The story of General Anti-Avoidance Rules is somewhat similar.
Almost a year after it was sprung upon the markets, new Finance Minister P Chidambaram has deferred its implementation to April 2016, with some key changes.
Experts say, had the FM accepted some of the key recommendations of the expert panel headed by Parthasarathi Shome, it would have had a sweeping impact on markets.
But this has not happened.
The Shome panel had suggested the government make all gains from equity markets tax-free where STT has been paid.
One argument was that fund managers prefer to be based out of India since an Indian presence would raise tax issues for offshore funds.
"If this recommendation of making the gains exempt had been accepted, the domestic fund management industry would have got a massive boost.
"Further, the incentive for routing money by treaty shopping would have been taken away for investments in listed equities.
"This would have had a positive impact on the capital markets," explains Gautam Mehra, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
So, where's the devil in the fineprint? For starters, the retrospective element persists.
The expert panel had suggested GAAR be applicable only on investments made after the rules were implemented. Under the new norms, all foreign institutional investments (including FII sub-accounts and P-notes) made after August 2010 will come under
Why you should look at investing in old private banks
India-Mauritius trade pact put on hold
Re at over 1-wk high, rebounds by 27 paise to 54.49
India-Mauritius meet on tax treaty revision
Govt defers controversial GAAR norms to April 2016