Perspectives and Role of GST Practitioners in Promoting GST Compliance in India

Abstract

GST is a technology-driven tax system. In Indian context, after five years of implementation, it is going through the evaluation phase. Many circulars and notifications are being issued to correct anomalies and to stabilize tax system. Given the complexities in understanding GST law and to cope up with technological aspects, it is difficult for a non-tech savvy taxpayer to comply with GST. Many taxpayers’ resort to services provided by GST practitioners and get their advice while complying with GST provisions. As GSTPs are more aware of GST issues, it becomes imperative to study their perspectives on various aspects of GST and their role in GST compliance. An attempt is being made in this study to analyse the perspectives and role of GSTPs under GST. Factor analysis has been used to identify various factors influencing compliances made by clients; reliability tests have been carried out to test the significance of factors. Most of the factors provided acceptable results. It is found that most of the clients are abrogating all their responsibilities to GSTPs, and they are seeking a variety of services. The paper provides deeper understanding of the issues under GST from the views of practitioners in the field.

Keywords

GST Practitioners GST Knowledge GST Compliance GST Complexities GST Law

Introduction

In today’s dynamic business environment, the taxation system can serve various purposes for governments. The tax system can be used for more than just collecting tax revenues; it can also be used to enact policies, such as supporting some activities while discouraging others (Alley & James, 2006). GST is one such tax system that revolutionized the entire tax structure and replaced multiple taxes. It aims to bring horizontal and vertical equity, and certainty in taxing the assesses. GST was implemented in India with the objective of making tax system more comprehensive, efficient, effective, transparent and taxpayer-friendly and to achieve a seamless flow of input tax credit (ITC) throughout India by using electronic devices as a means to achieve the objectives. GST offers 13 astonishing benefits to various stakeholders (Maheshwari & Mani, 2020). The digital revolution in the mode of filing returns brought many prospects and challenges to all stakeholders who are dealing with GST. One such important stakeholder is tax practitioners. They are the key intermediaries in balancing the diverse interests of taxpayers and government; they will charge a nominal fee for their services. The use of GST practitioners to prepare and file the returns of clients is a common practice all over the world. The practitioners are also called tax agents, tax return preparers, tax advisors, accountants and auditors and tax intermediaries in different counties (Tan et al., 2016). After 5 years of GST implementation, it is still going through the phase of evolution, and many notices and circulars are being issued to correct anomalies under the GST system. GST is still confusing and hectic for taxpayers to keep updated with it. Some of the important issues highlighted by existing literature are input tax credit, higher compliance costs, reverse charge mechanism, lower threshold limits, composition scheme, compulsory automation and other issues (Guna & Anuradha, 2021). GST practitioner is a certified individual who serves as a link between the GST system and their clients. They assist taxpayers with a variety of GST compliance issues. Many studies conducted in various countries have implemented GST to study the perspectives and role of GST practitioners (In Table 1, few studies are discussed). But, in Indian context, studies on GST practitioners are still lagging. Thus, the study tries to fill the gap by surveying GST practitioners.

Table 1.

