"Life would be tragic
if it weren't funny."
—Stephen Hawking (British,
1942-2018)
Word for the day
Disjune (n)
Breakfast
Malice towards none
माटी को हक दो-
वह भीजे, सरसे, फूटे, अंखुआए,
इन मेडों से लेकर उन मेडों तक छाए,
और कभी न हारे,
(यदि हारे)
तब भी उसके माथे पर हिले, और हिले,
और उठती ही जाए-
यह दूब की पताका-
नए मानव के लिए।
वह भीजे, सरसे, फूटे, अंखुआए,
इन मेडों से लेकर उन मेडों तक छाए,
और कभी न हारे,
(यदि हारे)
तब भी उसके माथे पर हिले, और हिले,
और उठती ही जाए-
यह दूब की पताका-
नए मानव के लिए।
First random thought this morning
One way to tackle this issue of reservation in jobs and admissions
could be to invite all castes and communities to seek reservation. Then allow
proportionate reservation to all the castes, sub-castes and communities which
have sought reservation. This will at least end these frequent agitations once
for all.
In the matter of religion, the government may work out a new list
and recognize all thousands of sects, sub-sects, and cults as separate
religion, making it clear that the government will remain secular and no
special privileges or patronage will be accorded to any religion; and no Form,
government or otherwise, can have a religion column.
What is bothering Indian markets - 8
The government implemented a nationwide Goods and Services Tax
from July 2017. The single tax subsumed a plethora of indirect taxes like
Excise Duty, Sales Tax, Entertainment Tax, and a number of other Local Taxes.
The roll out of GST has been a mammoth exercise, considering the
complexities involved in multiple state wise tax structures. The situation is
further complicated by the fact that GST implementation has apparently forced a
large number of businesses which were hitherto escaping the tax net. Naturally
there is a game of Tom of Jerry between the tax authorities and the new tax
targets.
The early trends suggest that GST collections have fallen to Rs863bn in
January 2018, after initially recording a run rate of well over Rs900bn in
first three months. This fall is not in tandem with the broader economic growth
trend, that has picked up in 3QFY18.
Recent reports have suggested huge discrepancies in the GST
returns filed so far.
As per reports, the revenue department analysis of returns filed
so far suggests that only 16 per cent of the summary sales returns under GST
have matched with the final returns.
According to the GST returns data, 34 per cent of businesses paid
Rs 34,400 crore less tax between July-December while filing initial summary
return (GSTR-3B).
These 34 per cent of the businesses have paid Rs 8.16 lakh crore
to the exchequer by filing GSTR-3B, whereas analysis of their GSTR-1 data show
that their tax liability should have been Rs 8.50 lakh crore.
As per the analysis by the revenue department, initial returns
filed and taxes paid by 16.36 per cent of the businesses have matched with
their final returns and tax liability. They paid a total tax of Rs 22,014
crore.
However, the data also showed that there was excess tax payment of
Rs 91,072 crore by 49.36 per cent of businesses registered under GST between
July-December. While they have paid Rs 6.50 lakh crore as GST, the GSTR-1 filed
by them shows that their liability should have been Rs 5.59 lakh crores.
Given that the success of GST is mostly predicated on the accuracy
of self assessment and voluntary compliance, 84% of the taxpayers filing
erroneous returns is certainly a matter of concern.
GST being the single largest source of revenue for the government,
accounting for about one third of the gross tax revenue, the fiscal balance of
the government depends to a large extent on success of GST.
Moreover, the impact of GST on smaller and unorganized businesses
(mostly unlisted) which have been mostly out of tax net hitherto, is not fully
known as yet.
The realization of full impact will only clear the picture about
the loss of employment opportunities, impact on household savings & consumption,
and incremental growth of medium & large organized businesses (many of them
publically traded).
The uncertainty is obviously bothering the investors in Indian
equities.
In my view, this concerns may not be totally valid. Such a major change obviously
take some time to stabilize. However, if the experience drawn from
implementation of VAT (MODVAT, CENVAT) and service tax are considered, there is
little doubt that the mechanism will stabilize in due course and be beneficial
for the Indian economy; regardless of the teething troubles for few quarters.
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