Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today attacked the Centre by accusing it of "dashing" the hopes of the middle class through its proposals to tax Employees' provident fund withdrawal.
"Spoke to many people. They are very angry. EPF/PPF withdrawals by aam admi taxed, loans of rich waived, black money holders get amnesty (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted.
AAP's Delhi convenor Dilip Pandey attacked the government saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "traditional" voter base will abandon him if the Finance Minister does not "roll back" the proposals.
"Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has put tax on the hopes of the middle class. A huge chunk of Modi's traditional voter feeling cheated and will never forgive if Jaitley does not #RollBackEPF (sic)," Pandey tweeted.
The reactions came even as the Modi government, under attack, promised to consider demands for a partial rollback of the proposal to tax 60 per cent of withdrawals from EPF and a ceiling on employers contribution.
Earlier in the day, Revenue Secretary Hashmukh Adhia said only 60 per cent of interest on contributions made after April 1, 2016 will be taxed and that the principal amount of contribution will remain untouched at the time of withdrawal.
In the evening, a government press note said a proposal to tax only interest and not principal is under consideration.
Commenting on the budget and the new one-time compliance window for domestic black money-holders, AAP leader Ashutosh said it amounted to extending "amnesty to people running a parallel economy in the country".
