the essay of 1 July 2026 · the untouched capture
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>Untitled Document</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong><font color="#663399">JEST GST - 441</font></strong></font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong><font color="#663399">JULY 01, 2026</font></strong></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#FF6633" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong> GST at Nine: Temple Still Waiting for God</strong></font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><u><strong>By Vijay Kumar</strong></u></font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>Ambedkar: The Fire That Still Burns </strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>ON</strong> 2 September 1953, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar rose in the Rajya Sabha and delivered a line that jolted India's political spine: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" style="background-color:#dff3cb">I shall be the first person to burn the Constitution. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The Nation froze. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">How could the architect of the Constitution threaten to burn his own masterpiece? </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Ambedkar wasn't attacking the text. He was attacking the administration - the hands that could twist, distort, or suffocate even the finest design. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Two years later, he clarified with surgical precision: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" style="background-color:#dff3cb">We built a temple for god to come in and reside, but before the god could be installed, if the devil had taken possession of it….. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Ambedkar's warning was eternal: A good law can be destroyed by bad administration. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>GST at Nine: The Temple That Still Awaits Its God </strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">On July 1, 2026, GST completes exactly nine years. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">And if Ambedkar were to look at GST today, he wouldn't admire the digital screens or the paperless desks. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">He would look at: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- the mountain of notifications, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- the avalanche of circulars, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- the retroactive clarifications, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- the portal that meditates more than taxpayers, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- and the compliance rituals that resemble ancient penance. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">And he would say, without blinking: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" style="background-color:#dff3cb">This is exactly the devil I warned you about. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST was meant to be the God installed in the temple of indirect taxation. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Instead, nine years later, it behaves like a restless spirit that refuses to sit still. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>The Devils That Moved In Before the God Could Arrive </strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST was designed as a single-tax sanctum meant to simplify, unify, and dignify India's indirect tax system. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">But before the God of simplicity could be installed, the devils of implementation occupied it: </font></p> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="width:90%"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Devil of Dual Control:</font></td> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Centre and State both claiming jurisdiction like two priests fighting over the same sanctum. </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Devil of Mismatched Credits:</font></td> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Punishing the buyer for the supplier's sins. </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Devil of Endless Amendments: </font></td> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Nine years, hundreds of notifications; the temple's rulebook changes more often than its calendar. </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Devil of Stuck Refunds:</font></td> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Refunds stuck in bureaucratic purgatory - applications go to attain moksha but never return. The only nirvana is ‘Acknowledged'. </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Devil of Pre-Deposit:</font></td> <td align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Justice available only after payment - a judicial paywall against unfair huge demands. </font></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST is not the villain. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Just as Ambedkar said the Constitution was fine - the devils inside were not - GST too is structurally sound, but procedurally haunted. The sin is mostly not in the scripture. The sin is in the sermon. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>Nine Years of GST: A Behavioural Biography </strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Nine years is not a long time in the life of a nation. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">But nine years is more than enough for a tax system to reveal its true personality. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST at nine is: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- philosophical, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- argumentative, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- convinced it is smarter than taxpayers, consultants, and occasionally even the Supreme Court. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST is not a teenager by age. But it behaves like one - brilliant, chaotic, and absolutely certain of its own genius. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>The Portal: India's Chief Digital Spiritual Guru </strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">If an economic historian isolates the single entity shaping business reality in India, it is not the CGST Act. It is the GST Portal. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The portal is not unique in its failures - many government portals stumble. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST's portal simply stumbles in front of the largest audience. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">It teaches taxpayers a simple truth: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><em>"Attachment to deadlines causes suffering." </em></font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Over nine years, filing GST returns has evolved from an accounting exercise into a ritual requiring patience, breathing, and occasionally divine intervention. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Taxpayers now: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- prepare before logging in, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- chant while uploading invoices, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- meditate while waiting, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- and exhale deeply when the return finally goes through. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The portal has become India's largest corporate wellness centre - not because it promotes peace, but because taxpayers have no choice but to practice calmness. