Taxation, Excise amendment bills passed

West Bengal Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill and Bengal Excise (Amendment) Bill were today passed in the Assembly facilitating creation of a business-friendly atmosphere in the state.
The West Bengal Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill 2016 seeks to omit provisions relating collection of tax on foreign liquor and country liquor sold at a per unit price which is in excess of the per unit market retail price of the same and on which tax to extent of markets retail price has already been paid.
The bill also proposes to amend the provisions relating to collection of sales tax on foreign liquor and country liquor only when additional excise duty on the said items have not been paid under the Bengal Excise act.

The bill also proposes to bring in provision to bring under the settlement scheme in respect of cases for assessment periods upto the year 2013-2014, which are pending in appeal or revision as on the 30 th September 2016.
The Bengal Excise (Amendment) Bill proposes that the alcohol fit for human consumption is subjected to two levies namely excise duty by the Excise directorate and sales tax under West Bengal sales Tax act 1994 by commercial Taxes directorate.
"The system of taxation under two laws by two separate directorates increases the compliance cost of the taxpayers. So in order to ease it an additional excise duty in place of sales tax on the value or cost or maximum retail price of excisable articles at such rate as the state government may prescribe from time to time, where no sales tax is levied in such excisable article," finance minister Amit Mitra said.

"This will bring down the cost of compliance as the commodity will be taxed only under the Bengal Excise Act 1909," Mitra said.
Mitra pointed out that there will be no financial implication involved in the bill.