The finance ministry on Monday said the goods and services tax (GST) had reduced the rate at which people have to pay tax, helped increase compliance, and doubled taxpayer base to 12.4 million. In a series of tweets, on the first death anniversary of former finance minister Arun Jaitley, the ministry said before GST, the combination of value-added tax, excise, sales tax, and their cascading effect resulted in high standard rate of tax up to 31 per cent. “It is widely acknowledged that GST is both consumer- and taxpayer-friendly,” it said.
The number of assessees covered by the GST at the