Perfecting the GST

The current GST is imperfect. To fix it, the government must keep an open mind about complaints

The goods and services tax (GST) is now a reality. The GST might be imperfect, but it remains the best hope of knitting India together into a single market. We need to welcome it — but also to agitate for its improvement, and to stand ready to remedy its deficiencies and ill-effects.

As it stands, the GST dearly and desperately needs improvement. To see why, let’s try and compare it with the “ideal” GST — in other words, the one we were promised when the idea was first floated. 

That GST was simple — enticingly simple — and correspondingly powerful. It suggested