Depiction of the Quantitative and Qualitative Studies Reviewed

Authors	Title of the Study	Aim of the Study	Methodology	Data Analysis	Findings
Nutman et al. (2021)	GST Complexities in Malaysia: Views from tax experts	To identify causes of GST complexities during its implementation in Malaysia	Semi-structured interviews with tax experts	Descriptive analysis approach	I. Broadly classified GST complexities mainly into legal and declarative complexities. II. They noticed that the most likely reasons for abolishing GST in Malaysia are numerous rules and exceptions to rules, frequent changes in GST rulings, guidelines, computations, difficulty in calculations of mixed supply, and delay in getting GST refund.
Muhammad (2017)	Post Implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Malaysia: Tax Agents’ Perceptions on Clients’ Compliance Behaviour and Tax Agents’ Roles in Promoting Compliance	To explore tax agents’ perceptions of taxpayers’ compliance behaviour and the role of tax agents in promoting GST compliance.	Structured Questionnaire	Descriptive analysis	I. It is found that most of the tax agents agree that their clients feel burdened by GST requirements and find it challenging to comply with GST obligations. II. Clients’ compliance level is low because they occasionally submit GST returns after the due date. They try to minimize GST debts by intentionally making errors and underreporting GST payable. III. Identified that non-compliance is also caused by economic, psychological, tax administration, and behavioural factors.
Marimuthu et al. (2012)	Perceptions of Tax Agents Towards the Proposed Goods and Services Tax in Malaysia	To assess GST practitioners awareness and perceptions about GST implementation	Structured questionnaire	Descriptive statistics and tests of reliability and validity, Factor analysis, KMO, Chi-square tests are used.	I. IGST practitioners attitude, awareness, understanding, and preparedness significantly influenced GST implementation. The study indicated that most practitioners have good perception towards GST and have good awareness, understanding and attitude about GST. II. Highlighted probable areas of difficulties as opined by GST practitioners.
Tan et al. (2016)	The impact of recent tax changes on tax complexity and compliance costs: A tax practitioners perspective	To examine the impact of recent changes in GST and its implications on tax complexity and compliance costs from the Australian tax practitioner’s perspective	Online survey through structured questionnaire	Descriptive analysis	I. Noticed that tax practitioners working in large firms tend to charge less compliance costs to small and medium firms as compared to small practitioner firms. Most practitioners spent more time in assisting clients on compliance-related activities. Furthermore, when a firm grows in size, the percentage of time spent aiding clients with tax preparation increases. II. SMEs need help of tax practitioners because of complexity involved in GST law and administration to avail specific exemptions, deductions and to resolve specific issues. III. Tax practitioners believe that the three most important drivers of tax complexity are the frequency of tax changes, ATO requirements and tax law ambiguity.
Hamid et al. (2018)	The Effectiveness of GST Education Providers: Royal Malaysian Customs Department vs Tax Agents in Malaysia	To assess the efficacy of GST education offered by RMCD and tax agents which is crucial in enhancing GST compliances	Structured interviews with RMCD officials and tax agents	Descriptive analysis	I. Highlighted the importance of GST education provided by RMCD and tax agents. Opined that efforts to improve earlier training practices will enhance taxpayers’ GST compliances. It also improves operating procedures and boosts the nation’s income through tax-paying activities resulting from higher knowledge, awareness and GST compliances.
Tan et al. (2016)	Why do small business taxpayers stay with their practitioners? Trust, competence and aggressive advice	To identify the factors influencing small businesses commitment to a tax practitioner	A cross-sectional survey by using a structured questionnaire	Factor analysis, correlation, bivariate, multiple regression analysis.	I. It is found that most taxpayers are expected to be competent, and they are taking careful guidance from their tax advisor because they are relatively knowledgeable about tax matters. Over half of the business owners had a letter of engagement with their tax advisor and had been with them for more than 5 years. The readiness to change tax practitioners was high, but more than half opined that they would do so if they were not advised of the risks connected with tax advice or if they were given inaccurate tax advice. II. Opined that aggressive, competent and cautious advice are the critical factors for retaining services of tax practitioners by SMEs. Higher trust stronger the commitment to tax practitioners. The small businesses taxpayers with engagement letters showed a stronger commitment to practitioners.
Guna and Anuradha (2021).	Dimensions of GST on Small and Moderate Business Units: A Systematic Review	To find the ‘implications of GST on MSMEs’ in the Indian context, GST implications on small and medium firms in other countries, and suggested ways to simplify the new tax system to suit MSMEs.	Literature review based on published literature	Descriptive and exploratory analysis	I. Using thematic analysis, they briefly discussed opportunities and challenges for MSMEs under the GST regime. Depicted experiences of countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Major challenges identified are that compliance costs under GST tend to be higher for MSMEs, and large firms have resources to invest in infrastructural changes. However, it will be difficult for MSMEs to cope with such changes. Because of workload pressure, it is becoming difficult for MSMEs to benefit from government financial assistance and GST training programs. II. Increased government commitment in facilitating GST awareness and training programs and assisting MSMEs with greater financial aid and incentives are required to improve profitability and standardize MSMEs work procedures. Calls for more research on various factors influencing MSMEs growth.
Ghosh (2020)	Small Businesses, Big Reform A Survey of the MSMEs Facing GST	Examined the effect of the GST on MSMEs businesses, identified the factors such as coverage, rate, selection, and exemption of taxation, as well as the impact on the competitiveness and viability of MSMEs.	Questionnaire and interview	Descriptive and analytical	I. Most of the MSMEs opined that it was not just the rate of taxation or the imposition of taxes that worried them but the entire record-keeping and accounting system they had to go through. Because most MSMEs did not have an in-house accountant like the organized sector, they had to rely on part-time chartered accountants who were unfamiliar with the software systems that GST required. Some of them had to hire an accountant to manage their books of accounts which adds to additional compliance costs of ₹12,000–₹30,000 per annum. The benefit of filing a single return was reaped by medium-sized businesses already accustomed to digital filing returns and had an in-house accountant. Discussed various technical glitches in GSTN website.
Phillips and De Lange (2006)	The effect of The Introduction of GST on Accountants’ Job Satisfaction and Burnout	Investigated the impact of changes in GST on the life of practitioners specifically job satisfaction and the likelihood of burnout	Questionnaire	Descriptive statistics	I. Unveiled that implementation of GST has impacted the working life of practitioners. Repetitive work, volume of work and working hours have been increased after GST implementation. Changes also forced accountants to restructure their profiles and work patterns. The repetitive nature of work led to more delegation of work to paraprofessionals. It is found that most of the professionals are intending to quit their practice and profession together.

Source: Compiled by authors.

Due to difficulties in tax self-assessment, various endogenous and exogenous factors influence tax professionals’ perception of tax complexity (Borrego et al., 2015). The GST practitioners are the backbone of GST tax system; they facilitate smooth compliances made by clients and act as facilitators between taxpayers and the government. GST practitioners are professionals in tax-related matters as they are directly involved in fulfilling the compliance-related activities of their clients. They have diverse educational qualifications like chartered accountants, cost accountants, post graduates, graduates, advocates and other qualifications. They are helping the taxpayers to file their returns on time, thereby saving time and minimizing the stress and burden on business persons to focus more on core business activities. Chapter IX and Section 48 of CGST Act define GSTP as a person authorized to furnish clients’ information to the government. Further, the approval, eligibility conditions, duties and obligations, and removal of GSTP are prescribed in sections 83, 83A and 84 of the CGST Act (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India [ICAI], 2021). The present study aims to fulfill the objectives, such as to analyse the role of GST practitioners in meeting compliances of their clients. It explores tax practitioners perceptions of compliance behaviour of their clients. It highlights the extent of responsibilities passed by clients to GST practitioners. It underlines various issues faced by practitioner and their clients under GST.

The article is presented in seven sections. The first section discusses introduction to GST practitioners, research gap and objectives. The second and third section discusses theoretical background, materials and method. In fourth section, few qualitative and quantitative studies have been reviewed. In fifth section, data analysis and interpretation has been carried out. In sixth section, opinion analysis of practitioners has been carried out to unveil various suggestions of practitioners to improve GST system. In seventh section, discussion, conclusion, research implications, limitations and scope for further research are dealt.

Findings of the study indicate that due to difficulty in electronic mode of self-assessment of tax, majority of clients are seeking a variety of services from GST practitioners. Factor analysis results unveiled various factors influencing GST practitioners. The factors identified are issues under GST, risks, obligations, stressing factors, various benefits offered by GST, habits and heuristics, and general opinion of GST practitioners. Views of practitioners suggest that there is a need for correcting various provisions in GST. Major findings indicate that there is a need for increasing GST awareness among taxpayers by efficient and effective trainers. The government should address the issues as early as possible so that it will lead to more compliance and generation of revenue for government.

Researchers has carried out comprehensive study on issues faced by GST practitioners across India. It highlights the complexities in GST regime from the practitioners perspectives. The study findings can help simplify the GST system, enhance compliances and revenue generation, and reduce confusion among taxpayers. The study has policy implications that are worth considering. Findings of this study shed light on important issues under GST, it will have far-reaching policy ramifications and economic implications. It is also helpful for policymakers to understand various pitfalls in GST system and to suggest measures to stabilize and improve GST.

Theoretical Background

GST practitioners play a vital role in the GST compliances of their clients; they provide a wide variety of services and advise their clients regarding legal, financial, accounting and audit-related aspects. They often represent their clients while dealing with their tax authority. With changes in the tax landscape, such as the implementation of self-assessment systems (SAS), which transfers more responsibility to taxpayers to comply with their tax obligations and who, in turn, rely on tax agents to comply with the tax laws, the roles of tax agents are becoming more challenging (Hamid et al., 2018). The synergetic effect of GST will lead to India’s socio and economic development. GST offers more job prospects in accounting-related professions such as tax practitioners, CMAs, CSs, CAs, and graduates and post-graduates in commerce subjects (Garani, 2018). Since GST law is new and advanced, it is going through the transformation phase to adjust to evolving business models and cater to modern ways of taxing businesses. Since GST is based on technology, small and medium-sized businesses will need to update their infrastructure and resources to reap the benefits of the new tax framework (Chaturvedi, 2018; Mohan & Ali, 2018). GST provisions are not explicit and complex for non-tech savvy taxpayers. Therefore, the need for GST practitioners is of utmost importance in complying with GST law as majority of taxpayers resort to the services provided by GST practitioners. Therefore, it is imperative to study various factors influencing practitioners compliance.

Materials and Methods

The study is analytical and exploratory in nature. Understanding the role of GST practitioners in compliances made by their clients and highlighting various issues faced by clients in filing GST returns forms the crux of the study. The research instrument has been adopted from the studies conducted by the Australian tax office (ATO); few modifications were made to adjust to Indian context. Since 2011, The ATO has undertaken an annual survey to investigate tax agents attitudes, perceptions and tax compliance behaviour of businesses and business advisory services (BAS) agents to uncover the key issues and barriers in GST compliances made by taxpayers (Australian Taxation Office, 2014). The study tries to address the questions related to GST complexity through opinions of tax practitioners, as indicated in the earlier studies (Marsden et al., 2012; McKerchar, 2005; O’Rourke, 2020).

As per GST website (www.gst.gov.in), as of 2021, there are 83,315 GST practitioners in India. The website provides the contact details such as location, address, contact number and e-mail ids of GST practitioners. The researchers believe that practitioners are experts in the taxation field. A systematic study on practitioners would unveil the practical issues faced by them and their clients. Thus, in this study, around 15,000 questionnaires were randomly (using google forms) mailed to practitioners of twelve states of north, south and eastern states of India. A total of 255 responses were received, giving a response rate of 1.7%. Data was collected from April 2021 to December 2021.

The research instrument has been divided into four sections. It consists of questions related to demographic profiles of GST practitioners, questions pertaining to tax consultancy profession carried on by practitioners, extent of responsibilities passed on by clients to practitioners, and various services sought by clients. One open-ended question was added at the end to explore views of practitioners. Perspectives are assessed using five-point Likert scale.

Literature Review

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Table 2 provides an idea about taxpayers to GST practitioners ratio in India. It is found from analysis that Kerala state has low taxpayers to GST practitioner ratio of 71:1, indicating that on an average, one GST practitioner is serving the needs of around 71 taxpayers. The lowest proportion can be seen from the union territory of Dadar Nagar Haveli, which is 666:1. There is a low ratio between taxpayers to GSTPs in many states. In India, the ratio stands at 1:152; to reduce the ratio of taxpayers to GSTPs, there is a need for conducting GSTP exams once a year to minimize the gap between taxpayers to GSTPs so that can lead to employment generation and more GST compliance.

Table 2.

