Come clean on the fisc

If taxes fall short, it should not be covered up

The Union finance ministry has reportedly informed the Fifteenth Finance Commission of the straitened nature of Indian public finances. The ministry is of the opinion that the tax shortfall in the ongoing fiscal year will be around Rs 2 trillion. This is in the same ballpark as the degree by which the provisional actuals for the last fiscal year, 2018-19, were less than the Budget estimates. The last Union Budget projected revenue for the coming year at Rs 22.4 trillion. A shortfall of this magnitude would mean that either revenue would be raised from non-tax sources, spending would have to