Evolving Trends and Incentives in the commercial domain as an impact of GST implementation: The Indian experience

India witnessed a revolutionary reform in its indirect tax structure in 2017, where a unified tax system was implemented in the country, eliminating the diverse range of indirect taxes and merging them into one single tax, namely, Goods and Services Tax (GST). The implementation of GST as a reform in the indirect tax structure, bought with itself, a trail of externalities, both positive and negative. GST retains its relevance as an influential factor impacting the commercial domain as changes in tax slabs, types on the basis of transaction territory and new filing procedures levied noteworthy ramifications on business firms. These changes possess significant competence to influence the overall trends and incentives associated with the commercial domain, as they can alter the cost-benefit structure of businesses, and if they evolve to vulnerably grim, they might even shut down. On the positive side however, if these reforms favour the cost-benefit structure, perhaps the firms may further be incentivised to expand, which shall lead to the flourishment of the entire economy as a whole. Utilizing a quantitative approach fueled by secondary data, the paper aimed at evaluating the impact of GST on the commercial domain of the economy and its potentiality in shaping the changing incentives of the business sector. Prolonged analysis reveals that GST casts no major detriments to the vitals of the economy concerning the business domain and is found to be associated with a number of optimisms and boons and thus withholds the very potential to incentivise the flourishment of business domain. However, the potential of its flaws to cast detrimental impacts and conceivably overshadow its virtues is not be ignored and should be subjected to consequent research and analysis, thus determining its viability and potential in the long run.