The Goods and Services tax (GST), implemented in India on July 1, 2017, is one of the most significant tax reforms aimed at unifying the country under a single indirect tax system. GST was intended to simplify the tax structure and enhance transparency. However, after the implementation of GST in India, both opportunities and challenges were brought for the MSME sectors. This research highlights the positive effect of GST, such as a decrease in cascading effect, improved input tax credit system, simplicity of tax compliance and broader market access. At the same time, it also examines the difficulties faced by small businesses, including technical issues with the GST portal, increased compliance costs, lack of digital literacy and negative impact on business cash flow. This study presents a balanced view of how GST has significantly influenced MSME’s and concludes with recommendations for strategists to make the tax system more inclusive and supportive for small enterprises.
Harsh Kumar (2026) studied this question.