The architecture designed for seamless credit flow and destination-based taxation has gradually turned into a compliance maze.
Frequent rule amendments, evolving definitions of supply, and inconsistent Advance Rulings have weakened predictability the cornerstone of any indirect tax system.
The seamless ITC chain remains theoretical; restrictions under Rule 36(4), Section 16(2)(aa), and blocked credit provisions have fragmented input flow and increased working capital strain.
While technology has tightened data controls through e-invoicing and return matching, it hasn’t reduced interpretational uncertainty.
The federal imbalance between the Centre and States, visible in delayed compensation and varied enforcement, continues to erode the spirit of cooperative federalism.
After eight years, GST has achieved scale, not maturity.
It now needs rate rationalization, jurisprudential consistency, and credit clarity not another round of procedural tinkering.
Until the law’s philosophy aligns with its practice, GST will remain less a reform, and more a running experiment.
