GST in India

Short-term pain but long-term gain for the economy

GST should enormously benefit the Indian economy in the long term due to its unparalleled benefits including uniformity of taxes, and improved efficiency in logistic.

Once fully implemented and linked with direct taxes, goods and services tax (GST) would benefit the economy, help bring in transparency, make small businesses strong, create more employment and ultimately reduce tax burden for the common man.

It’s been a year since GST has been implemented in India. It all started with panic and confusion and everyone was busy dealing with the teething problems of this huge tax reform. The nation was sceptical, be it a financial expert or a common man, on how successfully GST would function. The GST Council met a number of times post implementation to consider the difficulties of taxpayers. These meetings resulted in issuing of number of notifications by the tax department, some relating to relaxation of certain provisions of law whereas others related to extension of due dates for compliances.

 Historic implementation of e-way bill from 1 April 2018, has aided GST in meeting its idea of “one nation, one market, one tax". 

In the GST regime, goods and services are taxed under a homogeneous scheme at the applicable rate of 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%, across India. There are special rates imposed on specific products such as gold and rough, precious and semi-precious stones. An additional cess of 22% is levied on certain products such as tobacco, luxury cars, and carbonated drinks.

Stock Market and how does it work?

What Is the Stock Market and How Does It Work?

Investors buy and sell stock and other investments through the stock market.

The stock market is where investors connect to buy and sell investments — most commonly, stocks, which are shares of ownership in a public company.

How does the stock market work?

The concept behind how the stock market works is pretty simple. Operating much like an auction house, the stock market enables buyers and sellers to negotiate prices and make trades.

The stock market works through a network of exchanges — you may have heard most of the trading in the Indian stock market takes place on its two stock exchanges: the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). 

Companies list shares of their stock on an exchange through a process called an initial public offering, or IPO. Investors purchase those shares, which allows the company to raise money to grow its business. Investors can then buy and sell these stocks among themselves, and the exchange tracks the supply and demand of each listed stock.

That supply and demand help determine the price for each security, or the levels at which stock market participants — investors and traders — are willing to buy or sell. Computer algorithms generally do most of those calculations.

Buyers offer a “bid,” or the highest amount they’re willing to pay, which is usually lower than the amount sellers “ask” for in exchange. This difference is called the bid-ask spread. For a trade to occur, a buyer needs to increase his price or a seller needs to decrease hers.