On this day July 01,2017,Goods and Services Tax(GST)came into effect in India

The GST was launched at midnight on 1 July 2017 by the President of India and the Narendra Modi led NDA Govt at the centre

The launch was marked by a historic midnight (30 June – 1 July) session of both the houses of parliament convened at the Central Hall of the Parliament.

It is one of the few midnight sessions that have been held by the parliament - the others being the declaration of India's independence on August 15,1947, and the Silver and Golden Jubliees of that occasion

GST  came into effect from July 1, 2017 through the implementation of One hundred and First Amendment of the Constitution of India by the Govt of India

Goods and services are divided into five different tax slabs for collection of tax - 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.

However,Petroleum Products and Electricity are not taxed under GST and instead are taxed separately by the individual State Govts

The tax rates, rules and regulations are governed by the GST Council which consists of the finance ministers of  centre and all the states

Petroleum products are constitutionally included in the GST system, but power to recommend the effective date lies with the Goods and Services Tax Council, the apex decision-making body chaired by the Union finance minister and represented by finance ministers of the states. “Article 279A (5) of the Constitution provides that Goods and Services Tax Council shall recommend the date on which goods and services tax shall be levied on petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel. Thus while, petroleum products are constitutionally included under GST, the date and rate, on which GST shall be levied on such goods, shall be as per the decision of the GST Council

Going by international experience, GST has taken between two to five years to stabilise. In this context, in terms of revenue yield, the Indian GST has done remarkably well.

In the first 21 months, it yielded an average monthly revenue of Rs 91,334 crore — the average stood at Rs 82,295 crore in the first nine months of its implementation which went up to Rs 98,114 crore in the next 12 months, a growth rate of 19.22 per cent