Key economic reforms and an overhaul of the country’s decades-old tax laws will form the core of finance minister P Chidambaram’s unfinished agenda from his four and a half year long tenure in North Block. Even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be handling the portfolio, North Block insiders say a full time finance minister will be required to carry forward this agenda.

The biggest setback from Chidambaram’s sudden exit is expected to be to the finalisation of the goods and services tax (GST). Finance ministry officials conceded that with the minister’s departure, there will be a great deal of uncertainty over the future of the GST. The empowered committee, headed by West Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta, was set to meet him later during the month to finalise a roadmap for the introduction of the tax.

A crucial part of India’s taxation reforms, GST aims to absorb service tax, excise duty and all state level duties and taxes into one single levy. A decision to move towards this tax regime was announced by Chidambaram in his Budget speech of 2006.

Similarly, the Direct Tax Code, the minister’s pet project, to simplify the Income Tax Act, 1961 too may not see the light of the day. “We do hope that the next government takes up the Code,” an income tax department official said.

At the Economic Editor’s Conference last week, Chidambaram had said the draft code would be placed in the public domain soon. “I have to read another 19 pages of the discussion paper. The discussion paper and the draft is ready,” he had said at that time.

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