Taxpayers to GST Practitioners Ratio in India

States	Number of Taxpayers	Number of GST Practitioners	Taxpayers to GST Practitioners Ratio
Dadar and Nagar Haveli	15,319	23	666.04
Arunachal Pradesh	16,878	28	602.79
Jammu and Kashmir	94,069	173	543.75
Manipur	13,665	27	506.11
Punjab	363,584	773	470.35
Tripura	29,883	85	351.56
Himachal Pradesh	111,682	326	342.58
Mizoram	7,254	24	302.25
Jharkhand	175,893	650	270.60
Andaman & Nicobar	5,090	21	242.38
Chandigarh	28,974	120	241.45
Nagaland	9,566	40	239.15
Haryana	471,005	2,014	233.87
Gujarat	1,048,852	4,676	224.31
Odisha	278,645	1,314	212.06
Bihar	472,128	2,252	209.65
Meghalaya	29,346	147	199.63
Rajasthan	748,481	4,034	185.54
Delhi	764,092	4,128	185.10
Uttara Khand	176,011	1,013	173.75
Uttar Pradesh	1,597,894	9,638	165.79
Andhra Pradesh	410,371	2,580	159.06
Telangana	446,295	2,812	158.71
Tamil Nadu	1,000,262	6,517	153.49
Chhattisgarh	151,689	1,002	151.39
Assam	199,703	1,379	144.82
Sikkim	8,949	63	142.05
West Bengal	702,135	5,171	135.78
Karnataka	891,213	6,608	134.87
Madya Pradesh	437,119	3,388	129.02
Goa	42,798	340	125.88
Puducherry	22,849	190	120.26
Maharashtra	1,536,933	16,523	93.02
Kerala	375,110	5,236	71.64
Total	12,683,737	8,33,15	152.24

Source: Data compiled from GST portal website (www.gst.gov.in) as of 2021.

Table 3 depicts the demographic profile of the respondents. About 64.31% of respondents are in the age group of 22–40. Male respondents constitute 93%. More than 50% of respondents are graduates. Designation-wise, about 42% of respondents are GST consultants. About 58% of respondents have experience between 1 and 10 years. Around 78% of the respondents have income between ₹1 lakh and 10 lakhs. Most of the employees work for a single firm, that is, between one and five, are about 48%. More than 83% of the respondents have clients between 1 and 100. Most of the respondents are from southern states of India, that is, 93% and 4% of the respondents are from north and 3% of respondents are from eastern states.

Table 3.

Respondents Profile

Demographics		Frequency	(%)
Age in years	22–40	164	64.31
	41–60	74	29.02
	60 & above	17	6.67
Gender	Male	238	93.34
Gender	Female	17	6.67
Qualification	Graduate	128	50.20
	Post-graduate	79	30.99
	Chartered Accountant & CS	48	18.83
Designation	Proprietor and Manager	22	8.63
	Accountant	100	39.21
	Auditor	22	8.63
	Advocate	4	1.57
	Tax consultants	107	41.96
Experience in years	1–10	148	58.03
	11–20	50	19.61
	21–30	37	14.50
	31–40	17	6.67
	40 years and above	3	1.18
Average annual income from consultancy business	Less than 1 lakh	35	13.73
	1 lakh–10 lakhs	200	78.44
	11–20 lakhs	16	6.28
	21–30 lakhs	2	0.79
	31 lakh and above	2	0.79
Number of employees	Single	93	36.48
	1–5	124	48.63
	6–10	27	10.59
	11 and above	11	4.40
Number of clients	1–100	213	83.53
	101–300	32	12.55
	301 and above	10	3.92
Region-wise classification respondents in India	East	7	3
	North	10	4
	South	238	93
	Total	255	100

Source: Primary data.

As opined by GST practitioners (Figure 1), 73% of the clients are completely dependent on services provided by them. About 25% of the practitioners opined that clients pass on their responsibilities to some extent. Only 2% of the practitioners agree that their clients are not at all dependent upon them. It unveils the complexity and non-user friendliness of the GST return filing system, which leads to more dependency of clients on GST practitioners.

Figure 1.

Source: Primary data.

Figure 2 shows the aspects under which clients sought practitioners expertise. Out of 255 practitioners, 124 opined that their clients are dependent on them for all their informational needs. One hundred practitioners opined that clients want them to be reminded about GST return filings date. About 87 practitioners opined that their clients sought services for information and documentation purposes. About 95 practitioners opined that clients sought services related to checking their accounting records. About 52 practitioners are of the view that clients sought services related to preparing and maintaining their clients’ invoices.

Figure 2.

Source: Primary data.

Figure 3 shows the results of services sought by clients from GST practitioners. It is found that most of the clients sought return filing services from practitioners, that is, 207 out of 255 practitioners opined that their clients availed filing return-related services and 34 practitioners opined that most of clients are availing return filing service, and 12 opined only a few clients are availing return filing services. Another important service clients availed is, preparing GST statements from the records provided by clients. About 169 practitioners opined that all clients have availed GST statements preparing related services, and 62 opined majority of clients sought to prepare GST statements records. Only 21 practitioners opined that few clients availed the services. Next important service sought by clients is getting advice from practitioners to filing returns on time, which 169 practitioners accept and 62 opined majority availed those services, 23 opined few availed the service. About 147 practitioners opined that all their clients availed the registration-related services, 69 by majority clients, and 36 opined only a few clients availed the services. As opined by practitioners, clients sought compliance-related services such as checking financial records, verifying GST invoices, and recording and reporting GST transactions. Training-related services are least sought by clients. It can be inferred from the analysis that most clients depend on practitioners to file their returns, prepare GST statements, advise clients, compliance-related services, check financial records, verify invoices, record and report transactions, and register services. Training-related services are less sought by clients, as opined by practitioners.

