We are what we are !!

  The GST collections trend in India upto June 2023 in FY23-24: April 2023:  Rs. 1,87,035 crore (highest ever) May 2023:  Rs. 1,57,079 crore June 2023:  Rs. 1,61,497 crore The average monthly gross GST collection for the first half of FY23-24 is Rs. 1,69,000 crore. This is 12% higher than the average monthly collection for the same period in FY22-23. The GST collections have been consistently growing in the current financial year. This is due to a number of factors, including the strong growth of the Indian economy, the increasing compliance with the GST law, and the government's efforts to boost digitization and transparency in the tax system. The average monthly gross GST collection for the first quarter of the FY 2021-22, FY 22-23 & FY 23-24 are Rs. 1.10 lakh crore, Rs. 1.51 lakh crore and Rs. 1.69 lakh crore respectively, the finance ministry said. The gross revenue has crossed the 1.6 lakh crore mark for the fourth time since the inception of GST in the coun...

  Mr.N.Venkatraman,Additional Solicitor General,GOI, has clearly brought the key aspects of this landmark judgment delivered by SC. The confusion stemmed from the attention-grabbing headlines  made by media, stating GST Council recommendations are non-binding on Centre and States and have only persuasive value at the most. The nuanced reading of this Judgment with its emphasis on cooperative federalism has not been clearly understood by opposition-ruled  states like TN. Politicians ruling in the States rarely understand that Cooperative Federalism  is a multiway street .CF not only means harmony in the  Centre-State relationship, but also means InterState harmony ( not at all seen even between contiguous States like TN,Kerala, Karnataka,AP)and  finally also means Intra-state harmony. When they keep harping on the point that States are not consulted by the Centre with respect to Indirect Taxation, they forget to what extent they do consult the...

 It is said "there is a world of difference between precept and practice"- more so with our politicians and the gap widens when they speak about it more.!! It is generally thought that Political lies are always for exploiting the ignorance of the public. Mostly they are manipulative for winning the elections. But there are times like Obama lies about Health care inorder to push through some legislation to benefit the larger society( link ). However coming to India, Politicians throw promises at the people mainly to win elections and then they renege on the promises made. In the recent few weeks there are lot of accusations by the Opposition parties against the Central Govt that Question Hour in the ensuing Parliament has been abolished muzzling the freedom of MPs to ask Govt questions about peoples' problems to elicit answers from the Govt. But there are two stark statistics contradicting the so-called champions of freedom of expression in the Opposition. In the last few ...

 India's FM is an unenviable position. Given the penchant for two steps forward and one step backward in all economic decisions, FM is in the eye of the storm unendingly ever since the pandemic struck India. In fact, even before that, India's GDP was sliding YOY from 2016-17 onwards. It hit a high of 8.26% in 16-17 and hit the lowest so far in Fiscal 19-20 at 4.2%. GST collections have also ebbed along with the GDP since even Nominal GDP has grown only by 7.2% in Fy 19-20.It was growing at 11.76% in Fiscal 16-17. So, this skidding of the nominal growth rate coupled with a reduction in GST rates in 2018 led to a shortfall in GST collections even though the tax base widened. The good thing about the One Nation, One tax has been the acceptance of this Taxation in lieu of VAT at the individual state level and Excise duty at the Central level. The consensus behind GST has been bought by Arun Jaitley with the commitment for providing Central funds at the growth rate of 14% YOY to the...