CAIT demands withdrawal of 5% GST on food grains
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Wednesday sent a letter to the chief ministers and finance ministers of all the states demanding that the 5 percent GST tax imposed on unbranded food grains and other items from July 18 should be withdrawn and for this, the GST Council must call an emergency meeting immediately to take necessary decision. The traders’ body said that 85 percent of the people of the country use unbranded goods and the decision to impose tax has been opposed all over the country, therefore, it is necessary to withdraw the tax to save the general public from the unnecessary burden of extra finance and the traders from the extra burden of tax compliances.
CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that currently, no loose items or goods are being sold in the smallest town or village of the country, even the smallest items up to 100 grams are sold in packing. Therefore it is redundant to say that loose goods are exempted from this tax. There is no use for this exemption. They also said that goods above 25 kg have been exempted from GST. Small traders and the country’s general public are also not benefited from this exemption because generally people buy goods in packs ranging from 1 kg to a maximum of 10 kg and will have to pay 5% GST on them. In this era of inflation, this tax will be a double whammy on the public.
The leaders of the traders’ body termed the uproar over this issue in Parliament by the Opposition parties as a drama and said that when the issue came up in the GST Council. Did the finance ministers of the states ruled by the opposition parties unaware of what decision they were going to take? “Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman herself has made it clear publicly that this decision was taken unanimously in the GST Council. Then with what face are the opposition parties creating a ruckus? If they are really worried then they should immediately give a letter to convene a meeting of the GST Council and take back the decision in that meeting,” said the CAIT leaders. They further added that no political party can shy away from its responsibility on this issue. Everyone will have to answer this when the time comes.
Bhartia and Khandelwal said that the finance ministers of all the states have completely disrupted the basic nature of GST in the greed of revenue and presently the GST tax system has become very complex, which is very important to be simplified in the interest of the country.
PGurus is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with all the latest news and views
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi: A Gujju businessman who does not invest his precious time for a losing battle - April 13, 2024
- NIA arrests two accused Shazib and Taahaa in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe blast case from Kolkata - April 12, 2024
- National Herald scam: Adjudicating Authority upholds Rs.752 crore assets attached by ED - April 11, 2024
CAIT does not pay taxes from their own pockets, they just recover it from the consumers. It is amazing that people who are in the know of Income and Expenditure should oppose any revenue generation by government while expecting all the facilities.
How about a GST on all political donations made to political parties!
And no more electoral bonds.