As GST turns nine, expectations rise for the next wave of reforms

Nine years ago on July 1, 2017, India ushered in its most ambitious and comprehensive tax reform undertaken after years of preparations, discussions and negotiations. The goods and services tax (GST), which was implemented with a mid-year roll out, completely changed the country’s indirect tax regime, doing away with multiple local levies, state level value added tax and the central excise duty and service tax.

“GST is a milestone in India's journey of digital-driven growth and massive economic integration, powering the nation's progress,” noted a post by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on social media platform X.

While there was initial trepidation about the scale of the reform measure, over the years the tax levy has earned the confidence of taxpayers and industry with regular tweaks by the GST Council ensuring that it remains responsive and fair to concerns of stakeholders.

“Nine years ago, GST represented one of the most ambitious economic and fiscal reforms undertaken in Independent India. Today, GST stands as one of the world's largest digital tax ecosystems, underpinned by a growing taxpayer base, robust technology infrastructure, and increasingly data-driven administration. Beyond revenue collections, its enduring contribution lies in fostering transparency, formalisation, and the creation of a common national market,” noted a report by Grant Thornton Bharat.

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Consider the scale: GST has 1.65 crore registered taxpayers, a total of 192.73 crore returns has been filed since inception and 778.1 crore e-way bills have been generated under the tax system. Monthly collections of the indirect tax average at least Rs 1.5 lakh crore with June 2026 registering an 11.2% year-on-year increase in the net GST mop up to Rs 1.62 lakh crore. April 2026 saw the record monthly GST collection of Rs 2.42 lakh crore.

A recent survey by Deloitte India on GST@9 revealed that the levy continues to enjoy strong and growing confidence across India Inc, with more than 99% of businesses reporting a positive and neutral experience and negative sentiment dropping to near zero, down significantly from 5% in 2025 and 10% in 2022.

In the last one year, major reform initiatives within GST have further helped gain the confidence of industry and consumers with the rate rationalisation of the levy in September last year, boosting not only sales and revenue but also giving relief to consumers across the board. Now, the operationalisation of the GST Appellate Tribunal is expected to take care of taxpayer grievance and provide clarity, predictability and timely resolution.

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Expectations are that the GST Council, which has not met since August last year, will take forward more reforms in its next meeting.

Pratik Jain, Partner, Price Waterhouse & Co, listed out expectations from the next GST Council meeting. These include clarity around input tax credit (ITC measures) such as discussions on inverted duty structures (IDS) situation across sectors like FMCG, pharmaceuticals, electric vehicles post GST rate rationalisation in September 2025.

“These industries are witnessing significant GST credit accumulation as taxes paid on raw materials, services, logistics, technology and capital investments frequently exceed the GST payable on their outputs,” he said.

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Measures to streamline input tax credit and reduce the compliance burden for taxpayers making both taxable and exempt supplies are also expected. These may include introducing a mechanism for payment of tax at a specified rate in place of the reversal of common ITC. Additionally, ease-of-doing-business reforms, such as a simplified registration framework for small suppliers operating through electronic commerce operators, are anticipated to address "place of business" issues, he said. 

Formalising digital measures introduced earlier such as Invoice Management System (IMS), better synchronisation between GST returns and e-way bill data are also other key expectations.

Jain further noted that online gaming companies have reached out to the GST Council to invoke Section 11A of the CGST Act to regularise the pre-October 2023 tax position adopted by the gaming and casino industry, and consider waiving personal liability of founders and directors where firms have shut down or lack capacity to pay, especially given the lack of calibrated settlement mechanisms for such disputes.

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