101st Constitutional Amendment Act introduced the GST in 2017. 

• GST is a comprehensive indirect tax levied on the supply of goods and services.
  •  It is a value-added tax (VAT). 

Key Features of GST

• One Nation, One Tax:  Replaced multiple indirect taxes levied by the Central and State Governments, such as excise duty, service tax, etc. 
• Dual Structure:  Comprises of the Central GST (CGST) and the State GST (SGST). 
  • In the case of Inter-state transactions, Integrated GST (IGST) is applicable, which is collected by the Central Government and apportioned to the respective State. 
• Destination-based Tax: GST is a destination-based tax, levied at each stage of the supply chain.
• Tax Slabs: 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%.
• Governance: GST Council is key decision making body.
  • Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) provides IT system of the GST portal. 

Key Achievements

• Rise in number of GST taxpayers (grew from 1.05 crore (April 2018) to 1.46 crore (April 2024))
• Eliminated the cascading effect of taxes.
• Reduced compliance burden for small taxpayers (e.g composition scheme). 
• Increased intrastate and interstate transactions by electronic way (e-way) bills