Date:06/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/10/06/stories/2004100603410400.htm

Karnataka

Siddaramaiah allays fears on entry tax

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIDAR, OCT. 5. Fears that entry tax will lead to an increase in prices are unfounded, the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, has said.

Speaking to presspersons who met him here today, he said the tax was being levied to avoid diversion of trade, protect the interests of manufacturers in the State and increase revenue to the Government.

He, however, said some traders might try to increase the prices of commodities saying that they had paid entry tax. But consumers needed to be aware that all goods were taxed uniformly and there was no need to pay an additional price, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

He said the entry tax would continue only till the value added tax (VAT) came into force in April 2005. VAT would avoid trade diversion because the tax rate would be uniform throughout the country.

Third front

Mr. Siddaramaiah saw the presence of the Janata Dal (S) in the Bidar byelection as extremely important to ensuring the continued existence of the third front, which was opposed to the ideologies of the BJP and the Congress. "We have formed the coalition Government to keep communal forces away from power. But we have contested against the Congress in elections now and we will continue to do so in future to preserve and protect our ideology," he said.