Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the introduction of Goods and Services Tax has brought relief to the common citizens.

“It is a shame that GST is being called burdensome and ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ because this country should know that a step like GST has actually brought relief to the common citizens,” Sitharaman said while speaking at a function organised to mark the 6th anniversary of the introduction of GST.

Sitharaman further said that the previous tax system before GST involved multiple taxes leading to a cascading effect, where the same product was taxed multiple times, making it costlier for consumers.  GST has boosted the revenue of states, she added.

She shed some light on items like tea, milk powder, sugar, edible vegetable oils, spices, and footwear (priced up to ₹500) attract taxes of 5% under GST, compared with earlier tax incidence of 6-10%.