Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has lashed out at the government for the proposed income tax on non-taxpaying NRIs, saying that it will hurt the people who toil and bring foreign remittance to the country. The Kerala CM equated the proposal to demonetisation and said that many will be punished for the sins of a few.

“Once again, with a 'masterstroke', the many will be punished for the sins of a few crooks. Like demonetization and GST; the crooked will find their way, and the working lives of decent Indians will be destroyed. The Central Govt should desist from going ahead with this amendment,” Vijayan tweeted.

The CM further said that the foreign remittance helped the country during difficult times. “We record our strong disagreement with the move in the Finance Bill, brought in under the guise of checking tax abuse, but in reality is going to hurt those who toil and bring foreign exchange to the country,” he said.

Their remittance have helped this country wade through difficult times. We record our strong disagreement with the move in the Finance Bill, brought in under the guise of checking tax abuse, but in reality is going to hurt those who toil and bring foreign exchange to the country.

— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) February 2, 2020

On Saturday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed income tax on non-taxpaying NRIs to crack down on people, who dodge taxes by exploiting their non-resident status in India.

If an Indian or a person of Indian origin managed to stay in the country as a non-resident, he need not pay tax on income earned in other countries. The government felt there was a loophole here that people were making the most of by dividing — managing — their time between India and overseas to avoid being categorised as tax residents of the country.

First Published:Feb 2, 2020 4:22 PM IST