Cong's 'Genuine Simple Tax' turned into 'Gabbar Singh Tax' by BJP: Rahul Gandhi

The worst consequence of the GST brought in by the government has been a complete breakdown of trust between the Centre and states, he said

On the fifth anniversary of the GST regime, Congress on Friday accused the ruling BJP of turning the 'Genuine Simple Tax' into a 'Gabbar Singh Tax' on which more than 1,000 changes were made in 1,826 days and demanded a discussion in Parliament and an all-party meeting to replace it with a new simpler one.

Rejecting the existing taxation system, the party said there is "nothing really to celebrate" about the current GST regime, which along with demonetisation has put an end to thousands of small businesses and lakhs of jobs.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Congress’ Genuine Simple Tax was turned into Gabbar Singh Tax by BJP. six rates, 1000+ changes in 1,826 days! Ease? It’s a nightmare to do business, esp. for MSMEs. Congress will revive business and jobs with GST 2.0 - single, low rate, shared fairly with states."

Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh told a press conference that the party demands a thorough discussion on the current GST system besides an all-party meeting, as the economy of states have been put in danger. Ramesh said there is a "bulldozer raj" in the GST council and states are not heard.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the GST Council has become dysfunctional and even Finance Ministers of the BJP-ruled states are unhappy.

"Congress wishes to make it absolutely clear that the so-called GST that is in force today was not the GST envisaged by the UPA government. I had made it clear on the floor of Parliament and elsewhere that the GST of our conception was a single, low rate across all goods and services with few exemptions," he said.

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He said the present GST regime is a "complex web of many rates, conditions, exceptions and exemptions that will leave even an informed tax payer completely bewildered".

"The law is so defective that the government has been forced to issue hundreds of executive directions. In five years, the government has issued 869 notifications, 143 circulars and 38 orders. That is a change every second day. This is a GST that is flawed, defective and unstable...The only beneficiaries of the flawed GST are big businesses, chartered accountants and tax lawyers. The costs have far outweighed any gains," he said.

Alleging that the manner in which the GST is being administered have "deepened the distrust between the Centre and the states", Chidambaram said there was "no real consensus" in the meetings of the GST Council.

"The skewed formula on voting rights of the Centre and the states has been used by the Centre to push through decisions that are bitterly opposed by the states including, privately, by BJP-ruled states. The holding back of the arrears of Compensation Cess and the excessive resort to cesses (rather than shareable taxes) has increased the chasm between the two sides," he said.