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The
GO meant tedious and laborious work for traders. “They
are being forced to make a note of every sale and
purchase, however small it is, in order to comply with the
order,” he said.
The
Fapcci (Federation of AP Chambers of Commerce and
Industry) and trade specific associations have asked the
Government to do away with the rule.
Govt
Assurance
Mr
Konathala Ramakrishna, Minister for Commercial Taxes,
however, allayed the fears. “They need not worry at all.
We have categorically stated that submission of the
statements will be on voluntary basis. We will not
insist,” he told Business Line.
“We
have taken the dealers into confidence. But we have
noticed some unhealthy practices such as fake invoices,”
he said.
The
trade bodies, however, contest this. “It is far from
true. The Minister’s assurance didn’t percolate down.
Traders are getting notices,” Mr Rajender Prashad
Agarwal, President of AP Millers’ Association, said.
Some
traders alleged that a section of officials have started
linking issuance of way bills to submission of 517
statements.
Futile
exercise
The
traders feel that the whole exercise is futile. The
department would take a major chunk of the tax at the
first point. The subsequent points would add little to the
tax kitty.
They
also point out that the department has no wherewithal to
check the veracity of the statements submitted by the
traders. “It is not a small task studying huge volumes
of statements the traders would submit,” a trade leader
said.
Drawing
similarities with the Form ‘M’ in the pre-VAT tax
regime (which mandated the traders to submit statements on
sales/purchases of more than Rs 1,000), Mr Parekh said
even such segregation would not bail out the traders.
“The
trader has to continue to slog, with segregation becoming
an additional burden” Mr Parekh observed.
Mr
Atluri Subba Rao, President of Fapcci, said the chambers
would meet the Minister again in this connection.
Source
: The Hindu BusinessLine, India, dated 02/11/2007
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