Centre breached basic trust on which GST was designed: Kerala FM Isaac

'Raising taxes in times of recession will be counter-productive', said Issac

After the GST Council meeting on Wednesday, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, a strident critic of the Centre’s policies, justifies his stance to Dilasha Seth. Edited excerpts:

Is the revenue position more alarming than the estimates?

There is a huge shortfall in all taxes. GST, because the sales are down, corporate tax because they (Centre) gave a big concession. They are trying to make it up by sale of assets, taking money from the central bank, but, what’s worse is that they're squeezing the states. Forty-two per cent of the give-away to corporate tax was for the states. 

Also, with GST down, the