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>Administrative Archaeology: Excavating the Layers </strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST promised <em>"One Nation, One Tax." </em></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Nine years later, it has delivered <em>"One Nation, One Excavation Site." </em></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Tax professionals now work like archaeologists, digging through layers of bureaucratic sediment: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- notifications, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- circulars, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- amendments, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- FAQs, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- press releases, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- judicial decisions, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- and portal validations that contradict everything above. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Each layer reveals a new civilisation of confusion. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">This has created a new profession: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Administrative Archaeologist (GST Specialisation) - someone who can carbon-date a circular to its original intent, identify which notification superseded which other notification (which had itself superseded a circular that amended an FAQ), and determine whether you can claim ITC on stationery without triggering a departmental exorcism </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><strong>GSTAT: The Priest Arrives Late - And Finds the Temple Still Under Construction </strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">After years of waiting , the long-promised saviour finally arrived: GSTAT - the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Taxpayers celebrated. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Officers sighed. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Consultants immediately started browsing luxury car brochures - specifically, cars with large boot space. <em>For the paperwork.</em> </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GSTAT arrives like a weary priest summoned to cleanse a haunted temple: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- wearing a cape stitched from lakhs of pending appeals, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- armed with interpretation powers, </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- tasked with cleaning up nine years of administrative archaeology. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The First Crisis: Can GSTAT Extend Time? </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">As GSTAT opened its doors, a foundational question emerged: </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Does GSTAT even have the power to extend the last date for filing appeals? </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">No one is sure. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Not the taxpayers. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Not the officers. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Not even the tribunal. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">As the deadline approached, lakhs of appeals remained unfiled - not because taxpayers were unwilling, but because the system simply could not absorb the load. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">A Lawyer's Testimony: The First Upload </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">A noted lawyer filing his first GSTAT appeal, described it: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><em>"I'm happy to share that I uploaded my first GSTAT appeal today. Ordinarily, this would hardly qualify as an achievement worth announcing. However, the Herculean expedition that the upload process transformed into deserves at least a ceremonial mention." </em></font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">He continued: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><em>"We spent nearly an entire day deciphering columns, interpreting cryptic instructions, and diplomatically negotiating with the portal's rather evolved sense of individuality before the appeal finally agreed to be uploaded." </em></font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">And the final punchline: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><em>"For a common taxpayer, filing a GSTAT appeal may feel like attempting advanced yoga without prior stretching." </em></font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The idea was noble. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The architecture was ambitious. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The promise was genuine. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The problem was never the God. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The problem was the devil occupying the temple. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Nine Years Later: Time for a Remake, Not a Requiem </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Ambedkar perhaps wanted amendments, not anarchy. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST too needs remake, not revolt. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0099ff" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">An anniversary Wishlist: </font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- Remake the Input Tax Credit chapter - stop treating honest taxpayers as guarantors of their suppliers' behaviour. </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- Remake the portal - from a compliance maze to a transparency dashboard. </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- Remake adjudication - fewer notices, more resolution; fewer alarms, more answers. </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- Remake the rate structure -fewer disputes, fewer interpretational pilgrimages. </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">- Remake refunds - automatic, time-bound, interest-bearing; a system where the taxpayer doesn't need divine intervention. </font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">If Ambedkar could rethink the Constitution after three years, surely India can rethink GST after nine. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">GST's ninth anniversary is not just a milestone. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">It is a reminder that taxation is not merely about revenue - it is about clarity, empathy, and constitutional discipline. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Ambedkar gave India equality. GST gave India equal panic. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Ambedkar gave India a Constitution. GST gave India a portal. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Ambedkar gave India justice. GST gave India GSTAT. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">And so, on this anniversary, we offer a salute - not of celebration, but of survival </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Happy Anniversary to GST - the only system where taxpayers pray, officers hope, consultants chant, GSTAT prepares for battle, and the portal decides everyone's fate. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><img src="https://admin.taxindiaonline.com/UploadedFiles/Customs/CaseLaws/2026/Jest%20GST_300626.JPG" style="height:319px; width:475px"/></font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#ff0000" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Until next week -</font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> may your portal load, your ITC match, and your sanity remain intact. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Comments/feedback welcome at <a href="mailto:vijaywrite@tiol.in" target="_blank">vijaywrite@tiol.in </a> or 9848111243 (WhatsApp) </font></p> </body> </html>