GST - Promise of Article 301
THE fundamental objective of GST is to redeem the promise of Article 301 in Part XIII of the Constitution of India: “Subject to the other provisions of this Part, trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India shall be free., Mr. P. Chidambaram wrote in the Indian Express yesterday.
But reality is different: He added, "The history of inter-state trade and commerce in India is a sordid story of discriminatory taxes, undue preferences, trade and non-trade barriers, entry tax, octroi, and check posts. A newcomer would have thought that India was not one republic but a continent that consisted of many independent republics. The Central government and the state governments used their powers of taxation to the hilt. They may have had a good reason to do so, but they failed to see that fewer and lower taxes would actually yield more revenue than numerous stiff taxes."