July 1 marked the eighth anniversary of India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST), yet the occasion was overshadowed by the poorest indirect tax collections in recent memory. At Rs 1.85 lakh crore for June 2025, revenue was at a four-month low, up just 6.2 per cent on June 2024 — the slowest pace in four years. Once refunds are deducted, actual net collections grew merely 3.3 per cent. Revenue from domestic transactions, excluding imports, rose by a scant 4.6 per cent — only marginally above inflation. A consumption levy by design, a slump in GST receipts mirrors muted economic activity; but it also betrays structural flaws that demand reform. Eight years on, the GST remains a patchwork of exclusions and multiple rates. Fuel — long the linchpin of state revenues — is still outside the tax net, blocking the promise of “one nation, one tax”. Although state governments fear losing their only independent revenue streams, this cannot justify permanent exclusion. The time has come to subsume fuel into the GST, while compensating states with a larger share of central taxes. In parallel, the Centre must wean itself off non-shareable cesses, and states must resist the temptation to squander additional funds on untargeted freebies. Trust, after all, flows both ways. Equally overdue is rate rationalisation. The GST Council’s fitment and rate-setting committees are right to examine a leaner structure with fewer slabs. Linked to this is the future of the GST Compensation Cess, originally intended to reimburse states for five years and extended only to repay pandemic loans. Now that it has served its purpose, the cess should be wound up — not folded into higher GST rates. Taxation is a covenant not only with states, but with citizens. Abolishing an obsolete levy would win public goodwill and bolster urban consumption. Ahead of next year’s elections, a bold GST reform package would reaffirm the government’s commitment to growth, equity and simplicity.