BS Lecture: Subramanian, Montek differ on tax collection, redistribution

Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the terms of reference for 14th Finance Commission carefully excluded the need to look into the Centre's needs to finance

Local bodies and the states might not have adequate resources to collect property taxes and so it should be left to the Centre to collect those revenues, argued Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian in the Business Standard Lecture on Friday in Mumbai.

Subramanian was making his points at a panel discussion after his lecture on India’s cooperative federalism between the states and Centre. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former vice-chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, challenged the view stating that it might ultimately lead to chaos as taxes are often finalised based taking into account many political considerations and realities closer to