Near-universal acceptance of GST, finds Deloitte Survey, but challenges persist

As Goods & Services Tax (GST) entering 10th year of its existence, a survey result, released on Tuesday, found nearly NIL negativity and very high compliance digitation. However, challenges regarding refund delay and ITC (Input Tax Credit) refunds are still key challenges.

These results are part of, ‘Deloitte GST@9 survey’ and based on 1,096 responses from leaders across eight industries, including MSMEs.

“GST records near-universal acceptance, with over 99 per cent of respondents reporting positive and neutral sentiment. Negative sentiment has declined to near zero (from 5 per cent in 2025 and 10 per cent in 2022), while compliance digitisation (69 per cent) stands out as its biggest success,” a statement by Deloitte said.

It also recorded automation of tax processes (54 per cent) and the stabilisation of e-invoicing and e-way bill systems (48 per cent), alongside greater transparency, consistency and ease of doing business as key reasons for success of new indirect tax regime introduced on Julu 1, 2017.

“It is evident that technology-led administration is pivotal, as organisations increasingly depend on digital systems for enhanced accuracy, speed and predictability,” the statement said.

According to Gokul Chaudhri, President (Tax) at Deloitte South Asia, the digital backbone enables taxpayers, businesses and the government with real-time compliance and data-driven decision-making. “Intelligent, integrated capabilities will soon be a reality. An overwhelming 89 per cent of stakeholders identify AI-led data processing and reconciliation as their top priority, 84 per cent support automatic tax utilisation on the GST portal and 53 per cent call for a unified taxpayer dashboard,” he said.

Among the challenges, the list includes working capital optimisation (67 per cent), refund delays (77 per cent), ITC disputes (57 per cent) and a pro-revenue approach in audits (65 per cent) remain key challenges, as businesses push for providing interpretation clarity (87 per cent), faster refunds (36 per cent) and simplification of the audit process.

Whan asked about next course of reforms, respondents seek priorities on resolving tax interpretation ambiguities, followed by improving working capital efficiency and addressing the inverted duty structure. On the operational side, businesses seek audit uniformity (ranked highest), followed by expeditious sanction of refunds. From a global best-practice lens, there is strong support for centralised audits (72 per cent), allowing RCM payments through ITC (70 per cent) and further simplification of the GST rate structure (64 per cent), reflecting a clear push towards a more efficient, harmonised and business-friendly tax regime,” the statement said.

According to survey, MSMEs are reporting a steadily improving GST experience, driven by reforms such as quarterly return filing, now recognised by 67 per cent compared with just 12 per cent in 2023, and threshold relaxations (57 per cent). There is a clear preference for simplified compliance, with strong support for invoice-based ITC eligibility (88 per cent) and quarterly payment mechanisms (87 per cent). At the same time, liquidity remains a key concern, reflected in overwhelming support (about 89 per cent) for automating interest on delayed refunds, underscoring the need for faster and more predictable cash flow management, it said.