Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi's over his 'Grand Stupid Thought' remark, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday a single slab GST argued by the Congress president is indeed a stupid Idea.
Taking a jibe at Congress president, Jaitley said luxury and sin items can’t be taxed at the same rate as the common man’s item.
"The UPA had left behind a legacy of 31% indirect Tax on most items. The GST has already reduced 334 items to 12% and 18% slab. Wasn’t the 31% Tax an oppressive idea- a stupid one at that," the finance minister tweeted.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi had come out all guns blazing at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said his party has "jolted" the Prime Minister over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) issue and now Modi wants to implement what the grand old party had suggested earlier.
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"The Congress has finally jolted Narendraji from his deep slumber on Gabbar Singh Tax. Though still drowsy, he now wants to implement what he had earlier called the Congress Party's 'Grand Stupid Thought'. Better late than never Narendraji!," Gandhi tweeted.
Congress president’s remarks came two days after PM Modi at an event in Mumbai said that the government was aiming to bring 99 per cent of items at or below 18 per cent GST slab.
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Indicating that further simplification of the Goods and Services Tax is on the anvil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had Tuesday said his government wants to ensure that ‘99 per cent things’ attract sub-18 per cent GST slab.
“Today, the GST system has been established to a large extent and we are working towards a position where 99 per cent things will attract the sub-18 per cent GST slab,” Modi had said. He indicated that the 28 per cent slab of GST would only be restricted to a few select items, such as luxury goods.
The announcement invited strong criticism from the Congress, with former finance minister P Chidambaram saying “belated wisdom” had dawned upon the Centre. “Government says 99% of goods will be at 18 per cent GST. Belated wisdom. We should have started with 18 per cent as the standard rate. Having scrambled the egg needlessly when GST was introduced, Government is trying to unscramble it! Typical of NDA,” he said Wednesday.
