Letter to BS: Are we heading towards achche din or a poor show?

Why not wisely fix some realistic targets while preparing the Union Budget?

This refers to “Budget 2020: Govt unlikely to offer relief on Income tax” (January 27). It was intriguing to learn that the tax collection (both direct and indirect taxes) may fall short by Rs 2 trillion this fiscal owing to the continued sluggishness in the Indian economy. As revealed in this report, the likely shortfall in respect of personal and corporate taxes might be as high as Rs 1.5 trillion with the share of the goods and services tax also being a staggering Rs 50,000 crore. As regards these twin direct taxes missing the targets, it seems that the FM