Traders of industrial items downed shutters for five days on Monday against VAT. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Shops dealing in industrial items, in the city?s central business district, downed shutters on Monday as a five-day strike kicked off in protest against the imposition of value-added tax (VAT).

Members of 40-odd trade lobbies, covering industrial products as diverse as hardware goods, automobile spares and chemicals, met in the afternoon and worked out a draft proposal to be placed before state finance minister Asim Dasgupta, urging him to reconsider VAT proposals on certain items.

Around the same time, some 35 wholesale traders of Burrabazar and Posta met at Vinayak Bhavan, off Strand Road, to discuss, among other things, their next course of action after the wholesale bandh in protest against VAT ends on April 29.

Both the trade lobbies, while differing on several points in the multi-structure tax system, unanimously agreed that imposition of VAT would not only hit small and mid-level traders, but it would also usher in the dreaded inspector raj.

?There are certain fine points that the government is glossing over and we want to draw attention to these. For instance, an increase in the tax on motor spares will, in turn, hit transport operators and ultimately affect those who depend on the mass transit system,? argued Pawan Khowala, president of the Calcutta Motor Dealers Association.

Members of other trade bodies backing the bandh wondered why some basic household items had been brought under the 12.5 per cent tax bracket when VAT was aimed at reducing the burden on consumers.

?The most confusing part of this tax system is that there has been no exact classification of the items that have been brought under the 12.5 per cent tax bracket. The new system simply says all items not classified under schedule A, B and C would be covered under schedule C(A), but what are these?? demanded Feroz Ali, president of the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations, which has called the five-day strike.

Wholesaler Viswanath Agarwal, convener of Coordination Committee of Burrabazar Posta Business Association, protested the new system under which both the Central Sales Tax and VAT had to be paid.