GST has become bad word in business: Chidambaram
New Delhi, July 1 : The Congress on Sunday attacked the Modi government on the first anniversary of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying it has become a bad word among business persons.
"The design, structure, infrastructure backbone, rate or rates and implementation of GST were so flawed that GST has become a bad word among business persons, traders, exporters and common citizens," former Finance Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram told the media.
He said the only section that appeared to be happy about the GST was the tax administration that had acquired extraordinary powers that frighten the average business person and the common citizen.
"Beginning with the GST Constitution Amendment Bill, every step taken by the BJP government with regard to the GST was deeply flawed.
"The net result is that what we have today is a very different animal and not a true GST," he said.
Chidambaram also stressed that the multiple rates, going up to 40 per cent, and arbitrary cess on top of the rates had completely "distorted the idea of GST".
"An intolerable compliance burden had been put on the average business firm, especially on the SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), by requiring the assessee to file three returns a month in every state where the assessee carries on business. That means that an all-India business is required to file over 1,000 returns a year," he said.
Chidambaram said: "Gross delay in refunds has blocked crucial working capital of firms. It is widely perceived that GST has increased the tax burden of the common citizen; it has certainly not reduced the tax burden as was promised.
"The truth is that GST was thrust upon an unprepared nation," he said. The Congress leader also said that the tax administrators were untrained.
"The GST Network (GSTN) was untested. Proof lies in the fact that GSTR Form-2 and GSTR Form-3 have not ben notified even after a year. The system is being run on GSTR Form-1 and the temporary (and perhaps illegal) GSTR Form-3B.
"It is an undeniable fact that GST has not yet had a positive impact on economic growth," the Congress leader said.
He said that because of the flawed design and hasty implementation, according to the statement of the Minister of Industry in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, 50,000 SME units in that state were closed in 2017-18 and 5 lakh jobs were lost.
Chidambaram advised the government to bring petroleum products and electricity under GST.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
