Tax Reforms in India since 1991: An Overview

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaneeta Rani

When the Indian economy faced an unprecedented macroeconomic crisis in 1991, fiscal consolidation constituted a major objective of the policy response. For this purpose, it became necessary to: (a) enhance tax and non-tax revenue, (b) curtail current expenditure growth, (c) restructure public sector undertakings, including disinvestment, (d) improve fiscal-monetary co-ordination, and (e) deregulate financial system. The need for improvements in budgetary practices led to the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003 which ushered the Indian economy in an era of fiscal consolidation based on fiscal policy rules. Tax reforms introduced by the Government since 1991 have helped to build a structure which is simple, relies on moderate tax rates but with a wider base and better enforcement. Moreover, they have helped in correcting structural imbalances in the tax system. They are soft on industry with a view to create new investment climate and make India internationally competitive. By lowering the tax rates, the Government expects speedy industrial development and hence buoyancy in tax revenues. The country is keenly awaiting implementation of Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and National Level Goods and Services Tax (GST). GST is India’s most ambitious indirect tax reform. Lack of political consensus is holding up progress and implementation of GST. This paper gives a vivid account of recent reforms in the Indian tax system as a part of the on-going policy of liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy.

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-367
Author(s):  
Shanthini B.N ◽  
Leeladevi C

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacture, sale andconsumption of goods and services at national level. Goods and Services Tax integrates Stateeconomies and boost overall growth. Currently, companies and businesses pay lot of indirecttaxes such as VAT, service tax, sales tax, entertainment tax, octroi and luxury tax. On GSTimplementation all these taxes cease to exist. There is only one tax, that too at the nationallevel, monitored by the central government. GST is levied at the final point of consumptionand not at the manufacturing stage. Previously, separate tax rates are applied to goods andservices. Under GST, there is only one tax rate for both goods and services. The goods andservices Tax is an improvement towards a comprehensive indirect tax reforms in the country.Integration of goods and services taxation would give India a world class tax system andimprove tax collections. It would end distortions of differential treatments of manufacturingand service sector. GST is expected to create a business friendly environment and henceinflation rates would come down overtime as a uniform tax rate is applied. It will alsoimprove government's fiscal health as the tax collection system would become moretransparent, making tax evasion difficult. This paper is a study of the concept of goods andservice tax and its impact on Indian economy. It also aims to know the advantages andchallenges of GST in Indian scenario


GIS Business ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 339-349
Author(s):  
Mr. Arun Gautam ◽  
Dr. Gaurav Lodha ◽  
Dr. Rohit Bansal ◽  
Dr.) M.L. Vadera

GST is one of the most critical tax reforms in India which has been long awaiting decision. It is a comprehensive tax system that will subsume all indirect taxes of State and Central Governments and whole economy into seamless nation in national market. GST will be a game changing reform for Indian economy by developing a common Indian market and reducing the combined effect of tax on the cost of goods and services. GST is a consumption based tax imposed on sale, manufacturing and consumption on goods & services at national level. Several taxes such as central excise duty, service tax, central surcharge and cess etc. imposed by Central Government and VAT / sales tax, entertainment tax, octroi & entry tax, purchase tax, luxury tax, taxes on lottery etc. levied by State Governments have been subsumed under GST. The FMCG sector of India composes more than 50 % of the food and beverage industry and another 30 % from personal and household care. Under the proposed GST system, it is expected that it would result in a simpler tax system, especially for industries like FMCG. Under this system, a single product would be taxed at the same rate in every corner of the country meaning that an cooler will be taxed the same in Madhya Pradesh as well as Kerala thus we also refer GST as ONE NATION ONE TAX. This paper will help to present that, what is the impact of GST after its implementation; analyze the influence of GST on FMCG sector.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-293
Author(s):  
Gomathi N

GST also known as the Goods and Services Tax is defined as the giant indirect taxstructures designed to support and enhance the economic growth of a country. In today‘sscenario to pay various taxes i.e. direct and indirect taxes, which are felt as burden on us anddue to these taxes the corruption is increasing. So, to overcome from all these taxation systemthe Central Government has decided to make one tax system i.e. Goods and Services Tax(GST). GST is one of the most critical tax reforms in India which has been long awaitingdecision. It is a comprehensive tax system that will subsume all indirect taxes of State andcentral Governments and whole economy into seamless nation in national market. It isexpected to remove the burden of existing indirect tax system and play an important role ingrowth of India. GST includes all Indirect Taxes which will help in growth of economy andproves to be more beneficial than the existing tax system. GST will also help to accelerate theoverall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) isa vast concept that simplifies the giant tax structure by supporting and enhancing theeconomic growth of a country. GST is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacturing, sale andconsumption of goods and services at a national level


