A unified, destination-based indirect tax on the supply of goods and services in India, which replaced a web of central and state indirect taxes.
- Introduced by the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016; effective 1 July 2017.
- A destination-based, multi-stage tax with input tax credit at each stage; slogan "one nation, one tax".
- Components: CGST (central) and SGST (state) on intra-state supply, and IGST on inter-state supply.
- Governed by the GST Council (Art 279A), chaired by the Union Finance Minister, with state representatives.
- Subsumed taxes like excise, service tax, and VAT; some items (petroleum, alcohol) remain outside.
The amendment number (101st), the year (2017), the components, and the GST Council are standard economy and polity facts.
GST is an indirect tax (on consumption), not a direct tax; CGST and SGST (intra-state) versus IGST (inter-state).
Destination-based indirect tax from 1 July 2017 (101st Amendment); CGST, SGST, IGST under the GST Council.