Cooperative banks seek tax exemption

A body of urban cooperative banks has appealed to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to restore the income tax exemption they enjoyed till 2006.

A delegation of Bangalore-based Forum of Urban Cooperative Banks, led by CPI(M) Basudeb Acharia, met Mukherjee and urged him to restore the concession  under Section 80P of the Income Tax and withdraw the 30 per cent tax on their profits.

The delegation pointed out that several committees of the government and the RBI were of the opinion that cooperative banks need government's helping hand and encouragement.

Even the RBI, the Forum's memorandum with 10,100 signatures claimed, had recently recommended that the decision of withdrawal of exemption be kept in abeyance.

It also said that while cooperative banks world over are exempted from paying tax, in India they faced discrimination as they are not not extended the facility of treatment of five-year deposits of commercial banks as savings.

The delegation comprised Umapathy, N Premkumar, Chandrashekar, Badrinath, H K Srinivas, P T Satyanarayana and C V Kumar, Convenor of the Forum.