Delhi University includes GST in curriculum for commerce students

Students in Delhi University will now have to wrap their heads around the historic goods and services tax (GST) that has flustered many across the country since its unveiling on July 1.

GST, hailed as the country's biggest tax reform since Independence, replaced a thicket of federal and state levies while transforming Asia's third-largest economy into a single market. In a meeting this week, the varsity's academic council approved the inclusion of GST in the curriculum of commerce programmes such as B Com (Hons), B Com (Prog) and BA (Prog). It has also recommended this to the university's executive council.

The move aims to help commerce students comprehend the newly introduced tax reform. The "one nation one tax" section will be taught from this academic session as the council wants changes in the course contents of B Com (Hons) in accordance with recent developments on GST.

The attempt has also brought the top colleges in agreement. "So far, goods and services tax was not included in the curriculum. Going by the status quo, it is important that students understand the tax well. We are awaiting a formal notification from the university and will include it in the curriculum for this academic year," said Reena Chadha, professor at Shri Ram College of Commerce.

The university is the first in line to include the tax in the curriculum as Rajesh Jha, professor at Rajdhani College and an academic council member, pointed out that the executive is most likely to sanction the inclusion.

Experts say GST should help widen the country's tiny tax base, free up internal trade, make it easier to do business and reduce the clout middlemen wield at state borders. Governments had been trying to introduce the reform for at least 10 years, but had failed to get the support of Parliament.

The tax will be taught to students in B Com (Hons) in third and fifth semesters while B Com (Prog) students of fifth and sixth semester will have a paper on GST and Customs law. If approved by the executive council, it will also be taught to BA (Prog) students in the third and fourth semester. In a meeting concluded last week, the academic council accepted the recommendations made by the faculty of commerce and business.

Students will be taught the constitutional framework of indirect taxes before GST, which include taxation powers of union and state governments, the concept of VAT, rationale and structure of GST, GST council, GST network, state compensation mechanism and registration, etc. The curriculum is also expected to include levy and collection of GST, which will cover taxable events like supply of goods and services, places of supply like within state, interstate, import and export, time of supply, valuation rules, taxability of reimbursement of expenses, and exemption from GST.

"Tax has now been simplified for our country with GST. Revenue generated from GST will be generated in a manner that will benefit India. Economists are already expecting the tax revenue to reach 2 trillion from 1 billion so students should be apprised with the times they will have to work in," said Dr Bhibhu Pratap Sahu, an assistant professor at Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College.