One year of GST: Congress dubs it Grossly Scary Tax

One year of GST: As the Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll-out completes one year on July 1, the Congress on Saturday described it as a "Grossly Scary Tax" and said the promise of a "single tax GST" still remains a pipe dream.

The party also said multiple returns, multiple rules and multiple tax slabs have made life of an ordinary trader "nightmarish".

"GST completes 1 Year at 12 O`Clock tonight, it remains `Grossly Scary Tax` for millions of traders, shopkeepers & businessmen. No wonder GST`s more popular description is `Gabbar Singh Tax` than `Genuine and Simple Tax` that it was meant to be," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in Twitter.

"A `Single Tax GST`, as promised, remains a `pipe dream`. Multiple returns, multiple rules and multiple tax slabs have made the life of an ordinary trader nightmarish," he added.

Surjewala said: "To determine GST itself is frightening. Steps- 1) Every taxpayer has to search a `Code Book` running into 438 pages with 18,036 categories 2. Out of 7 tax slabs, applicable slab has to be found 3. Add all state cesses 4. Add supply chain incentives 5. Calculate GST."

"Even after one year, only GSTR-1 form exists. Government failed to notify GSTR-2 and GSTR-3. Till that happens, bills won`t match and refund would remain a nightmare.

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"Also, GSTR-3B is a temporary form. How can government continue to stretch it at all?" he asked.

The Congress leader also said: "Out of 111 lakh registered businesses under GST, not more then 50 per cent have been able to file GST returns." 

"Ambiguity, complication, deficiency of IT infrastructure remains a major challenge. GST collections remain at an average of 90K crore against the target of 1.25K crore per month," he tweeted.