-ThePrint.in In 'The Working of the Indian Constitution', T.M. Thomas Isaac examines the functioning of GST to assess if its high expectations have been realised. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council has been hailed as a model federal institution, where both states and the centre are represented, and consensus is arrived through a detailed deliberative process. Until the 38th GST Council meeting in December 2019, there had not been a single...

-Hindustan Times/ Livemint.com “There is an immediate need to improve agricultural infrastructure so that we produce more, while also conserving and processing agricultural output efficiently,” Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech. The government on Monday introduced a new agriculture infrastructure development cess (AIDC) on petrol, diesel and several other imported items. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured it won’t place any additional burden on consumers. However, following the introduction of the cess, states...

-NetworkIdeas.org India’s Constitution puts the bulk of responsibility for the basic goods and services to be provided to citizens on to state governments. That is also why it mandated that independent Finance Commissions be appointed every five years to determine the distribution of tax revenues between Centre and the various states. Successive Finance Commissions (FCs) have also recognised that state governments necessarily require more resources to fulfil their obligations, which is...

-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...

-Livemint.com Transfers to states are stagnating at a time when developmental demands on state governments are rising Five years ago, when the 14th finance commission recommended an increase in devolution of funds to state governments and a hike in the share of untied funds they received, it was heralded as a new era for fiscal federalism in the country, and one that would significantly empower state governments at a time when they...