Figure 3.

Source: Primary data.

Factor Analysis Results

In this study, factor analysis has been carried out to extract factors, and KMO, Bartletts test of sphericity, PCA, and Cronbach’s alpha reliability tests has been carried out to test the significance of factors influencing GST practitioners compliance. Seven factors have been identified using factor analysis, and their descriptive results are depicted in Tables 4–10. It is found that reliability statistics depicted acceptable results for all the factors.

Table 4.

Issues under GST as Opined by GST Practitioners

Issues under GST	N	Min	Max	Mean Score	S.D.	Factorial Weights
GST has created a lot of confusion in the minds of the clients	255	1	5	3.14	1.33	0.716
Many of the clients feel burdened by GST requirements	255	1	5	3.27	1.38	0.715
Clients are facing issues in availing input tax credit (ITC)	255	1	5	3.18	1.36	0.691
Under GST, reconciliation of books of accounts is a difficult task	255	1	5	3.30	1.36	0.673
Clients are facing issues in E-way bill aspects	255	1	5	3.30	1.28	0.660
Clients are facing issues in GST refunds	255	1	5	3.33	1.38	0.648
Penalties, interest and late fees under GST are major concerns of many clients	255	1	5	3.30	1.38	0.631
There are many technical issues in the GSTN website	255	1	5	3.10	1.35	0.616
Many clients find it difficult to understand and comply with their GST obligations	255	1	5	3.32	1.36	0.544
Grey areas in GST law results into non-compliance in some aspects	255	1	5	3.41	1.27	0.521

Source: Primary data.

Note: *KMO = 0.884; p < 0.001; Cronbach’s alpha:0.842; explained variance: 41.55%.

As depicted in Table 4, the component matrix for issues in GST, as opined by GST practitioners, had a KMO = 0.884 (between 0.8 and 0.9) and p = 0.000 (<0.001). Bartlett’s test of sphericity had χ2 (45) = 702.776 and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001), indicating that the PCA was suitable for the population. Cronbach’s alpha revealed good factor reliability with a value of 0.842 (>0.8). The explained variance is 41.55%. The descriptive statistics show that grey areas in GST law results in non-compliance and is likely to receive the highest mean score of 3.41. Many technical issues in GSTN received a low mean score of 3.10 compared to other issues.

Table 5 shows the results of factor: risks to profession as perceived by GST practitioners. Results indicated that component matrix of KMO = 0.50 (between 0.5 and 0.6) and p = 0.000 (<0.001) are of poor quality. However, given the specificity of the measure on 5-point Likert scales, the PCA is acceptable. Bartlett’s test of sphericity, with χ2 (1) = 20.199 and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001), indicated the suitability of the PCA for the given population. Moreover, Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated an acceptable reliability index with a value of 0.401 (between 0.4 and 0.5). The total variance explained by the factor is 63.86%. The descriptive statistics indicated a significant risk to our practice if clients incorrectly report GST; received a highest mean score of 2.61. It also indicated that practitioners are taking utmost care while reporting clients’ transactions. They are playing the role of trusted advisors to their clients.

Table 5.

Risks to GST Practitioners Profession

Statements	N	Min	Max	Mean Score	S.D.	Factorial Weights
We act as trusted advisors for our clients	255	1	3	2.42	0.892	0.799
It is a significant risk to our practice if clients incorrectly or underreport GST	255	1	5	2.61	1.409	0.799
Valid N (listwise)	255

Source: Primary data.

Note: *KMO = 0.50; p < 0.001; Cronbach’s Alpha:0.401; explained variance: 63.86%.

Table 6. shows the results for the factor obligations of practitioners towards their clients. Results indicated that component matrix of KMO = 0.50 (between 0.5 and 0.6) and p = 0.000 (<0.001) shows poor quality results. However, given the specificity of the measure on five-point Likert scales, the PCA is acceptable. Bartlett’s test of sphericity, with χ2 (1) = 30.180 and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001), indicated the appropriateness of the PCA for the given population. Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated an acceptable reliability index with a value of 0.502 (between 0.5 and 0.6). The total variance explained by the factor is 66.78%. The descriptive statistics show that it is easy for GST practitioners to keep will-informed and updated with GST legislation and rules. Most practitioners opined that managing clients’ obligations is simple for them.

Table 6.

Obligations of GST Practitioners

Statements	N	Min	Max	Mean Score	S.D.	Factorial Weights
Managing client GST obligations is a simple thing for us to deal with	255	1	5	2.64	1.326	0.817
It is easy to be informed and up to date with GST legislation and rules	255	1	5	2.76	1.392	0.817
Valid N (listwise)	255

Source: Primary data.

Note: *KMO = 0.50; p < 0.001; Cronbach’s alpha:0.502; explained variance: 66.78%.

As unveiled by the factor social and cultural norms (Table 5). The results indicated that KMO = 0.606 (In between 0.6 and 0.7) and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001) of the component matrix unveiled that the quality is appropriate and the PCA results is acceptable. Moreover, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, with χ2 (6) = 127.271 and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001), indicated The suitability of the PCA for the population. Cronbach’s alpha, with a value of 0.613 (between 0.6 and 0.7), also demonstrated good reliability of the index. The total variance explained by the factor is 46.42%. The results show that part of the practitioner job is to look for grey areas where they can minimize the burden of their clients. It received the highest mean score of 3.607 compared to other statements in the factor. It is noticed that sometimes practitioners are pressured by clients to file returns late and incorrectly report GST. Usually, clients expect their practitioners to minimize their tax liability.

The results for the factor benefits of GST as perceived by practitioners (Table 8), the component matrix with KMO = 0.755 (between 0.7 and 0.8) and p = 0.000 (<0.001), demonstrated that the quality is appropriate and the PCA results are acceptable. Moreover, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, with χ2 (6) = 247.115 and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001), indicated the suitability of the PCA for the population. Cronbach’s Alpha demonstrated a very good reliability index with a value of 0.756 (between 0.7 and 0.8). The total variance explained by the factor is 58.42%. Descriptive statistics indicated that GST supports the well-being of our economy and society. GST is a fair tax and it helps to improve financial practices and tax evasion has come down through GST. It got a good mean score from GST practitioners.

Table 7.

Stressing Factors for GST Practitioners

Statements	N	Min	Max	Mean Score	S.D.	Factorial Weights
Sometimes clients request to file their GST returns late	255	1.00	5.00	3.447	1.338	0.722
Sometimes clients request to report GST incorrectly	255	1.00	5.00	3.192	1.318	0.712
Part of a practitioner’s job is looking for the grey areas where clients burden is reduced	255	1.00	5.00	3.607	1.378	0.653
Clients usually expect us to reduce their GST liability	255	1.00	5.00	3.443	1.384	0.635
Valid N (listwise)	255

Source: Primary data.

Note: *KMO = 0.611; p < 0.001; Cronbach’s alpha:0.613; explained variance: 46.42%.

Table 8.

Benefits of GST as Opined by Practitioners

Statements	N	Min	Max	Mean Score	S.D.	Factorial Weights
Overall, the GST is a fair tax	255	1	5	2.50	1.391	0.810
GST helps to improve financial practices	255	1	5	2.47	1.345	0.803
GST supports the well-being of our economy and society	255	1	5	2.51	1.433	0.790
Tax evasion has come down through GST	255	1	5	2.47	1.339	0.630
Valid N (listwise)	255

Source: Primary data.

Note: *KMO = 0.755; p < 0.001; Cronbach’s alpha:0.756; explained variance: 58.42%.

The results for the factor habits and heuristics as perceived by GST practitioners (Table 9). The results indicated that component matrix with KMO = 0.764 (between 0.7 and 0.8) and p = 0.000 (<0.001) shows that the quality is appropriate and the PCA results is acceptable. Moreover, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, with χ2 (6) = 256.145 and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001), indicated the suitability of the PCA for the given population. Cronbach’s alpha with a value of 0.764 (between 0.7 and 0.8), also demonstrated a very good reliability index. The total variance explained by the factor is 58.42%. The results indicated that practitioners pay more attention to their clients’ records and rely on their accurate records. Most practitioners opined that most of their clients take responsibility while preparing statements. Dealing with GST is a matter of course for many practitioners in everyday business, as most practitioners agree.

Table 9.

Habits and Heuristics

Statements	N	Min	Max	Mean Score	S.D.	Factorial Weights
We pay close attention to records provided by clients while filing their GST returns	255	1	4	2.69	1.434	0.825
Dealing with GST is something we do as a matter of course in our everyday business	255	1	5	2.44	1.396	0.808
We insist to clients that tax records are correct	255	1	4	2.56	1.448	0.782
My clients are taking more responsibility while preparing statements while filing their GST returns	255	1	5	2.51	1.369	0.637
Valid N (listwise)	255

Source: Primary data.

Note: *KMO = 0.764; p < 0.001; Cronbach’s alpha: 0.764; explained variance: 58.42%.

The general opinion of practitioners towards improvement of GST (Table 10). Results indicated that component matrix of KMO = 0.579 (between 0.5 and 0.6) and p = 0.000 (<0.001) shows poor quality results. However, given the specificity of the measure on five-point Likert scales, the PCA results are acceptable. Bartlett’s test of sphericity, with χ2 (1) = 30.180 and p = 0.000 (p < 0.001), demonstrated the suitability of the PCA for the population. In addition, Cronbach’s alpha, with a value of 0.612 (between 0.6 and 0.7), demonstrated an acceptable reliability index. The total variance explained by the factor is 44.43%. The descriptive statistics results indicated that plugging loopholes in GST will result in more compliances made by clients. Further simplifying GST will reduce the burden on clients and consultants to revise a mean score of 2.86. Further, practitioners opined that there is a need to create more awareness among clients to enhance compliance.

Opinion Analysis of GST Practitioners

In survey instrument, one question was open-ended through which we have received opinions of GST practitioners. The word cloud shows important keywords as opined by GST practitioners.

Table 10.

General Opinion of GST Practitioners

Variables	N	Min	Max	Mean Score	S.D.	Factorial Weights
Further simplification of GST will reduce the burden on clients and tax consultants	255	1	5	2.86	1.398	0.853
There is a need to create more awareness among GST registered dealers to comply with GST	255	1	5	2.92	1.392	0.762
Plugging loopholes in GST will result in more compliances by clients	255	1	5	3.18	1.278	0.551
Valid N (listwise)	255

Source: Primary data.

Note: *KMO = 0.579; p < 0.001; Cronbach’s alpha: 0.612; explained variance: 44.43%.