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Kanungo

Reforms in the taxation system of a country are an integral part of its development. India has witnessed series of reforms in its taxation system. The tax rates have been rationalize d with simplification in the tax laws results in better compliance, ease of tax payment and better enforcement. India has witnessed reforms in both direct tax system and indirect tax system. After every reform, it becomes quite essential to measure its effectiveness. There are various parameters to measure the affects of the reforms and the tax to GDP ratio is considered to be the one. One of the major objectives of tax reform measures has been to increase total tax to GDP ratio as a means of achieving fiscal consolidation and improving resource allocation. Government of India is working to enhance its revenue collection, at the same time ensuring that cumbersome taxes do not bother the investors. This paper makes an attempt to highlight the journey of tax reforms taken place in India since the post liberalization period. The paper also highlights the tax to GDP ratio over the period of five years of study.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aanchal Gupta

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a part of the proposed tax reforms to evolve an efficient and harmonised consumption tax system in the country. GST is proposed to be a comprehensive indirect tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods as well as services at the national level. GST would give India a world class tax system and improve tax collections. It would end the long standing distortions of differential treatment of manufacturing and service sector. The introduction of GST will lead to the abolition of various central and state indirect taxes and eliminate the cascading effects of multiple layers of taxation. It is claimed that GST will facilitate seamless credit across the entire supply chain and across all states under a common tax base. The changeover to GST will be a game-changing tax reform measure which will significantly contribute to the buoyancy of tax revenues, acceleration of growth, and generation of many positive externalities. Once the integrated GST across the country is introduced, it will simplify tax administration and eliminate cascading of taxes. It will lead to reduction in the distortions in the structure of production, consumption and exports and further to a more efficient allocation of resources. The demand for manufactured goods can be expected to grow significantly. This paper explains the modalities of the proposed GST.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (10) ◽  
pp. 365-372
Author(s):  
Jayanti.G ◽  
Dr. V.Selvam

India being a democratic and republic country, has witnessed the biggest indirect tax reform after much exploration, GST bill roll out on 1 April 2017.  The concept of this reform is for a unified country-wide tax reform system.  Enterprises particularly SMEs are caught in a state of instability.  Several taxes such s excise, service tax etc., have been subsumed with a single tax structure. it is the responsibilities of both centre and state government to shoulder the important responsibility to cater the needs of the people and the nation as a whole.  The main basis of income to the government is through levy of taxes.  To meet the so called socio-economic needs and economic growth, taxes are considered as a main source of revenue for the government.  As per Wikipedia “A tax is a mandatory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed upon tax payer by the government in order to fund various public expenditure”   it is said that tax payment is mandatory, failure to pay such taxes will be punishable under the law.   The Indian tax system is classified as direct and indirect tax.   The indirect taxes are levied on purchase, sale, and manufacture of goods and provision of service.  The indirect tax on goods and services increases its price, this can lead to inflationary trend.  Contribution of indirect taxes to total tax revenue is more than 50% in India, therefore, indirect tax is considered as a major source of tax revenue for the government, which in turn is one of source for GDP growth.  Though indirect tax is a major source of revenue, it had lot of hassles.  To overcome the major issues of indirect tax system the government of India subsumed most of the indirect tax which in turn gave birth to the concept called Goods and Service Tax.


