Vito Tanzi, former Fiscal Affairs Director with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has suggested that India replace the current multi-rate Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs with a single uniform rate on all domestic consumption, and redistribute the entire revenue equally to every citizen as a per capita digital transfer via Aadhaar-linked accounts.

Prof. Tanzi was virtually addressing an international conference on Socio-Economic Impacts of GST organised by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) here on Saturday. According to a statement issued by CDS, Prof. Tanzi invoked Leonardo da Vinci’s maxim -– simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication -- as the organising principle of a sound tax policy.

Prof. Tanzi said rather than embedding equity into a complex rate structure, India could achieve redistribution more effectively and transparently on the spending side -- generating higher, stable revenue through a simplified GST and returning it directly to citizens.

The two-day conference, which concludes on Sunday, brings together academics, policymakers, scholars and practitioners to examine the impacts of GST reform across consumption patterns, fiscal federalism, State finances and broader socio-economic outcomes.