Economic Survey of India 2017-18 : Some Trend Anlysis Which Will Blow Your Mind

a) Large increase in registered indirect and direct taxpayers

− A 50 percent increase in unique indirect taxpayers under the GST compared with the pre-GST
system (Figure 1A).
− Similarly, there has been an addition (over and above trend growth) of about 1.8 million in
individual income tax filers since November 2016 (Figure 1B).

b) Formal non-agricultural payroll is much greater than Expected

− More than 30 percent when formality is defined in terms of social security (EPFO/ESIC)
provision;
− More than 50 percent when defined in terms of being in the GST

net.

c) States that export more internationally, and trade more with other states, tend to be richer. But the correlation
is stronger between prosperity and international trade.

d) India’s firm export structure is substantially more egalitarian than in other large countries

Top 1 percent of Indian firms account for 38 percent of exports; in all other countries, they account for
a substantially greater share (72, 68, 67, and 55 percent of exports in Brazil, Germany, Mexico, and USA
respectively). And this is true for the top 5 percent, 10 percent, and so on.

e) The clothing incentive package boosted exports of readymade garments

The relief from embedded state taxes (ROSL) announced in 2016 boosted exports of ready-made garments
(but not others) by about 16 percent.