Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 28: As the Goods and Services Tax (GST) completes nine years on July 1, the landmark indirect tax reform has achieved widespread acceptance among Indian businesses, with a new Deloitte survey showing overwhelming confidence in the digital tax ecosystem and growing expectations for an AI-powered, more intelligent GST framework in the years ahead.
According to the survey, more than 99 per cent of businesses reported either a positive or neutral experience with the GST regime, while negative sentiment has almost disappeared, falling from 10 per cent in 2022 to 5 per cent in 2025 and now nearing zero in 2026.
The report attributes the growing confidence to significant improvements in the GST ecosystem, particularly the digitalisation of compliance procedures, greater automation of tax processes and the stabilisation of e-invoicing and e-way bill systems. Businesses also cited enhanced transparency, consistency in tax administration and a more favourable ease-of-doing-business environment as key factors behind their positive outlook.
Looking ahead, the report said the next phase of reforms, described as GST 2.0, is expected to move beyond basic digitalisation towards a smarter, predictive and integrated tax administration model. Businesses are increasingly seeking artificial intelligence-based compliance tools, data-driven dispute resolution mechanisms and a seamless taxpayer experience through a unified digital platform.
The survey also highlighted rising acceptance of quarterly return filing among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Positive feedback for the initiative has risen sharply from 12 per cent in 2023 to 67 per cent in 2026, reflecting the growing importance of simplified compliance for smaller businesses.
According to Deloitte, technology-led tax administration has become central to the success of the GST framework, with organisations relying more heavily on digital systems to improve accuracy, efficiency and predictability in tax compliance.
The report further noted that GST rate rationalisation has had the greatest impact in sectors such as consumer goods and life sciences and healthcare, where businesses reported noticeable benefits. Although the impact varies across industries, companies broadly favour a simpler and more intelligent GST structure.
Introduced on July 1, 2017, GST replaced 17 central and state taxes along with 13 cesses, creating a unified indirect tax system aimed at eliminating cascading taxation and establishing a common national market.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the rollout of GST 2.0, accompanied by rationalised tax rates, has provided fresh momentum to India's economic growth by increasing household purchasing power, simplifying tax administration and reducing compliance burdens for businesses.
She noted that lower GST rates across a range of consumer goods have resulted in direct savings for households, increasing disposable income and supporting higher consumer demand.
Following the latest reforms introduced in September 2025, the GST rate structure has been streamlined into a two-tier system. Most goods and services now fall under either the 5 per cent or 18 per cent tax slab, while a separate 40 per cent rate continues to apply only to luxury products and specified demerit goods such as sugary beverages.
The report also highlighted the continued expansion of India's formal economy under the GST regime. The number of registered taxpayers has more than doubled since the tax's introduction, rising from 66.5 lakh in 2017 to around 1.6 crore in 2026.
GST revenue collections have also recorded sustained growth over the past nine years. Average monthly collections have nearly doubled from Rs 89,700 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 1.85 lakh crore in the 2025-26 financial year, while annual GST revenues reached Rs 22.27 lakh crore, marking an increase of more than 8 per cent over the previous fiscal year.