Bengaluru, Sep 4 — Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), IT and BT, Priyank Kharge, has strongly criticised the Centre’s revamp of the eight-year-old Goods and Services Tax (GST) system, arguing that it disproportionately burdens the poor and middle class.
Kharge pointed out that nearly two-thirds of GST collections — about 64 per cent — come from ordinary citizens, while billionaires contribute only 3 per cent. He also noted that corporate tax rates had been slashed from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, reducing the burden on big businesses while common households continue to pay more.
“Now that the government has finally adhered to our demands of rationalising and simplifying GST, they must explain how they will compensate states like Karnataka for revenue losses,” Kharge said.
Taking to social media platform X, the minister referred to GST as the “Gabbar Singh Tax,” a term coined earlier by the Congress, and accused the BJP government of complicating the system. “‘One Nation, One Tax’ had become ‘One Nation, Nine Taxes’ — 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent, 28 per cent, and special rates of 0.25 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 3 per cent and 6 per cent,” he posted.
Kharge underlined that Congress had long advocated for simplification. “Rahul Gandhi and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge consistently pushed for an 18 per cent cap or lower GST. Both our 2019 and 2024 manifestos demanded GST 2.0 with a simplified and rational tax regime. We also sought easier compliance norms to ease the burden on MSMEs and small businesses,” he said.
The minister further criticised the taxation of farmers for the first time under the BJP regime, with GST applied to at least 36 agricultural goods. He added that essential commodities like packaged milk, wheat flour, curd, books, and stationery were also unfairly brought under the tax net.
