Relief for traders: Punjab exempts 1.5L cases from VAT assessment

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1

To woo the business community, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday decided to exempt about 1.50 lakh cases from tax assessment for 2014-15 till 2017-18, a move that will cost the state exchequer Rs 200 crore.

With this decision, about 8,500 cases would now be assessed every year, according to an official statement.

The value-added tax (VAT) assessment was related to cases of category C forms, which are used for interstate business transactions.

Though it has been over four years since the end of the VAT regime, there was still a heavy burden of VAT assessment on the traders coupled with difficulties in providing C forms etc. to them.

The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by CM Charanjit Singh Channi. The Cabinet also approved exemption for traders from making payment of 70 per cent of the excess demand raised by the taxation department.

They will be required to deposit 30 per cent of the surplus demand. The move will cost the exchequer Rs 940 crore. The traders can pay 20 per cent by March 31, 2022, and the remaining by March 31, 2023. The Cabinet gave its nod to upgrade Gharuan (SAS Nagar), Rajasansi (Amritsar) and Dorangla (Gurdaspur) as sub-tehsils.

It also approved OTS policy for Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (PSIDC), Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC) and Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC) for settlement of their dues.

Ex-post facto approval was given for financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh each already paid to the families of four farmers and one journalist, who died in Lakhimpur Kheri violence. It also accorded approval for implementation of the CM Scholarship Scheme in Higher Education for government colleges in the state.

The scheme would involve annual financial implication of Rs 36.05 crore. The scholarship scheme would be linked to marks obtained by students.

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