2021 ◽  
Vol 298 (5 Part 1) ◽  
pp. 219-222
Author(s):  
Ludmila Oleinikova ◽  

The expediency is reasoned of creating a competitive environment in the context of globalization and limited factors of production, forcing countries to compete with each other and take measures to attract owners of factors of production by forming the optimal combination of institutional, public goods and tax preferences, where only tax preferences are not the key to success in competition, as opposed to general conditions of taxation in combination with infrastructural, institutional and public goods. Emphasis is placed on the rapid digitalization of economic processes and the globalization of even small businesses through online platforms that will significantly affect the struggle in the field of economic and institutional competition. It has been proven that it is already necessary to respond to new challenges which are associated with tax evasion, erosion of the tax base, a significant geographical gap between the location of factors of production and the jurisdiction of profit. It is established that the answers to these risks lie both in the plane of institutional readiness and in the plane of the effectiveness of the application of tax administration tools, including control, as well as the synergy of measures at the macro and micro levels. The variety of tools used in world practice to improve compliance with tax legislation is studied and their division into categories is indicated. The expediency of using mechanisms to ensure the transparency of the tax system is substantiated, along with measures to assure the transparency of taxpayers before the tax authorities at the national level, as well as mechanisms to provide accountability and transparency of the tax authorities themselves to the government, parliament and taxpayers. It is proposed, taking into account foreign experience, in addition to quantitative indicators of tax effectiveness, to use supplementary indicators that characterize the work of tax authorities, considering economy, effectiveness, efficiency, which will deepen the level of tax system performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
VIJAYA KUMAR K ◽  
JABIMOL C. MAITHEEN

The success of the e-commerce sector is largely dependent on the increasingnumber of retail entrepreneurs, who fall in the unorganized retail sector category. Thegovernment has included such players in the ambit of GST with an intention of broadeningthe tax base and has introduced specific provisions for the e-commerce companies. This isone of the major taxation reforms in Indian taxation system.GST is to set to integrate all stateeconomies and increase the overall growth of the country.GST will create unified market andboost the Indian economy. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a value added tax to beimplemented in India.. There are 3 kinds of taxes under GST: 1) SGST 2) CGST 3) IGST.The GST tax rates are divided into 5 categories which are 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, 20%.Implementation of GST is one of the best decision taken by the Indian Government. Thesuccess of the e-commerce sector is largely dependent on the increasing number of retailentrepreneurs, who fall in the unorganized retail sector category. The government hasintroduced such players in the ambit of GST with the intension of broadening the tax baseand has introduced specific provisions for the e-commerce companies. This paper focuses onthe concept of GST and their impact on E-Commerce


Author(s):  
Revathi R. ◽  
Madhushree ◽  
P. S. Aithal

The banking sector is one of the biggest and revenue generating sector in our economy. Indiais a country with impressively splendid banks with sufficient capital and well-regulated rulesand regulations. One of the biggest transformations that the sector faced during this period isGST i.e., Goods and Service Tax, a new tax regime introduced in the midnight of 1 July2017. Now the new tax regime has become one year old and there are so many changeswhich happened in the banking sector during this one-year periods. Introduction of GST tothe banking sector was one the highly risky and challenging role for the government. GST isa replacement to the Value Added Tax (VAT) which was implied on goods and services. Themain purpose of studying the impact of implementation of GST is to avoid double taxationon goods and services. It is a self-regulated tax system with a simplifies tax regime whichreduces the multiplicity of tax. The purpose of this study is to know the challenges faced bythe Banking sector and its effects on the customers after the implementation of the GST.New tax regime made an incredible step by the abolish of centralized registration of thebanks. Now all the bank branches have to register under GST in each state for the smoothfunctioning. The tax rate has created an impression in the banking sector that the sector iscontributing much toward the economic growth of the country. Tax slabs is anotherimportant and critical thing discussed in this paper which has substantially increasedcompared to the old tax regime. Data for the study have been collected from secondary datasources such as journals, internet, and news articles. Using the ABCD qualitative analysistechnique, advantages, benefits, constraints, and disadvantages for both banks and thecustomers for payment of GST are identified.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 208
Author(s):  
Morni Hayati Jaafar Sidik ◽  
Nur Jannah Muhaidin ◽  
Masniza Supar

Introduction: Tax is the main source of revenue for the Malaysian government. Thus, to increase the government revenue, Goods Services Tax (GST) was implemented in Malaysia starting from April 2015 to replace the Sales and Services Tax (SST). However, starting from September 2018, the GST has been replaced back by the SST.Methodology: The study will review the prior literature on the tax reforms. It will analyse data from scholarly journals, newspapers, review articles and other related documents. The focus will be on the implementation of GST and new SST in Malaysia from different stakeholders’ perspective.Results: The results indicate that SST is much better to match with the Malaysian environment. This is because SST is tax friendly for both the business entities and the people of Malaysia.Conclusion and Recommendations: The findings would contribute to the literature and explains whether the move made by the Malaysian government to revert to SST is justifiable.


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