Overview

• The GST Council approved a simplified structure that retains 5% and 18% slabs with a 40% rate for sin goods, moving many items previously at 12% and 28% into the main tiers.
• Kharge said the government had only now “woken up” on reform after eight years, noting Congress had proposed a simpler GST in its 2019 and 2024 manifestos.
• He argued the tax burden has fallen disproportionately on the poor and middle class, citing his figures of 64% of GST receipts from them versus 3% from billionaires, alongside lower corporate tax rates.
• Pointing to levies on farm and household items, he repeated Congress’s label for the levy as the “Gabbar Singh Tax.”
• He sought full compensation for states for five years using 2024–25 as the base year and pressed for easier compliance to genuinely help MSMEs.