Remember 2017? The chaotic rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a national trial-by-fire. Billed as a “good and simple tax," it felt anything but. Businesses wrestled with a labyrinth of compliance, crashing portals, and rules that seemed to change with the season. For years, it was seen as a necessary but painful burden.

What we failed to see in the midst of that chaos was that we were building something far more significant than a tax system. Unintentionally, through mandatory e-invoicing and the creation of the GST Network (GSTN), India was forging a live, verifiable, digital ledger of its entire economy. This was an accidental revolution.

Every GST invoice became more than a tax record; it became a trusted data point, a financial footprint. This created a competitive advantage from an unexpected quarter. For the millions of small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) starved of credit, their GST filings became a financial passport. This rich data trail allowed lenders to see a firm’s real-time health, unlocking instant loans and invoice financing. What began as a compliance headache was quietly evolving into a powerful engine for financial inclusion.

However, the grand promise of data-driven credit and simplified compliance is not being distributed equally. Studies still suggest that while a majority of MSMEs use some digital tools, only a small fraction i.e. 12 per cent are fully digitalised. The rest, heavily reliant on paper records or outsourced accountants, are unable to leverage their own GST data effectively.

This creates a dangerous, two-speed economy. In digitally fluent states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, MSMEs are poised to ride this wave of innovation. But in regions with weaker digital infrastructure, enterprises risk being left behind, watching from the sidelines as their competitors secure capital and streamline operations. The same digital engine that unlocks opportunity for one firm becomes a barrier to entry for another. If left unaddressed, GST risks creating pockets of hyper-efficiency surrounded by vast zones of economic exclusion.

It is this very challenge that the second, far more deliberate revolution—GST 2.0—aims to address. The announcements from the 56th GST Council meeting represent a seismic shift from pure collection to a strategic tool for transformation. For the common citizen, it’s a direct kitchen-table reform, dismantling the confusing four-tier system for a clean, two-rate structure and slashing taxes on daily essentials.

For small businesses, the new deal is even more profound. The system’s intelligence is now being used to offer 90% of refunds on a provisional, risk-based basis, directly tackling the cash-flow crunch that crippled so many. A new simplified, automated GST registration scheme promises to onboard low-risk entrepreneurs in just three days. And with the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) set to begin hearings by December 2025, the final piece of a credible, rules-based architecture is falling into place.

This is where the two revolutions—the accidental and........

© News18