Before new taxes, making every rupee count

The article argues that before imposing new taxes, the Tamil Nadu government should prioritize improving the efficiency of its existing revenue collection and expenditure management. It highlights significant underspending, unreconciled accounts, and GST irregularities flagged by the CAG. The piece advocates for adopting zero-based budgeting and performance-based budgeting, implementing data-driven governance, fostering transparent competition in contracts, and closing GST compliance gaps to enhance fiscal value and ensure welfare schemes are outcome-driven rather than merely expenditure-focused.