A Case Study on the birth of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India – “The GST Saga: A Story of Extraordinary National Ambition” was released here today by the Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley in his office in North Block in the national  capital. In view of the successful roll-out of the GST on 1 July 2017, it was felt that there was a need for the public to know of the story of how GST evolved, its timeline, the different stakeholders involved and how it eventually culminated in its inauguration in the Central Hall of the Parliament of India on the midnight of 30th June,2017 and 1st July, 2017 by the President and Prime Minister of India. This case study accordingly captures the entire journey of GST right from its ideation in the Kelkar Task Force Report in 2003. Other salient features such as the dates on which the SGST Laws were enacted in the 31 States, peculiarity of the Indian GST model, how the fitment of rates was done and the IT backbone of GST have also been addressed in the case study, thus, making it a concise yet comprehensive repository of the GST story.

Goods and Services Tax rollout chronicled as a national reform tracing origin, enactment across states, and implementation framework. The case study chronicles the birth and rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India, tracing its origin from the Kelkar Task Force recommendations through the enactment of State SGST laws, the fitment of tax rates, the peculiarities of the Indian GST model, and the development of the IT infrastructure that enabled registration, returns and compliance for the nationwide launch on 1 July 2017.