-The Indian Express The meeting with Sitharaman comes days after the GST Council informed states that the GST and compensation Cess collections in the last few months had become a “matter of concern”. Seven Opposition-ruled states and Union Territories — Punjab, Delhi, Puducherry, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — made a forceful representation to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Wednesday demanding pending compensation under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime,...

-The Hindu Letter to States flags falling collections The Centre has written to all the States voicing concern that due to the lower Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, the compensation Cess might not be enough to pay for losses arising out of the tax system. The communication comes at a time when several States, including Rajasthan, Kerala, Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal, have publicly urged the Centre to transfer pending compensation payments...

-Livemint.com * Leaked official data shows poverty is rising, but we won’t get a confirmation till at least 2023. That’s unfortunate * Neither has the government released the report of an expert panel, nor provided any evidence about the nature and extent of divergence with other administrative data On Friday, the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (Mospi) announced that the data and reports of the 75th round of the National Statistical Office...

-Newsclick.in This bounty for corporate houses comes at a time when common people are reeling under a slowdown, joblessness is at record levels and incomes are stagnating. Continuing her series of press conferences, that are becoming like a treasure hunt for corporates, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced today that corporate tax rates will be slashed from the current 30% (average) to 25.17% including all cess/surcharge. Actually, if no other concession is availed...

-The Indian Express A cut in personal income tax or GST slabs would have spurred the economy more in the short term but the corporate tax cut is beneficial for the economy in the long term. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement to cut corporate tax rates on Friday morning was a welcome surprise for the Indian economy that has been struggling with growth deceleration. According to reports, the government has cut the...