Rahul Gandhi Attacks “Gabbar Singh Tax”, Says Single GST Slab Of 18 Per Cent If Congress Wins 2019

A day after the GST Council moved several items from under the 28 per cent bracket to the 18 per cent and 12 per cent brackets, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi attacked the Narendra Modi-led government, calling it a “Gabbar Singh Tax”.

While the Congress was quick to jump the gun and announce that the tax cuts were due to Gandhi’s efforts, the Amethi MP, campaigning in Gujarat said that India needed a ‘simple tax structure’ and did not need five different tax slabs, reports The Times of India.

Addressing a rally in Gandhinagar, he said that if the Modi government didn’t fix the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to a flat 18 per cent, the Congress government formed in 2019 would do the same.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that the BJP was rankled by trepidation that Gujarat will slip off its hands and hence the rates were cut. He further went on to say that the GST Council did so because of the pressure Gandhi mounted and the response Gandhi's yatras in the state are getting.

Yesterday (10 November), the government made the biggest change in the four-month-old GST regime, shifting over 80 per cent of the items in the 28 per cent bracket to lower ones. Over 200 items saw their tax rates reduced. Around 178 items witnessed their rates cut to 18 per cent from 28 per cent, while many more were shifted to lower tax brackets.

However, it would be worrying if a single slab was imposed in place of the current structure. Many items that are currently not taxed under the GST regime, or taxed at rates of five per cent of 12 per cent would become for more expensive while very few items would become cheaper. After the latest cut, only 50 items are taxed at 28 per cent, while the rest have been moved down to lower slabs.