Briefly explain the concept of goods and services tax (GST).

Concept of Goods and Service Tax (GST) GST is a tax on goods and services with comprehensive and continuous chain of set-off benefits from the producer's point and service provider's point upto the retailer's level. The GST subsumes various central indirect taxes including the Central Excise Duty, Countervailing Duty, Service Tax, etc. It also subsumes state value added tax, octroi and entry tax, luxury tax, etc. The Constitution (122 Amendment) Bill, 2014 was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2014 to amend the Constitution to introduce the goods and services tax (GST). The bill proposes to give the central and state governments the concurrent power to make laws on the taxation of goods and services. Alcoholic liquor for human consumption is exempted from the purview of the GST. Further, the GST Council is to decide when GST would be levied on: (i) petroleum crude, (ii) high speed diesel, (iii) motor spirit (petrol), (iv) natural gas, and (v) aviation turbine fuel.