GST

GST is known as the Goods and Services Tax. It is an indirect tax which has replaced many indirect taxes in India such as the excise duty, VAT, services tax, etc. The Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in the Parliament on 29th March 2017 and came into effect on 1st July 2017.

In other words, Goods and Service Tax (GST) is levied on the supply of goods and services. Goods and Services Tax Law in India is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition. After subsuming majority indirect taxes, GST is a single domestic indirect tax law for the entire country.

Before the Goods and Services Tax could be introduced, the structure of indirect tax levy on goods in India was as follows:

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Goods and Services Tax: What is GST in India? Indirect Tax Law Explained

By Annapoorna

|

Updated on: Jan 9th, 2025

|

7 min read

What is GST in India?

GST is known as the Goods and Services Tax. It is an indirect tax which has replaced many indirect taxes in India such as the excise duty, VAT, services tax, etc. The Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in the Parliament on 29th March 2017 and came into effect on 1st July 2017.

In other words, Goods and Service Tax (GST) is levied on the supply of goods and services. Goods and Services Tax Law in India is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition. After subsuming majority indirect taxes, GST is a single domestic indirect tax law for the entire country.

Before the Goods and Services Tax could be introduced, the structure of indirect tax levy on goods in India was as follows:

Under the GST regime, the tax is levied at every point of sale. In the case of intra-state sales, Central GST and State GST are charged. All the inter-state sales are chargeable to the Integrated GST.

Now, let us understand the definition of Goods and Service Tax, as mentioned above, in detail.

An item goes through multiple change-of-hands along its supply chain: Starting from manufacture until the final sale to the consumer.

Let us consider the following stages:

  • Purchase of raw materials
  • Production or manufacture
  • Warehousing of finished goods
  • Selling to wholesalers
  • Sale of the product to the retailers
  • Selling to the end consumers

The Goods and Services Tax is levied on each of these stages making it a multi-stage tax.

Value Addition\


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SHARE

Goods and Services Tax: What is GST in India? Indirect Tax Law Explained

By Annapoorna

|

Updated on: Jan 9th, 2025

|

7 min read

What is GST in India?

GST is known as the Goods and Services Tax. It is an indirect tax which has replaced many indirect taxes in India such as the excise duty, VAT, services tax, etc. The Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in the Parliament on 29th March 2017 and came into effect on 1st July 2017.

In other words, Goods and Service Tax (GST) is levied on the supply of goods and services. Goods and Services Tax Law in India is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition. After subsuming majority indirect taxes, GST is a single domestic indirect tax law for the entire country.

Before the Goods and Services Tax could be introduced, the structure of indirect tax levy on goods in India was as follows:

Structure of Indirect Taxes before GST

Under the GST regime, the tax is levied at every point of sale. In the case of intra-state sales, Central GST and State GST are charged. All the inter-state sales are chargeable to the Integrated GST.

Now, let us understand the definition of Goods and Service Tax, as mentioned above, in detail.

Multi-stage

An item goes through multiple change-of-hands along its supply chain: Starting from manufacture until the final sale to the consumer.

Let us consider the following stages:

  • Purchase of raw materials
  • Production or manufacture
  • Warehousing of finished goods
  • Selling to wholesalers
  • Sale of the product to the retailers
  • Selling to the end consumers
GST Stages in Product Lifecycle

The Goods and Services Tax is levied on each of these stages making it a multi-stage tax.

Value Addition

Value Addition under GST

A manufacturer who makes biscuits buys flour, sugar and other material. The value of the inputs increases when the sugar and flour are mixed and baked into biscuits.

The manufacturer then sells these biscuits to the warehousing agent who packs large quantities of biscuits in cartons and labels it. This is another addition of value to the biscuits. After this, the warehousing agent sells it to the retailer.

The retailer packages the biscuits in smaller quantities and invests in the marketing of the biscuits, thus increasing its value. GST is levied on these value additions, i.e. the monetary value added at each stage to achieve the final sale to the end customer.

Destination-Based

Consider goods manufactured in Maharashtra and sold to the final consumer in Karnataka. Since the Goods and Service Tax is levied at the point of consumption, the entire tax revenue will go to Karnataka and not Maharashtra.

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