India: Sweeping Tax Reform Takes Aim at Black Economy

Leaders rarely find it easy to impose new taxes. When a new levy is designed to take on the might of the black market and to increase revenue considerably, the road is guaranteed to be bumpy. And that is before taking into consideration the challenge of rolling out any controversial reform to a population of almost 1.3 billion people. Given the hurdles, it is hardly surprising that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to commemorate the nationwide launch of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) with a special midnight session in the parliament's historic Central Hall on June 30....