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Understanding GST: A Comprehensive Guide to India’s Goods and Services Tax The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a comprehensive indirect tax system applied across India on goods and services. GST replaced various prior indirect taxes, aiming to simplify the tax structure and eliminate the cascading tax effect. Initially, GST was adopted by France in 1954 and later by over 160 countries worldwide. In India, discussions around GST began in 2000 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, with a committee of state finance ministers established to explore its implementation. The 101st Amendment Act formalized GST in India, introduced through the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill in 2014. After extensive discussions, the bill was passed in 2016, with the aim to implement the new tax regime by April 2016. Following President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent and the formation of the GST Council, the system was officially launched on July 1, 2017, marking a shift to the “one nation, one tax” principl