Six years of GST - I: How the new tax regime changed indirect taxation

I recall my days in the Haryana excise and taxation department in the early 1990s, when excise duty was the primary tax at the Centre, and sales tax in states. Many industrialists wo­u­ld come to me in those days complaining about the complex indirect tax system in the country, with each state having its independent tax structure and no connection to the tax system in the other states.

There used to be a local value-added tax (VAT) for intra-state movement of goods, and a central sale tax (CST) regime for inter-sate movement. CST was not allowed to be set off