The Modi government's Goods and Services Tax (GST) law is not the legislation that had been envisaged by the Congress, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said here on Thursday, stressing that it cannot be labelled ‘one nation, one tax’, as it has seven or more tax rates.
The Congress, he said, will demand a reduction in tax rates and press for a cap of 18%, and the inclusion of petroleum products, electricity and real estate in the new tax regime, the former Finance Minister said.
Authorities and businesses were “unprepared or under-prepared” for the roll-out of GST, he said, adding that its launch should have been deferred by two months and the GSTN (Goods and Services Tax Network) should have been put through a trial run for about two months, and the actual roll out should have been September 1.
“This is a very, very imperfect law. This is not the GST that we [the UPA] had envisaged...What has been implemented is a GST with seven, or possibly more, rates. It is a mockery of GST,” Mr. Chidambaram said, adding, “When we have [percentage] rates like 0.25, 3, 5, 12, 18, 28 and 40, and possibly more, because of the discretion vested with State governments, how can we call this a 'one nation, one tax regime’?”
Mr. Chidambaram’s comments come in the wake of the party’s boycott of the government’s midnight celebrations in the Central Hall of the Parliament to usher in the GST era.
Congress sources said that Mr. Chidambaram’s press briefing on Thursday was the first of a series planned on the subject.
