The Hindu : Other States / Punjab News : `Punjab ready to implement VAT'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 11, 2004

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Other States - Punjab

`Punjab ready to implement VAT'

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, NOV. 10. Punjab is fully prepared and equipped for a smooth transition to the Value Added Taxation (VAT) system, the State's Financial Commissioner for Taxation, Mukul Joshi, said at an Interactive Session organised by the Northern Region of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today.

According to a CII release, Mr. Joshi informed the Punjab State Council of the Confederation that the State Government was in the process of reorganising the entire department of Excise and Taxation, for which training was being imparted to employees through professional consultants. He assured that the Government would examine the concerns raised by various stakeholders before finalising the Punjab VAT Act.

Mr. Joshi was of the opinion that VAT would bring in transparency and efficiency in the taxation system as also would improve compliance and collections. He invited the industry representatives to interact with the senior official of the Excise and Taxation department for suggestions and clarifications related to implementation of VAT.

Earlier, the Chairman of CII's Punjab State Council, Manish Bagrodia, stressed the need to achieve consensus on key issues to ensure that VAT instead of hindering inter-state trade, allows the country to develop into a common uniform market.

Punjab's Assistant Commissioner for Excise and Taxation, J J Kaur, made a detailed presentation on `Preparedness of Punjab for Launching VAT'. She disclosed that Punjab VAT legislation had been updated and sent to the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for approval.

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`Punjab ready to implement VAT'