India, Nov. 7 -- It is always a conundrum of a half-filled glass, or half-empty one when it comes to policy and tax implications. There are ways to praise the decisions, and there are ways to undermine the actions. It depends on the outlook and mindset of the critic, chosen period, and desired conclusions through unique calculations. Hence, it is not surprising that a recent report states that GST collections may exceed the Union Budget's expectations in this fiscal year. Another one looks at GST collections through another prism, and finds that states are the losers in the GST regime, and will remain so.

Obviously, the spate of reports emanates from the rationalisation via lower rates, and less slabs. Lower rates can result in lower num...