Which of the following Constitution Amendment Acts made necessary provisions for the implementation of GST (Goods and Service Tax) regime ?
- (a)101st Amendment Act
- (b)102nd Amendment Act
- (c)103rd Amendment Act
- (d)104th Amendment Act
Correct — A, the 101st Amendment Act. The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016 created the legal framework for the Goods and Services Tax — inserting Article 246A (concurrent power of the Union and States to levy GST), Article 269A (levy and apportionment of IGST on inter-State supply) and Article 279A (the GST Council). GST was rolled out from 1 July 2017.
- (b)102nd Amendment Act — The 102nd Amendment Act, 2018 gave constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (Articles 338B and 342A) — unrelated to GST.
- (c)103rd Amendment Act — The 103rd Amendment Act, 2019 introduced the 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (Articles 15(6) and 16(6)) — not GST.
- (d)104th Amendment Act — The 104th Amendment Act, 2019 (assent Jan 2020, in force 25 Jan 2020) extended reservation of seats for SCs/STs in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies and ended the nomination of Anglo-Indians — nothing to do with GST.
GST is a comprehensive, destination-based indirect tax on the supply of goods and services that subsumed most central and state indirect taxes (central excise, service tax, State VAT and others). It required a constitutional amendment because taxation powers were divided between the Union and the States; the 101st Amendment Act, 2016 gave both concurrent power through Article 246A and created the GST Council (Article 279A) as the federal decision-making body. GST went live on 1 July 2017.
The four options are consecutive amendment numbers, so rote pairing is the safest route: 101st = GST; 102nd = NCBC status; 103rd = EWS 10% quota; 104th = SC/ST seats and end of Anglo-Indian nomination. Fix the anchor '101 → GST → one nation, one tax'.
- 101st Amendment Act, 2016 enabled GST; GST was launched on 1 July 2017.
- Key insertions: Article 246A (concurrent GST power), 269A (IGST), 279A (GST Council).
- 102nd (2018) = NCBC constitutional status; 103rd (2019) = 10% EWS quota; 104th (2019, in force 2020) = extended SC/ST seats, ended Anglo-Indian nomination.
- GST subsumed central excise, service tax, State VAT and several other indirect taxes.
Only the 101st Amendment made provisions for GST — option (a).
- Confusing the 101st (GST) with the 100th (India–Bangladesh land boundary) or 102nd (NCBC).
- Assuming GST needed no amendment — it required concurrent taxing power via Article 246A.
UPSC/UPPSC ask which amendment introduced GST, or test Article 246A/279A and the GST Council — memorise 100th (LBA), 101st (GST), 102nd (NCBC), 103rd (EWS), 104th (SC/ST seats).
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The GST Council is established under which Article of the Constitution?
- (a)Article 246A
- (b)Article 269A
- (c)Article 279A
- (d)Article 280
Answer(c) Article 279A — inserted by the 101st Amendment; the Union Finance Minister chairs the Council.
- practice — not a real PYQ
GST was rolled out across India with effect from which date?
- (a)1 April 2016
- (b)1 July 2017
- (c)1 April 2017
- (d)1 January 2018
Answer(b) 1 July 2017 — following the 101st Amendment Act, 2016.