DMK not to attend GST inaugural in Parliament

The DMK will not attend the special function in Parliament on Friday midnight to usher in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

Party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP, T.K.S. Elangovan, made the announcement on Thursday. He said “It is only a function to announce a new tax law. Such a function was not held earlier when banks and insurance companies were nationalised and several other landmark bills were passed,” he told reporters.

He also accused the government of trying to gain publicity for implementing a new tax law. Expressing apprehensions over GST, he said it is not known how it would impact trade, business or the common man.

Strongly opposing the roll out of GST, DMK working president in a statement here recalled that DMK had urged the Centre to postpone the roll out of GST regime to September and said the AIADMK government did not listen to his demand for referring the GST bill to a select committee of the Assembly. He said the state government would be held responsible for implementing the new tax regime without taking the necessary arrangements.

Mr Stalin said the tax for textiles and hotels had been increased by five per cent and added that small traders would be severely hit. Power loom workers in CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s native district of Salem were protesting while workers in cracker industries were holding agitations against 28 per cent tax on crackers.
There are apprehensions over tax exemption to Tamil films, Mr Stalin said and charged the Chief Minister with not worrying about anything. Tax for biscuit is higher than that for gold biscuits and the equipment used by differently-abled people had been taxed, he said.