GST notice row | Siddaramaiah headed Karnataka government bankrupt: Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi: Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah headed Karnataka government is harassing small traders through GST notices as the state government is totally bankrupt.

"Due to implementation of the guarantee schemes, the state government is facing financial crises as it is totally bankrupt. To raise the funds, the state government is issuing GST notices to small traders," Joshi alleged.

If the highest GST collected, the state government gets more money from the Centre from the GST collection. For this purpose, the state government is targeting small time traders, he said.

Lashing out at the ruling Congress over the matter, Joshi accused Siddaramaiah of setting targets for the Commercial Tax Department to collect taxes.

"The Commercial Tax Department issuing GST notices to small and micro traders has sparked widespread concern. These traders are deeply worried, while the chief minister and his ministers are attempting to shift the blame on the Centre," Joshi told reporters. 

In big states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh small traders and street vendors were not facing any harassment from the respective state governments. However, in Karnataka, the Congress government is targeting them to raise the funds, he said.

The very purpose of the Central government encouraging digital payment was to bring all traders and street vendors into the formal economy.

However the state government, by issuing notices to them, was defeating the noble intention of the Central government, Joshi said.