Challenges faced by small business traders in GST implementation in India: a critical study

GST in India has various benefits for the government, businesses, and consumers. Every piece of legislation has its effects over time, and since GST has been in place in India for six years, this paper examines the issues small traders faced during the GST transition. Despite simplifying taxation and compliance, the GST regime has faced technical issues, design errors, and changing rules. The government has benefited from e-invoicing and crackdowns on fake invoicing, which have improved transparency and revenue collection by increasing the number of taxpayers. However, traders have encountered difficulties in claiming input tax credit, and arbitrary monetary limits have burdened taxpayers. This report critically analyses small traders' issues post-GST in India. Having an exploratory and descriptive research design, study uses data from 250 traders in Lucknow in India and findings conclude that the GST transition proved difficult for small traders due to technicalities and expenditures.