A
deputation of more than 100 persons had gone to meet the CM,
who holds the portfolio of the Excise and Taxation Department.
The delegation had gone with Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan
Kalia and Anil Joshi, BJP MLA from Tarantaran.
The
information was given to the deputation in the presence of
Excise and Taxation Commissioner A. Venuprasad, said Bhupinder
Gupta, president of North India Retail Merchant Association.
Gupta was part of the delegation.
A
number of garment sellers from all over the state had received
notices from the Excise Department regarding payment of VAT on
embroidered cloth. Trucks were also held by the department at
the entry points. The garment owners had made a plea that
nowhere in India has VAT been imposed on unstitched cloth,
whether it is embroidered or not.
“VAT
is imposed only on readymade garments, and we are already
paying that,” said Sanjay Arora, owner of the famous
Kalamandir Store at Mall Road, who also had received a notice
from the department.
Gupta
said, “The CM had readily agreed to our demand. He conveyed
to us that if VAT is not being charged anywhere else in the
country on these items, the same pattern will be followed in
Punjab too.”
The
delegation has thanked the CM for this gesture. They hope that
the notices sent to them will stand cancelled now.
So
