GST rates relaxed for Diwali after public outrage, says Sena

The Shiv Sena has termed the recent relaxation in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates a win for the public, and claimed that the government took the move conceding to public rage.

“On the matter of GST, the government has bowed down to public rage, and has given relaxation in many taxes, and that’s how an early Diwali was brought in, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said,” said the editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, ‘Saamna’.

The editorial also remarked that the “government had to keep aside its arrogance” when the anger over the introduction of the GST fuelled the pre-existing fury over demonetisation.

The Shiv Sena added that the government had to curb the anti-government environment that began building up in the major business cities of Gujarat, viz., Surat, Rajkot, and Ahmedabad, where small-scale entrepreneurs took to the streets to protest GST.

Levelling an attack on Prime Minister Modi, the Saamna editorial accused him of doing a volte-face, claiming that he changed his opinion on GST as soon as his party came in the Centre. “As the chief minister of Gujarat, Modi had strongly opposed the GST and mocked the tax system. After the BJP came to the Centre, he became a supporter of that very tax system,” the editorial said.

The editorial continued that the country’s economy is on a constant decline after the implementation of the GST, but the relaxation was inevitable after the protests by small enterprises across the country.

On Friday, the GST Council raised the composition scheme threshold for businesses to Rs 1 crore, which will allow them to pay a tax of 1 per cent to 5 per cent, without having to deal with a three-stage filing process.

In compliance with the latest recommendations by the council, small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) with an annual turnover of Rs 1.5 crore will be allowed to file their returns quarterly instead of filing it every month.

“Diwali has come early due to the decisions taken in the GST Council,” Prime Minister Modi had said.