Kerala - Kannur   

New tax proposals: druggists plan stir

By Our Staff Reporter

KANNUR, FEB. 25. Chemists and druggists will resort to direct agitation demanding withdrawal of the proposal for levying multi-point tax for drugs in the State Budget 2004-2005.

The All-Kerala Chemists and Druggists' Association district office-bearers told a press conference here today that the budget proposal sought to transfer pharmaceutical products from Schedule 1 to Schedule 5 of the Kerala Sales Tax Act. Despite various representations to the authorities concerned, including the Ministers, highlighting the practical difficulties of medical shops to abide by the proposal, no action was taken to address their grievances, they said.

The association district president, C.H. Unnikrishnan, and the secretary, P.M. Santhosh, said that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and the Drugs Price Control Order regulated the pricing of pharmaceutical products from their manufacture to retail sales.

The Kerala High Court had allowed retail medical shops to levy from consumers the sales tax given to the Government by adding it to the original price. The eight per cent tax remitted to the Government in the first sale was collected back in the final sale. The price printed on the product included all taxes paid, they said.

Patients would have to bear the burden if this system was replaced by the new proposal in which six per cent tax plus its two per cent additional tax was collected during the first sale and two per cent sales tax plus its 15 per cent additional tax was collected during the final sale, they said. This would result in four per cent to five per cent increase in the prices, they said.

As most of the pharmaceutical companies that sell drugs in the State had depot/super stockist in the State, the Government got the tax collected during the first sale without any delay. But if the new system was implemented, two per cent of the eight per cent tax would go to the Government only after the final sale, they said. The medical shops in the State had suspended purchasing drugs since February 17.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• New tax proposals: druggists plan stir

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu