Book Review: 1 Nation, 1 Tax, 1 Market - Goods and Services Tax - The Road Ahead

Dr. Megha Agarwal has recently published “Goods and Services Tax – The Road Ahead”. This book is structured as a compilation of individual focused pieces that as a whole, stand to provide the reader a well laid and thorough understanding of how GST would transform the economic landscape of India. The author has carefully curated material and has brought in the best into this compilation. The book is split into 17 chapters, individually authored by a host of leading luminaries of industry. This Book was written before the GST Act was passed in the Parliament.It appears that the author had a specific vision for how this book would ultimately unfold. Although the chapters are precisely focused, they contribute to the overall flow of the book. At the same time, the pieces reveal key industrial insight of the impact of the current tax regime and the probable reaction of the industry to the shift into the new system. Some pieces take it one step further by exploring limitations, redundancies and difficulties that the industry is likely to face.Reading the articles, the first observation is that the authors are well-versed with the Model GST Law. They critically analyze specific provisions and explore the extent it will affect the industry. Remarkably, the authors have already developed ideas on overcoming certain challenges with the new GST. Other authors have undertaken a comparative analysis of India in relation to other countries which have a single tax regime. From this, they have developed propositions that highlight the drawbacks of India’s GST and the mammoth challenge ahead for the administration to implement and successfully maintain this GST system.At the time of writing this review, the Parliament has enacted the GST Laws. The Draft Rules have been prepared and are close to finalization. It is noteworthy that even before the GST has been implemented, there are volumes and countless pages of material on the subject, ranging from in-depth commentaries to short quips. Having personally gone through a wide range of content on the subject, I have found nothing remarkable. For most of the material, it is a regurgitation of the laws itself, without any critical, analytical or explanatory thought. The layman would be confused by reading the model bare act, but he would remain just as confused by reading a commentary on it as well. It is for this reason that I was compelled to appreciate this well curated book. While catering to the common individual, it contains a well of insight. It is a perfect piece for a person to begin the course of study into GST.One will not find a line by line analysis of the GST Law in this book. That is not the intent of the author. This book is structured such that the reader understands the philosophy behind the Law, the overarching principles, and the impact it will stand to have on the economy. For example, a recurring theme prevalent in nearly all chapters is that the erstwhile complex and intricate indirect tax regime was specifically formulated, corrected and implemented to cover all ambits of the Indian business sector. It was fine-tuned over time to maximize the efficiency and potential of every individual industry. Struggling industries were given lax tax frameworks, whilst highly profitable and lucrative sectors drew comparable income for the exchequer. Indeed, it was complex and not everyone could understand it. But it was not designed for everyone to understand. Tax Experts have been ever ready to interpret and apply the laws, rules, notifications and circulars.With a goal of simplification, the industries become subject uniformity. While equality for all proposition may appear attractive, it is misplaced. Because the industries and inherently unequal and at different footings. A singular and uniform system cannot be applied to them.At this juncture, I must appreciate the calculative analysis of Dr. Agarwal. She has limited each article to what appears to be around 5000 words. This ensures that the reader remains engaged and the information and arguments developed in each article are tightly packed. Without going through voluminous records, the reader is able to quickly grasp the underlying concepts, understand the propositions of the authors and surmise each piece for its merit. The authors have carefully structured their piece to ensure completeness. The pieces are generally empirical, experiential and neutral. There is a recount of the practicalities of the law, rather than pure literary analysis. This is perhaps what makes this compilation more compelling to the reader.Having gone through the collection of works compiled by Dr. Megha Agarwal in “Goods and Services Tax – The Road Ahead”, I find it necessary to specifically discuss the outstanding piece. Whilst each article is meritorious in its own right, one Article stands miles ahead of the rest.Chapter 10 is titled ‘Impact of GST on the Power Sector’. It is authored by Dr. Rajib K Mishra, Director, PTC India and...

Book Review: 1 Nation, 1 Tax, 1 Market - Goods and Services Tax - The Road Ahead

Aniruddha Purushotham

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