India Inc Tells Deloitte to Automate GST Compliance With AI

Nine years into India’s Goods and Services Tax, Indian businesses are looking beyond tax rates for the next round of reform. The full GST@9 survey findings, released June 30, 2026, show 89% of business leaders want AI-led GST compliance built into the proposed GSTN 2.0 platform.

That share leads every other ask on the table. The next round of GST reform will be written in software specifications rather than in tax slabs.

Nine Years In, 89% Want AI in the Returns

Deloitte’s report, based on responses from 1,096 senior business leaders across eight industries, asked what GSTN 2.0 should deliver. The headline result is straightforward: nearly nine in ten want AI woven into the back office. The survey puts that ask at the top of GSTN 2.0 priorities. Other priorities sit just behind it.

The finding cuts across company size. AI-led data processing and reconciliation is the top priority for GSTN 2.0 in the survey. The breadth came from 1,096 senior business leaders across eight industries, including MSMEs, according to ETCFO’s separate write-up of the same Deloitte study.

An overwhelming 89 percent of stakeholders identify AI-led data processing and reconciliation as their top priority, while 84 percent support automatic tax utilisation on the GST portal and 53 percent are calling for a unified taxpayer dashboard.

Gokul Chaudhri, president of tax at Deloitte South Asia, made those comments in the report released June 30, 2026.

Deloitte’s framing lines up with the result: GST has moved from stabilisation to optimisation, and the next milestone is an intelligent, integrated platform rather than a faster web form. Real-time reporting and data analytics emerged as the most valued benefit of GST so far, with 69% of respondents identifying them as the regime’s biggest advantage. Large and very large enterprises, which run complex tax operations across multiple states, registered the strongest appreciation for digital compliance capabilities. The wider trend is visible across India’s tax-tech scene, with industry awards now recognising AI-driven tax automation in India.

What GSTN 2.0 Is Supposed to Do

The survey paints a picture of a tax portal that does more than accept filings. Each feature respondents want ties to a specific friction the current system produces. Five features sit at the top of the GSTN 2.0 wishlist.

• Pre-filled GST returns to remove duplicate data entry
• Intelligent reconciliations that flag mismatches before filing
• Real-time status tracking for returns and refunds
• Integration with e-way bills, e-invoicing systems, and SEZ portals
• Unified dashboards to manage multiple compliance functions from a single interface

The user-experience asks sit on top of the AI request. Beyond the headline AI priority, the survey lists practical interface features: 42% wanted longer access to historical data and 34% called for better portal performance during peak filing periods, a recurring complaint whenever return-filing deadlines stack up. The portal’s underlying tools tie back to the AI priority rather than to user-experience polish. Each interface request maps to a specific operational friction, with pre-filling cutting duplicate entry and real-time tracking replacing the submit-and-wait cycle.

Together, the requests describe a portal that automates routine work and gives users a single place to manage it. The list runs from pre-filled returns to unified dashboards, in five specific asks.

From Rate Cuts to Reconciliation

Deloitte’s survey suggests businesses are now looking beyond tax rates for the next round of reform. The shift reflects what has already been done on the rates side, with the multi-rate structure already collapsed. Unified taxpayer dashboard and AI tools are technical-sounding asks, yet they tie back to the same operational priority. The framing puts operational efficiency ahead of rate changes. The remaining ask is for software, not slabs.

Mahesh Jaising, partner and leader of indirect tax at Deloitte India, said the recent rate rationalisation has been a path-breaking reform, with the collapse of the multi-rate structure into two slabs reducing classification disputes and boosting consumption. Once rate rationalisation is in place, the operational ask becomes: cut the time spent filing. Real-time reporting and data analytics emerged as the most valued benefit of GST, with 69% of respondents identifying them as the regime’s biggest advantage. Large and very large enterprises, which manage complex tax operations across multiple states, reported the strongest appreciation for digital compliance capabilities.

