Bengaluru: Former chief minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday took a swipe at the Modi government in a series of tweets on the fourth anniversary of Goods and Service Tax (GST), arguing that the new tax regime is aimed at diverting state revenues to the Centre.
''The GST regime has stood like a monster symbol of curtailing the financial autonomy of states in the federal system of governance. The GST regime appears to be a financial system of nurturing the Centre by fleecing the states,'' he tweeted.
Kumaraswamy said that the Centre is boasting and celebrating the completion of four years of its GST regimes because it has filled its stomach by robbing states of their tax rights and freedom.
Seeking explanation from the BJP government over its assurance of compensating states' losses, the ex-minister said ''the Centre, which had promised the states of compensating for losses while including them under the GST regime, has now gone back on its words” while asking if the states should also commemorate the fourth anniversary of the GST because they were defrauded of their tax revenues. He claimed that the Centre is partying in the midst of the misery of the states who are still waiting for a compensation for their losses under the regime.
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He emphasised the benefits of the payout to the state, saying it may have helped them restore their depleted resources during the Covid 19 pandemic. He claimed that if the state had received the Rs 9000 crore compensation that it has yet to receive, it would have celebrated the commemoration of the anniversary.
Kumaraswamy argued that the GST failed to enhance the lives of ordinary people and did not even help start-ups and that the only thing it accomplished was to force states to beg the Centre for financial assistance.