Best of BS Opinion: The GST dilemma, coronavirus supply shock, and more

GST rationalisation, IT design framework, Trump administration on coronavirus to banking crisis, Kanika Datta brings you the top opinions of the day

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was supposed to be the panacea for the chronic ill of tax evasion that pervades the Indian economy but it is now clear that it suffers from the same problems as the bad old days. How is such large-scale evasion possible in a system that is supposedly backed by an elaborate public-private technology backbone and how can these glitches be sorted out? Two pieces on the opinion pages address these issues, says Kanika Datta, summing up the views.

Parthasarathi Shome explains a basic flaw in the IT design framework that enables companies to evade GST with impunity – he describes it as many mice hiding in the elephant. Read his explanation here

The coronavirus pandemic is causing significant supply shocks to the Indian economy but it also offers an opportunity for the government to rationalise and streamline GST rates. Doing so would go a long way in simplifying the system and disincentivising rampant evasion, says the second edit. Read it here

It is now widely acknowledged that US President Donald Trump has failed in his response to the coronavirus pandemic. Joseph Stiglitz says his underwhelming performance highlights the need for a systemic response to the threat of global pandemics and climate change. Read it here

YES Bank faces its biggest test when the moratorium on withdrawals lifts today. But the RBI’s bigger challenge is to reassure the public that such banking crises will never re-occur, says the top edit. Read it here 

Acceptance of a Rajya Sabha nomination [by former CJI Ranjan Gogoi] has certainly shaken the confidence of the common man in the independence of the judiciary

 

Former Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph