GST Explained: Rules, Claims, and What It Means for Indian Businesses

When you buy anything in India — from a cup of coffee to a new phone — you’re paying GST, Goods and Services Tax, a single tax that replaced multiple state and central levies. Also known as Value Added Tax (VAT) on steroids, it’s the backbone of how businesses track taxes today. Before GST, you dealt with excise, service tax, VAT, octroi — a messy patchwork that cost time and money. Now, one tax flows across the country, making things simpler… if you know the rules.

But GST isn’t just about paying. It’s also about getting money back. Input tax credit, the ability to claim back GST you paid on business purchases is where real savings happen. If you’re a small shop owner buying raw materials, or a tech startup paying for software, you can reduce your final tax bill by claiming what you already paid. But here’s the catch: you can’t claim it unless your supplier filed their return, your invoice has the right GSTIN, and you file your own return on time. One mistake, and your refund gets stuck. That’s why so many businesses lose thousands — not because they didn’t earn it, but because they didn’t follow the GST filing, the official process of reporting sales, purchases, and taxes owed to the government correctly.

And if you’re owed money? GST refund, the process of getting back excess GST paid or wrongly collected isn’t automatic. It takes paperwork, timing, and patience. Many think filing means getting cash fast. It doesn’t. The system checks everything — matching your sales with your buyers’ claims, flagging mismatches, holding back refunds until audits clear. That’s why some wait months. Others never get it at all.

What you’ll find here aren’t theory lessons. These are real stories from Indian businesses — the ones who claimed refunds, the ones who got penalized, the ones who learned the hard way. You’ll see how small traders handle GST, how startups avoid audit traps, and why even big firms mess up on input credit. No jargon. No fluff. Just what works — and what gets you fined.