Goods and Services Tax (GST) enters 10th year on July 1, 2026

Key facts

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented on July 1, 2017, to create a unified national market under the vision of one nation, one tax.
• The Constitution 101st Amendment Act, passed in 2016, empowered the Centre and states to levy GST and established the GST Council, chaired by the Union Finance Minister.
• GST subsumed Central Excise Duty, Service Tax, Additional Excise Duty, and Countervailing Duty from the Centre, and Value Added Tax (VAT), Central Sales Tax (CST), Entry Tax, Octroi, Luxury Tax, Purchase Tax, and Entertainment Tax from the states.
• The GST e-way bill system was introduced in April 2018 for goods valued above ₹50,000, while e-invoicing was introduced in 2020 for large taxpayers.
• Under the September 2025 GST 2.0 reforms, slabs were consolidated into 5 per cent and 18 per cent with a new 40 per cent demerit rate, moving toothpaste, shampoos, hair oil, namkeen, bhujia, pasta, sauces, instant noodles, glucometers, thermometers, and corrective spectacles to the 5 per cent slab.