The general belief that new tax regime will replace the multiplicity of tax rate slabs, make compliance more trouble free by reduction in operative administrative powers in hands of officials that have in the past used the prohibit nature of law for corruption rather than for compliance to increase the state revenue. For six decades, governments have used to add patches to the main quilt with different names as additional, toll and cess. New burdens were added where the officials believed they could earn more. The sales tax machinery was classic example of rampant corruption extracted from small traders who would rather pay bribes than spend time, energy and money on maintaining proper and audited accounts as there was not guarantee that their circle official would accept them as true.

The sales tax offices in most states were dens of corruption as they dealt with millions of small traders who had not avenues to protest against even the patent injustice and unfair edicts issued against them. The Gujarat finance Minister Sanat Mehta had done away with cumbersome processes to net double revenue as sales tax in 1983, in a matter of twelve months. Small traders were willing to pay full tax dues if their harassment was eliminated and need for bribing was ended. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi who reviewed for two hours the new system worked out might have suggested the changes in view of his experiences in Gujarat.

Sadly, the new system has not been able to reduce slabs of rates not making a clear distinction between luxury consumptions and inevitable needs for comforts of family. Refrigerator was a luxury one time that was a symbol of wealth of the family that can allow them to display their wealth in their dining rooms. Today it is essential need for even lower middle class families for preserving foods. Hence it cannot be treated and slotted for a higher tax rate. But the new regime has not been able to shed such prejudices in categorizing items for different slabs.

More over it was made compulsory for all big manufacturers, suppliers and sellers with business in any state above the sum of Rs. twenty lakh in a year in any state to register themselves in each of union territory and state. The man idea of introduction of GST was to bring uniformity in tax structure to extend to entire country as the sales tax laws in each state compelled supplies to comply with the specificities of each state. New law makes in compulsory for big sup0liers to continue dealing with specificities of each state. How does it differ from old structure? Does it not expose them to rampant corruption or face prosecutions by different states? The main idea of ridding the tax regime of corruption is thus thrown over the board.

Some economists have pointed out two main difficulties in success of new regime. One is wide spread of small scale producers and traders who have always remained outside the tax net. There are 40 million traders who do their business from their handcarts of cabins. In addition, there more than double the numbers of manufacturing and trading from small units or cottage units. Most of them have not been licensed or authorized units yet two kinds of government agents have been collecting toll from them each month on regular basis for allowing them to continue their trade and also for not removing them under the security laws. How are they expected to comply with the tax laws when they are not authorized to earn their living? Economists have not answered this question as the question did not arise in their minds to find an answer.

Many of them have also pointed out that most Indians are reluctant to pay their tax dues. They point to the notoriety known from times of the British Raj and seek to justify their belief on the basis of few incidents of corruption exposed in the post demonetization era. Hundreds of million complied by the restrictions imposed on them but few hundred sought to cheat the system. However economists have branded the honest with cheat to condemn them all. Is the proportion of such evaders high only in India or it is a phenomenon in every human society?

Sponsoring the bucket shops to whiff off wealth of investing gullible was not confined to mysteries written by Edger Wallace and Agatha Christie but it was harsh reality in markets of London and rest of the British Empire when sun was an ever shining phenomenon for it. Internal Revenue department of USA is prosecuting hundred thousand a year for non tax compliance crimes. Reluctance to pay what one believes to be unjustly high is tendency, though not acceptable, found in every human society. Some economists fear that Indian trading community will not submit to new tax regime. But economists have a tendency not to look at the other side of the story. They could point out to two lakh Indians who had deposited amounts more than ceiling imposed y government. They have put their money in circulation though in defiance of restrictions imposed. Economists who condemn them have no way of knowing how many millions have been mined by those authorized to seek out such wrong doers? It happened because the law making still remains restrictive in nature because administration manages to paint the person facing them at their table to be of corrupt and mal-intents while pretending themselves to paragon of all virtues.