Opposition criticises govt move to enable GSTN, ED and FIU to share information
The Indian government on July 7 amended provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to share information with the GST Network (GSTN).
This has drawn a lot of criticism, especially from leading figures in the Opposition camp.
While the government is saying that the notification will empower the agencies with more information on tax evasion, Opposition leaders are saying that this will amounts to “tax terrorism” and scaring small businesses.
At the 50th GST Council meeting on July 11, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that “apart from Delhi and Punjab, states like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana have raised this issue”
She said that these states said at the meeting that “such a big step should not have been taken without any discussion at the GST Council” since “many businesses and service providers will get impacted by this”.
“We will oppose this anti-trader policy of the Modi government, as this endangers millions of traders who are at the receiving end of a complicated GST regime,” said Congress leader Pawan Khera.
This view of the Opposition parties of the PMLA being misused to harass traders has arisen as the government has been consistently using the ED and other agencies to intimidate and harass Opposition party members.
