Uncertainty as India's Landmark New Sales Tax Rolled Out

  • Retailers report quiet first day of trade under new system
  • GST expected to boost economy, broaden tax base: government

Pedestrians pass by stores in an electronics market at the Delhi-Haryana border in New Delhi, India, on July 1.

Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg
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Confusion and uncertainty swept through India’s $2 trillion economy as businesses and consumers alike attempted to navigate a new nationwide sales tax that replaced a spiderweb of more than a dozen state and territory taxes and levies.

The new goods and services tax, formally ushered in at a late-night session of parliament overnight Friday, unifies 29 states and 1.28 billion people into a single market for the first time.