Arun Jaitley birth anniversary: A look at the major decisions taken by the former Finance Minister

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime was implemented in 2017 during the tenure of Arun Jaitley. He was credited with ensuring that each state passed the GST regime, bringing the entire country under a single taxation scheme for the first time.

In 2016, Jaitley oversaw the introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which significantly consolidated and simplified the country’s bankruptcy laws. The IBC allowed creditors to easily recover dues from insolvent companies.

The demonetisation exercise was perhaps one of the biggest decisions taken by the government while Jaitley was at the helm as the finance minister. The demonetisation exercise saw the government rescinding nearly 86 percent of India’s cash by value in order to tackle the problem of black money.

Jaitley ended the 92-year-old tradition of presenting the country’s general budget and railway budget separately. In 2017, Jaitley presided over and presented the country’s first combined budget. The change was based on multiple recommendations from various stakeholders and allowed the government to have a more holistic approach towards the transport sector.

As part of Jaitley’s campaign against black money, the Income Declaration Scheme was passed in 2016 and allowed individuals to pay past taxes with just a monetary penalty instead of criminal proceedings.