Congress leader P Chidambaram made his stand clear on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at a press conference, when he said that it was a “burden” both for the common man, and small, medium and micro business. He said businesses were not ready for the roll out and were denied the preparation time that they sought.

The former finance minister said that the GST would lead to inflation and asked, “What is the government going to do about it?”

Alluding to the BJP`s bitter opposition to the GST during the NDA administration, he said that the way GST has been implemented now is not how experts had devised it. According to him, it would be ideal to not levy a tax higher than 18 per cent and not apply only one tax rate. Compliance will be a big issue for those conducting business in more than one state, he said.

Leaving petroleum and electricity, constituting more than a third of the economy, have been left out of the GST, he said. He further said that it was “an instrument of harassment given in the hands of officials.”