States not uniform on VAT items

Traders are upset over the lack of uniformity in the list of items that have been brought under value-added tax.

Trade leaders from different states are meeting in the Capital for two days from tomorrow to devise their future course of action deliberate on discrepancies in state VAT Acts.

The meeting, convened by the Confederation of All India Traders, comes after a three-day traders' strike from March 30 against VAT, implemented by 20 states from April 1.

The crisis over VAT

"The traders' nationwide agitation against VAT will set its new agenda and strategy as trade leaders from different states of the country are meeting on April 5-6 at a national governing board conference of the CAIT," the body's chairman and former Union minister Vijay Goel said in a statement.

According to CAIT, most states have openly flouted the guidelines of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on VAT.

While the Delhi tax rate schedule contains about 150 items, the West Bengal list has about 350 items and Maharashtra, only 168 items, said CAIT.

The confederation pointed out that the Empowered Committee had identified 553 items under different tax rates, and states were given laxity only on 10 items of consumable nature, for putting in the exempted category, as per local needs while the rest of the items were to be brought under similar rates.

Also, while the committee had fixed the number of exempted items at 46, states like Maharashtra have included 49 items in the exempted tax rate list.