Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Unravelling the intricacies of VAT

Staff Reporter

A book on VAT educates the layman on its statutory provisions

Thiruvananthapuram: Making sense out of tax laws is one thing, unravelling the complexities for the common man is an altogether different proposition.

Terms such as compounding, debit note, discount, input tax credit, presumptive tax and sales return may sound intimidating to most people.

And when the laws relate to a newly introduced system, it becomes a daunting task even for the erudite professional.

When Kerala switched over to the value added tax (VAT) regime in 2005, it left tax payers, administrators, professionals, practitioners, students and laymen struggling to come to grips with its intricacies.

It is in this context that the Centre for Taxation Studies (CTS) took up a consultancy project to clear the confusion over the new system. The project culminated in a book on VAT.

A marked departure from the conventional law book, `The Complete Book on Value Added Tax' is designed to help even the laymen understand the statutory provisions and quantify their tax liabilities.

The book is divided into section-wise notes and comments with the relevant rules and forms to be used for different purposes.

It also features Government notifications and circulars relevant to VAT, Court verdicts on sales tax and detailed illustrations depicting different commercial transactions.

Published by KeralToday.com, the book has been authored by VAT consultant to the Government S.Anilkumar and two faculty members of CTS M.L. Paul and Jenny Thekkekara.

All three were members of the committee that formulated the VAT laws and rules.

A list of taxable goods and a comparison of the tax rates under the old KGST (Kerala Government Sales Tax) regime and the new VAT system enables the reader to make a quick analysis. Laymen and taxpayers would perhaps find the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section a useful addition.

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

Stories in this Section

Seat-sharing a tough call for LDF
Survey on status of senior citizens
Unravelling the intricacies of VAT
Road-sweeping machine launched
Titanium labour union seeks Vigilance probe
Youth arrested
Cultural and award nite on Friday
Next issue
Goods seized
Unflagging rhythm
Gearing up for Pongala
Around the City
In Tiruvananthapuram Today
Campus Notes

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu