on VAT The Economic of Value Added Tax (Theory and Practice) by Sukumar Mukhopadhyay; Centax Publications, New Delhi, 2005; RENUKA VISWANATHAN The most significant tax reform at the state level since independence is clearly the introduction of value added tax (VAT). Movement towards a more rational and economically neutral system of consumption taxation in a federal country in which sub-national governments are constitutionally empowered to levy taxes on goods and some services calls for consultation and compromise, consensus and conflict resolution among states as a group as well as between federal and provincial governments. This explains the delay of more than a decade between conceptualisation of the idea of a dual VAT for the country and formal enactment of state VAT laws and rules.