Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Sashi Tharoor, on Monday took a dig at recently announced tax slabs for popcorn by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Taking to X, the Congress leader posted and image of a cutout of a newspaper, in which different tax slabs on popcorn were mentioned. “Eat popcorn and go to sleep. Don’t think too much. Good night,” Tharoor captioned the image.

The 55th GST Council meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Sitharaman, on Saturday decided to impose different tax rates on salted, pre-packaged, and caramelised popcorn. However, this decision was not welcomed by many as critics questioned the logic behind it, especially when the potential revenue impact appears to be negligible.

While old and used vehicles, autoclaved aerated concrete (ACC) blocks, corporate sponsorship services were among the other items and services that are going to get costlier, the Centre’s decision of different tax slabs on types of ready-to-eat popcorn received a bitter response.

Many economists, industry experts, and former government officials criticised the move.

Congress slammed the Centre by calling it an “absurdity” and said that these different tax slabs only brings to light the growing complexity of the system.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh also claimed GST evasion is significant, input tax credit fraud is common, and the number of bogus companies set up to “game” the GST system runs into thousands.

“The absurdity of three different tax slabs for popcorn under GST, which has unleashed a tsunami of memes on social media, only brings to light a deeper issue: the growing complexity of a system that was supposed to be a Good and Simple Tax,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

“GST evasion is significant, input tax credit fraud is common, and the number of bogus companies set up to ‘game’ the GST system runs into thousands.

“Tracking of supply chains is weak, the registration process is flawed, advantages are being taken of loopholes in turnover exemptions, compliance requirements are still cumbersome, and misclassification of goods is frequent,” the Congress leader added.

The Centre took a U-turn after slashing tax rates on popcorn and cola by 13 per cent in July 2023.