This study examines the rationale, evolution, and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India. It traces the transition from GST 1.0 to GST 3.0, analyzes the institutional machinery underpinning its operation, and compares India’s GST framework with global counterparts. The paper highlights reforms that have shaped GST’s trajectory, identifies impediments to effective implementation, and proposes a forward-looking framework to strengthen its role as a “Good and Simple Tax.” Purpose The paper addresses the limitations of India’s pre-GST indirect taxation system, particularly the complexities associated with the interstate movement of goods and services and the distribution of tax revenues. It demonstrates how GST has progressively resolved these challenges through successive iterations. By benchmarking India’s GST against international models, the paper advances a policy framework to enhance its impact and sustainability. Design The analysis is grounded in Dalton’s Theory of Public Finance and a historical overview of tax reforms in India. Following this conceptual foundation, the paper explores the evolution of GST from its inception to GST 3.0, the institutional mechanisms supporting its implementation, comparative insights from other jurisdictions, and the bottlenecks encountered in practice. It concludes with a proposed framework for ensuring the long-term effectiveness of GST. Findings The study reveals that GST has eliminated the cascading effect of taxes, simplified compliance processes, enhanced revenue buoyancy, and reinforced fiscal federalism. Originality This paper situates the origin of GST within the inadequacies of India’s earlier indirect taxation regime and demonstrates how these shortcomings have been addressed. It evaluates India’s GST in a comparative perspective, and contributes to the discourse by proposing a framework for the next phase of reform, GST 3.0.