Date:04/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/03/04/stories/2005030406860500.htm

VISAKHAPATNAM, MARCH 3. Over 37,000 chemists in the State, who have a total annual turnover of Rs. 1,800 crores, have picked holes in the Value Added Tax (VAT) regime. The Federation of Drug Traders of Andhra Pradesh (FEDTAP), D. Krishna Reddy, told reporters here on Thursday that drug traders with a turnover of Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 40 lakhs had to pay one per cent turnover tax. Those below Rs. 5 lakhs turnover need not pay any tax. However, traders with a turnover of Rs. 40 lakhs and above had to shell down four per cent VAT.