One of the respondents opined that

Rates should be rationalized and reduced to make India competitive and in interest of compliance and economic growth. The highest rate should be kept at 18%, and there should be only a few items that fall in the 28% slab. Daily use items such as soaps, cremes, movie tickets, and electrical goods should not be taxed at 28%.

Regarding calculating aggregate turnover, one of the practitioners believes that ‘Exempt supplies must not form part of aggregate turnover to determine threshold limit for taking registration in GST.’

Regarding GST website, one respondent opined that ‘In my opinion, GST website is mainly not working on the 10th and 19th and 20th dates of every month as they are the important dates for filing inward and outward supplies the websites need to be faster in those days.’ Another respondent opined that ‘GST portal should work fast now, invoice upload data download from the portal it taking too much time.’ One of the respondents is of view that ‘Minimize burden for GST practitioners and provide an option to correct GSTR 2B and upload, GST website should be overhauled, and technical delays should be minimized, Till GST server comes 100% support they have to provide some relaxations in filing and penalties.’

One of the practitioners suggested that a

Dealer-friendly tax system hassle-free statutory obligations with affordable single-digit tax rate should be enforced. It will definitely work on eradicating the black money and grey market. Government should stop treating dealers like stealers. They are the source channel of our economy. Whereas they should be facilitated with honours and appreciation with citizen perks.

Regarding GST system, respondents opined, ‘Avoid frequent change to the existing system. For small businesses, provide filing & payment options same, that is, quarterly. Provide report downloading from system more user-friendly.’ ‘Everyone expects that GST law and rules should be more friendly and easy to implement.’ Another respondent is of the view that ‘make easy filing of return and claiming of input tax credit (ITC) which is creating many problems every month.’

One respondent elaborated,

The GST Law has brought in the Oneness among Indians as it is really a One Nation One Tax. However, the Government’s attitude till now is that if an assessee makes a mistake, he will be penalized, and if Government makes a mistake, there will be an extension. The GST Law has been drafted based on erstwhile central excise laws, which were mainly applicable to manufacturing sector who are better equipped with knowledgeable staff and professionals. Stringent penal provisions under excise law were also justifiable as the target assessee were few, well educated, and knew the basics of the law. Any violation should have been punished rigorously. However, it is difficult if the same penal provisions have to be applied to a common man. The overall common man wants the big relief in penal provisions to achieve the real objective of ‘Ease of doing business.’ Matching input credit, Burden of proof that my supplier has paid tax has really hit the honest tax payer. This needs to be changed.

To reduce tax evasion under GST, one respondent opined, ‘There should be a platform to complain about tax evasion, and incentive must be given to the informant. This will reduce tax evasion a lot.’

One practitioner regarding filing returns pointed out some issues: ‘1. Not providing the opportunity to file a revised return is a major setback for all the dealers in the country. 2. Late filing fee is too much and discouraging the spirit of business and filing of returns. 3. Implementation of e-invoicing at all levels above ₹1 Crore turnover will enhance good governance and reduce revenue leakage.’

Regarding creating awareness among stakeholders, one practitioner opined, ‘Awareness has to be created before making any changes in the law and training needs given to all stakeholders. Do make the rules as simple as possible and make provision for revision for GST return.’

Respondent suggested,

Make compulsory return filing once a month, and comparison one month input to the next month. As per earlier VAT procedures, any changes should be modified and make the annual filing of returns compulsory for all registered assesses. It should tally with the income tax return, make this compulsory to all registered persons.

Another respondent opined that

Digital signature certificate-related problems and purchases not uploaded by suppliers/mistakes in uploaded purchase invoices should be able to get rectified between supplier and recipient through GST portal and input related invoices should be able to rectify at any point of time—similar to TDS returns with traces irrespective of the monthly/quarterly returns, enable to pay differential tax with rectified return or credit the tax ledger for the difference of tax excess paid so that the credit is utilized for subsequent GST liabilities.

Discussion and Conclusion, Policy implications, Limitations, Scope for Further Research.

Discussion and Conclusion

The GST law is going through evolution phase in India. Taxpayers are likely to have more queries and confusion about GST registration, return filings, refunds and other requirements. The government has responded by introducing the concept of GST practitioners to assist taxpayers with GST compliance. In this study, an attempt is made to assess the perspectives and role of GSTPs under GST. The study findings reveal that in India, the taxpayers to GSTP ratio is 152:1, which indicates that for every one GSTP, there are around 152 clients availing services. There is a need for more GSTPs to achieve more compliances to yield more revenue to government and create employment opportunities.

From the perspectives of GSTPs, it is noticed that clients are facing more issues related to refunds, penalties, and interests, technical issues in GSTN website, input tax credit (ITC) and E-way bill, and difficulty in understanding GST law. Most GSTPs opined that more grey areas in GST law increase non-compliance. In the factor risks to GSTPs, majority GSTPs agreed that it is a significant risk to their practice if clients incorrectly report GST and they are acting as trusted advisors to their clients. In terms of obligations of GSTPs, it is found that moderate respondents agreed that it is easy for them to keep updated with GST law, and it is easy for them to manage clients’ obligations. In stressing factors to GSTPs majority responded that they look for grey areas in GST law to minimize their clients tax liability. They are pressured by clients to make delay in reporting GST and sometimes incorrect filing of returns. As opined by practitioners, various benefits of GST are that GST supports the nation’s well-being and is a fair tax system. In the factor habits and heuristics, most GSTPs agree that they pay close attention to clients records and rely on clients accurate records. Practitioners believe that further simplification of GST law will reduce the burden on clients, and there is a need to create more awareness among GSTPs and taxpayers to comply with GST. Majority of respondents agree that plugging loopholes will result in more compliance by taxpayers. Thus, the government should understand the issues faced by taxpayers and GSTPs and work to resolve such issues so that it leads to the improvement of the GST system and enhanced compliances. Overall, it will lead to ease of complying with GST, more revenue realization to government, and pave the way for economic development.

