Bhopal: Terming the proposed goods and
services tax (GST) as "anti-democratic, anti-poor and
anti-farmer," Madhya Pradesh finance minister Raghavji today
said the new indirect tax regime is aimed at divesting the
states of their financial freedom.
"GST is proposed to benefit large industrial houses and
MNCs. It is anti-farmer, anti-poor and anti-democratic and is
aimed at divesting the states of their financial freedom,"
Raghavji told reporters on the sidelines of an industry meet.
The proposed new indirect tax, which will subsume all
the major levies like excise, sales 5tax, VAT and other local
levies like octroi, is anti-democratic as the proposed GST
Council will not be accountable to Parliament as well as to
the state assemblies and through it the power of the states to
levy tax on sale and purchase will be taken away, he said.
The GST from the third year of its implementation has
proposed to make tax uniform for everything and that will
benefit only the rich and not the poor, he claimed, and said
it will also not allow the states to levy tax on the goods and
services in their respective areas which is against the
federal structure of the country.
After the implementation of the GST regime, Madhya
Pradesh will lose revenue to the tune of Rs 2,200-2,500 crore
per annum. He said though the party has not yet decided what
course of action it will take when the Bill comes up for the
approval of the state, the government will definitely oppose
its implementation in the cabinet and the assembly.
If Parliament approves the GST bill and the states also
follow suit, GST is likely to be implemented from April next.
-PTI
First Published: Tuesday, August 03, 2010, 00:40