What is GST? When is GST expected to be implemented?

Goods and Services Tax Act (GST), pegged as a major tax reform post-independence, has already
been introduced by the Government of India and is likely to be implemented from 1 July 2017. This
will subsume most of the indirect taxes (such as VAT, excise, service tax etc.) levied by the Centre and
State governments. GST is applicable on all goods and services except for supply of alcohol, petrol,
electricity, etc. The new tax regime aims to bring efficiency in the procurement process and create a
‘single market’ to enable free flow of goods and services across the country with minimum
intervention of the government machinery. Going forward, there will be no separate sales tax on
goods and service tax on services.