It will be five years of GST on July 1 and there are mixed feelings about the milestone tax that was rolled out by the Modi government in 2017. Almost all companies in the small and medium sector say their compliance costs have gone up and they are paying more tax than before. Large companies, on the other hand, are saying that they’re happy with the new tax and that GST has made their lives easier.

The real estate sector is however complaining that it has a new set of challenges, as the reform has not been made applicable across the board but in bits and pieces. So, when one looks at a real estate project, a builder pay one set of levies during stage one, another set during stage two and then, finally, the sale of property has to be registered with payment of stamp duty. Obviously, there is an overlap of taxes and levies, which has resulted in major challenges for real estate as an industry. Compliance vis-a-vis taxation becomes a major issue, especially when the business works under various regulatory authorities, including RERA. Clearly, a lot needs to be done in the years to come.