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As an aspirant to enter into the government sector of India, it is very important to get yourself updated with general knowledge. General awareness is one of most included topics in almost all the competitive exams. General awareness includes both static GK and current affairs GK. Constitutional amendments are one most important part of current affairs. Constitutional amendments also play an important part in those exams which has history has one of the topics of the examination. In this article let us check the important points related to GST which is the most appearing topic in the examinations
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GST Important Points
In this article we will discuss the following
- Introduction to GST.
- Important points related to GST.
- Sample GK questions with answers- GST.
Introduction to GST
What is GST?
Goods and Service tax (GST) is a tax that is imposed on sale, manufacturing and usage of goods and services. It is an indirect, value added, destination- based tax levied on goods and services. GST implementation aimed to follow a uniform tax system in the country thus avoiding multiple taxation on goods. The Goods and Service tax act came into effect on July 1 2017 through the 101 constitutional amendment.
Types of GST across the world
There are two types of GST System across the world.
- One is Single unified GST Structure
- Second is Dual GST Structure
India follows Dual GST Structure
Types of GST in India
The three types of GST followed in India.
- Central Goods & Service Tax (CGST)
- State Goods & Services Tax (SGST)
- Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST) and Union Territory Goods & Services Tax (UTGST)
Taxes that are replaced by GST
Following are the few indirect taxes that was replaced by GST
- Central Excise Duty
- Service Tax
- Countervailing Duty
- Special Countervailing Duty
- Value Added Tax (VAT)
- Central Sales Tax (CST)
- Entertainment Tax
- Entry Tax
- Purchase Tax
- Luxury Tax
- Advertisement taxes
- Taxes applicable on lotteries.
GST Tax Rates on common items
Tabulated below are the GST tax rates for few common items.
| Tax Rates | Products |
| 5% | Household necessities such as edible oil, sugar, spices, tea, and coffee (except instant), Coal , Mithai (Indian Sweets), Life-saving drugs |
| 12% | Computers and processed food |
| 18% | Hair oil, toothpaste and soaps, capital goods and industrial intermediaries |
| 28% | Luxury items such as small cars, consumer durables like AC and Refrigerators, premium cars, cigarettes and aerated drinks, High-end motorcycles are included here. |
Important points on GST
Given below are few important points on GST .
- The headquarters of GST Council is located at New Delhi
- India’s GST is based on the Canadian Model.
- Assam is the first state in India to implement GST bill
- France is the first country in the world to implement GST in the year 1954
- GST was introduced in the 101 amendment act
- India is the country with highest GST rate across the world.
- Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister was the chairperson of the GST Council.
- Currently the GST council consists of 33 members headed by the current union Finance Minister headed by the current Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
- GST was first proposed in India in the year 2000 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government
- Indian GST model has four bands of tax rates. They are 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%
- Currently there are 160 countries in the world that have implemented GST.
- The tax IGST is charged by the central government.
- Creation of GST Council is as per the Article 279A of the amended constitution.
- July 1 is celebrated as GST Day as per the announcement by Central Board of Excise and Customs.
- Amitabh Bachchan is appointed as the brand ambassador of GST in India
- A country with a unified GST platform merges central taxes (e.g. sales tax, excise duty tax, and service tax) with state-level taxes (e.g. entertainment tax, entry tax, luxury tax) and collects them as one single tax.
- The Goods and Service Tax Network (or GSTN) is a non-profit, non-government organization. This portal will be used by the government to track every financial transaction, and will provide taxpayers with all services – from registration to filing taxes and maintaining all tax details.
- GST is a destination based tax on consumption of goods and services. In destination-based taxation, exports are allowed with zero taxes whereas imports are taxed on par with the domestic production.
- Cooking gas, Liquor, Petrol, air fuel, natural gas and diesel are not covered under the GST.
Sample GK questions with Answers-GST
1: Who was the first woman President of India?
- Under GST, ‘value addition’ refers to a) Expenses ‘plus’ profit b) Cost plus tax c) Cost plus tax plus‘profit d) Tax plus profit
- UTGST is applicable when a) Sold from Union territory b) Goods are purchased by Central Government c) Sold from one union territory to another union territory d) There is interstate supply
- Integrated Goods and Services Tax is applicable when a) Sold in Union territory b) Sold from one GST dealer to another GST dealer c) Sold within a state d) There is interstate supply
- SGST is applicable when a) Goods are sold within a state b) Goods are sold from one GST dealer to a customer c) Goods are sold by a GST dealer to another GST dealer d) Interstate supply
- The tax which was not merged into GST a) Counter veiling Duty b) Excise duty c) Basic Customs Duty d) Purchase tax
- When a GST dealer in Kerala sells a product o a GST dealer or customer in Tamilnadu, the tax collected is a) SGST b) CGST c) Integrated GST d) UTGST
- Under GST law, tax rates are determined by a) Central Government b) State Government c) GST Council d) Central Government in consultation with state governments
- The rate of IGST is equal to the rate of a) CGST b) SGST c) CGST plus the rate of SGST d) SGST plus UTGST
- The highest GST rate applicable now is a) 100% b) 18% c) 28% d) 50%
- GST can be collected by a) Any registered dealer b) Any GST dealer c) Any service provider d) Any dealer
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