Hyderabad: In a rejoinder to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's question on "Why are ‘Parathas’ being taxed at 18% GST?", BJP IT cell in charge Amit Malviya had shifted the blame to the former Congress government of having placed the popular 'Parathas' in the highest tax bracket and name called Rahul as being an 'incorrigible liar', in a string of tweets.
Malviya said: "Frozen rotis and parathas were taxed at 28% under the Congress rule, which under the GST, has been reduced to 18%. Frozen food is sealed packed, branded and usually consumed by the upwardly mobile. Also, the ruling to put it in 18% bracket was given by AAAR and not the Govt!"
Rahul, earlier in the day, wrote "Why is inflation at a 35-year HIGH? Why is unemployment at a 45-year HIGH? Why are ‘Parathas’ being taxed at 18% GST? Why are farm tractors being taxed at 12% GST? #BharatJodoYatra will keep asking you these questions and more, Prime Minister. You will have to answer."
Gujarat Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR) had ruled that packed frozen 'Paratha' is not 'roti or chapatti' as it requires further cooking before consumption and despite wheat flour being the 'common thread' there are other ingredients used in making parathas, in a an appeal from Vadilal Industries to keep eight varieties of 'Parathas' under 5% GST band.
"'Bharat Jodo' Yatra has become a platform for blatant lying and shameless distortion of facts. Highest inflation under Modi Govt was 7.8% for a month which is significantly lower than the DOUBLE-DIGIT INFLATION seen during 2009-2013. On the unemployment claim, Rahul Gandhi is mischievously quoting an old 2019 news item, which has been comprehensively debunked by several experts. Even though I don’t expect him to understand, here is an explainer, which should help clear misinformation(sic)," Malviya tweeted.
Malviya explained that various taxes were already applicable on Agricultural items or equipments under the pre-GST regime and the tax slabs were reduced under GST regime for items like fertilizers, irrigation systems, tractors and other machineries, sharing an infographic image from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC).
