The Hindu Business Line : Goa plans action against erring assessees

The Goa Commercial Taxes Department has decided to take action against assessees who have failed to file their returns, under the composition scheme under value-added tax (VAT), on time.

With hardly 20 per cent of the close to 3,500 assessees having filed their returns for the year ended March 31, 2006, the Department has moved the Government to make the punitive action stringent.

Apart from a fine of Rs 1,000 per return, an interest @ 2 per cent per month of default, the defaulters will earn a disqualification for two years under the composition scheme, Mr Vallabh Kamat, Additional Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, told Business Line.

Mr Kamat said that the department's advertisement campaign in the local media has failed to evoke response.

The department has also changed the mode of payment of the tax under composition to monthly from the previous quarterly.

Mr Kamat said that yet another area where they have found reluctance to file returns under VAT was among the industrial units who currently avail themselves the benefit of carry over of the erstwhile sales tax holidays.

f the around 1,800 assessees under this category, hardly about 500 have filed their returns, he said and indicated that failure to file the returns on time could also pose problems for them while they claim benefit of alternate schemes such as Net Present Value of Sales Tax Deferment scheme.

Under this scheme, the beneficiaries can collect cent per cent VAT on their product for the remaining period of their sales tax holiday but have to pay only 25 per cent of the tax to the State Exchequer.

More Stories on : Taxation | Other States

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page