Research Implications

The findings of this study should have important economic and policy implications for government and policymakers. The article provides a deeper understanding of difficulties faced by GST practitioners in the field. From practitioners perspective, it can be seen that GST is beneficial for the economy. However, some issues and challenges are making GST complicated for taxpayers and practitioners, resulting in difficulty in understanding and complying with GST. Majority of taxpayers are burdened by GST requirements, and they are more dependent on practitioners. The issues opined by practitioners and their suggestions are addressed properly, and loopholes are plugged. It may lead to reduced compliance burden on taxpayers and tax practitioners and pave the way for further ease of complying with GST law and resulting in reduced tax evasion, tax leakage and consequently more revenue generation for the government.

Limitations of the Study

The study is limited to practitioners of twelve states of India, and it cannot be generalized to the entire country. The major limitation of the study is that it considers issues from the perspectives of GST practitioners and other stakeholders’ issues are not considered. As it is an E-survey, the response rate is very poor, that is, only 1.5% and the sample size is small. Therefore, it may not be adequate to represent all the issues under GST.

Scope for Further Study

The present study focuses on various factors influencing compliances of only practitioners. It is suggested that further research on various issues and challenges faced by MSMEs, service providers, officials and other parties involved in GST would uncover more issues under GST and will be more helpful in further simplification of GST law.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

References

Alley

, & James

(2006). Research into economic and behavioural approaches in tax compliance. In Sawyer

(Ed.), Taxation Issues in Twenty-First Century (pp. 3–14). The Centre for Commercial and Üorporate Law, School of Law.

Australian Taxation Office. (2014, July). GST voluntary compliance program (Quantitative Tracking Research, Year 4).

Borrego

A. C.

, Loo

E. C.

, Mota Lopes

C. M.

, & Ferreira

C. M. S.

(2015). Tax professionals’ perception of tax system complexity: Some preliminary empirical evidence from Portugal. eJTR, 13, 338.

Chaturvedi

V. K.

(2018). GST and small scale industries: A critical analysis. In Gupta

V. K.

(Ed.), GST simplified tax system: Challenges and remedies (pp. 276–279). Swaranjali Publication.

Garani

(2018). Synergistic outcome on social responsibility in India through GST. The Management Accountant Journal, 53(12), 50–53.

Ghosh

(2020). Small businesses, big reform. Capitalism and COVID-19, 55(18), 32.

Guna

, & Anuradha

P. S.

(2021). Dimensions of GST on small and moderate business units: A systematic review. Vision: Journal of Business Perspectives, 25(3), 275–284. 10.1177/09722629211002931

Hamid

N. A.

, Aisyah

, Taib

, Noor

, Yaacob

, Shamsuddin

, & Afthanorhan

(2018). The effect of tax reforms on tax agents’ job burnout in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(12), 547–560.

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). (2021). Goods and services tax (October 2021 ed.). ICAI.

10.

Maheshwari

, & Mani

(2020). Benefits of goods and services tax implementation in India: An analytical hierarchy process approach. Journal of Public Affairs, e2578. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com-443.web.bisu.edu.cn/doi/10.1002/pa.2578

11.

Marimuthu

, Bidin

, & Abd Jabbar

(2012). Perceptions of tax agents towards the proposed goods and services tax in Malaysia. In SIBR-UniKL 2013 Conference on Interdisciplinary Business & Economics Research, Vol. 2, Kuala Lumpur, pp. 1–22.

12.

Marsden

S. J.

, Sadiq

, & Wilkins

T. A.

(2012). Small business entity tax concessions: Through the eyes of the practitioner. Revenue Law Journal, 22, 4.

13.

McKerchar

(2005). The impact of income tax complexity of practitioners in Australia. Australian Taxation Form, 20, 529.

14.

Mohan

, & Ali

(2018). Assessment of the implications of GST (Goods and Services Tax) rollout on Indian MSMEs. Theoretical Economics Letters, 8(15), 3567.

15.

Muhammad

(2017). Post implementation of goods and services, tax (GST) in Malaysia: Tax agents’ perceptions on clients’ compliance behaviour and tax agents’ roles in promoting compliance. In SHS Web of Conferences, EDP Sciences, Vol. 34, p. 11002.

16.

Nutman

, Isa

, & Yussof

S. H.

(2021). GST complexities in Malaysia: Views from tax experts. International Journal of Law and Management, 64(2), 150–167.

17.

O’Rourke

(2020). GST administration-A practitioner’s perspective. eJTR, 18, 124.

18.

Phillips

, & De Lange

(2006). The effect of the introduction of GST on accountants’ job satisfaction and burnout. Australian Accounting Review, 16(40), 52–59.

19.

Tan

L. M.

, Braithwaite

, & Reinhart

(2016). Why do small business taxpayers stay with their practitioners? Trust, competence, and aggressive advice. International Small Business Journal, 34(3), 329–344. https://dx-doi-org-s.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1177/0266242614555556