Opposition Demands GST Simplification and Reduction

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Opposition members on Monday demanded the government to simplify and reduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as it is putting the burden on the poor.

Participating in the debate on the Finance Bill 2025, Supriya Sule (NCP-SP) said GST needs lots of reform, and there is a need to bring down rates.

The Finance Minister should answer when India will become 'one nation one tax' as the present GST regime has many slabs, she said in the Lok Sabha.

On the zero tariff policy proposed by the US, Sule said the government should clarify its stand on agricultural produce.

The US has proposed to levy reciprocal tariffs from April 2, a move likely to hurt India's exports of agricultural and pharmaceutical goods. These are among the products that have a high tariff differential with the US.

Saugata Roy (TMC) said, "We need Manmohan Singh, not Nirmala Sitharaman as the Finance Minister to deal with the economic crisis that India is facing".

"India is in an economic crisis which we don't see. This big talk of the government that we are going to be the third big economy is all bunkum...India has not reached USD 5 trillion while China has an economy of USD 19 trillion and the US has an economy of USD 32 trillion," he said.

With regard to America's threat of reciprocal tariffs, he said the government should announce its own tariff policy.

"The country is in the throes of difficult times and it's going to be more difficult as Donald Trump takes his steps one by one," he said.

Abhay Kumar Sinha (RJD) said daily-use items like matchboxes, soap and buckets attract the highest GST rate of 28 per cent, putting the burden on the poor.

Only two per cent of the population pays income tax, which is an indication that 98 per cent of the population does not earn enough to be eligible to pay income tax, he added.

Devesh Shakya (SP) said the common man is paying 50 per cent of their earning as tax and the government should look at reducing it.