Direct and Indirect Taxes — Policy Reforms

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
101st Amendment	2016	Introduced Article 246A empowering both Parliament and State Legislatures to make laws on Goods and Services Tax. Added Articles 269A and 279A establishing GST Council and its functions. Modified Articles 268, 269, 270, and 271 to accommodate GST structure.	Fundamentally restructured India's indirect tax system by enabling the implementation of GST, creating a unified national market for goods and services, and establishing cooperative federalism in tax policy through the GST Council mechanism.
88th Amendment	2003	Modified Article 268A to include service tax in the Union's taxation powers, enabling the Centre to levy and collect service tax while sharing proceeds with States.	Expanded the Centre's indirect tax base by including services, which became increasingly important with the growth of the services sector in India's economy, paving the way for comprehensive indirect tax reform.