The Federation of West Bengal Trade Association (FWBTA) today claimed that the state finance minister Asim Dasgupta had promised to forgo value added tax (VAT) on tea, sugar and tobacco for the next one year.
Although there has been no such announcement from Dasgupta till date, Mahesh Singhania of FWBTA claimed Dasgupta said entry tax would not have to be paid through check posts. Dasgupta was in the process of devising an alternative mechanism for the purpose.
According to Singhania, Dasgupta has also promised exemption of scrutiny of books by inspectors for the next two to three years.
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Shopkeepers will not be required to keep records of accounts in prescribed formats and could maintain notebooks. The minister was also reported to be reconsidering VAT at 12.5 per cent and may announce a revised list of commodities under 12.5 per cent VAT.
Dasgupta has reportedly also said that traditional Indian sweets will not attract VAT.