Taxmann

GST Acts with Rules [Bare Act] by Taxmann is a consolidated bare-act compendium of India's Goods and Services Tax statutes and subordinate legislation, presented with section-wise annotations that map each statutory provision to the underlying Rules, prescribed Forms, enforcement dates, governing Notifications, and relevant Allied Laws. The text has been fully updated to incorporate the amendments introduced by the Finance Act 2026, together with the changes arising from the Gen-2 GST rate rationalisation effective 22nd September 2025, the abolition of the GST Compensation Cess on tobacco products, pan masala and cigarettes with effect from 1st February 2026, and the parallel imposition of the Health Security se National Security Cess under the HSNS Cess Act 2025.

The annotation architecture makes this volume distinct from a conventional bare act. Under each section, the user is directed to the specific rules framed thereunder, the corresponding forms prescribed, the precise date from which the provision comes into force, the notifications that give effect to or modify the provision, and the allied enactments referred to in the section. The objective is to allow the reader to read the statute in situ alongside its procedural and compliance superstructure, without having to cross-reference separate rulebooks, notification digests, or enforcement tables.

This book is intended for the following audience:

Tax Practitioners and Consultants for GST advisory, return filing, audit and litigation support work

Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants in practice and in industry, for day-to-day GST compliance and advisory

Lawyers and Advocates appearing before Adjudicating Authorities, the GST Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and the Supreme Court

In-house Tax, Finance and Legal Teams of corporates and MSMEs responsible for organisation-wide GST compliance and transaction review

Departmental Officers of the CGST, SGST, UTGST and Customs formations, for assessment, adjudication, audit and enforcement

Academicians and Faculty teaching and researching indirect taxation at universities, law schools and business schools

Students preparing for CA, CS, CMA, LLB, B.Com and MBA examinations where GST is a core subject

Competitive and Departmental Exam Aspirants for UPSC, State Taxation Services, Judicial Services and CGST/SGST departmental examinations

Trade, Industry and Chamber Bodies preparing policy representations and member advisories on GST

Libraries and Institutional Subscribers; Law firm, corporate, university, tribunal and government-department libraries

The Present Publication is the 6th Edition | 2026, amended by the Finance Act 2026, covering the amended and updated text of the GST Act [Act No. 12 of 2017] and Rules, with the following noteworthy features:

[Full-text, Section-numbered Reproduction] This is included for the four GST enactments—CGST Act, IGST Act, UTGST Act and GST (Compensation to States) Act—incorporating every amendment notified up to the Finance Act 2026

[Section-level Annotations] They are covered beneath each provision, identifying:

The Rules framed under that section

The Forms prescribed

The date of enforcement

The governing Notifications

The Allied Laws referred to in the section

[Consolidated Rules Division] It contains the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules 2017 as amended by the CGST (Fifth Amendment) Rules 2025, the Integrated GST Rules 2017, and the GST Compensation Cess Rules 2017

[Guide to GST] It is included at the opening of the volume, running through the object and architecture of GST, the changes introduced by the Finance Act 2026, the special tobacco-products regime effective 1st February 2026, the HSNS Cess Act 2025, the apportionment mechanism of IGST, zero-rated supplies, and the rate-structure overhaul of September 2025

[Removal of Difficulties Orders, Validation Provisions and Appendix on Allied Acts] The Appendix reproduces the text of provisions of Allied Acts referred to in the CGST Act (such as the Code of Civil Procedure, the Indian Penal Code and the Income-tax Act), saving the reader from parallel recourse to those statutes

[Separate Subject Index] It is included in each of the four Acts to accelerate provision lookup

[Arrangement of Sections] It is included at the head of every Act, providing a printed navigation map before the statutory text begins

The book is organised into five sequential divisions, each internally self-contained, enabling the reader to open directly to the Act or Rules set that is relevant to the matter at hand.

Preliminary — Guide to GST, carrying the conceptual, structural and amendment-tracking overview of the entire statute-book

Division One | Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 — Arrangement of Sections, annotated text of the Act, the Central Goods and Services Tax (Removal of Difficulties) Order 2020, the Appendix reproducing provisions of Allied Acts referred to in the CGST Act, Validation Provisions and Subject Index

Division Two | Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 — Arrangement of Sections, annotated text of the Act, Validation Provisions and Subject Index

Division Three | Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 — Arrangement of Sections, text of the Act, Validation Provisions and Subject Index

Division Four | Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act 2017 — Arrangement of Sections, text of the Act and Subject Index

Division Five | GST Rules CGST Rules 2017 (as amended by the CGST Fifth Amendment Rules 2025), IGST Rules 2017 and GST Compensation Cess Rules 2017

Within each Act-division, the annotated statutory text is the central body; footnotes beneath each section record the legislative history of every amendment, including the enactment or notification that introduced the change, the date from which the change took effect, and any cross-reference to prior language that the current text has superseded