The Friction AI Won’t Smooth Out

Tax technology cannot, on its own, fix everything the survey flags. Working capital optimisation, refund delays, ITC disputes, and a perceived pro-revenue tilt in audits remain live grievances across the corporate sector, according to ETCFO’s reporting on the same Deloitte study. The friction is structural, tied to interpretation and audit policy rather than to filings. The pain points cluster around the parts of GST that AI cannot reach: interpretation, audit policy, credit disputes. Businesses want GSTN 2.0 to handle the routine while policy reform tackles the rest.

The structural priorities tell a similar story. 85% of respondents want greater clarity in tax interpretation, the top structural ask for GST 2.0. Companies also called for faster refunds, more consistent audits, flexible input tax credit utilisation, and simplified return filing. AI can handle the routine, while interpretation clarity and audit policy still need human judgment.

The friction list has not changed much since GST’s first years. What has changed is the consensus that technology can do more of the routine work. AI-led reconciliation can pre-match invoices and credit notes, while interpretation clarity still needs policy backing. The survey frames both as necessary, not competing. The combined picture is a tax regime whose users want both faster reconciliation through software and faster rulings through clearer policy.

Nine Years of Trust, Built Slowly

The headline result sits on top of broader confidence in the regime. That confidence has climbed for years. According to ETCFO’s reporting on the survey, negative sentiment toward GST fell from 10% in 2022 to 5% in 2025, and then to less than 1% in 2026. The BusinessToday write-up confirmed 99% of respondents expressed a positive or neutral view, with negative sentiment declining to less than 1%. That is a near-total inversion of the early-GST mood. Sentiment has flipped from rejection to broad endorsement, with the AI demand layered on top of that acceptance.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises are now signing up for the digital shift in larger numbers. Positive responses to quarterly return filing among MSMEs rose from 12% in 2023 to 67% in 2026. That is a more than five-fold jump in three years.

The next stage is sector-specific. Consumer and ER&I firms are focused on supply chain and working capital efficiency, while BFSI and global capability centres are pushing automation and integrated digital infrastructure. LSHC continues to face export and ITC challenges despite competitive pricing, and PE/VC players are seeking clarity on digital taxation. AI cuts across all four sectors, with different priorities in each.

Deloitte’s report frames GST as having moved from stabilisation to optimisation. Negative sentiment sits at less than 1%. The next reform phase will run through GSTN 2.0.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GSTN 2.0?

GSTN 2.0 is the proposed next iteration of the GST Network, the technology backbone that processes returns and reconciliation for India’s Goods and Services Tax. Deloitte frames it as an intelligent, integrated platform rather than a digital filing form. The platform is at the centre of the next reform round, with businesses pushing for software-led compliance features.

What did the Deloitte survey find?

The survey, released June 30, 2026, finds 89% of business leaders want AI-led data processing and reconciliation built into GSTN 2.0. 84% want automatic tax utilisation on the GST portal, and 53% are calling for a unified taxpayer dashboard. Compliance digitalisation is now the most-valued benefit of the regime, with 69% of respondents identifying it as GST’s biggest advantage.

How big was the survey?

The survey gathered 1,096 responses from senior leaders across eight industries, including MSMEs, according to ETCFO’s reporting on the same Deloitte study. The sample covers C-suite, C-1, and C-2 level executives across multiple business sizes.

Will AI really automate GST compliance?

The survey measures business demand, not deployment. AI tools would still need GSTN to integrate them, alongside policy reform to address interpretation clarity, audit consistency, and credit disputes. Those are the friction points 85% of respondents want addressed through GST 2.0.

Has sentiment toward GST improved?

Yes. The Deloitte survey shows negative sentiment toward the regime dropped from 10% in 2022 to 5% in 2025 to less than 1% in 2026. In the same period, the share expressing a positive or neutral view climbed to 99%. The shift tracks the multi-year rollout of e-invoicing, e-way bills, and the broader digitisation of returns.