India Needed Tax Reform. It Got a New Rate Card: Andy Mukherjee

A long-overdue reduction in India’s consumption taxes is yet to take effect, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already hailed it as the nation’s “biggest reform” since independence in 1947. The private sector is fully on board with the plan, with several carmakers announcing price cuts and some asset managers describing the move as a “landmark reset.”

But if the change is as dramatic as it’s cracked up to be, why is the stock market not impressed?

The tweaks to the eight-year-old goods and services tax were announced on Sept. 3, though Modi had flagged them as a “Diwali gift” in an Aug. 15 speech. ...