Under The GST Spell

- Samir Alam

On July 01, 2017, the Goods and Services Tax reform was enacted in India to mixed reactions. The bold reorientation of the tax code is expected to elevate the Indian economy by smoothing over various tariff redundancies, which will lead to restructuring of business, more towards the organised sector. Concerns from workers, businesses and the government have often been at odds owing to the certainty of these expectations, as well as their real impact on the growth. The overwhelming burden for success being that, the disorganised sectors will be formalised and absorbed by the organised business processes. This is clearly a significant requirement for the long term success of the economy, and impacts sectors that are built fundamentally on disorganised areas of manufacturing and labour. In this regard, the GST implementation has faced numerous criticisms since long before its activation by the textile and apparel industry. The real results however are not plain to see, as thousands of firms are still bracing their accounts and their business work flow to conform to the new requirements. Real results still remain at least two business quarters down the road, but there are some clear indicators, which can foreshadow what path the future might take.

TUMULTUOUS REFORM AND REACTIONS