On June 30, 2017, at the stroke of midnight, a ceremonial joint session was held in Parliament to launch the country’s historic legislation—the Goods and Services Tax. The then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, called it a “tribute to the maturity and wisdom of India’s democracy". He highlighted the long journey of GST and how it would transform our economy. True to his words, since the launch of this reform, despite economic shocks from global uncertainties, the Indian economy continues to grow at an estimated 6-7 per cent annually. With the launch of GST 2.0, the next generation of reforms, the OECD projects India’s growth rate at 6.7 per cent, an upward revision from the earlier 6.2 per cent.

India’s indirect taxation journey can be seen in three phases: before GST, after GST, and now with GST 2.0. The first phase was marked by huge revenue leakages due to hoarding, black marketing, and corruption. The second phase, post-GST, ushered in a wave of technology-driven reforms such as e-way........

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