Perceptions of the textile industry stakeholders on a multi-slab goods and services tax system in India

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the perception of the textile industry stakeholders (manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, consumers and tax professionals) on India’s new goods and services tax (GST) system and find whether the introduction of GST has made doing business easier or not. Design/methodology/approach The researchers used interviews and surveys to capture the perceptions of the textile industry stakeholders at Surat, a major textile hub in India. To econometrically verify the perceptions, the researchers used a logit regression model. Findings The researchers found that the provision of monthly tax filing has increased textile businesses’ dependency on tax professionals, which increased business costs. Also, the GST system has made tax compliance easier and is user-friendly. However, tax refund-related issues are a significant factor that negatively impacts the ease of doing business post-GST. Research limitations/implications The findings of the research shall be helpful for the GST Council of India and policymakers to understand the problems faced by the textile businesses and cater to their problems. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is original as none of the available studies captures the perception of all the textile industry stakeholders, namely, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, consumers and tax professionals, on the GST system applying econometric techniques to validate the perceptions.