The hike in taxes on gold imports is retrograde. Taxes on gold, a high-priced commodity, reaching almost 19% breaches the arbitrage threshold where smuggling becomes profitable. A big gain of the 1991 reform was putting an end to gold smuggling, which financed malevolent mafias. It’d be imprudent to reverse that.
Hike in gold import tax reverses benefits of 1991 reform. It’ll make smuggling profitable again
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