Simplify GST, demands Congress ahead of Budget

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Union budget, Congress mounted an attack on GST, with party chief Malllikarjun Kharge mocking it as "Gabbar Singh Tax" and "Give Sitharaman Tax", even as Sachin Pilot demanded that the Centre rationalise the tax slabs as part of GST 2.0 and provide relief to the middle class and the lower income groups.

Kharge said, "Whatever name we call BJP's GST, one thing is certain - The Modi government has made GST a means of looting the hard-earned money of the poor and the middle class. Nine types of GST rates make it complex and absurd, and not a 'Good & Simple Tax'."

AICC spokesman Pawan Khera in Jaipur called GST as "Gabbar Sitharaman Tax", even as he called PM Narendra Modi "the biggest coward".

AICC leaders held press conferences in 12 cities on the GST in a bid to pressure the BJP govt amid official projections of an economic slowdown. "GST, when it was conceived by the UPA, was supposed to widen the tax bracket, but it has ended up increasing income of a few persons and providing no relief to the middle class and lower income groups," Pilot said in Mumbai.

"Only 5% people in the country pay income tax, while the rest of the population pays GST which burdens the middle class and professionals," he added.

Pilot said in 2021-22, nearly 64% of GST revenue came from the bottom 50% of the population, while only 3% was contributed by the top 10%.

The Congress president said Modi govt's celebrations of record GST collections is akin to rubbing salts on the wounds of the citizens, as it is a tax on public consumption and 64% of it is paid by the poor and the middle class and only 3% by the billionaires. He said GST has also been imposed on 36 agricultural products and 18% GST has to be paid on the premium of life insurance and health insurance.


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