Ranchi, Feb. 22: The Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FJCCI) has accused the state government of hiding various tenets of newly-framed value added tax (VAT) rules.
The chamber says that it will oppose anti-trader VAT rules tooth and nail ? the same way as it had done a year earlier. VAT, the controversial tax, is to be imposed in the state from April 1.
The government has already approved the VAT bill. The chamber representatives claim that many new rules have been framed and they are being kept in the dark about their content.
FJCCI members claim that many of these rules are against the interests of the average businessman.
?We wanted a healthy debate on all the VAT rules. We had also made a number of suggestions into the VAT bill. But the government never took us seriously,? said the chamber?s president Arjun Jalan. ?We wanted to talk to some senior officials of the department of commercial tax but there has been a lack of interest from the other side,? he added.
FJCCI had earlier opposed the VAT bill over 34 points and had submitted a list of suggestions to the state government.
The chamber members claimed that the state government even assured them to make suitable amendments into the bill but the promises were never kept.
?We have been opposing the points in VAT that would be applicable for traders whose annual turnover is Rs 5 lakh. We wanted this lower limit substantially increased. Annual turnover of Rs 5 lakh would mean a daily sale of around Rs 1,000 which even a betel shop owner has,? said FJCCI honorary secretary Manoj Naredi.
FJCCI is against a proposed rule (Number 93) which says that the proposed VAT bill cannot be legally contested in a court of law. ?This rule would make life difficult for us,? Naredi added.
Of the other points that the chamber has opposed include different rates of tax on consumer goods that prevalent in other states and not providing a time limitation for audit.
However, officials from the state government accept that there will be problems in the initial days. ?We have held meetings to discuss an average trader?s problems,? said a senior official in the department of commercial taxes.
