The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill has been in the news for years. The Bill has not been passed by Parliament because of political reasons at one end, and states’ concern on the other. There are pieces of tax legislation at the Centre that have been at the focus of national discourse and parliamentary debates.
This discussion will explore issues related to the GST Bill. It will also look into Service Tax, in which the Centre was seen as starting slow, but has expanded in terms of its scope, reach and quantum over the past decade — in real terms of the tax and also as a percentage of the GDP.
R. Sivaraman, IAS (retd), is former Revenue Secretary of Government of India. Mr. Sivaraman tracks issues on tax and revenue in the Centre and the states.
