GST added to revenue buoyancy, helped bring down taxes for common man: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said Goods and Services Tax (GST) has helped bring down the taxes for consumers by removing the cascading effect of 'tax-on-tax' and added to the revenue buoyancy of states.

She said the GST system has seen massive scaling up since its implementation on July 1, 2017, and the benefit accrued to consumers and governments because of GST implementation is an "exemplar".

"GST has brought in greater tax buoyancy as a result of which, more than your GSDP growth, your tax collection is growing. Therefore, both Centre and states benefit...We have to dispel this myth that states are losing out after having joined hands for GST...Today, no state suffers after GST, and that is despite Covid," Sitharaman said.

Giving a comparison of tax rates pre and post-GST, Sitharaman said, "GST has done justice to the consumers by bringing the rates down compared to the previous regime".

Before GST was introduced, India's indirect tax system was fragmented, wh