The Hindu Business Line : AP traders oppose quarterly sales statements under VAT

Hyderabad, Nov. 1 Traders and businesses in Andhra Pradesh are up in arms against a recent Government Order that mandates filing of quarterly statements, comprising sales and purchases.

“The GO 517 is against the spirit of VAT Act that had promised simplification and hassle-free tax-paying mechanism for the traders,” Mr Nitin Parekh, Chairman of Fapcci’s Trade and Commerce Panel, said.

The GO meant tedious and laborious work for traders. “They are being forced to make a note of every sale and purchase, however small it is, in order to comply with the order,” he said.

The Fapcci (Federation of AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and trade specific associations have asked the Government to do away with the rule.

Govt Assurance

Mr Konathala Ramakrishna, Minister for Commercial Taxes, however, allayed the fears. “They need not worry at all. We have categorically stated that submission of the statements will be on voluntary basis. We will not insist,” he told Business Line.

“We have taken the dealers into confidence. But we have noticed some unhealthy practices such as fake invoices,” he said.

The trade bodies, however, contest this. “It is far from true. The Minister’s assurance didn’t percolate down. Traders are getting notices,” Mr Rajender Prashad Agarwal, President of AP Millers’ Association, said.

Some traders alleged that a section of officials have started linking issuance of way bills to submission of 517 statements.

Futile exercise

The traders feel that the whole exercise is futile. The department would take a major chunk of the tax at the first point. The subsequent points would add little to the tax kitty.

They also point out that the department has no wherewithal to check the veracity of the statements submitted by the traders. “It is not a small task studying huge volumes of statements the traders would submit,” a trade leader said.

Drawing similarities with the Form ‘M’ in the pre-VAT tax regime (which mandated the traders to submit statements on sales/purchases of more than Rs 1,000), Mr Parekh said even such segregation would not bail out the traders.

“The trader has to continue to slog, with segregation becoming an additional burden” Mr Parekh observed.

Mr Atluri Subba Rao, President of Fapcci, said the chambers would meet the Minister again in this connection.

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