The Hindu : Amendment to tax structure soon: Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 04, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Amendment to tax structure soon: Minister

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Dec. 3. The Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, has said that the State Government will bring in necessary amendments to the tax structure in view of the non-implementation of the value-added tax (VAT) system during the current financial year.

Addressing a pre-budget discussion with representatives of trade and industry, the Finance Minister said that some sectors were not yielding tax returns to the expected levels. He cited the case of jewellery which had yielded tax revenue of just one per cent even though Kerala topped in gold trade in the country.

Urging gold merchants to cooperate with the Government's efforts for stepping up tax collections, Mr. Sankaranarayanan said that Kerala was vastly different from other States and the Government policy was to take careful and considered decisions relating to the tax structure. Stating that the full budget for the next financial year would be passed by March 31, 2004, the Finance Minister wanted the industrial and trading communities to extend creative cooperation to the Government's development efforts.

The Finance Minister promised to respond positively and with all seriousness the various issues raised by the trading and industrial community. The Government would always be open to dialogues with trade and industry with a view to addressing various problems faced by them, he added.

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