GST (Goods and Services Tax) in India

Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a comprehensive tax levy on the manufacture, sale, and consumption of goods and services at a national level under which no distinction is made between goods and services for levying of the tax. 

GST will be levied on all transactions such as the sale, transfer, purchase, barter, lease, or import of goods and/or services. It will mostly substitute all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Central and State governments in India. When GST (goods or services tax) rolls out on 1 July 2017, it will be the biggest tax reform since Independence. GST will subsume a large number of central and state taxes into a single tax, paving the way for a common national market.

Some of the following taxes will be bound together by the GST:

1. Central Excise Duty
2. Commercial Tax
3. Value Added Tax (VAT)
4. Food Tax
5. Central Sales Tax (CST)
6. Octroi
7. Entertainment Tax
8. Entry Tax
9. Purchase Tax
10. Luxury Tax
11. Advertisement Tax

A brief History of GST implementation 

The Goods and Service Tax or GST which is what it is popularly called the world over was first introduced in France in the year 1954. It was consequently after France that countries like Japan, South Korea, the UK, and Australia implemented the GST law.

There are around 160 countries in the world that have GST in place. GST is a destination-based tax where the tax is paid by the consumer. 

Most the countries have a unified GST system but India is going to adopt the Dual GST model, the first was  Canada which adopt the dual GST model. It can be easily understood with the help of the following diagram.

The most crucial aspect of this tax regime is the rate of GST that prevails on the various categories of products.

Under GST, goods and services will be taxed at the following rates, 

1. 0%,
2.  5%, 
3. 12%, 
4. 18%,
5.  28%. 

There is a special rate of 0.25% on rough precious and semi-precious stones and 3% on gold.

GST rates of some countries are given below

Country	Rate of GST
Australia	10%
France	19.6%
Canada	5%
Germany	19%
Japan	5%
Singapore	7%
New Zealand	15%

To be continue.....