GST Architecture & GST Council Framework

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), operationalized on July 1, 2017 through the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act, replaced a fragmented array of central and state indirect taxes—including Central Excise Duty, Service Tax, State VAT, and Octroi—with a unified destination-based consumption tax. The GST architecture is structured around four primary tax tiers (5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%), governed dualistically via Central GST (CGST), State GST (SGST), and Integrated GST (IGST) for inter-state commerce. The constitutional decision-making body is the GST Council, established under Article 279A, chaired by the Union Finance Minister and comprising state finance ministers, where decisions require a 75 percent weighted majority with the Centre holding one-third and States collectively holding two-thirds of the voting weight.