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Kharge demands end to ‘tax terrorism’ in the Budget, calls GST ‘Give Sitharaman Tax’

Nine different GST rates make the tax “complex and absurd”, says Kharge; says BJP is “rubbing salt into people’s wounds” by celebrating record collections of a tax on public consumption

Published - January 09, 2025 10:58 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. File

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. File | Photo Credit: ANI

Ahead of the Union Budget, the Congress on Thursday (January 9, 2025) alleged that the goods and services tax (GST) had become a means to “loot” people and demanded that the Centre puts an end to “tax terrorism”.

In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the GST could stand for the “Gabbar Singh Tax” or “Grahasthi Satyanash Tax (Household Destruction Tax)” or “Give Sitharaman Tax”, a reference to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“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,” Mr. Kharge said. “The Congress party demands that in the upcoming general Budget, Modi government should put an end to tax terrorism and looting of the public,” he added.

Multiple slabs

His comments came on a day when the Congress held press conferences in a dozen cities to highlight the problem of multiple GST slabs and demand that the government provides relief to the middle class and lower income groups.

The Congress chief alleged that nine different GST rates made the tax “complex and absurd” instead of a “Good & Simple Tax”. He noted that the GST regime is a tax on public consumption, arguing that by celebrating record tax collections, the Modi government is “rubbing salt into the wounds of the people”. He claimed that income tax collections have increased by 240% in the past five years while GST collections rose 177%.

“Two-third of the total GST i.e. 64% comes from the pockets of the poor and the middle class, but only 3% GST is collected from the billionaires, while the corporate tax rate has been reduced from 30% to 22%. For the first time, GST has been imposed on 36 agricultural products of the farmer. 18% GST has to be paid even on the premium of life insurance and health insurance,” Mr. Kharge noted.

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