Over-promise to under-deliver: Decoding comp cess

By Omkar GoswamiLast week has seen a surfeit of news on the compensation cess involving the goods and services tax (GST). It is an extremely important issue that needs explaining in digestible prose. Here is an attempt. A nationwide GST creates a common market where the rates of indirect tax are the same across all states. As distinct from the days when any locally produced good was levied a Union excise duty, sometimes a cess on that duty, plus