The Transformative Tide: Assessing the Impact of GST on Small Business in India

Over the past six decades, Small Business Enterprises (SBEs) have played a vital role in India's economy, driving industrial output, creating employment, and boosting exports. This dissertation examines the repercussions of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India. GST, a significant reform introduced in 2017, aimed to consolidate the country's complex web of indirect taxes into a single structure. This research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative data gathered from surveys of SME owners and managers with qualitative data from structured interviews. The central aim is to assess how GST has influenced SMEs in key areas such as tax compliance, working capital, digital adoption, cost-effectiveness, and growth prospects. The results of the study suggest that while GST has facilitated increased formalization, enhanced inter- state commerce, and promoted greater transparency, it has also presented SMEs with notable short-term challenges. These challenges encompass higher compliance burdens, slower processing of Input Tax Credit (ITC) refunds, limitations in digital infrastructure, and strains on working capital, which have particularly affected smaller enterprises in semi-urban and rural regions.