New Delhi: Hardly four days before the much awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime is enforced in the country, the Congress today said the uniform taxation norm is like ‘tax terrorism’ and will only result in adding to the burdens of the common man. ‘Our vision of GST was for tax simplification, while the current version of the same is more of a ‘tax terrorism,’ said the Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil while talking to media persons here. He said ‘The Congress is in favor of GST as a concept for the good of the country but there are doubts on the classification and the upper limit set is too high.’ The BJP had earlier in their manifesto set the upper limit of the GST to be 14-15 percent, but now it is 28 percent, he added. Mr Gohil also questioned the BJP on getting ‘divyangs’ the differently abled under the GST scanner, who earlier were exempted from taxes. Mr Gohil, who has been a known Narendra Modi critic, was fielded by Congress party today to address the media in the capital. The move is seen as a part of strategy as elections are due in Gujarat. He also pointed out at the small scale traders, retailers and farmers who were now being soft targets of the new tax regime and will get the maximum battering. Condemning the tax system, he said, ‘We could never think of such a complex tax system’ and added saying that ‘Congress has supported and in future will support a GST that will be in favor of the nation and will simplify the taxation and will not be more than combined VAT and excise duty.’ The traders from Gujarat also were not as happy from the government’s GST move and were not in favor of it , the senior party leader said.
