New Delhi — Confusion and uncertainty have swept through India’s $2-trillion economy as businesses and consumers alike attempt to navigate a new nationwide sales tax that replaced a spider web of more than a dozen state and territory taxes and levies. The new goods and services tax, formally ushered in at a late-night session of parliament overnight on Friday, unifies 29 states and 1.28-billion people into a single market. It is expected to expand India’s narrow tax base and increase government revenues and will count as the most important economic reform of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-year-old administration. The government expects the unified tax structure to improve the ease of doing business and to boost foreign investment. "This will lead to increased compliance and give us an opportunity to make tax rates more reasonable, apart from leading to higher collections and providing strength to the economy," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told an indoor stadium packed with ac...
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