Government keeps drumming that GST in the new reformed setup, currently ranging between 25 to 17 percent, will be reduced (on an average) to 15 percent resulting in reduced inflation.
However, will the concerned officials tell the nation as to how many and which items currently fall in each slab ranging from 25 percent to 17 percent and the revenue generated respectively? Which items will be added to the RGST and how much extra revenue will be produced by each item? Will the Finance Minister tell the estimated amount of extra revenue generated thus, especially the figures of the tax collection from ‘the rich’?
This is the only way to tell the real story whether the RGST will pound the poor to further pieces. Nonetheless, the government should also factor in the proposed increased tariffs of electricity, gas, petroleum products, etc for calculation purposes to tell the havoc that would befall on the poor and middle classes of the country.
ALI QUERASHY
Karachi