GST Architecture

The Goods and Services Tax replaced the pre-2017 indirect tax regime in which excise duties, service tax, VAT, octroi, and a host of state levies created a cascading tax burden and inter-state trade distortions. The Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016, fundamentally restructured India's tax federalism by inserting Article 246A — giving concurrent legislative power to Parliament and State Legislatures to make GST law for intra-state supplies — and Article 279A, which constitutionalised the GST Council as the joint decision-making body. The Centre levies CGST; each state levies SGST on the same intra-state transaction. On inter-state transactions, the Centre alone levies IGST, which is later apportioned to the consuming state. This structure ensures no tax is exported to another state and that revenue follows consumption.