Another burn in the pockets of Taxpayers as the Government proposes 2% Skill Cess.

Months after the much debatable Swatch Bharat Cess, the Government has now come up with 2% Skill Cess on the individual and corporates to develop entrepreneurship and employment skills in the youth of the country.

This is in line with Government's Skill India mission launched on 15thJuly 2015 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instil skills in more than 500 million Indians by 2022. However, this noble mission requires Rs. 4 lakh crore to achieve the desired results. Till date (2015-16) Rs. 15000 crore have been allocated. Thus, to fill the gap, government has come up with a possibility of levying Skill Cess. This cess has revived even after being rejected by the ministry of finance earlier this year. If implemented this will make the hammer of 27 different cesses and surcharges on the heads of taxpayer's much heavier.

This proposal of the skill cess has met with a strong criticism from Congress and other political parties. The question arises why should the common man always bear the burden of every ambitious plan of the government?

With the constant increase in inflation, recently levied 0.5% cess on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and increase in service tax from 12% to 14%, it shall put an additional burden on the shoulders of the common man. So, it will be interesting to see whether the government imposes this skill cess or not in the near future.