Kerala - Kochi

Steep hike in taxes ruled out

KOCHI: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac denied that taxes would be hiked steeply, “since people will begin to buy products from outside the State.”

Speaking at a pre-budget interaction with traders organised here on Saturday by the Department of Commercial Taxes, he said that many big business establishments had been evading huge amounts as tax. The government intended to counter this through making e-filing of tax returns mandatory. In one instance, it was found that a firm which earned an income of Rs.210 crore during three years, paid taxes totalling just Rs.20 lakh. Responding to concerns from traders about inspections being carried out by tax personnel at shops, he said that only around 350 shops were inspected in the State last year. This was based on solid information, following detection of anomalies. The minister said that he was against taking loans to pay salaries and pensions.

Answering a question on crores of rupees worth Central funds getting lapsed because of Kerala’s inability to send development proposals on time and in the right format, he said New Delhi should delegate to States planning, funding and execution of schemes in the health, infrastructure and educational sectors. Earlier, traders’ representatives aired concerns about high taxes and penalties and the hassles they faced at check posts and at the hands of inspection units. They also spoke about departmental delays and red tape. One trader said that keeping in view the grim energy sector, steps should be taken to reduce the tax on compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs), solar panels and wind mills. He said that incandescent bulbs that consume high power had less tax than CFLs and LEDs.

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