| Vivek Nigam (Research Scholar) Govt. Vivekanand P.G. College, Maihar APS University Rewa (M.P.) | Dr. Arun Kumar Gautam (HoD Commerce Dept.) Govt. Vivekanand P.G. College, Maihar APS University, Rewa (M.P.) |
Abstract
The Goods and Services Tax (GST), implemented in India on 1 July 2017, was designed to unify a fragmented indirect tax structure and to enhance transparency in the pricing and taxation of goods and services. While transparency is frequently cited as a core objective of the reform, the extent to which businesses actually perceive the system as transparent remains an open empirical question, particularly given documented compliance burdens on small and medium enterprises. This study examines the perception of transparency in the GST system among 400 business enterprises operating in and around Satna district, Madhya Pradesh, and investigates whether this perception varies systematically across seven organizational and operational characteristics: type of business, business sector/formalization status, nature of ownership, years of operation, annual turnover, GST registration status, and location of business. Data were analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for the five categorical variables with more than two groups, and independent samples t-tests for the two dichotomous variables (registration status and location. The findings suggest that direct, lived experience of GST compliance is associated with lower perceived transparency than passive or external observation of the system, with implications for tax administration, policy communication, and future simplification efforts.