Digitalization of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system in India has been one significant solution in enhancing tax administration, transparency, and compliance with advanced online platforms and data-driven processes. The GST Network (GSTN), the technical platform of the GST system, helps taxpayers, business entities, and government bodies to conduct numerous tax-related transactions (registration, submission of returns, payment of invoices, and payment processes) using a digital system that is centralized. Nonetheless, the growing dependence on the digital infrastructure has presented the GST ecosystem with multiple cybersecurity threats and data protection issues as well. The sensitive taxpayer information may be compromised and disrupt the operation of the tax administration system due to cyberattacks like phishing, ransomware, malware intrusions, and unauthorized access to data. Also, there are data privacy concerns, government-to-government information exchange, and digital platform vulnerabilities, which pose a serious question of the safety and integrity of the GST framework. This paper identifies the key cybersecurity risks to the digital GST ecosystem in India and evaluates the data protection issues with the digital administration of taxes. The study also assesses the current cybersecurity laws and regulatory measures implemented to protect the taxpayer information and enhance the resilience of the GST infrastructure. Policy recommendations and technological solutions to achieve better security, reliability, and sustainability of the digital taxation system in India are also proposed in the study.
Prathikantam et al. (Wed,) studied this question.