A day after the GST Council announced major changes to rates on a range of goods and services, the Congress party said the Narendra Modi government has been forced to do so because of the current economic downslide.
"We welcome the interim relief but the Modi government has not been able to address the structural issues through fair and transparent consultations,"said Randeep Surjewala, head of the communication wing of the Congress party.
Addressing a briefing, Mr. Surjewala alleged that the Modi government, "with its classic we-know-it-all attitude", refused to acknowledge that the present GST system has led to "clutter and confusion”.
"We had supported one nation one tax system but it has now become one nation seven taxes. A case in point is the entertainment tax that Tamil Nadu has imposed and the registration tax by the Maharashtra government. The Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have failed to address these structural issues," said Mr. Surjewala.
The Congress leader also alleged that a Damocles Sword would be hanging over the business community as several components of the GST such as tax deducted at source (TDS), tax collection at source (TCS) and reverse charge mechanism have only been deferred until March 2018.
The Congress also said that the hike in GST exemption limit from the current Rs 75 lakhs to Rs 1 crore doesn't really help the small businesses as Central excise exemptions pre GST was to the tune of 1.5 crore.
The party also alleged that high employment-generating sectors such as agriculture and textiles too have got little tax relief and the common man is burdened with very heavy taxes on items of daily use.
"Overall, a vision-less government drunk with arrogance is wasting a golden opportunity of putting India on a growth trajectory," said Mr. Surjewala.