Mumbai, Jan 9 (PTI) Ahead of the Union Budget, Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot on Thursday demanded that the Centre rationalise goods and services tax (GST) slabs and provide relief to the middle class and lower income groups.

Addressing a press conference here, the former Union minister said the BJP-led NDA government should unveil GST 2.0 in the budget for fiscal year 2025-26 to be presented in Parliament on February 1.

GST, a single tax on the supply of goods and services levied on every value addition, came into force on July 1, 2017, when the BJP was in power at the Centre. After subsuming majority indirect taxes, GST became a single domestic indirect tax law for the entire country.

''GST, when it was conceived by the (Congress-led) UPA, was supposed to widen the tax bracket, but it has ended up increasing income of a few persons and providing no relief to the middle class and lower income groups,'' Pilot noted.

Only 5 per cent people in the country pay income tax, while the rest of the population pays GST which burdens the middle class and professionals, the Congress leader emphasised.

The BJP opposed GST, Aadhaar project and DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) when they were conceived during the UPA rule, but supported them after coming to power, he said.

The saffron party also opposed FDI in retail and defence when in opposition, but became a strong promotor of the measure on assuming office, Pilot maintained.

He insisted the BJP government brought a "flawed" GST system and demanded that slabs be rationalised instead of giving tax breaks to a select few and burdening 80 per cent of the country's population.

Pilot said GST is a consumer-based levy and the Congress was against lopsided approach to tax collection.

The former Rajasthan deputy CM asserted the Congress was pro-industry and in favour of investment, but was against discriminatory disposal of resources. PTI MR RSY

GST slab rationalisation urged to rebalance tax incidence and provide relief to middle income and lower income consumers. Rationalisation of GST slabs and targeted relief for middle class and lower income households are urged ahead of the Union Budget through a proposed GST 2.0, on the ground that the current consumer facing levy disproportionately burdens wage earners and professionals while a narrow direct tax base leaves most consumers bearing indirect tax incidence.