Goods & Services Tax (GST)

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect federal sales tax applied to the cost of certain goods and services. Businesses add the GST to the product price, and customers pay the sales price inclusive of the GST. The collected GST portion is forwarded to the government. It’s also known as Value-Added Tax (VAT) in some countries. Most nations with GST use a single unified system, merging central and state-level taxes into one. France introduced the first GST in 1954, and approximately 140 countries have adopted this tax system, including Canada, Brazil, India, and others.