# India's Dual GST Model
India adopted a dual GST structure because both the Centre and the States needed to retain their fiscal powers. Both levels of government levy GST simultaneously on the same supply.
## Core features
1. Centre and States levy GST concurrently across the supply chain.
2. Centre is empowered to tax intra-State supplies (which it could not earlier — sales tax was a State subject).
3. States are empowered to tax services (which they could not earlier — services were a Central subject).
4. GST extends to the whole of India, including the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir.
5. GST is a destination-based consumption tax (revenue accrues to the State of consumption, not origin).
## The four components
### Intra-State supply (location of supplier and place of supply in same State/UT)
| Levy | Levied & collected by | When |
|---|---|---|
| CGST | Central Government | Always |
| SGST | State Government / UT with legislature | If supply in such State/UT |
| UTGST | UT without legislature | If supply in such UT |
> Note: SGST and UTGST are mutually exclusive. A given intra-State supply attracts either CGST+SGST or CGST+UTGST — never both SGST and UTGST.
### Inter-State supply (supplier and place of supply in different States/UTs, or a State and a UT)
- Single levy: IGST = CGST + SGST/UTGST rate, levied and collected by the Centre and then apportioned.
- Imports are also treated as inter-State supplies.
## Why dual GST and not a single national GST?
India is a federal polity. Article 246A (post-101st Constitutional Amendment) gives both Centre and States simultaneous power to legislate on GST. A single national GST would have required States to surrender their taxing power entirely — politically and constitutionally infeasible.
## Mnemonic
Same State → C + S(or UT); Different State → I. The destination State gets the SGST/UTGST share (via IGST apportionment for inter-State).