| Pub. Date | : Apr, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of Accounting Research and Audit Practices |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJARAP51904 |
| Author Name | : Taru Maheshwari and Mukta Mani |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : Finance |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 13 |
The much-hyped tax structure, Goods and Service Tax (GST) was recently introduced. The Government of India took the decision to implement GST on July 1, 2017. This affects every citizen and raises various concerns amongst consumers towards GST implementation. The present paper aims to examine the level of consumer awareness and the perception they have towards GST implementation in India. Additionally, the study attempts to suggest some measures to the government for effective GST implementation. Questionnaire method has been used for primary data collection. The consumers of National Capital Region (NCR) region are the sample audience. The level of awareness for GST implementation has been examined based on Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, descriptive analysis and Spearman’s correlation. The perception towards its acceptance is examined based on descriptive analysis. The findings reveal that demographic factors are not significantly correlated to the level of awareness. Consumers have a high level of basic awareness. Promotional activities are not insufficient, but awareness programs should be increased which is moderately accepted. Overall, the implementation of GST is highly accepted by the consumers.
Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a blend of indirect taxes introduced in India under a single umbrella. GST is a comprehensive form based on a uniform rate of tax for both goods and services, payable only at the final point of consumption. It brings together most of the taxes, with the exception of a few, and it unifies them under a single banner. Rather it successfully replaces multiple taxes levied by the central and state governments. A major tax reform in the indirect tax regime was the Value Added Tax (VAT) which was introduced in Indian taxation system on April 1, 2005. The second major reform, i.e., GST is a wider shell to cover the indirect taxes. It merges various taxes and introduces Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST), State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) and International Goods and Service Tax (IGST). The GST compliance is an encompassing tax system which merges luxury tax, entertainment tax, etc. It has reduced multiple trade barriers. The reduction in trade barriers can lead to an increase in tax revenue, economic welfare and economic development (Leemput and Wiencek, 2017).