'TN, Pondy violating ST norms on floor rates'

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, AUG. 6.

Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry are still not complying with the Centre-suggested uniform floor rates of sales tax with respect to certain items, causing revenue loss to Andhra Pradesh.

A worried Commissioner for Commercial Taxes, Mr. N. Ramesh Kumar, said this at a meeting with the trade and industry at the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) premises here on Saturday, and said the issue was being taken up on a daily basis with both the Governments and an outcome was expected anytime. At the same time, the problem was "aggressively" placed before the Delhi-based empowered committee on implementation for awarding punishment of 25 per cent cut out of the divisible pool for non-compliance.

The implementation was such that even Bihar which initially rejected the proposal, fell in line last month. As far as Andhra Pradesh was concerned, it established an "excellent" track record with implementation right from day one (January 1, 2000) covering all the items. It, however, paid the `economic price', losing a lot of revenue during the first month. The total revenue accruing out of commercial taxes was Rs.6,439.69 crores. The State was performing well in the country by showing 16 per cent growth rate per year.

The Commissioner spoke of the Citizens' Charter introduced by the department for the sake of assessees as part of the SMART Government, and said the department was like a new and shy bride and it would respond if the trade treated it well and would not keep quiet like traditional woman if harassed. He asked the traders to approach him or other officers if timeframes, specified under the charter for delivering specified services, were not adhered to by the department. They were modernising the system closing some checkposts and converting the remaining as online "single window" facility. For free inter-State movement of vehicles, bar-coded transit passes were being thought of, like in the U.K. and other countries.

Responding to questions raised by FAPCCI members, Mr. Kumar said the issue of giving `C-form' benefit to jelly-filled and fibre cables, being produced in the State in bulk, was being taken up with the Centre. For the present, these items did not get the benefit as they were end-products themselves and not "manufacturing goods".

On electronic goods which were the backbone of information technology, Mr. Kumar promised a constant dialogue with the Centre in the light of the WTO guideline to bring the tax rate on them to zero by 2003 AD. It was a national policy on which the State had no say. He did not agree with the contention that prices of electrical goods had gone up, stating that the trade was operating within the narrow bandwidth above the floor rates though the sky was the limit for them.

He hinted at partial pull out of police from the Vigilance and Enforcement wing and filling the vacuum with men from other departments, including his own, as it was alleged that most of the harassments were due to police. He turned down the plea to do anything regarding diesel, citing "diesel scam" indulged in by the trade in Gujarat, and "misuse" here. While diesel was allowed at concessional tax for captive power generation, it was being diverted by industries for transport purposes. As a result, the oil companies were forced to take over the entire trade.

Mrs. Sheela Bhide, Principal Secretary, Industries, earlier listed the steps taken to facilitate easy export of yarn and to add value to raw leather which was available in plenty here. She said the old concept of survival by bribing the commercial tax officer should go and the trade, instead, should welcome new the culture by paying taxes in full.

Mr. Mohanlal Gupta, president of FAPCCI, chaired the meeting and Mr. J.S. Rao, past president, was present.

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Section  : Southern States
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