portal hence transparency in business dealings are established. With the introduction of the GST, the Central and State Governments will have simultaneous powers to levy the GST. Credit for taxes would be given for input of goods and services with the help of GSTN, which is a Technology platform for GST. GSTN is a National Information Utility (NIU) and it will provide reliable, efficient and robust IT Backbone for the smooth functioning of the Goods & Services Tax regime. The common GST Portal of GSTN will function as the front-end of the overall GST IT eco-system. The harmonization of laws, procedures and rates of tax across India would make compliance easier and simple. The effect of GST is going to be far deeper than the tax itself, because it will lead to digitization of businesses of India. This will also greatly reduce the human interface between the taxpayer and the tax administration, leading to speedy decisions. Successfully handling the technological failure and resolving of teething problems of implementation of GST in the initial years would determine the success of such mammoth tax reform. The use of new age information technology will change the way taxes are paid and accounted. In the true sense, it is mother of all future tax reforms not only in India but also for all countries across the world.