Small-time vendors in Chandigarh anguished over GST hike move on tobacco products
The Footpath Cycle and Rehri Fadi Workers Union of Chandigarh has expressed resentment over the proposal to introduce 35 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on "sin goods" like aerated beverages and tobacco products, saying the hike would badly impact their incomes and lead to smuggling and revenue loss for the country too.
"With consumers already avoiding buying legal cigarettes owing to high prices on account of high taxes, the new increase will push many of them permanently towards illegal products being sold at much lower prices," union president Ram Millan Gaud told IANS on Thursday.
The union, comprising over 1,200 small-time members who sell tobacco products on small roadside kiosks, said the "government would lose revenues that it collects from legal sales and at the same time, law-abiding retailers would lose their income and livelihood".
"It seems the government is bent on benefiting illegal operators and smugglers at the expense of tax-paying legal industry and law-abiding retailers," Gaud added. On December 2, the Group of Ministers on GST rate rationalisation decided to hike tax on "sin goods".
