GST's maiden quarter: Reviewing one nation, one tax

As the new indirect tax regime completes a quarter, Business Standard looks at the problems filers have faced and the challenges ahead: 

Report card: A three-month learning experience

In the three months since its roll-out, the goods and services tax (GST) has not led to a spike in prices of essential commodities or shortages, but it has made the lives of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as exporters, uncomfortable.

Changes in rates for some sectors reflect flexibility in the system to adjust to emergent needs, but these have also irked certain segments such as automobile companies. Companies are also wary about anti-profiteering provisions and the yet-to-be-implemented e-way bill. Read more

GST returns: Marginal dip in compliance this September

The goods and services tax (GST) revenue figures, released by the finance ministry a few days ago, showed that the number of GSTR 3B returns filed as of September 25 had dipped to 3.76 million, down from 3.83 million on August 29. 

In the same period, the indirect tax payer base (those registered) is reported to have increased from 5.96 million to 6.82 million. This drop in compliance levels from 64.4 per cent to 55.2 per cent led to concerns about the new indirect tax architecture. But have compliance levels really gone down that sharply? Is the situation as bad as is being made out to be? Read more 

Exports: How the indirect tax put Indian competitiveness to test

While the 18th century American thinker Thomas Paine supported ‘free trade’ for its power to uproot existing traditional social and political arrangements, Edmund Burke, his Irish contemporary, believed, “Free trade is not based on utility but on justice”.  

Three months after the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) regime, ‘free trade’ is under test in India, at least for exporters. Indian exports, which were effectively free pre-GST, have turned expensive in the short term. This, industry observers say, will hit their competitiveness with a lag. Read more