PMK urges Centre not to hike GST

“There are media reports that the Centre is mulling on the idea to increase GST rates. When the country is facing economic slowdown, government should go for reducing taxes and should not increase taxes which will burden people further,” said Ramadoss, in a statement.

He also said that during the initial period of implementation of GST, the tax revenue increased to Rs 1.13 lakh crores in April, this year, but owing to financial slowdown, the revenue from GST decreased to less than Rs 1 lakh crores per month, in the subsequent months. Due to the decreased revenue the GST council has decided to increase the tax rates. He further said that already India is one of the countries having higher GST rates and the medium, small and micro enterprises are facing shutdown due to GST implementation. Even the states are not getting enough compensation from the Centre due to implementation of GST.

To encourage businesses, the Centre is reducing the taxes for large corporates, but is increasing the tax burden for small scale businesses and public which is not acceptable, said Ramadoss.